Road traffic injuries to foreigners in the People's Republic of China, 2000-2008

Introduction: China's rapid motorization has resulted in significant challenges in road safety. Method: Using official national statistics, this study examines road traffic injuries (RTIs) experienced by foreigners in China. The number of foreigners entering China has increased 2.4 times over the study period, from 10.16 million in 2000 to 24.33 million in 2008. Results: From 2000- 2008, the number of road traffic fatalities among foreigners similarly increased 2.5 fold, including 49 fatalities reported in 2008. Nonfatal RTIs during this same time frame increased by a magnitude of 1.8 (126 nonfatal injuries in 2000 to 223 in 2008). Conclusions: This study suggests that the total number of foreigners working or visiting China each year who suffer fatal and nonfatal road traffic injuries is relatively low. Impact on Industry: This study provided evidence suggesting that foreigners visiting or working in China face a relatively low risk of road traffic injuries.     

Key features of new particle formation events at background sites in China and their influence on cloud condensation nuclei

New particle formation (NPF) event at multi rural sites in China Identifying the characteristics of NPF event Comparing NPF event between clean and polluted conditions Quantifying contribution to the cloud condensation nuclei Implication of climate and air quality Long-term continuous measurements of particle number size distributions with mobility diameter sizes ranging from 3 to 800 nm were performed to study new particle formation (NPF) events at Shangdianzi (SDZ), Mt. Tai (TS), and Lin’an (LAN) stations representing the background atmospheric conditions in the North China Plain (NCP), Central East China (CEC), and Yangtze River Delta (YRD) regions, respectively. The mean formation rate of 3-nm particles was 6.3, 3.7, and 5.8 cm⁻³·s⁻¹, and the mean particle growth rate was 3.6, 6.0, and 6.2 nm·h⁻¹ at SDZ, TS, and LAN, respectively. The NPF event characteristics at the three sites indicate that there may be a stronger source of low volatile vapors and higher condensational sink of pre-existing particles in the YRD region. The formation rate of NPF events at these sites, as well as the condensation sink, is approximately 10 times higher than some results reported at rural/urban sites in western countries. However, the growth rates appear to be 1–2 times higher. Approximately 12%–17% of all NPF events with nucleated particles grow to a climate-relevant size (>50 nm). These kinds of NPF events were normally observed with higher growth rate than the other NPF cases. Generally, the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentration can be enhanced by approximately a factor of 2–6 on these event days. The mean value of the enhancement factor is lowest at LAN (2–3) and highest at SDZ (~4). NPF events have also been found to have greater impact on CCN production in China at the regional scale than in the other background sites worldwide.     

Inverse uncertainty characteristics of pollution source identification for river chemical spill incidents by stochastic analysis

Identifying source information after river chemical spill occurrences is critical for emergency responses. However, the inverse uncertainty characteristics of this kind of pollution source inversion problem have not yet been clearly elucidated. To fill this gap, stochastic analysis approaches, including a regional sensitivity analysis method, identifiability plot and perturbation methods, were employed to conduct an empirical investigation on generic inverse uncertainty characteristics under a well-accepted uncertainty analysis framework. Case studies based on field tracer experiments and synthetic numerical tracer experiments revealed several new rules. For example, the release load can be most easily inverted, and the source location is responsible for the largest uncertainty among the source parameters. The diffusion and convection processes are more sensitive than the dilution and pollutant attenuation processes to the optimization of objective functions in terms of structural uncertainty. The differences among the different objective functions are smaller for instantaneous release than for continuous release cases. Small monitoring errors affect the inversion results only slightly, which can be ignored in practice. Interestingly, the estimated values of the release location and time negatively deviate from the real values, and the extent is positively correlated with the relative size of the mixing zone to the objective river reach. These new findings improve decision making in emergency responses to sudden water pollution and guide the monitoring network design.

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区域声环境质量污染水平预测方法评价与对比研究

为完成北京市“十二五”城市区域的主要声污染防治工作目标,全面提高北京市声环境质量水平,科学预测区域内在“十二五”期间噪声污染水平和发展趋势,本文以北京市某典型区域作为研究对象,在收集大量相关资料与实测历史噪声数据的基础上,运用指数平滑法与灰色模型GM（1,1）对所选定研究区域的噪声污染水平与发展趋势进行预测与分析。研究结果表明：运用指数平滑法与灰色模型对研究区域声环境噪声污染预测是可行的,北京市在“十二五”期间声环境质量水平符合《声环境质量标准》（GB3096—2008）中的一类区域标准。     

Analysis of the relationship between ambient levels of O3, NO2 and NO as a function of NOx in the UK

