Sea-level rise: Destruction of threatened and endangered species habitat in South Carolina

Concern for the environment has increased over the past century, and the US Congress has responded to this concern by passing legislation designed to protect the nation’s ecological biodiversity. This legislation, culminating with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, has been instrumental in defining methods for identifying and protecting endangered or threatened species and their habitats. Current legislation, however, assumes that the range of a protected species will stay constant over time. This assumption may no longer be valid, as the unprecedented increase in the number and concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has the potential to cause a global warming of 1.0–4.5°C and a sea-level rise (SLR) of 31–150 cm by the year 2100. Changes in climate of this magnitude are capable of causing shifts in the population structure and range of most animal species. This article examines the effects that SLR may have on the habitats of endangered and threatened species at three scales. At the regional scale 52 endangered or threatened plant and animal species were found to reside within 3 m of mean sea level in the coastal stages of the US Southeast. At the state level, the habitats of nine endangered or threatened animals that may be at risk from future SLR were identified. At the local level, a microscale analysis was conducted in the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina, USA, on the adverse effects that SLR may have on the habitats of the American alligator, brown pelican, loggerhead sea turtle, and wood stork. Prepared by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA; managed by Martin Marietta Energy Systems. Inc. for the US Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-84OR21400.     

制定山区经济发展战略的几点思考

根据四川是一个多山的大省、山区县占２１６个县（市、区）的１／２以上的特点，本文提出在制定山区经济、社会发展战略时，应从山区的资源特点、现状和面临的问题出发，同时对有关方面的问题进行了探讨．     

Groundwater in the Limpopo Basin: occurrence,use and impact

The Limpopo River Basin is underlain by an alluvial aquifer along the main river stem and fractured water-bearing units in tributary catchments. Notwithstanding that development priorities in parts of the basin in South Africa have historically preferred surface water sources for irrigation and domestic supply, water resources auditing suggests that groundwater presents the only viable alternative source of cost-effective supply to meet future requirements. However, while aquifer yields are favourable in places, averaging 16.7 l/s for main-stem alluvium, groundwater is already extensively used. Between 1995 and 2002, total groundwater use in the area rose by almost 40%, increasing from 98 to 136 million m³ per year. In all catchments, groundwater use grew by varying proportions, reaching a rather high 200% in the Mogalakwena catchment. In the particular case of commercial irrigation, over-exploitation of groundwater has been recorded in a number of places, especially in the northwest where drawdowns of more than 50 m have resulted from decades of intense agricultural water use. Although groundwater use for mining is still low at 4% of total usage in the study area, the region is currently witnessing a surge in mining operations, and a significant growth in water requirements is envisaged for mining development. Further, domestic water supply to the predominantly rural dwellers in the area is relatively low, even in terms of meeting the basic need of 25 l/day per person, underscoring the fact that groundwater will remain a critical source of community drinking water in the foreseeable future. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

基于AHP LP法的南水北调中线水资源优化配置

水资源是不可替代的重要自然资源和战略性经济资源，水资源优化配置是解决水资源问题的重要手段。为促进区域水资源供需状况相对平衡，按可持续发展的要求，根据区域水资源优化配置的含义和南水北调河北省受水区的具体情况，以有限水资源综合效益最大为目标，考虑水源可供水量、用户需水量和水环境与经济系统协调发展等约束，采用层次分析法与线性规划法相结合的方法，建立了水资源优化配置模型，并对模型的目标函数、约束条件和主要参数确定进行了初步探讨。最后用该模型进行了南水北调河北省受水区2005年和2010年95%保证率下的水资源优化配置研究，并对求解结果进行了分析、评价及展望。结果表明，南水北调工程实施后，能够解决河北省受水区严重缺水的状况。     

Rewriting the Plot: Sustaining allotments in the UK and Japan

In the search for a model form of allotment garden in the late 1980s, capable of absorbing surplus farmland while sustaining the capacity of the land to support agriculture, Japanese experts rejected the UK allotment, which was perceived to be of low status and in decline, in favour of the German Kleingarten. This paper suggests that it may be time to reconsider the UK experience, in the light of subsequent moves to rewrite the image and practice of allotment gardening in the UK within the local sustainable development agenda, and the problems which the Japanese version of the Kleingarten model has encountered in the changed economic circumstances of the 1990s.     

