Effects of Climate Change,Invasive Species,and Disease on the Distribution of Native European Crayfishes

Climate change will require species to adapt to new conditions or follow preferred climates to higher latitudes or elevations, but many dispersal‐limited freshwater species may be unable to move due to barriers imposed by watershed boundaries. In addition, invasive nonnative species may expand into new regions under future climate conditions and contribute to the decline of native species. We evaluated future distributions for the threatened European crayfish fauna in response to climate change, watershed boundaries, and the spread of invasive crayfishes, which transmit the crayfish plague, a lethal disease for native European crayfishes. We used climate projections from general circulation models and statistical models based on Mahalanobis distance to predict climate‐suitable regions for native and invasive crayfishes in the middle and at the end of the 21st century. We identified these suitable regions as accessible or inaccessible on the basis of major watershed boundaries and present occurrences and evaluated potential future overlap with 3 invasive North American crayfishes. Climate‐suitable areas decreased for native crayfishes by 19% to 72%, and the majority of future suitable areas for most of these species were inaccessible relative to native and current distributions. Overlap with invasive crayfish plague‐transmitting species was predicted to increase. Some native crayfish species (e.g., noble crayfish [Astacus astacus]) had no future refugia that were unsuitable for the modeled nonnative species. Our results emphasize the importance of preventing additional introductions and spread of invasive crayfishes in Europe to minimize interactions between the multiple stressors of climate change and invasive species, while suggesting candidate regions for the debatable management option of assisted colonization. Efectos del Cambio Climático, Especies Invasoras y Enfermedades sobre la Distribución de Cangrejos de Río Europeos Nativos     

The perspective of children and youth: How different stakeholders identify architectural barriers for inclusion in schools

Recent inclusive policies are promoting the involvement of individuals with disabilities in identifying barriers that limit their full participation and inclusion in public spaces. The present two studies explored the contributions provided by different stakeholder groups in the identification of architectural barriers in elementary and secondary schools. In each school, the principal, special education resource teacher and a student independently identified architectural barriers using an observational walkthrough method. The first study consisted of 29 schools where the student evaluator had a physical disability and the second study consisted of 22 schools where the student evaluator did not have a disability. The results of both studies showed that students identified the greatest number of barriers and principals the least. The type and location of identified barriers are explored and the conclusions are examined in relation to person-environment congruence. The results highlight the efficacy of youth involvement and provide support for collaborative assessments that equitably involve all stakeholders in inclusive environmental assessments.     

有障碍物开敞空间可燃气云爆炸超压场的数值模拟

利用计算流体动力学软件AutoReaGas定量研究障碍物、障碍物阻塞比对开敞空间可燃气云爆炸超压场的影响以及爆燃超压随测点距离变化的分布规律。研究结果表明:当有障碍物存在时,爆炸峰值超压会显著增加,且峰值超压随着障碍物阻塞比的增加而增加。对于有障碍物条件下开敞空间的丙烷气云爆炸,无论是气云内部还是气云外部,随着距爆心距离的增加,峰值超压都有减小的趋势。     

铁路运输安全的产权分析

由于我国铁路运输安全的复杂性 ,运输安全在改革过程中极有可能沦为“公地悲剧” ,对安全进行产权分析确有必要。分析了一些国家保证铁路运输安全的产权制度安排 ,如英国的“网运分离”后的私有产权路网公司完全负责制、美国的垂直一体化私有产权铁路公司负责和政府安全监管体制、瑞典的非赢利性组织管理和政府安全监管体制以及我国的垂直一体化国有垄断企业 (政府部门 )负责制。笔者认为我国铁路在改革过程中 ,不能忽视运输安全的产权问题 ,应建立适当的运输安全管制体系 ,政府更应该在确保铁路运输安全方面发挥重要作用。     

Institutional Challenges for EIA Implementation in China: A Case Study of Development Versus Environmental Protection

This paper provides a complete case study analysis of environmental impact assessment (EIA) implementation in China from planning to legal challenge, which is typical but rarely reported. The analysis takes an historical perspective on the regulatory and institutional structures through which EIA has been implemented in China, in order to evaluate the extent to which EIA has matured over the last 10 years. The case study relates to a proposed recreation/tourist development at Dianshan Lake, a protected water resource for Shanghai. Legal and administrative challenge began in 1993, when the case was initiated with a letter from the public, and concluded in 1996, when the case was decided in a court judgment. More recent follow-up research indicates that many issues have continued to be problems for EIA implementation in China. Policy implications in terms of regulatory structure, institutional arrangement, EIA procedure, EIA practitioners, and public participation can be drawn, and lessons learned for both the government and the developers. The study emphasizes the problem of relying on reorientation of existing institutions to promote new (environmental) priorities.     

