环境知情权的法律保护

环境知情权既是公民参与国家环境管理的前提,又是环境保护的必要民主程序.在阐述环境知情权的概念和美、日、加等国家环境知情权法律保护情况的基础上,分析了中国环境知情权的法律保护现状及存在问题,并借鉴国外经验,提出了中国加强环境知情权的法律对策.     

挥发酚实验用水的探讨

本文对挥发酚实验用水进行探索及改进．直接采用蒸馏水代替无酚水为实验用水。应用于质控考核工作中,取得较理想的显著效果。结果表明．精密度、准确度都符合分析要求,并能降低成本,省时、省电、提高工效,可广泛应用于环境监测工作中,具有普遍实用价值。     

南京市硫酸盐化速率地方标准的制定

研究ＳＯ＿２与硫酸盐化速率的相关关系,以ＧＢ３０９５－８２（大气环境质量标准）中的ＳＯ２标准为基础,并借鉴国外先进国家的标准和硫酸盐化速率植物试验的成果,结合南京市大气环境质量现状,制定适合于南京地区的大气硫酸盐化速率建议标准．     

Embracing diverse worldviews to share planet Earth

Leading societies toward a more sustainable, equitably shared, and environmentally just future requires elevating and strengthening conversations on the nonmaterial and perhaps unquantifiable values of nonhuman nature to humanity. Debates among conservationists relating to the appropriateness of valuing ecosystems in terms of their human utility have eclipsed the more important and impactful task of expressing conservation concerns in terms that are meaningful to diverse stakeholders. We considered the wide global diversity of perspectives on the biosocial complex—the relationships and interactions between all living species on Earth—and argue that humanity's best chance for effective conservation is to take a pluralistic approach that engages seriously with the worldviews of all stakeholders. Many worldviews—particularly those in indigenous cultures—place a higher value on the spiritual and nonmaterial aspects than what is often represented by the discourse surrounding Western conservation policy. Alternative framings of the biosocial complex that recognize nature's intrinsic value can be powerful motivators for social change and for local-scale conservation efforts. At a national and international level, changing ethical framings of human relationships with nature have started influencing conceptions of human rights relating to the environment and of the rights of nature itself. This change has led to an increased role of the judiciary in promoting environmental sustainability and promoting justice for groups who are most often affected by environmental harms. We hope our essay will motivate the scientific community to change its own perception of what a sound and sustainable relationship between humanity and other species should be and will help citizens become active environmental subjects, connected to the ecosystems around them.     

Blade thickness effect on the aerodynamic performance of an asymmetric NACA six series blade vertical axis wind turbine in low wind speed

ABSTRACT

Vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) is an economic and widely used energy converter for converting wind energy into useful form of energy, like mechanical and electrical energy. For efficient energy conversion in low wind speed and to have improved power coefficient of asymmetric blade VAWT, selection of optimum blade thickness is needed thus entailing its detailed investigation with respect to different operating wind speed conditions. Present study methodically explores the impact of thickness to chord (t/c) ratio on aerodynamic performance of a three bladed asymmetrical blade H-Darrieus VAWT at different low wind speed conditions by using 2D unsteady CFD simulations. The optimal t/c is obtained on the basis of maximum power coefficient and average moment coefficient of the turbine. The aerodynamic performance curves are obtained at different operating and t/c conditions and the performance insights are corroborated with the findings from the flow physics study to come to some concrete conclusions on the effects of the thickness to chord ratio. The present study identifies large blade curvature to create a large diverging passage on the blade suction surface as the prominent reason for aerodynamic performance drop at a high t/c ratio.     

Sharing conservation burdens fairly

We examined how, from the point of view of justice, the burdens of paying for conservation should be shared. I resisted simple answers to the question of who should pay for conservation that lean on a single moral principle. I identified 3 relevant principles that relate to who causes conservation challenges, who has greater capacity to carry burdens, and who stands to benefit from conservation. I argue for a distinctive pluralist framework for allocating conservation burdens that grants a proper role to all 3 principles. A multistep process can be used to put the framework into practice. First, identify cases in which conservation is necessary. Second, consider whether people knew or could have been expected to anticipate the consequences of their activities and whether they had reasonable alternatives to acting the way they did. Third, turn to facts about benefits; when no culprit for conservation challenges can be found, ask who benefits from acts of conservation. In the second and third stages, consideration must also be given to ability to pay.     