NIEO revisited: A new international environmental order in the making

In the past, most of the attempts to improve the situation of the developing countries have focused on economic policy, on the conditions of international trade, on aid and direct investment. A debate on a New International Economic Order (NIEO) was launched in the 1970s (c.f. Tinbergen, 1976)—and largely failed (c.f. Simonis, 1989). This paper shows that environmental policy could be a more effective lever for improving the lot of the developing countries; the near future may see the evolution of a new international environmental order which is likely to better link environmental protection and economic development.     

Effects of river-flow regulation on anuran occupancy and abundance in riparian zones

The natural flow regimes of rivers worldwide have been heavily altered through anthropogenic activities, and dams in particular have a pervasive effect on riverine ecosystems. Flow-regulation effects of dams negatively affect species diversity and abundance of a variety of aquatic animals, including invertebrates and fishes. However, the effects on semiaquatic animals are relatively unknown. We conducted anuran calling surveys at 42 study locations along the Broad and Pacolet Rivers in South Carolina to address the potential effects of flow regulation by damming on anuran occupancy and abundance. We estimated occupancy and abundance with Program PRESENCE. Models incorporated distance upstream and downstream from the nearest dam as covariates and urbanization pressure as an alternative stressor. Distance from dam was associated with occupancy of 2 of the 9 anuran species in our analyses and with abundance of 6 species. In all cases, distance downstream from nearest dam was a better predictor of occupancy and abundance than distance upstream from nearest dam. For all but one species, distance downstream from nearest dam was positively correlated with both occupancy and abundance. Reduced occupancy and abundance of anurans likely resulted from downstream alterations in flow regime associated with damming, which can lead to reduced area of riparian wetlands that serve as anuran breeding habitat. Our results showed that damming has a strong negative effect on multiple anuran species across large spatial extents and suggest that flow regulation can affect semiaquatic animals occupying riparian zones.     

Modelling the propagation of an internal solitary wave across double ridges and a shelf-slope

Evolution of the internal solitary waves (ISWs) in the northern South China Sea (SCS) has recently attracted the attention of many oceanographers in Taiwan and the United States. These ISWs are believed to have been induced by a branch of the Kuroshio current over Luzon Strait, which propagates westward over two ridges in the Luzon Strait between Taiwan and the Philippines, and further onto the continental margin with a shelf-slope in the SCS. This paper presents some preliminary results for the evolution of a depression ISW across two triangular obstacles using numerical modelling and laboratory experiments. The experimental results confirm that the intervals and relative height between the two obstacles are important factors in the interaction of an ISW with the obstacles. However, in the case of the movement of an ISW of depression-type across the Luzon Strait, the effect of the two ridges on the characteristics of the ISW might be less significant than that from the shelf-slope, due to the variations in relative water depth. Results from numerical experiments also show that the amplitude of an ISW can be augmented once the wave commences its contact with a shelf-slope, where an internal hydraulic jump and wave breaking with vortex motion are evident in the laboratory experiments. Eventually, an ISW of depression-type could become an elevation-type at the edge of the continental shelf landwards beyond the turning point, where the upper layer is larger than the bottom layer in a stratified water column.     

A critical analysis of the South African Disaster Management Act and Policy Framework

The promulgation of the South African Disaster Management Act No. 57 of 2002 and the National Disaster Management Policy Framework of 2005 placed South Africa at the international forefront by integrating disaster risk reduction into all spheres of government through a decentralised approach. Yet, good policy and legislation do not necessarily translate into good practice. This paper provides a critical analysis of the Act and Policy Framework. Using qualitative research methods, it analyses the attitudes and perceptions of senior public officials on all levels of government, the private sector and academia. The study finds that one of the weakest aspects of the Act and Framework is the absence of clear guidance to local municipalities. The placement of the disaster risk management function on all tiers of government remains problematic, funding is inadequate and overall knowledge and capacities for disaster risk reduction are insufficient.