入世后,绿色壁垒与我国环境保护事业

绿色壁垒已经成为影响贸易活动和促进环境保护的一种有效工具，给中国环境保护事业带来了前所未有的机遇和挑战。面对绿色壁垒提出了我国环保部门应完善环保法律法规、提高环境标准、促进清洁生产、积极开展ISO14000认证和提高绿色意识等对策措施。     

可渗透反应墙技术中反应介质的研究进展

以PRBs技术中最为关键的填充反应介质为研究对象，介绍了常用的五种反应介质（零价铁、活性炭、无机矿物、黏土、和以固体废弃物为前体材料的反应介质）的研究现状，阐述了影响反应介质选择的主要因素，同时介绍了PRBs技术在实际工程应用中的典型案例，并对PRBs技术的现存问题和未来发展进行了总结和展望，以期为研发长期高效和环境友好型的PRBs反应介质提供有益的支持.     

Tracing operational conditions for the Ecologically Sustainable Economic Development: the Pareto optimality and the preservation of the biological crucial levels

The operational designing of Environmentally Sustainable Economic Development (ESED) emerges as an urgent and demanding task. Even though ESED has paved the way for thought-provoking and constructive scientific dialogue, appeal for designing an operational ESED is still lagging behind the needs of contemporary societies, leaving much to be desired. With this in mind, the present paper will aim at delineating principles for the operational application of ESED. First, the preservation of crucial properties of environmental functions and ecosystems, emerges as a prime condition of ESED. The second condition concerns the provision of the economic process with sufficient natural inputs; in this context, the paper intends to trace certain operational tenets governing the use of natural resources. Finally, the appropriate institutional settings for the operational design of ESED are traced. Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue     

Waste Management in the European Union: National Self-Sufficiency and Harmonization at the Expense of Economic Efficiency?

/ Since 1975, the European Union (EU) has developed an impressive body of waste management legislation, although, according to the principle of subsidiarity, responsibilities belong to the most local level at which the tasks can be carried out effectively. Using economic theory, this paper examines several factors that influence the efficient distribution of regulatory authority among the EU and the member states. We specifically analyze the role of harmonization that, in our opinion, will often lead to an overcentralization. Within this context, a second issue is becoming more important, as ongoing discussions show. If no consensus can be reached about harmonization, should member states be allowed to stop cross-border shipments of waste, or should the EU strive for a common market for waste? We take the position that most objections against waste shipments are not convincing, especially if the member states implement minimum standards for landfills and waste processing facilities and common information and control systems. Competition between different national regulations within adequate constraints that, e.g., control transboundary externalities leads to more efficient waste management structures in Europe than national self-sufficiency or centralized decision-making at the EU level. KEY WORDS: Waste management; European Union; Subsidiarity; Institutional competition; Harmonization; Cross-border shipments of waste     

A framework for human error risk analysis of coal mine emergency evacuation in China

Evacuation from underground coal mine in emergency as soon as possible makes the difference between life and death. Human factors have an important impact on a successful evacuation, but literature review shows that there is a lack of consideration of human error risk during coal mine emergency evacuation in China. To address the above problems, in this paper, we established a framework for human error risk analysis of coal mine emergency evacuation, consisting of scenario and task analysis, risk assessment and risk reduction. A general evacuation procedure which is applicable for different causes is detailed through the scenario and task analysis. A new method based on expert judgment, named OGI-Model, is proposed to evaluate the reliability of human safety barrier. In this new approach, human safety barrier is divided into three sub-barriers, i.e., organization safety sub-barrier (OSSB), group safety sub-barrier (GSSB), and individual safety sub-barrier (ISSB). Each sub-barrier consists of a series of concrete measures against specific evacuation actions. An example is provided in this paper to demonstrate the use of this framework and its effectiveness.