How conservation and humanitarian groups respond to production of border security on the Arizona–Sonora border

US policies for securing the border with Mexico are driven by multiple political concerns, including the desire to control illegal trade and immigration in a way that conveys “border security” to a national audience. Highly visible border enforcement near urban centres and via the border fence has pushed migrants into far less visible and remote wilderness areas, driving both ecological degradation and a humanitarian crisis. This study employed ethnographic methods to explore how natural resource agency employees and humanitarian volunteers in Altar Valley Arizona perceived and responded to the production of border security. We found that both groups recognised human rights and environmental concerns, although they assigned different priorities and addressed them through conflicting means. As in other cases where consumers are separated from production practices, there was a general consensus among informants that it was important to raise the consciousness of the national audience about the negative externalities of producing border security.     

Migration caused by climate change: how vulnerable are people inn dryland areas?

Climate change has been presented as a likely trigger formigration of people, especially in dryland areas of less developed countries.The underlying research questions focus on the strength of adaptationcapacity of subsistence farmers in Northern Ethiopia, and evaluate historicalexperiences gained from drought-induced migration. Through a survey of104 peasants who had to migrant due to persistent drought, vulnerabilityto climate change has shown to be a complex issue, including themultiplicity of factors comprising a household environment. Still, to bevulnerable does not make someone a potential climate migrant, as peoplein marginal regions have developed a great variety of adaptationmechanisms, which strengthen their ability to cope with both, slow climaticchanges and extreme climatic events.     

“双向探索法”──一种研究移民环境容量的新方法

水利工程的移民环境容量受社会、经济、环境等诸要素的制约。本文以中国四川省开县为例,提出“双向探索法”,并应用于移民环境容量研究,研究方法可行、灵活,且求解迅速可靠,能为决策者提供多种行动方案和决策信息。为本领域的科学研究做了一次有意义的尝试。     

重庆青木关地下河流域水中多环芳烃的污染和迁移特征

为探究典型岩溶槽谷区重庆青木关地下河流域水中多环芳烃(PAHs)的含量、组成、来源及污染特征,于2014年对青木关地下河流域中3种不同类型水体进行了连续7个月的采样监测,并利用气相色谱-质谱联用仪(GC-MS)测定了水中16种优控多环芳烃含量.结果表明,地下河水、表层岩溶泉水和地表水中∑PAHs含量变化范围分别为73.9~339.0、76.2~212.0和81.9~272.0 ng·L-1,平均值分别为134、138和173ng·L-1;PAHs组成以2~3环为主,平均占总含量的82%.通过对PAHs的组成对比分析表明,PAHs在迁移过程中地下环境介质对PAHs存在吸附作用.燃烧源是流域内水中PAHs的主要来源,PAHs污染水平较低,个别中低环PAHs含量超过水质标准,高环PAHs超标仅出现在2014年11月的地表水和地下河出口水样中.     

基于保护地下水的土壤修复目标层次化制订方法

按照复杂程度将污染物从土壤经地下水迁移到下游饮水井的过程划分为3个层次,采用分层评估框架建立了基于保护地下水的土壤修复目标的制订方法,并利用该方法确定了某污染场地的土壤修复目标值. 结果表明,在污染场地下游200 m处的饮水井内水质标准不降低的前提下,随着评价层次的不断提高,需要修复的污染物由4种(苯、甲苯、乙苯、二甲苯)减至1种(苯),待修复土方量由23.1×104 m3降至4.7×104 m3,可极大地节约修复成本. 该场地污染土壤的第一层次和第二层次修复目标值与部分国家/地区的有关标准限值较为一致;第三层次修复目标值考虑的污染物迁移过程更加完整,更能反映场地的实际情况. 参数的敏感性分析表明,对土壤修复目标值计算结果影响最大的参数为土壤有机质质量分数、土壤有机碳-水分配系数和入渗速度. 在确定修复方案时,应该通过试验或补充调查获取这些参数,以降低结果的不确定性. 研究显示,将第三层次评估结果作为该污染场地的修复目标能充分保证下游饮水井内水质满足要求,并且可以避免过度修复.      

水泥窑协同处置危险废物中典型污染物迁移转化规律研究

水泥窑协同处置危险废物过程产生一系列的含Cr、Pb、Cl的危险废物。在实验室中,通过掺加不同Cr、Pb和Cl元素含量的典型危险废物,模拟煅烧熟料,研究Cr、Pb和Cl在水泥熟料中的固化率。结果表明:不挥发性重金属Cr在熟料中的固化率在50%以上,并随着生料中Cr掺加量的增加而增加;难挥发性重金属Pb元素在熟料中的固化率范围为19.69%~22.57%,在生料中Pb元素增加后,固化率则呈先增加后下降的趋势;非金属Cl元素在熟料中的固化率范围为3.30%~5.87%。Cl元素在熟料中的固化率在10%以下,并随着Cl元素掺加量的增加,Cl在熟料中的固化率减小。最后,对比《固体废物生产水泥污染控制标准》(征求意见稿)中水泥产品中Cr和Pb元素含量限值(0.1mg/L,0.05 mg/L),实验结果表明Cr和Pb的浸出含量都在限值范围内,满足标准的要求。     

典型土壤中多环芳烃纵向迁移过程模拟研究

选择北京潮土、清源潮棕壤、江西红壤和黑龙江黑土4种典型土壤,采用土柱淋滤模拟实验方法,以菲和芘为代表,对比考察多环芳烃在不同土壤中的纵向迁移过程,综合分析土壤基本理化性质对多环芳烃纵向迁移过程的影响。结果表明:土壤细颗粒(0～20μm)含量和土壤有机质是制约多环芳烃在土壤中纵向迁移的主要因素,容重和阳离子交换量对该环境过程影响不大。淋滤结束后土柱中多环芳烃残留量监测结果显示:北京潮土中,菲和芘的平均浓度最低,分别为8.81,9.94 mg/kg;黑龙江黑土中,两者的残留浓度最高,分别达14.62、17.02 mg/kg。最后,SPSS相关性分析结果表明,土柱中菲、芘的残留量与土壤细颗粒(0～20μm)含量的相关系数分别为0.99和0.93,与土壤有机质的相关系数分别为0.74和0.88。     

Sexual Predators,Energy Development,and Conservation in Greater Yellowstone

Abstract: In the United States, as elsewhere, a growing debate pits national energy policy and homeland security against biological conservation. In rural communities the extraction of fossil fuels is often encouraged because of the employment opportunities it offers, although the concomitant itinerant workforce is often associated with increased wildlife poaching. We explored possible positive and negative factors associated with energy extraction in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), an area known for its national parks, intact biological diversity, and some of the New World's longest terrestrial migrations. Specifically, we asked whether counties with different economies—recreation (ski), agrarian (ranching or farming), and energy extractive (petroleum)—differed in healthcare (gauged by the abundance of hospital beds) and in the frequency of sexual predators. The absolute and relative frequency of registered sex offenders grew approximately two to three times faster in areas reliant on energy extraction. Healthcare among counties did not differ. The strong conflation of community dishevel, as reflected by in‐migrant sexual predators, and ecological decay in Greater Yellowstone is consistent with patterns seen in similar systems from Ecuador to northern Canada, where social and environmental disarray exist around energy boomtowns. In our case, that groups (albeit with different aims) mobilized campaigns to help maintain the quality of rural livelihoods by protecting open space is a positive sign that conservation can matter, especially in the face of rampant and poorly executed energy extraction projects. Our findings further suggest that the public and industry need stronger regulatory action to instill greater vigilance when and where social factors and land conversion impact biological systems.