Flood management in Canada at the crossroads

Abstract

Although Canadian flood management efforts have gained worldwide recognition, flood damages continue to increase. The current practice for preventing, responding to and recovering from floods in Canada is described by focusing attention on the 1997 Red River and 1996 Saguenay River floods. A set of cultures is identified that contribute to the trend of increasing flood damages. These include a culture of conflict, a culture of land development, a culture that impeded native people from easily implementing flood management programs, a culture of institutional fragmentation and a culture of dependency. These foster an inevitable cycle of increasing flood damages. The potential of recent proposals made by Emergency Preparedness Canada and the Insurance Bureau of Canada to address these cultures is assessed. While these documents represent significant progress, they continue to adopt an intermittent project rather an ongoing program perspective, fail to identify the need to adopt specific initiatives tailored for aboriginal communities, and ignore the need to enhance the operational capacity of relevant public and private participants. Addressing these requirements will further reduce future losses and vulnerability.     

Simulating future land use and ecosystem services in Northern Thailand

Enhancing ecosystem services is important as it provides foundation for the wellbeing of people. This paper presents the future land use simulation for enhancing ecosystem services using CLUMondo dynamic spatial model. The land use change was assessed from 1989 to 2013 in Wang Thong watershed of Northern Thailand using GIS and a set of ecosystem services was assessed using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model. Future land uses until 2030 were projected for three policy scenarios, namely business-as-usual, integrated land use development, and enhancing environmental services with different levels of emphasis on ecosystem services. In business-as-usual scenario, it was observed that ecosystem services will decline by 2030 from the base year of 2013, whereas in integrated land use development scenario, the ecosystem services will increase by 5% compared to base year due to anticipated effective protection of remaining forests in all existing and proposed protected areas of the study area. In enhancing environmental services scenario, the ecosystem services will increase by 15%. Such results can serve as useful information in policy formulation in developing land use options, which help enhance ecosystem services in future.     

Interactions between energy consumption,international trade,and real income in Canada: An empirical investigation from a new version of the Solow growth model

This study investigates the empirical relationship between energy consumption, international trade, and real income in Canada which has an important role in global energy and trade. It employs bound tests to level relationships and conditional error correction models through ARDL specification to a new version of the Solow Growth model. Using annual data of the 1960–2010 period, results reveal a long-term relationship between energy consumption, international trade, and real income in Canada. It is also found that energy exporting activity is the determinant (driver) of energy consumption through the channel of real income and energy consumption is the determinant (driver) of exports through the channel of real income in the long term of the Canadian economy. Exports and energy use are the determinants (drivers) of real income in the long term of the Canadian economy; therefore, as conditional Granger causality tests suggest there is feedback relationship between energy consumption, international trade, and real income in the long term of the Canadian economy. The present study suggests that any energy conservation policies are likely to have negative influence on output and international trade in Canada.     

“Ethereal Carbon”: legitimizing liquefied natural gas in British Columbia

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the provincial government of British Columbia's recent proposal of building a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry, in which natural gas extracted through hydraulic fracturing will be liquefied and then exported to Asian markets. Drawing upon the growing literature on energopower, petro-state, and petro-culture, selected texts and images from “LNG in BC”—the project's official branding website—were analyzed through a multimodal critical discourse analysis. The results reveal two primary strategies of legitimation: the first emphasizes the economic benefits of LNG development in terms of employment and taxation revenues; the second defines LNG as a means of strengthening B.C.’s environmental leadership. The second narrative depends heavily upon the symbolic values of natural gas, contrasting its “clean” appearance (as a colorless and odorless gas) with the material density and “toxic sensuality” of other “dirty” fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, and bitumen). The website also presents a linear and simplified “storyline” of the generation of LNG which emphasizes the simple, “clean” process of liquefaction to distract attention from the ecological and health risks of hydraulic fracturing.     

