Is small hydropower beautiful? Social impacts of river fragmentation in China’s Red River Basin

Small hydropower (SHP) is promoted as a pro-poor renewable energy source that does not have the negative social impacts of large dams. This article challenges these claims, using data from a household survey in China’s upper Red River Basin. We find that SHP can fragment river systems in ways that reduce irrigation water availability, provoke changes to agricultural practices, and negatively impact river health. These social impacts of river fragmentation mainly occur in villages situated between a plant’s intake and outflow. The frequency of plant water diversions due to continued generation in the dry season significantly predicts all social impacts; installed capacity of the plant and the quality of the village’s irrigation infrastructure predict some impacts. Villages with strong local governance can negotiate with the plant to temporarily halt generation when irrigation water is needed, lessening social impacts. Our findings reveal that SHP plants are not as benign as they are made out to be; they must be built and managed according to community needs.     

气象、本地光化学生成和外围传输对长沙市2018～2020年臭氧污染趋势变化影响的识别

针对湖南省臭氧(O₃)污染加剧但是相关的研究较为缺乏的现状,以长沙市为研究区域,基于观测数据,结合气象校正、基于经验的模型(EOF)和绝对得分受体模型(APCs),识别量化了2018～2020年气象、本地光化学生成和外围传输对O₃污染相对贡献的影响,分析了2018～2019年和2019～2020年O₃趋势变化的主控因素.结果表明,短期范围内,气象条件是O₃污染事件发生的重要诱发因素.对长沙市整体来说,在时间上,2018～2019年期间,气象和本地前体物排放影响作用的增强是O₃浓度升高的关键驱动因子.2019～2020年期间,气象、本地前体物排放和外围传输影响均呈现下降的趋势,是导致O₃浓度降低的重要影响因素.空间上,2018～2020年时间段,气象、本地前体物排放和外围传输主要影响区域分别为长沙市偏东、偏北和偏南部区域.其中,外围传输的作用持续减弱,2018～2019年期间,长沙市北部天然源排放水平的升高使得O₃浓度上升,南部区域NO...     

A review of the impacts of nature based recreation on birds

Nature based recreation such as wildlife viewing, hiking, running, cycling, canoeing, horse riding and dog walking can have negative environmental effects. A review of the recreation ecology literature published in English language academic journals identified 69 papers from 1978 to 2010 that examined the effect of these activities on birds. Sixty-one of the papers (88%) found negative impacts, including changes in bird physiology (all 11 papers), immediate behaviour (37 out of 41 papers), as well as changes in abundance (28 out of 33 papers) and reproductive success (28 out of 33 papers). Previous studies are concentrated in a few countries (United States, England, Argentina and New Zealand), mostly in cool temperate or temperate climatic zones, often in shoreline or wetland habitats, and mostly on insectivore, carnivore and crustaceovore/molluscivore foraging guilds. There is limited research in some regions with both high bird diversity and nature based recreation such as mainland Australia, Central America, Asia, and Africa, and for popular activities such as mountain bike riding and horse riding. It is clear, however, that non-motorised nature based recreation has negative impacts on a diversity of birds from a range of habitats in different climatic zones and regions of the world.     

Lake area changes in the middle Yangtze region of China over the 20th century

The Jianghan Plain and the Dongting lake area, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River are famous for their abundant freshwater lakes. The lakes have undergone changes in size and number over thousands of years due to natural causes and human activities. The 20th century particularly, witnessed dramatic changes in the freshwater resources of this region. This paper traces and analyzes lake evolution in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River over the past century. Lakes greater than 0.1 km(2) in size are mapped using Geographic Information System. Data is acquired and integrated from drainage network maps, relief maps, historical maps and remotely sensed images for different time periods. The results indicate that while there has been little change in the number of lakes over the past century, the lake area has experienced a dramatic decrease of 58.06%. The paper also examines the natural processes and human activities that may have contributed to the decrease in lake area. The results show that the decrease in total lake area appears to coincide with periods of rapid land reclamation in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Moreover, uncontrolled land reclamation activities can create an increase in sediment deposition in lakes thereby further reducing the lake size. Reduction of the lake area directly affects flood-control and has a negative ecological impact on the environment and on human life and property.     

