Assessing the effectiveness of specially protected areas for conservation of Antarctica's botanical diversity

Vegetation is sparsely distributed over Antarctica's ice‐free ground, and distinct plant communities are present in each of the continent's 15 recently identified Antarctic Conservation Biogeographic Regions (ACBRs). With rapidly increasing human activity in Antarctica, terrestrial plant communities are at risk of damage or destruction by trampling, overland transport, and infrastructure construction and from the impacts of anthropogenically introduced species, as well as uncontrollable pressures such as fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) activity and climate change. Under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, the conservation of plant communities can be enacted and facilitated through the designation of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs). We examined the distribution within the 15 ACBRs of the 33 ASPAs whose explicit purpose includes protecting macroscopic terrestrial flora. We completed the first survey using normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) satellite remote sensing to provide baseline data on the extent of vegetation cover in all ASPAs designated for plant protection in Antarctica. Large omissions in the protection of Antarctic botanical diversity were found. There was no protection of plant communities in 6 ACBRs, and in another 6, <0.4% of the ACBR area was included in an ASPA that protected vegetation. Protected vegetation cover within the 33 ASPAs totaled 16.1 km² for the entire Antarctic continent; over half was within a single protected area. Over 96% of the protected vegetation was contained in 2 ACBRs, which together contributed only 7.8% of the continent's ice‐free ground. We conclude that Antarctic botanical diversity is clearly inadequately protected and call for systematic designation of ASPAs protecting plant communities by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties, the members of the governing body of the continent.     

热水解-厌氧消化工艺中污泥的触变性分析

采用触变动力学系数作为评价指标,通过流变试验研究了热水解-厌氧消化联合工艺中污泥标准化黏度和触变性的变化规律,并探讨了屈服应力和触变性二者间的联系,从触变性角度为热水解-厌氧消化污泥的处理处置提供参考依据。结果表明:与滞后环相比,用触变动力学系数K更适合表征污泥的触变性;调配污泥、热水解污泥和厌氧消化污泥的标准化黏度均随时间增大逐渐减小;3种污泥的触变性随TSS质量分数增大而减小,经热水解-厌氧消化后污泥的触变性增大,流动性增强;污泥屈服应力越大,触变性越小,稳定性越强。     

Climate policies and skill-biased employment dynamics: Evidence from EU countries

The political acceptability of climate policies is undermined by job-killing arguments, especially for the least-skilled workers. However, evidence of the distributional impacts for different workers remains scant. We examine the associations between climate policies, proxied by energy prices, and workforce skills for 14 European countries and 15 industrial sectors over the period 1995–2011. Using a shift-share instrumental variable estimator and controlling for the influence of automation and globalization, we find that climate policies have been skill biased against manual workers and have favoured technicians. The long-term change in energy prices accounted for between 9.2% and 17.5% (resp. 4.2% and 8.0%) of the increase (resp. decrease) in the share of technicians (resp. manual workers).     

Equilibrium Prices in a Vertically Coordinated Fishery

Competition among processing firms is analyzed in a fishery that is managed under a total allowable catch constraint. Firms compete first in the ex-vessel market for round fish and then in the downstream consumer market. Nash equilibrium prices are characterized at each stage of the vertical market. When the number of processors is sufficiently large, equilibrium prices are approximately Walrasian. The ex-vessel price is close to the processor marginal valuation of the round fish and the consumer price clears the total quantity of processed fish. Implications for market structure, conduct and performance, and fisheries management policy are drawn.     

The Importance of Mixing Height in Characterising Pollution Levels from Aerosol Optical Thickness Derived by Satellite

In the present study the horizontal distribution of columnar aerosol optical thicknessderived at high spatial resolution from Earth observation satellite data in the Lombardy area (Italy) was converted to the horizontal distribution of optically effective aerosols concentration at the ground level. This was achieved by incorporating information on atmosphere's mixing height, at which pollutants released at ground level are vertically dispersed by convection or mechanical turbulence. The resulted fields compared favourably to pollutant concentration measurements provided by the ground stations. These results show that it is possible to calculate mean concentration fields by using the spatial distribution of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) measured by satellite normalized by the atmospheric mixing height. The advantage of satellites in measuring AOT is that they can capture all actual emissions compared to the models, which are based on inventoried data.     