Sediment processes and mercury transport in a frozen freshwater fluvial lake (Lake St. Louis, QC, Canada)

An open-bottom and a closed-bottom mesocosm were developed to investigate the release of mercury from sediments to the water column in a frozen freshwater lake. The mesoscosms were deployed in a hole in the ice and particulate mercury (Hg_P) and total dissolved mercury (TDHg) were measured in sediments and in water column vertical profiles. In addition, dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) in water and mercury water/airflux were quantified. Concentrations of TDHg, DGM, and mercury flux were all higher in the open-bottom mesocosm than in the closed-bottom mesocosm. In this paper we focus on the molecular diffusion of mercury from the sediment in comparison with the TDHg accumulation in the water column. We conclude that the molecular diffusion and sediment resuspension play a minor role in mercury release from sediments suggesting that solute release during ebullition is an important transport process for mercury in the lake.     

Smoke pollution must be part of the savanna fire management equation: A case study from Darwin,Australia

Savanna fire management is a topic of global debate, with early dry season burning promoted as a large-scale emissions reduction opportunity. To date, discussions have centred on carbon abatement efficacy, biodiversity and cultural benefits and/or risks. Here we use a case study of Darwin, Australia to highlight smoke pollution as another critical consideration. Smoke pollution from savanna fires is a major public health issue, yet absent so far from discussions of program design. Here, we assess the likely impacts of increased early dry season burning on smoke pollution in Darwin between 2004 and 2019, spanning the introduction and expansion of carbon abatement programs. We found increased smoke pollution in the early dry season but little change in the late dry season, contributing to a net annual increase in air quality standard exceedances. Geospatial analysis suggests this relates to increased burning in the path of early dry season trade winds. This study highlights the complex health trade-offs involved with any large-scale prescribed burning, including for carbon abatement.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-022-01745-9.     

浙江北部海域春季浮游动物的群落结构研究

根据2007年春季在浙江北部海域所采集的浮游动物样品,对该调查海域浮游动物的种类组成、丰度、生物量和生物多样性进行了探讨,采用多元统计软件PRIMER 5分析了该海域浮游动物的群落结构。研究结果表明,调查海域共鉴定各类浮游动物62种、浮游幼虫12种,合计74种。经统计共有2种优势种,分别是中华哲水蚤(Calanus sinicus)和五角水母(Muggiaea atlantica)。浮游动物生物量和丰度的平面分布比较相似,主要分布在调查海域的东部和东南部,并存在着向东南方向呈递增的趋势,而在杭州湾内的值比较小。调查海域浮游动物生物多样性比较低,平均值为1.54。根据对本次调查获得的浮游动物群落结构的聚类分析,主要存在着两个生态类群,群落Ⅰ为沿岸低盐群落,群落Ⅱ为暖温带近海群落。     

多种神经网络在华北西部区域城市空气质量预测中的应用

据华北西部区域4个主要城市2003—2012年API日报数据和相应时段的地面气象要素数据,利用4种(BP、Elman、T-S模糊、小波)神经网络构建预测模型并预测相应城市大气环境质量.研究结果显示,4种模型在可靠性、预测精度方面均可满足应用要求可用于实际预测;具有动态反馈能力的Elman神经网络的预测精度以及泛用性要优于具静态馈能力的其他3种网络模型,说明动态神经网络更适用于城市大气环境质量预测.4种神经网络的决策权重大小及其排序虽各不相同,但体现出相似规律性,日最低气温、日均气压、前日API对输出数据的影响较大,说明逆温现象引发的持续性、区域性污染是该地区主要环境问题.     

Removal of inorganic arsenic from water using metal organic frameworks

<正>It has been estimated that between 94 million and 220 million people around the world are at risk of consuming drinking water that contain arsenic concentrations higher than 10 μg/L( Podgorski and Berg, 2020),     

Assessment of risk in a minerals industry: Canadian nickel

The level of rents attributable to natural resource producers depends on the risk faced by those producers. This paper argues that estimates of risk in mining should control for characteristics of firms such as diversification and debt financing. The capital asset pricing model is applied to securities of three Canadian nickel mining firms over the period 1961–1974. It is concluded that the level of risk was not unusually high.