Challenges to measuring,monitoring, and addressing the cumulative impacts of artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Ecuador

Portovelo-Zaruma, Ecuador is an artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) region with approximately 6000 gold miners working with mercury and cyanide. Although artisanal gold mining (AGM) has taken place in Portovelo-Zaruma for centuries, highly mechanized small-scale gold mining (SGM) processing plants capable of increased throughput began being built in the 1990s. While there are benefits associated with ASGM, there are also negative impacts experienced by the miners and the surrounding communities. To take advantage of ASGM as a poverty-alleviating mechanism while reducing unwanted externalities, the cumulative impacts must be understood. Numerous challenges to measuring, monitoring, and addressing ASGM impacts result from the complexity of the impacts themselves, the nature of the gold mining as an informal industry, and the shortfalls in the current regulatory framework. These are discussed in the context of ongoing, unresolved issues including efforts to address trans-boundary water pollution, management of mining waste, and conflicts regarding priorities, ambiguities, and enforcement of existing regulations and policies. Internationally, interventions to address both AGM and SGM impacts have typically focused almost exclusively on technological changes through the elimination of mercury use. Our analysis suggests that to better address ASGM and their cumulative impacts in Ecuador, it will be beneficial to revisit the legal definitions of AGM and SGM. Additionally, promotion of information-based strategies including educational outreach programs and cross-scale and cross-level mitigation methods may also be beneficial. The success of these strategies to reduce ASGM-related cumulative impacts will depend on sufficient funding and the commitment of stakeholders.     

How to make climate change research relevant for Indigenous communities in Torres Strait,Australia

Several Torres Strait communities have significant infrastructure and sacred sites located only a few metres above sea level. As a consequence, these areas are vulnerable to erosion due to the projected increase in storm surge intensity caused by climate change. Common sense suggests that Islanders would welcome new scientific research about how climate change might affect them, in order to understand the significance of these impacts and the timeframes involved. However, one leader has taken a seemingly counterintuitive stance, and has refused to let new climate research occur. We explore why this position was taken, and the implications of this decision for ongoing scientific research. In order to carry out this analysis, we provide a contextual background by assessing Islanders' recent experience with scientific researchers, and the response of policy-makers to it. We find that despite a clearly documented problem with “top-down” decision-making, this process remains. In this instance, we find that there is a systemic lack of collaboration with Islanders to allow them to prioritise their concerns, and a lack of adequate resources to allow them to build their resilience to climate impacts. We conclude that only through a genuine collaborative approach to climate adaptation can activities be properly developed, prioritised and undertaken.     

Toward an integrated analysis of mitigation and adaptation: some preliminary findings

Between 1999 and 2003, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) made a preliminary effort to integrate an analysis of mitigation and adaptation to climate change impact vulnerabilities in two ways: top-down and bottom-up. This paper briefly describes these early experiments and summarizes their findings, both about climate change vulnerability reduction and about the challenges of integrated analysis, expanding upon results previously reported [Wilbanks et al. (Environment 45/5:28–38, 2003); ORNL (Integrated analysis of mitigation and adaptation as responses to concerns about impacts of global climate change, ORNL Working paper 2003); ORNL and CUSAT 2003; Wilbanks 2005]. The U.S Government’s right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged     

可持续发展研究新方向:家庭可持续消费研究

可持续的家庭消费问题已经成为国际上的热点问题。本文首先对可持续家庭消费的研究进行了综述，再结合当前中国家庭的能源消费、水资源消费和垃圾排放的环境影响，提出了在中国进行可持续家庭消费研究的重要意义。     

煤基甲醇和煤基柴油生命周期评价

利用生命周期评价工具对煤基M100和FTD作为车用替代燃料生命周期环境影响进行评价。结果表明：温室效应和不可再生资源消耗为两种燃料生命周期产生最主要环境影响。与M100相比,相同功能单位FTD环境影响总水平值略高。通过敏感性分析,建议综合利用CO2捕集技术等方法来减少温室气体排放。     

The impact of climate change on tourism in Germany,the UK and Ireland: a simulation study

We downscale the results of a global tourism simulation model at a national resolution to a regional resolution. We use this to investigate the impact of climate change on the regions of Germany, Ireland and the UK. Because of climate change, tourists from all three countries would spend more holidays in the home country. In all three countries, climate change would first reduce the number of international arrivals—as Western European international tourist demand falls—but later increase numbers—as tourism demand from increasingly rich tropical countries grows. In Ireland and the UK, the regional pattern of demand shifts is similar to the international one: tourism shifts north. In Germany, the opposite pattern is observed as the continental interior warms faster than the coast: tourism shifts south.