Ocean Disaster Reduction and Sustainable Development in the Region around Bohai Sea

1IntroductionBohai is the only inland sea in China.It has the highest resource density of all the fourcontinental seas in China.Since the end of the1 970 's,the marine economy around Bohai has seengreat development and the growth rate of the marine industry is up to 2 0 % .It is much higherthan the growth rate of the GDP of this region.The marine economy has greatly contributed tothe development of the economy and society around Bohai.However,since Bohai is an inlandsea,it has the natural …     

西南岩溶石山地区岩溶水资源合理开发利用模式

针对湘西洛塔岩溶区特殊的地质环境所造成的干旱缺水、水土流失、生态环境恶化等问题的特点，在调查、分析洛塔自然条件与水土资源、生态环境基本条件的基础上，实施了13处岩溶水资源开发利用示范工程。通过系统总结洛塔地区岩溶水资源合理开发利用技术与方法及岩溶水资源开发利用成功经验，提出了以岩溶水小流域为单元对岩溶水资源进行综合开发利用的5种模式：①地下河堵洞引水开发利用模式；②地下河出口及岩溶大泉引水开发利用模式；③凿引水隧洞拦截地下河开发利用模式；④地表地下联合水库开发利用模式；⑤表层岩溶泉开发利用模式。通过对失败工程的案例分析，认为在岩溶水资源开发利用过程中，应查清工程的岩溶发育规律及工程地质条件，分析经济技术支持的可行性，然后采取相适应的开采方式与方法。岩溶水资源进行综合开发利用的5种模式的提出，为在湘西实施“水源〖DK1〗·土地〖DK1〗·生态”持续发展战略，发展生态经济，实现脱贫致富，促进社会经济、生态环境良性循环，提供了切实可行的实用技术与方法借鉴。     

A “measurable” definition of sustainable development based on closed cycles of resources and its application to energy systems

Human society consumes resources that it is not able to reproduce. Human activities are still based on “open cycles,” starting from a condition of natural environmental balance and reaching an environmental imbalance. The challenging scope of scientific and technological research towards sustainability appears clear if it is based on this analysis: to find development systems based on “closed cycles” of resources. The challenging objective of realizing closed cycles leads to a definition of sustainability that indicates the path to sustainable development, as well as stating the general principle. It also provides a key to the qualitative measurement of sustainability. This means that the sustainability level of a system can be measured by measuring its capacity to avoid the consumption of resources. Zero consumption is a necessary condition for sustainability, and brings about as a side effect the highly desired “zero-waste” result. Materials entering the proposed endless scheme pass through the process of usefulness without losing their capacity to feed the system again after being used. Thus, the concept of “consumption” itself is replaced by one of “use” when resources are inserted into closed loops capable of feeding human development. The application of the closed cycle sustainability criterion particularly displays its feasibility, and a theoretical guiding role, in the energy sector. Energy vectors such as hydrogen and electricity enable the closure of the energy resources loop by effectively approaching the objective of “zero consumption” (and the side result of “zero waste”) through already demonstrated technological solutions.     

京津冀地区面向人居环境之水安全格局初探

采用文献法对近年京津冀水资源、水环境、水污染、水灾害、水管理等水安全情势进行相关数据分析,从总体上显示出水危机问题和京津冀地区快速城市化发展的关联性.结果表明:1)京津冀城市群必须向节水型社会模式转型;2)建立区域及城市间的协调机制,才能有效克服流域与区域等级的水问题;3)实现京津冀地区水安全格局的治理行动计划网络,提出保护恢复体系、净化循环体系、限制节约体系、调度再造体系、蓄滞防洪减灾体系五大体系.     

The water vulnerability of metro and megacities: An investigation of structural determinants

Urban areas are becoming increasingly subject to and vulnerable to water‐related natural disasters. Urban areas are a kind of socio‐ecological system wherein the human development dynamics co‐evolve with the natural dynamics. Most of the literature is focused on the impact of natural disasters on human development; we evaluate the impacts of human development on natural disasters and present an analysis of this phenomenon in the context of megacities. The approach is exploratory and begins with the construction of a database on the 595 existing megacities in the world. Multifactor analysis is then used to determine the main characteristics of these megacities. Finally, three structural components (maturity, anthropization and centrality) are identified and then correlated with data on water‐related hazards, distinguishing groups of cities according to their structure and factors of vulnerability to water‐related risks.     

