Prospects for Reconciling the Conflict between Economic Growth and Biodiversity Conservation with Technological Progress

Abstract: The conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation is understood in portions of academia and sometimes acknowledged in political circles. Nevertheless, there is not a unified response. In political and policy circles, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is posited to solve the conflict between economic growth and environmental protection. In academia, however, the EKC has been deemed fallacious in macroeconomic scenarios and largely irrelevant to biodiversity. A more compelling response to the conflict is that it may be resolved with technological progress. Herein I review the conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation in the absence of technological progress, explore the prospects for technological progress to reconcile that conflict, and provide linguistic suggestions for describing the relationships among economic growth, technological progress, and biodiversity conservation. The conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation is based on the first two laws of thermodynamics and principles of ecology such as trophic levels and competitive exclusion. In this biophysical context, the human economy grows at the competitive exclusion of nonhuman species in the aggregate. Reconciling the conflict via technological progress has not occurred and is infeasible because of the tight linkage between technological progress and economic growth at current levels of technology. Surplus production in existing economic sectors is required for conducting the research and development necessary for bringing new technologies to market. Technological regimes also reflect macroeconomic goals, and if the goal is economic growth, reconciliatory technologies are less likely to be developed. As the economy grows, the loss of biodiversity may be partly mitigated with end‐use innovation that increases technical efficiency, but this type of technological progress requires policies that are unlikely if the conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation (and other aspects of environmental protection) is not acknowledged.     

低温低浊高色水源水处理的进展研究

针对低温低浊高色水源水质特征,对近年低温絮凝剂、低温强化混凝技术、低温膜集成技术研发与应用现状进行了综合论述.通过对低温混凝剂的絮凝机理与效果、各技术低温保持水质达标的应对策略的深入剖析,预测低温低浊高色水处理的发展趋势.研究表明,开发低温专用的高效低耗、质优价廉、无毒无二次污染的载体絮凝水处理剂,探索在不增加甚至减少工程造价条件下对低温期及平常期水处理均有效的工艺,是低温低浊高色水源水处理的关键.     

农作物秸秆综合利用的研究进展综述

通过对农作物秸秆的研究现状、处理方法及综合应用情况进行综述,归纳出了目前农作物秸秆综合利用领域、主要处理方法及需要突破的关键技术.明确了突破农作物秸秆外表面物质结构实现完全降解和完成内部纤维素、半纤维素等高分子化合物降解转化是综合利用农作物秸秆研究的重点和难点.同时指出了解决农作物秸秆综合利用的技术层面、法律层面和人文认知理念等方面的发展趋势,为高效利用农作物秸秆及开展关键技术攻关提供参考.     

进出口工业化学品风险管理与风险评估进展

我国是世界化学品生产和贸易的大国。大量化学品的生产和进出口贸易给我国化学品风险管理和风险评估带来了巨大挑战。在借鉴发达国家和经济组织对化学品风险管理经验和评估技术的基础上,我国在近年来也逐步开展了化学品的管理和控制,以应对当前日益突出的化学品环境安全和健康安全事故。本文从我国化学品管理与国外化学品风险管理之间的对比出发,在梳理化学品管理政策发展的过程中,重点就我国环境保护部门对有毒和进口化学品、新化学物质和废弃危险化学品以及质检部门对进出口工业化学品的管理和控制措施,以及化学品的评估技术进行了综述。通过与发达国家就化学品风险管理与评估技术的对比,指出我国目前化学品管理和评估的不足与欠缺,并提出一些可行的应对措施与办法,为完善我国化学品风险管理和评估提供一定的参考。     

粮食产量预测理论、方法与应用Ⅰ.科技进步增产理论、模型及其应用

粮食增产趋势及增产原因是国家制定宏观农业政策和措施的依据。科技进步增产理论是指：气候是波动的,科技是持续进步的,它是粮食多年持续增产的主要驱动力;科技进步增产预测模型是多年平均单产移动的回归方程。全国和东北三省粮食增产潜力案例分析结果表明：科技进步单产加速时间最早的是辽宁省,最晚的是黑龙江省;与全国相比,吉林省和辽宁省科技进步贡献率高于全国平均水平,黑龙江省低于全国平均水平,吉林省最高。本文初步得出以下结论：科技进步增产理论科学、模型实用、预测结果准确。     

重金属废水处理技术研究进展

总结近年来重金属废水主要处理技术,指出重金属废水污染治理与重金属的回收利用相结合是未来治理的发展之路,也是技术开发与应用的方向。     

An Assessment of the Valuation Methods Used to Calculate the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW), Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), and Sustainable Net Benefit Index (SNBI)

For some time now, ecological economists have been putting forward a ‘threshold hypothesis’ – the notion that when macroeconomic systems expand beyond a certain size, the additional cost of growth exceeds the flow of additional benefits. In order to support their belief, ecological economists have developed a number of similar indexes to measure and compare the benefits and costs of growth (e.g., the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare and the Genuine Progress Indicator). In virtually every instance where an index of this type has been calculated for a particular country, the movement of the index appears to reinforce the existence of the threshold hypothesis. Of late, a number of observers have expressed concerns about whether these alternative indexes reflect concrete reality or the prejudices of ecological economists. In view of these concerns, this paper closely examines the valuation methods used in the calculation the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare, the Genuine Progress Indicator, and the Sustainable Net Benefit Index. It is argued that a consistent and more robust set of valuation techniques is required in order for these alternative indexes to gain broad acceptability.*Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

可燃固体表面火蔓延行为研究进展与展望

固体可燃物表面火蔓延是森林火灾、建筑火灾以及工业火灾中普遍存在的燃烧现象,是火灾研究的基础问题。对固体可燃物表面火蔓延行为进行分类,评述国内外的固体可燃物表面火蔓延行为研究现状和目前存在的主要问题。总结固体可燃物表面火蔓延试验研究的技术手段,对比分析不同因素对建立固体可燃物表面火蔓延行为理论模型的影响。这些因素包括环境流场、化学反应动力学、热解气体组分和炭化过程等。概要介绍固体可燃物表面火蔓延计算模拟的优势。最后指出固体可燃物火蔓延行为研究的发展趋势,并提出未来若干重点研究方向。     

Reflections on 40 years of Disasters, 1977–2017

This reflection, based on a keynote address to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Disasters on 14 September 2017, begins by considering some of the prevailing assumptions that existed at the time of the journal's creation. Next is a summary of significant milestones during the past 40 years, covering major global trends, changing disaster impacts, and key developments in disaster risk management. Contrasting approaches in the first and fourth decade of the journal's history are then followed by examples of changes in terminology in the disaster field as an indication of shifting values. The paper goes on to explore the context of 2017, with observations of problem areas such as the loss of knowledge, failures to tackle the root causes of disasters, shortfalls in international assistance, and some negative attitudes. It closes by evaluating some current positive occurrences, including a reduction in casualties, sharing of experience, technological advances, and dramatic improvements in disaster warning.     

有机污染物在土壤中迁移转化的研究进展

从机理、实验和数值模拟方面,综述了近年来国内外土壤中有机污染物迁移转化过程的最新进展,重点介绍了处理耦合数学模型的的数值模拟方法,并结合土壤污染发展的特点,对今后有机污染的研究方向作了一般性探讨,提出了需要进一步解决的关键性问题。