A SWOT analysis of environmental management practices in Greek Mining and Mineral Industry

Over the last two decades, mining and mineral exploration companies have adopted various environmental management practices in response to society’s pressure for better environmental protection. The literature highlights a number of benefits and challenges for companies adopting environmental management practices with the Greek Mining and Mineral Industry (GMMI) facing similar issues. In order to analyze the challenges faced by the GMMI, a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis was conducted, which examined the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats faced by the industry when adopting environmental management practices. The analysis prescribes policy recommendations both for the government and industry which, if adopted, could facilitate improved environmental performance.     

The Environmental sustainability of mining in Australia: key mega-trends and looming constraints

At first ‘sustainable mining’ could be perceived as a paradox—minerals are widely held to be finite resources with rising consumption causing pressure on known resources. The true sustainability of mineral resources, however, is a much more complex picture and involves exploration, technology, economics, social and environmental issues, and advancing scientific knowledge—predicting future sustainability is therefore not a simple task. This paper presents the results from a landmark study on historical trends in Australian mining, including ore milled, ore grades, open cut versus underground mining, overburden/waste rock and economic resources. When complete data sets are compiled for specific metals, particular issues stand out with respect to sustainability—technological breakthroughs (e.g. flotation, carbon-in-pulp), new discoveries (e.g. uranium or U), price changes (e.g. Au, boom/bust cycles), social issues (e.g. strikes), etc. All of these issues are of prime importance in moving towards a semi-quantitative sustainability model of mineral resources and the mining industry. For the future, critical issues will continue to be declining ore grades (also ore quality and impurities), increased waste rock and associated liabilities, known economic resources, potential breakthrough technologies, and broader environmental constraints (e.g. carbon costs, water). For this latter area, many companies now report annually on sustainability performance—facilitating analysis of environmental sustainability with respect to production performance. By linking these two commonly disparate aspects—mining production and environmental/sustainability data—it becomes possible to better understand environmental sustainability and predict future constraints such as water requirements, greenhouse emissions, energy and reagent inputs, and the like. This paper will therefore present a range of fundamental data and issues which help towards quantifying the resource and environmental sustainability of mining—with critical implications for the mining industry and society as a whole.     

Radionuclides in marine mammals off the Portuguese coast

Radionuclide analyses were performed in tissue samples including muscle, gonad, liver, mammary gland, and bone of marine mammals stranded on the Portuguese west coast during January-July 2006. Tissues were collected from seven dolphins (Delphinus delphis and Stenella coeruleoalba) and one pilot whale (Globicephala sp.). Samples were analyzed for ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb by alpha spectrometry and for ¹³⁷Cs and ⁴⁰K by gamma spectrometry. Po-210 concentrations in common dolphin’s muscle (D. delphis) averaged 56 ± 32 Bq kg⁻¹ wet weight (w.w.), while ²¹⁰Pb averaged 0.17 ± 0.07 Bq kg⁻¹ w.w., ¹³⁷Cs averaged 0.29 ± 0.28 Bq kg⁻¹ w.w., and ⁴⁰K 129 ± 48 Bq kg⁻¹ w.w. Absorbed radiation doses due to these radionuclides for the internal organs of common dolphins were computed and attained a 1.50 μGy h⁻¹ on a whole body basis. ²¹⁰Po was the main contributor to the weighted absorbed dose, accounting for 97% of the dose from internally accumulated radionuclides. These computed radiation doses in dolphins are compared to radiation doses from ²¹⁰Po and other radionuclides reported for human tissues. Due to the high ²¹⁰Po activity concentration in dolphins, the internal radiation dose in these marine mammals is about three orders of magnitude higher than in man.     