The global partnership for sustainable development

This paper examines whether foreign aid, together with other economic, social and environmental factors, contributes to sustainable development. It starts with an illustrative theoretical growth model where foreign aid promotes sustainable development by protecting the environment. Using factor analysis and newly developed estimation methods for a dynamic panel data model with endogenous regressors, the empirical section of the paper finds evidence that foreign aid has had a significantly positive influence on sustainable development in aid recipient countries. This effect is very likely to go through channels related to growth and resources as well as a technology channel with respect to energy intensity. This research has important implications for a post‐2015 development framework on international collective action with regard to a sustainable future.     

Understanding farmer intentions to connect to a modernised delivery system in an Australian irrigation district: a reasoned action approach

Australian governments have sought to invest in irrigation infrastructure to improve the efficiency of water delivery to rural properties and improve water supply and on-farm efficiency. A programme of rationalising irrigation infrastructure has attracted criticism and doubts about its likely success. Attitude theory in the form of the Reasoned Action Model was applied to understand the intentions of landowners to connect to a ‘modernised’ irrigation system. Attitudes towards connecting to the system, social norms and perceptions of control over the behaviour provided an explanation of intentions to connect. Actual financial capability and other variables were important in discriminating a group of landowners who had already connected to the modernised system from farmers who had not.     

The evolution of socio-ecological systems: changing palm species management in the Colombian Amazon as an indicator of ecological and institutional change

We investigate natural resource governance in three indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon. We base our analysis on an evolutionary governance model in which governance dimensions emerge as relevant through time. The less accessible of the communities represents earlier steps in governance evolution, while the more physically accessible is more integrated into the western scene. We observe how increased physical accessibility in a community brings in western governance models which hybridize with more traditional ones, influencing the couplings between the social and ecological systems. We zoom in on changing management of three commonly used palm species and illustrate how detailed studies of natural resource management contribute to understanding governance evolution. By comparing governance evolutions we were able to gain insights and improve our understanding on how natural resource management changes in communities transiting into western ways of living. In doing so we recognized points of rigidity and flexibility which might influence the social ecological systems capacity to adapt to changing conditions.     

基于AHP法的大盘山国家级自然保护区生态质量评价研究

大盘山保护区是目前中国唯一以野生药用植物种质资源及其生境为核心保护对象的国家级自然保护区.根据保护区类型和自然保护区生态评价指标体系,以生物多样性保护、景观生态改善、科研教育价值、生态旅游价值作为准则层,选择多样性、稀有性、脆弱性、自然性、典型性、面积适宜性、人类干扰作为评价层指标,运用层次分析法(AHP)进行保护区自然生态评价.评价结果:综合评价指数达0.778 4,说明大盘山保护区目前整体生态质量较好,保护价值较高,属于优先保护区域.     

江汉平原土地资源诅咒效应研究

将资源诅咒的研究领域由传统的矿产资源转向土地资源研究问题域,以近10a江汉平原18个县(市)的统计数据为依据,运用诅咒系数对其进行资源诅咒的实证分析。结果显示,近年来发展滞后的荆州市所辖的监利县、江陵县以及其他7个县市的土地资源诅咒系数大于1,确实存在资源诅咒现象,且江陵县与监利县还属于严重诅咒区。通过对选取指标作进一步的计算分析,得出导致其产生资源诅咒的原因主要为:以土地资源为依托的农业没有得到高效发展,而受到发展观念与投入等束缚,其二、三产业发展同样滞后。根据影响资源诅咒地区产业发展的具体因素,有针对性地给出化解土地资源诅咒的对策建议,为今后资源诅咒地区打破诅咒束缚,持续快速发展指明方向。