Carbon Sequestration Function of Check-Dams: A Case Study of the Loess Plateau in China

Check-dams are the most common structures for controlling soil erosion in the Loess Plateau. However, the effect of check-dams on carbon sequestration, along with sediment transport and deposition, has not been assessed over large areas. In this study, we evaluated the carbon sequestration function of check-dams in the Loess Plateau. The results indicate that there were approximately 11 000 check-dams distributed in the Loess Plateau, with an estimate of the amount of sediment of 21 × 10⁹ m³ and a soil organic carbon storage amount of 0.945 Pg. Our study reveals that check-dams in the Loess Plateau not only conserve soil and water but also sequester carbon.     

Hypoxia in the Baltic Sea: Biogeochemical Cycles, Benthic Fauna, and Management

Hypoxia has occurred intermittently over the Holocene in the Baltic Sea, but the recent expansion from less than 10 000 km² before 1950 to >60 000 km² since 2000 is mainly caused by enhanced nutrient inputs from land and atmosphere. With worsening hypoxia, the role of sediments changes from nitrogen removal to nitrogen release as ammonium. At present, denitrification in the water column and sediments is equally important. Phosphorus is currently buried in sediments mainly in organic form, with an additional contribution of reduced Fe-phosphate minerals in the deep anoxic basins. Upon the transition to oxic conditions, a significant proportion of the organic phosphorus will be remineralized, with the phosphorus then being bound to iron oxides. This iron-oxide bound phosphorus is readily released to the water column upon the onset of hypoxia again. Important ecosystems services carried out by the benthic fauna, including biogeochemical feedback-loops and biomass production, are also lost with hypoxia. The results provide quantitative knowledge of nutrient release and recycling processes under various environmental conditions in support of decision support tools underlying the Baltic Sea Action Plan.     

两阶段评估体系筛选水源突发污染应急最优技术方案

为预判突发污染对水源的威胁程度,进而筛选适宜污染情景的最优应急处置技术,本研究构建了包含10个评价指标的水源突发污染威胁度判别指标体系,依据威胁度等级判定,确定与不同威胁度对应的应急处置技术评估指标体系的指标权重.同时,为合理体现群决策过程中专家差异对权重的影响,提出了基于循环修正的群组G1指标赋权法.以Spearman等级相关系数作为检验标准,应用平均值法、Board法、Copeland法3种组合评价方法对单一专家评价结果进行循环迭代修正,最终得到评价指标的一致性排序和各位专家的权重,使各项指标的权重赋值更为准确.将综合评估模型应用于2012年广西龙江镉污染事故中,成功筛选出“调水稀释—絮凝沉降—水厂强化混凝”的组合应急技术方案,同实际情况吻合,验证了评估模型的可行性.     

溢油应急处理的优化决策

提出了溢油应急处理的优化决策方法，并运用优化理论建立评价模型来对技术决策结果进行最优化处理，从而使得各港口的溢油处理设备能够得到合理的调配，同时使溢油处理的费用降低到最低程度，而溢油处理的效果最佳，为区域合作计划的制定提供了依据。     

应急修复耦合资源回收的实践-以一起化工企业突发环境事件为例

通过东莞市一起铜氨蚀刻液泄漏引致突发环境事件的应急处理过程,介绍了污染控制和应急修复技术的应用情况,通过将高浓含氨污水蒸发制取NH4Cl产品,以及将污水处理至优于《地表水环境质量标准》（GB3838-2002）之Ⅰ类水质要求,作为我国首例应急修复耦合资源回收制取化工产品的成功案例,为化工类企业突发环境事件的应急处理提供决策参考.     

