Dust Storms are an Indication of an Unhealthy Environment in East Asia

Dust storms frequently occur in Mongolia and in northern China. Each year there are 30 to 120 dusty days in source regions of Mongolia and 14–20 dusty days on the Korean Peninsula. Intense sand storms and associated dust falls produce environmental impacts in East Asia. This paper discusses the environmental degradation in Mongolia and the social, economic and atmospheric impacts of dust storms in the sink area. The impact of dust storms on environmental compartments as well as their direct and indirect consequences to basic resources like water and energy demand and supply is explained. Governments are encouraged to take appropriate action in specified regions. For monitoring dust storms there is a need for international cooperation to combat growing environmental and human security concerns.     

基于信息熵理论的泥石流沟谷危险度评价

泥石流沟谷是一个复杂的地貌系统,有其发生、发展和衰退的过程.文章从系统科学和地貌学的角度出发,运用了能综合表述地貌演化特征的因子-地貌系统信息熵对泥石流沟谷进行危险度评价,研究以昆明市东川城区后山深沟、石羊沟和尼姑拉沟为试点,对各泥石流沟的信息熵进行了计算.结果表明,深沟和石羊沟的地貌信息熵值分别为0.124和0.174,泥石流沟谷正由发育的中年末期向老年期演化;尼古拉沟的信息熵值为0.246,正处于沟谷发育的旺盛时期,计算结果与当地实际情况有较好的一致性.     

1994年江淮伏旱及其影响研究

利用江谁地区18个站点1951～1995年6～8月降水量资料,用Z指数建立了历年夏季旱涝序列,着重对1994年江淮伏旱及其对农业、水资源的影响进行了分析评述,获得了一些有意义的结论。     

基于GIS/AHP集成的洪水灾害综合风险评价——以淮河流域为例

根据影响洪水灾害风险的致灾因子危险性、孕灾环境稳定性与承灾体易损性,以淮河流域为示范研究区,以县为行政单元,综合考虑降雨、径流量、河流、地形、人口、经济等指标,基于GIS与AHP集成方法得到了淮河流域洪水灾害危险性评价图和淮河流域洪水灾害脆弱性评价图,并采用"加"模型计算公式得到了洪水灾害综合风险评价图,进行了相应的结果分析。     

玛纳斯河流域生态问题的潜在风险性评估

玛纳斯河流域是中国干旱区最具代表性的山地-绿洲-荒漠生态系统,三大生态系统表现出的区域生态、经济要素的空间状况有所分异,所存在的生态安全问题的表现形式也各不相同。根据流域土地利用和水资源数据库,在生态经济功能分区的基础上,针对流域不同分区存在的生态安全问题,选取相应的17个生态风险评估指标,建立了生态-经济风险性评价模型,对流域各个生态经济功能亚区的生态问题潜在的风险性进行了生态风险评估。结果表明:Ⅰ1,Ⅱ1,Ⅱ2,Ⅱ3,Ⅲ1,Ⅲ2和Ⅲ3亚区的生态问题潜在的风险性在增大,说明生态问题日益突出,而Ⅰ1和Ⅱ4亚区生态问题潜在的风险性指数存在波动;Ⅰ,Ⅱ和Ⅲ三个大区中生态问题潜在的风险性指数最高的分别是Ⅰ1,Ⅱ1和Ⅲ1亚区。评价结果能够较为客观地反映了当地的实际情况,因而对流域可能出现的灾害性的环境问题及由此引起的巨大的经济损失提出了警示。     

A meta-analysis of heavy metals pollution in farmland and urban soils in China over the past 20 years

A total of 713 research papers about field monitor experiments of heavy metals in farmland and urban soils in China, published from 2000 to 2019, were obtained. A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the level of China's heavy metal pollution in soils, mainly focusing on eight heavy metals. It was found that the average concentrations of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and arsenic (As) in China were 0.19, 30.74, 85.86, 25.81, 0.074, 67.37, 27.77 and 8.89 mg/kg, respectively. Compared with the background value (0.097 mg/kg), the Cd content showed a twofold (0.19 mg/kg) rise in farmland soils and a threefold (0.29 mg/kg) rise in urban soils. The decreasing order of the mean I_geo was Cd (1.77) > Pb (0.62) > Zn (0.60) > Cu (0.58) > Hg (0.57) > Cr (0.54) > Ni (0.47) > As (0.28). Nearly 33.54% and 44.65% of sites in farmland and urban soils were polluted with Cd. The average concentrations of eight heavy metals were not sensitive change in recent two decades in farmland and urban soils. The average P_n values for urban (2.52) and farmland (2.15) soils showed that heavy metal pollution in urban soils was more serious than that in farmland, and the middle Yangtze River regions, where industrial activity dominates, were the most polluted. The meta-analysis comprehensively evaluated the current pollution situation of soil heavy metal, and provided important basis for soil management and environment prevention in China.     

