The recovery of schools from earthquake effects: Lessons from Mexico City

Much work has been done to prepare schools and institutions for the immediate effects of earthquakes and other disasters. This paper looks at the preparation needed for medium to long term recovery from the physical and psychological effects of earthquakes. Colegio Madrid, a school of 3,000 students that suffered major damage in the September 1985 Mexico City earthquake serves as the focus of this study. The experiences and actions of faculty, staff, students and parents at this school provide lessons for not only schools, but all institutions and communities which may face the prospect of reconstructing themselves following a disaster.     

Alleviating Poverty Through Ecotourism: Promises and Reality in the Monarch Butterfly Reserve of Mexico

The Monarch butterfly reserve in west-central Mexico attracts more than 250 000 visitors during the four-month annual overwintering period and yet the project has been unable to generate an impetus for local development among the indigenous and peasant communities in the region. This chapter explores the reasons for this failure and evaluates a proposed alternative development strategy. In addition to the usual problems of the paucity of local linkages, the problems involved with property rights and participation in decision-making and management suggest the need to reevaluate the model for successful and sustainable tourist development. An alternative model is presented that might contribute to overcoming the obstacles.     

华中区域电力应急管理现状与应对措施

通过对华中区域电力系统在应急管理工作开展情况的抽样调查研究,从应急制度体系、应急队伍和应急物资等方面进行了分析,指出当前电力应急管理方面存在的主要问题和困难,提出了建立电力应急平台、完善应急预案、加强应急联动和物资调配、合理安排应急准备金等应对措施和建议.     

齐齐哈尔市热电联产项目节能减排分析

以热电联产集中供热作为节能减排的重要措施,分析了齐齐哈尔市热电联产项目在节能降耗和污染减排中的作用.     

Chronic institutional failure and enhanced vulnerability to flash‐floods in the Cuenca Altadel Río Lerma,Mexico

The dominant paradigm in disaster risk reduction (DRR) policies has been seriously contested because of its reliance on interventions based on technocratic expertise. In the Mexican context, the influence of informal practices such as clientelism and cartelisation of the political system produces environmental degradation and vulnerability to disasters within the communities in the study site. This paper contributes to understanding of failed institutional processes and parallel practices that intensify vulnerability to disasters by contrasting the discourses of agents within a peri‐urban community in central Mexico. Employing the Situational Analysis Approach as a methodological framework, the study identifies divergent views and practices within the community, leading to different responses to disasters and to different perceptions regarding institutional performance. In addition, it finds that institutional decision‐making, based only on scientific and technical expertise, has resulted in unintended consequences that influence ongoing vulnerability to floods in the site under review.     

中原城市群PM2.5浓度驱动因子联动效应及非线性影响

城市群是中国PM_2.5污染与防治的核心区.为探究中原城市群PM_2.5浓度驱动因子的作用机制,基于多源遥感数据和统计数据,采用空间自相关、参数最优地理探测器以及系统动态面板回归模型等方法,量化了PM_2.5浓度的驱动因子及因子间的联动效应,进一步分析了社会经济因素对PM_2.5浓度的非线性影响并给出相应的治霾建议.结果表明：①2012~2018年,中原城市群PM_2.5浓度下降程度存在空间分异,北部较南部地区污染减弱更为显著.②PM_2.5浓度高值聚集有从中原城市群北部向东部转移的趋势,而低值聚集情况相对稳定.③高程对PM_2.5浓度的解释力最强,因子间联动效应对PM_2.5污染的解释力均表现为增强,其中高程与降水交互后解释力最强.④人均GDP、人口密度、夜间灯光、外商直接投资和第二产业占比均与PM_2.5浓度之间存在非线性关系.结合中原城市群现状,加大污染治理投入、调整城市结构形态、加强基础设施建设、调整人口分布与产业结构、保持较高的城市活跃水平、设定严格的环境法规和引入高质量外商投资等有助于治理PM_2.5污染.     

滇中城市群产业结构与用地结构关联研究

城市群产业结构与用地结构的协调发展有利于提高滇中城市群用地的空间绩效,优化城市群产业结构,提升城市群的整体功能.运用比例变化指数和Granger因果关系方法研究了滇中城市群产业结构和土地利用之间的变化关系：滇中城市群产业结构变化滞后于城市土地结构变化,城市土地结构变化和产业结构变化的差距呈先增加后减少的趋势,即滇中城市群产业结构和土地利用结构由非同步变化逐渐进入同步变化轨迹;短期内,滇中城市群产业结构变化促进了优化土地利用,土地利用变化又反作用于产业结构,但滇中产业结构和用地结构未出现同步变化规律,说明滇中产业结构和土地的因果关系结构要在长期发展才可能实现.     

Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Practice for Edible Wild Plants: Biodiversity Use by the Rarámuri,in the Sirerra Tarahumara,Mexico

The Rarámuri who live in the Sierra Tarahumara of Chihuahua State, Mexico have developed local knowledge and harvesting strategies for edible wild plants that have the effect of conserving the biodiversity of their forest ecosystem. This paper presents the results of ethnobotanical research undertaken in the community of Basìhuare in the Sierra Tarahumara, to provide details on some practical aspects of the Raráamuri worldview regarding interconnections between people and their environment. This traditional philosophy forms the basis for the use of edible wild plants and the harvesting strategies practiced in Basìhuare, such as selective harvesting, environmental modification and domestication. These activities provide the opportunity for harvesters to monitor the landscape and the plant resources that occur on the land, as well as present a setting for the communication and exchange of traditional ecological knowledge. However, Rarámuri harvesting practices are under stress because of increased external pressures from commercial timber extraction and other development. We discuss the state of traditional ecological knowledge and its transmission in the context of development activities in the region. The key to sustainability in the Sierra Tarahumara may be the maintenance of traditional management practices for edible wild plants, and other nontimber forest products, that lead to the conservation of biodiversity by creating patchiness and renewing the plant cover on the land.     

Denitrification in bottom sediment near oil production facilities off the Louisiana Gulf Coast

There is little information on denitrification in Gulf of Mexico bottom sediment. Potential denitrification rates in surface sediment were measured along transects legs extending 0–800 m from two offshore oil production platforms. The average potential denitrification ranged from approximately 50 mg N m^?2 d^?1 in surface sediment near the platforms to 15 mg N m^?2 d^?1 in sediment 800 m from the platforms. Measured denitrification rates were correlated to a higher organic matter content in sediment nearer the platforms. This research examined only a small component of nitrogen processing in Gulf of Mexico sediment. Additional research should examine the effect of nitrogen loading and temporal and spatial variability on denitrification rate.