Exploring discourses on international environmental regime effectiveness with Q methodology: a case study of the Mediterranean Action Plan

Extensive research has been done on the 'high politics' of negotiations of international environmental agreements. However, little attention has been paid to the effectiveness of their implementation after coming into force. Effectiveness cannot be easily measured, since different stakeholders use different criteria as the basis of their opinion. The purpose of this study is to investigate discourses on the effectiveness of an international environmental regime. The regime chosen is the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) - and its legal framework, the Barcelona Convention - which was established in 1975 under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Q methodology was used to reveal discourses on the effectiveness of UNEP/MAP. After collecting relevant literature and identifying the stakeholders, 25 in-depth interviews were conducted. The stakeholders were from the Secretariat of the Convention, academia, NGO workers, and others that studied or knew the subject well. From these interviews 294 statements were extracted, from which 44 were finally selected to be used in the Q study. The interviewees were approached for the second time to complete the Q sorts. This study revealed four distinct discourses concerning the effectiveness of international environmental regimes. It concludes that there is no one 'right' way of defining effectiveness and that no approach can provide more than a partial evaluation of the overall effectiveness of a regime.     

AESTHETIC PREFERENCE FOR WATER RESOURCE PROJECTS: AN APPLICATION OF Q METHODOLOGY1

ABSTRACT Many of the resources generating aesthetic and visual benefits are publically owned and their optimum use and development depends upon public investment. Traditionally, public investment decisions have been couched in economic terms requiring quantitative measurement of benefits and costs. Since many of the benefits these resources provide are not consumed when they are enjoyed, the total contribution of the resource is imperfectly measured in the usual market sense. Thus, if the provision of these public goods is left to the conventional market mechanism, less than socially optimal investment may occur. This study was designed to investigate whether aesthetic preferences related to water projects could be determined, and whether they differ among different groups of people. A Q sort of 44 photographs of a wide variety of water development projects was conducted with two groups, i.e., photographers (aesthetic man) and town assessors (economic man). The resultant analysis identified two significant factors. Factor 1 provided insight into a hypothesis of nature dominant or man dominant scenes. Factor 2 indicated that the respondents had a negative preference for projects which were in varying stages of completion or appeared to be polluted. Preferences were consistent between the two groups tested. The test revealed that people do not necessarily equate only naturalness with aesthetic appeal, but will accept development as aesthetic, provided that it is designed to complement the natural landscape.     

近地层O3污染对作物产量与经济损失的影响——以江苏省冬小麦和水稻为例

利用2015年冬小麦和水稻主要生长季期间江苏省各城市逐时O₃浓度观测资料,分析了O₃浓度和AOT40的变化特征,评估了O₃对冬小麦和水稻产量的影响,并估算了其造成的经济损失.结果表明：①冬小麦和水稻主要生长季期间,江苏省平均O₃浓度分别为80.1μg/m³和83.8μg/m³,呈单峰型的日变化规律.空间上,O₃呈现南低北高,东部沿海地区高于西部内陆地区的特征.②冬小麦主要生长季期间,江苏省各市AOT40指数范围为3.08~14.47μL/L·h.水稻主要生长季期间,江苏省各市AOT40指数范围为10.79~21.67μL/L·h.③在当前O₃浓度水平下,近地层O₃对江苏省冬小麦和水稻平均相对产量的损失率分别为23.9%和16.5%,产量总损失分别为368.7万t和385.8万t,经济总损失分别为87.01亿元和106.48亿元.因此,急需采取有效控制措施,降低O₃污染造成的农业损失.     

Variations and trends of ground-level ozone and AOT40 in the rural areas of Lithuania

The analysis of data of the ground-level ozone concentration and accumulated ozone exposure over a threshold of 40 ppb (AOT40) in the rural areas of Lithuania is presented. Trends in the annual ozone mean, 95{th} and 25{th} percentiles were determined as statistically not significant at Preila and Rugsteliskes sites during the 1994hbox{–}2004 period. Trends in the ozone concentration and its percentiles in the air masses arriving to Preila station in “polluted” and “unpolluted” sectors have been examined. Statistically significant changes in the ozone annual mean and 25th percentile were found in air masses in both “polluted” and “unpolluted” sectors in the 1988hbox{–}2002 period. The trend analysis in the ozone monthly mean and percentiles for each month of the year revealed the main changes in the ozone level in both sectors during January-May. Insignificant downward trends in monthly 95th percentile in “unpolluted” sector and upward trends in “polluted” sector were found during summer months. Values of AOT40 for the protection of forests as well as crops and semi-natural vegetation were determined during the 1994–2004 period. The estimated AOT40 values for the protection of forests were lower than the critical level at Lithuanian rural sites but AOT40 values for the protection of crops and semi-natural vegetation were found to be higher than the critical level at both sites.     