A General Equilibrium Model of Ecosystem Services in a River Basin

This study builds a general equilibrium model of ecosystem services, with sectors of the economy competing for use of the environment. The model recognizes that production processes in the real world require a combination of natural and human inputs, and understanding the value of these inputs and their competing uses is necessary when considering policies of resource conservation. We demonstrate the model with a numerical example of the Mississippi‐Atchafalaya river basin, in which grain production in the upper basin causes hypoxia that causes damages to the downstream fishing industry. We show that the size of damages is dependent on both environmental and economic shocks. While the potential damages to fishing are large, most of the damage occurs from economic forces rather than a more intensive use of nitrogen fertilizers. We show that these damages are exacerbated by increases in rainfall, which will likely get worse with climate change. We discuss welfare effects from a tax on nitrogen fertilizers and investments in riparian buffers. A 3% nitrogen tax would reduce the size of the hypoxic zone by 11% at a cost of 2% of Iowa's corn output. In comparison, riparian buffers are likely to be less costly and more popular politically.     

Analyzing the cost effectiveness of Santiago, Chile's policy of using urban forests to improve air quality

Santiago, Chile has the distinction of having among the worst urban air pollution problems in Latin America. As part of an atmospheric pollution reduction plan, the Santiago Regional Metropolitan government defined an environmental policy goal of using urban forests to remove particulate matter less than 10 microm (PM(10)) in the Gran Santiago area. We used cost effectiveness, or the process of establishing costs and selecting least cost alternatives for obtaining a defined policy goal of PM(10) removal, to analyze this policy goal. For this study, we quantified PM(10) removal by Santiago's urban forests based on socioeconomic strata and using field and real-time pollution and climate data via a dry deposition urban forest effects model. Municipal urban forest management costs were estimated using management cost surveys and Chilean Ministry of Planning and Cooperation documents. Results indicate that managing municipal urban forests (trees, shrubs, and grass whose management is under the jurisdiction of Santiago's 36 municipalities) to remove PM(10) was a cost-effective policy for abating PM(10) based on criteria set by the World Bank. In addition, we compared the cost effectiveness of managing municipal urban forests and street trees to other control policies (e.g. alternative fuels) to abate PM(10) in Santiago and determined that municipal urban forest management efficiency was similar to these other air quality improvement measures.     

Baseline assessment for environmental services payments from satellite imagery: a case study from Costa Rica and Mexico

In this study we evaluate the accuracy of four global and regional forest cover assessments (MODIS, IGBP, GLC2000, PROARCA) as tools for baseline estimation. We conduct this research at the national scale for Costa Rica and for two tropical dry forest study sites in Costa Rica (Santa Rosa) and Mexico (Chamela-Cuixmala). We found that at the national level, the total forest cover accuracy of the four land cover maps was inflated due to an overestimation of forest in areas with an evergreen canopy. However, the four maps greatly underestimated the extent of the deciduous forest (dry forest); an ecosystem that faces high deforestation pressure and poses complications to the mapping of its extent from remotely sensed data. For the tropical dry forest sites, all maps have low forest cover accuracies (mean for Santa Rosa: 27%; mean for Chamela-Cuixmala: 56%). This has implications for policy implementation.     

工业园区氯碱项目环境风险预测评价——以新疆某城市工业园区氯碱项目为例

对工业园区引入的化工项目进行环境风险评价,是园区规划的重点工作之一。对氯碱生产项目潜在的环境风险环节进行识别和风险类型的确定,对发生泄漏性事故进行环境风险评价,预测了事故发生对环境的影响程度及范围。对事故发生后的风险提出防范和应急减缓措施,并对项目提出规划建议。     

Ecosystem services assessments in local municipal decision making in South Africa: justification for the use of a business-based approach

The ecosystem services (ES) concept is being increasingly incorporated into environmental policy formulation and management approaches. The Corporate Ecosystem Services Review (ESR) is a framework used to assess the dependence and impact that a business has on ES. The success of the corporate experience of ES assessment provides an opportunity for adaption for local authority decision making. In this paper, the ESR tool was adapted to the South African setting at a local government level, and tested at two sites in the Msunduzi Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal. In testing the tool and gathering feedback from key stakeholders, it was found that there are both opportunities and challenges to this approach. Overall, however, it provides an opportunity for the systematic inclusion of ES assessment into existing regulatory frameworks for land-use planning and Integrated Environmental Management, whether in a strategic application, at a broader spatial (municipal) scale or in a specific locale within the municipality.