Macroinvertebrate Responses to Constructed Riffles in the Cache River,Illinois, USA

Stream restoration practices are becoming increasingly common, but biological assessments of these improvements are still limited. Rock weirs, a type of constructed riffle, were implemented in the upper Cache River in southern Illinois, USA, in 2001 and 2003–2004 to control channel incision and protect high quality riparian wetlands as part of an extensive watershed-level restoration. Construction of the rock weirs provided an opportunity to examine biological responses to a common in-stream restoration technique. We compared macroinvertebrate assemblages on previously constructed rock weirs and newly constructed weirs to those on snags and scoured clay streambed, the two dominant substrates in the unrestored reaches of the river. We quantitatively sampled macroinvertebrates on these substrates on seven occasions during 2003 and 2004. Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) biomass and aquatic insect biomass were significantly higher on rock weirs than the streambed for most sample periods. Snags supported intermediate EPT and aquatic insect biomass compared to rock weirs and the streambed. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordinations for 2003 and 2004 revealed distinct assemblage groups for rock weirs, snags, and the streambed. Analysis of similarity supported visual interpretation of NMDS plots. All pair-wise substrate comparisons differed significantly, except recently constructed weirs versus older weirs. Results indicate positive responses by macroinvertebrate assemblages to in-stream restoration in the Cache River. Moreover, these responses were not evident with more common measures of total density, biomass, and diversity.     

Effects of three pesticides on the avoidance behavior of earthworms in laboratory tests performed under temperate and tropical conditions

Little research has been performed on the impact of pesticides on earthworms under tropical conditions. Taking into consideration the often-limited resources in tropical countries, simple screening tests are needed. Therefore, it was investigated whether three pesticides relevant for the Brazilian Amazon (benomyl, carbendazim, lambda-cyhalothrin) affect the avoidance behavior of the earthworm Eisenia fetida. The tests were performed for two days according to ISO guideline 17512 but were adapted to tropical conditions (i.e. test substrate, test organism and temperature). The results indicate that this test gives reproducible and reliable results. Toxicity values (NOEC, EC50) are lower than those determined in 14 day-acute mortality tests and are approximately in the same range such as those found in 56 day-chronic reproduction tests with the same earthworm species, which were performed in parallel. Therefore, the use of the earthworm avoidance tests is recommended as a screening tool for the risk assessment of pesticides.     

Validation of a hybrid life-cycle inventory analysis method

The life-cycle inventory analysis step of a life-cycle assessment (LCA) may currently suffer from several limitations, mainly concerned with the use of incomplete and unreliable data sources and methods of assessment. Many past LCA studies have used traditional inventory analysis methods, namely process analysis and input-output analysis. More recently, hybrid inventory analysis methods have been developed, combining these two traditional methods in an attempt to minimise their limitations. In light of recent improvements, these hybrid methods need to be compared and validated, as these too have been considered to have several limitations. This paper evaluates a recently developed hybrid inventory analysis method which aims to improve the limitations of previous methods. It was found that the truncation associated with process analysis can be up to 87%, reflecting the considerable shortcomings in the quantity of process data currently available. Capital inputs were found to account for up to 22% of the total inputs to a particular product. These findings suggest that current best-practice methods are sufficiently accurate for most typical applications, but this is heavily dependent upon data quality and availability. The use of input-output data assists in improving the system boundary completeness of life-cycle inventories. However, the use of input-output analysis alone does not always provide an accurate model for replacing process data. Further improvements in the quantity of process data currently available are needed to increase the reliability of life-cycle inventories.     

Using LCA to evaluate impacts and resources conservation potential of composting: A case study of the Asti District in Italy

Separate collection of municipal solid waste has overcome the 50% threshold in the Asti District in northern Italy, nearly one-third being composed of household and green organic waste. In order to address present and future solutions, it becomes therefore fundamental to assess the environmental performances of the current management of organic waste from separate collection. A from-gate-to-cradle life cycle assessment (LCA) model has been developed by expanding system boundaries, in order to carry out the assessment in the context of the whole waste management streamline. The environmental performances of an existing aerobic plant were made available, based on field measured data, by paying attention to the role and contribution of waste management subsystems. The need for actual and reliable data on materials and energy input, as well as gross and net gains from materials recovery, including benefits arising from use of compost in farming activities, was probably the major drawback that had to be faced. The study integrated the findings of different investigations from the literature with field measured data in order to obtain a more comprehensive framework representative of the area under study. The results may help public administrators to better understand the suitability of using LCA tools when dealing with solid waste management strategies.