2种终轧/开冷温度DSS 2304复合板复层组织与耐腐蚀性能对比研究

目的 对比研究2种不同终轧/开冷温度的2304/Q345C热轧双相不锈钢复合板复层组织和耐腐蚀性能。方法 分别采用金相显微镜和透射电镜观察复层组织形貌,采用铁素体测量仪分析计算复层远界面铁素体组织。分别采用化学浸泡法及电化学法测试复层抗点蚀和晶间腐蚀性能,并对其组织进行金相观察和透射分析。采用万能试验机对界面进行剪切强度测试,对界面附近进行线扫描测试分析,进一步分析剪切性能测试结果。结果 在其他热轧参数一定的情况下,终轧/开冷温度为1050/1020℃的复合板复层组织中的铁素体含量较高,奥氏体/铁素体相界更为规整,位错密度较低,晶界未发现析出相,界面剪切强度较高,复层的耐点腐蚀、晶间腐蚀及腐蚀电化学性能均较优。结论 终轧/开冷温度为1050/1020℃的热轧双相不锈钢复合板复层具有更优的耐腐蚀性能。     

KLUM@GTAP: Introducing Biophysical Aspects of Land-Use Decisions into a Computable General Equilibrium Model a Coupling Experiment

In this paper, the global agricultural land use model Kleines Land Use Model is coupled to an extended version of the computable general equilibrium model (CGE) Global Trade Analysis Project in order to consistently assess the integrated impacts of climate change on global cropland allocation and its implication for economic development. The methodology is innovative as it introduces dynamic economic land-use decisions based also on the biophysical aspects of land into a state-of-the-art CGE; it further allows the projection of resulting changes in cropland patterns on a spatially more explicit level. A convergence test and illustrative future simulations underpin the robustness and potentials of the coupled system. Reference simulations with the uncoupled models emphasise the impact and relevance of the coupling; the results of coupled and uncoupled simulations can differ by several hundred percent.

立地条件对麻栎人工林碳储量的影响

在江淮山地丘陵区,通过样地调查,研究了坡向和w对麻栎（Quercusacutisima）人工林系统碳密度及其空间分布的影响。结果表明：阴坡（SHS）树木碳密度显著高于阳坡（sus）（P〈0．05）,Wt镕i《1低的立地（sus）树木碳密度显著高于w、高的（suss）（P〈0．05）。3种立地条件下麻栎各器官碳密度分配均为：干碳密度〉根碳密度〉枝碳密度〉叶碳密度。SUS和SHS林木分配较多的碳同化物供给树干生长,SUSS林木分配较多的碳同化物供给根系和枝的生长。凋落物碳密度在SUS和SHS之间没有显著差异（P〉0．05）,而SUSS则显著低于SUS和SHS（JPl〈0．05）。整个剖面（0～50cm）土壤有机碳密度SHS显著高于SUS和SUSS（P〈O．05）,SUS和SUSS之间没有显著差异（P〉0．05）。麻栎人工林系统总碳密度大小为SHS（146．9t·hm^2。）〉SUS（116．9t·hm^-2）〉SUSS（102．6t·hm^-2）,SHS显著高于其他2种立地条件（P〈0．05）,SUS与SUSS之间没有显著差异（P〉0．05）。3种立地条件下均为土壤碳密度〉树木碳密度〉凋落物碳密度,凋落物碳密度占林分总碳密度的比例仅为2．1％～3．6％。SUS和SHS土壤碳密度占林分总碳密度的比例低于SUSS,而树木碳密度占林分总碳密度比例则相反。由此可见,在江淮山丘区,w较低的阴坡（SHS）最有利于麻栎人工林碳储量的累积,相对于w、较高的立地（suss）,较低的Wf±镕6砾1（sus）更有利于树木碳储量的增加。