Urban Australians using recycled water for domestic non-potable use--an evaluation of the attributes price, saltiness, colour and odour using conjoint analysis

Recycled water use in urban areas is viewed as one part of the solution to Australia's water shortage. The effectiveness of policies designed to promote recycled water systems depends on the acceptance by the community of the price, colour, odour and salt content of the recycled water. In Australia and other countries, limited research has been conducted that investigates community attitudes to and willingness to pay for recycled water, especially in urban settings. Community acceptance of recycled water and the economic feasibility of such projects have not been widely evaluated, even though the long-term feasibility of many projects is dependent on such information. This paper examines the attitudes of an urban Australian community living at Mawson Lakes in South Australia, to using recycled water for non-potable domestic purposes. Conjoint analysis (CA) was used to evaluate participant's (n=136) preferences for various attributes of recycled water (colour, odour, salt content and price) for various uses (garden watering, toilet flushing and clothes washing). The analysis was used to estimate the respondent's willingness to pay (WTP) for quality increases for each of the attributes. Differences in WTP were investigated according to various demographic variables including income and education. Results indicate that for garden watering having 'low salt levels' is the most important attribute of recycled water, for clothes washing 'colourless' is the most important attribute, and for toilet flushing a 'low price' was the most important attribute. Respondents were willing to pay for increases in the quality of recycled water. The amount they were willing to pay varied depending on applied use and the attribute in question. Respondents were most willing to pay for an increase in quality of recycled water when used for clothes washing (willing to pay Australian dollars (A$) 0.07/cubic meter (m(3)) for removal of colour, A$0.065 per cubic meter for an increase in quality of recycled water from 'salty' to 'low salt,' and A$ 0.06/m(3) for removal of odour (1A$=0.75 US $ and 0.62 euro, August 24, 2005)). Segmentation of the price attribute by demographic sectors reveals that those in the higher income bracket, higher education sector, middle age group, and who are male, had a higher marginal valuation on price. The results of this study provide important information for recycled water retailers and water policy developers, helping achieve greater economic feasibility for future recycled water projects, to the satisfaction of the communities involved.     

Across Space <Emphasis Type="Italic">and</Emphasis> Time: Social Responses to Large-Scale Biophysical Systems

The conceptual rubric of ecosystem management has been widely discussed and deliberated in conservation biology, environmental policy, and land/resource management. In this paper, I argue that two critical aspects of the ecosystem management concept require greater attention in policy and practice. First, although emphasis has been placed on the “space” of systems, the “time”—or rates of change—associated with biophysical and social systems has received much less consideration. Second, discussions of ecosystem management have often neglected the temporal disconnects between changes in biophysical systems and the response of social systems to management issues and challenges. The empirical basis of these points is a case study of the “Crown of the Continent Ecosystem,” an international transboundary area of the Rocky Mountains that surrounds Glacier National Park (USA) and Waterton Lakes National Park (Canada). This project assessed the experiences and perspectives of 1) middle- and upper-level government managers responsible for interjurisdictional cooperation, and 2) environmental nongovernment organizations with an international focus. I identify and describe 10 key challenges to increasing the extent and intensity of transboundary cooperation in land/resource management policy and practice. These issues are discussed in terms of their political, institutional, cultural, information-based, and perceptual elements. Analytic techniques include a combination of environmental history, semistructured interviews with 48 actors, and text analysis in a systematic qualitative framework. The central conclusion of this work is that the rates of response of human social systems must be better integrated with the rates of ecological change. This challenge is equal to or greater than the well-recognized need to adapt the spatial scale of human institutions to large-scale ecosystem processes and transboundary wildlife.     

综采工作面安全性评价的逼近理想解(TOPSIS)方法

基于熵权的TOPSIS(逼近理想解的排序方法)方法是一种新的安全性评价方法,该方法以灰熵理论确定评价指标的权重———熵权,从而避免低层次多因素权重确定的主观性。以评价对象与理想解和负理想解的距离确定的相对接近度作为评价准则,避免了评价方法的主观性。通过对平顶山煤业集团有限责任公司六矿综采工作面安全性进行的评价,指出综采工作面安全管理中存在的问题,并提出相应的改进措施。理论与实例表明,该方法较其他方法更加客观,更易于操作,结果也更符合生产实际。     

三峡水域氮磷污染对水华暴发/消涨行为的协同影响

藻类生长/消退与藻类对氮、磷的吸收比率ω₁和ω₂相关,ω_i正/负增长分别对应藻类生长时从水体中吸收氮磷的加速阶段和藻类分解时向水体释放氮磷的消退阶段,在特定磷氮比(P/N)范围出现ω₁和ω₂同时突变有可能从理论上解释水华的暴发/消退.根据三峡流域实测数据和藻类吸收氮磷的关联函数,在三维空间表征了随氮磷浓度协同作用导致的ω₁和ω₂在特定P/N区域同时突变所揭示出的水华暴发/消退现象,从而直观、合理地解释了:①适当的P/N范围才可能暴发水华;②如果P/N区间同时满足ω₁和ω₂正向急剧增长的要求,藻类疯长,而ω₁和ω₂同时朝负值方向急剧降低,水华消退;③水华暴发/消退的速率为同一数量级,且水华暴发/消退在氮、磷浓度达到某一敏感范围时将表现出明显的周期性振荡.这些性态可能更真实地反映出水华暴发/消退时藻类对营养盐的吸收/释放机理.