Monitoring data from the UK Automatic Urban and Rural Network are used to investigate the relationships between ambient levels of ozone (O₃), nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) as a function of NO_x, for levels ranging from those typical of UK rural sites to those observed at polluted urban kerbside sites. Particular emphasis is placed on establishing how the level of ‘oxidant’, OX (taken to be the sum of O₃ and NO₂) varies with the level of NO_x, and therefore to gain some insight into the atmospheric sources of OX, particularly at polluted urban locations. The analyses indicate that the level of OX at a given location is made up of NO_x-independent and NO_x-dependent contributions. The former is effectively a regional contribution which equates to the regional background O₃ level, whereas the latter is effectively a local contribution which correlates with the level of primary pollution. The local oxidant source has probable contributions from (i) direct NO₂ emissions, (ii) the thermal reaction of NO with O₂ at high NO_x, and (iii) common-source emission of species which promote NO to NO₂ conversion. The final category may include nitrous acid (HONO), which appears to be emitted directly in vehicle exhaust, and is potentially photolysed to generate HO_x radicals on a short timescale throughout the year at southern UK latitudes. The analyses also show that the local oxidant source has significant site-to-site variations, and possible reasons for these variations are discussed. Relationships between OX and NO_x, based on annual mean data, and fitted functions describing the relative contributions to OX made by NO₂ and O₃, are used to define expressions which describe the likely variation of annual mean NO₂ as a function of NO_x at 14 urban and suburban sites, and which can take account of possible changes in the regional background of O₃.     

浙江省地方环境标准制定思考

地方环境标准是对国家环境标准的补充和完善。为加大污染控制力度,适应新形势下环境管理和执法要求,有效改善和保护环境质量,针对浙江省主要环境问题和现行国家环境标准的不足,结合产业发展方向和环境保护目标,制定浙江省地方环境标准十分必要。主要从浓度控制与排放总量控制相结合、敏感或特殊有毒有害污染物控制、行业污染控制和相关环境质量等方面提出了地方环境标准的制定思路。     

Inter-municipal cooperation for wastewater treatment: case studies from Israel

Since the beginning of the 1990s, local authorities in Israel have been engaged in promoting advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) projects throughout the country, resulting in the "wastewater treatment revolution" of the 1990s. These achievements are extremely important in the water-scarce country, as untreated or partially treated wastewater has become a major source of pollution of Israel's fresh-water resources, and reuse of high-quality effluents can expand the national water potential. Many of these projects are regional schemes based on a central WWTP, serving a few neighboring municipalities. This paper presents two case studies of such regional cooperation: the "Karmiel Region Union of Towns for Sewage Treatment" and the "Treatment and Reuse of Wastewater in the area of the Hadera Stream, Ltd." corporation. The findings suggest that regional cooperation can be an efficient tool in promoting advanced wastewater treatment, and has several advantages: an efficient use of limited resources (financial and land); balancing disparities between municipalities (size, socio-economic features, consciousness and ability of local leaders); and reducing spillover effects. However, some problems were reported in both cases and should be addressed.     

基于Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI遥感大数据分析南京市1984—2015年大气能见度变化趋势

对南京市1984—2015年Landsat 4／5／7／8卫星TM／ETM＋／OLI传感器获取的遥感数据,利用ENVI遥感软件的FLAASH大气校正模块,进行了区域大气能见度（ VIS）遥感反演。结果表明,时间跨度达30余年的Landsat卫星遥感数据影像序列反演的VIS呈明显的下降趋势,20世纪80年代数值较高,“差”能见度（＜10 km）的观测率不到6％,21世纪以来VIS下降明显,“差”能见度的观测率为20％～25％。与2010—2015年南京市PM10、PM2．5监测数据进行了对比,在城市空气清洁及污染较轻时,星地监测结果有较好的一致性,但中到重污染天气时FLAASH算法反演VIS偏高,侧重于代表离主城区距离远的偏远乡野山林地区的能见度状况。     

河南省旱涝灾害的地域分异规律和减灾对策研究

河南省地处我国南北气候过渡地带,自古以来就以旱涝灾害频繁而著称。根据旱涝灾害的地域分异特点,可将全省分为五个区。减轻旱涝灾害的主要措施是:加强水利建设,进一步开发地下水;扩大引黄灌溉、抗旱、补源面积;走旱作农业的道路,广泛提高农田抗灾水平。     

杭州区域环境噪声监测点位优化探索

在杭州市现有区域环境噪声手工监测点位的基础上,结合地理分布,采用系统聚类法对2012年149个点位的数据样本分类、合并,将149个点位优化到26个,并用T检验法验证数据可靠性。优化前后各城区的点位分布比例相差不大,等效声级绝对误差在1.0 d B(A)内,相对误差不超过±5%。经过2013年和2014年数据验证,确定优化后的点位能体现声环境功能区的代表性。