基于指标规范值的环境质量引力普适指数公式

为了建立物理意义明确、科学合理、计算简单和普适通用的环境质量评价模型,借鉴自然界普遍存在的万有引力现象和物理学中的规范对称性(不变性)原理,提出环境样本之间也存在类似万有引力的聚类相互作用引力,并在适当设定指标参照值和指标值的规范变换式及"参照级"样本基础上,定义了环境样本的"规范质量"和"规范坐标"的概念,进而分别建立了基于指标规范值的水环境质量和空气环境质量的引力普适指数公式.通过若干实例对公式的实用性进行了效果检验,结果表明,基于指标规范值的环境质量的引力普适指数公式具有形式简洁、规范统一、计算简便和普适通用的特点.     

基于RS和GIS的河北省生物丰度和植被覆盖度归一化系数研究

利用河北省生态环境十年变化（2000—2010）遥感调查与评估项目2010年土地利用类型数据,计算河北省2010年省级生物丰度和植被覆盖指数归一化系数,并对各县市的归一化系数进行分析和研究,绘制2010年河北省生物丰度和植被覆盖指数等级图,清晰反映出全省的区域分布特征,为河北省生态环境影响评价研究提供技术支撑。     

Cost-benefit analysis of water-reuse projects for environmental purposes: a case study for Spanish wastewater treatment plants

Water reuse is an emerging and promising non-conventional water resource. Feasibility studies are essential tools in the decision making process for the implementation of water-reuse projects. However, the methods used to assess economic feasibility tend to focus on internal costs, while external impacts are relegated to unsubstantiated statements about the advantages of water reuse. Using the concept of shadow prices for undesirable outputs of water reclamation, the current study developed a theoretical methodology to assess internal and external economic impacts. The proposed methodological approach is applied to 13 wastewater treatment plants in the Valencia region of Spain that reuse effluent for environmental purposes. Internal benefit analyses indicated that only a proportion of projects were economically viable, while when external benefits are incorporated all projects were economically viable. In conclusion, the economic feasibility assessments of water-reuse projects should quantitatively evaluate economic, environmental and resource availability.     

江门市区冬季地表热环境与土地覆盖类型关系的研究

应用美国陆地资源卫星Landsat ETM＋影像资料,反演了江门市区的地表温度（LST）,并提取研究区的NDVI、NDBI和MNDWI指数。分析了江门市区冬季LST的空间分布特征及城市地表热环境与土地覆盖类型之间的关系。结果表明：江门市区LST分布具有空间差异性,不同土地覆盖类型有较大差异,存在城市热岛效应;LST与3种归一化指数存在相关性,其中LST与NDVI存在非线性相关、与NDBI存在线性正相关、与MNDWI存在线性负相关。     

Assessing the perception and reality of arguments against thermal waste treatment plants in terms of property prices

The thermal processing of waste materials, although considered to be an essential part of waste management, is often sharply contested in the UK. Arguments such as health, depletion of resources, cost, noise, odours, traffic movement and house prices are often cited as reasons against the development of such facilities. This study aims to review the arguments and identify any effect on property prices due to the public perception of the plant. A selection of existing energy from waste (EfW) facilities in the UK, operational for at least 7 years, was selected and property sales data, within 5 km of the sites, was acquired and analysed in detail. The locations of the properties were calculated in relation to the plant using GIS software (ArcGIS) and the distances split into 5 zones ranging from 0 to 5 km from the site. The local property sale prices, normalised against the local house price index, were compared in two time periods, before and after the facility became operational, across each of the 5 zones. In all cases analysed no significant negative effect was observed on property prices at any distance within 5 km from a modern operational incinerator. This indicated that the perceived negative effect of the thermal processing of waste on local property values is negligible.