Climate readiness of recovery plans for threatened Australian species

The rapidly changing climate is posing growing threats for all species, but particularly for those already considered threatened. We reviewed 100 recovery plans for Australian terrestrial threatened species (50 fauna and 50 flora plans) written from 1997 to 2017. We recorded the number of plans that acknowledged climate change as a threat and of these how many proposed specific actions to ameliorate the threat. We classified these actions along a continuum from passive or incremental to active or interventionist. Overall, just under 60% of the sampled recovery plans listed climate change as a current or potential threat to the threatened taxa, and the likelihood of this acknowledgment increased over time. A far smaller proportion of the plans, however, identified specific actions associated with ameliorating climate risk (22%) and even fewer (9%) recommended any interventionist action in response to a climate-change-associated threat. Our results point to a disconnect between the knowledge generated on climate-change-related risk and potential adaptation strategies and the extent to which this knowledge has been incorporated into an important instrument of conservation action.     

Traditional agriculture in transition: examining the impacts of agricultural modernization on smallholder farming in Ghana under the new Green Revolution

Following the renewed effort at achieving a new green revolution for Africa, emphasis has been placed on modernizing smallholder agriculture through the deployment of improved inputs especially mechanized technologies. In Ghana, the government has in the last decade emphasized the provision of subsidized mechanized ploughing services to farmers alongside a rapidly growing private sector tractor service market. While mechanized technology adoption rates have increased rapidly, the deployment of these technologies has been without critical analysis of the impacts on production patterns and local agrarian systems. This paper examines the distributional impacts of agriculture mechanization on cropping patterns and farm sizes of smallholder farmers in northern Ghana using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques, and semi-structured interviews with smallholder farmers (n=60). Specifically, comparative analysis of the field sizes and cropping patterns of participant farmers prior to and after the adoption of mechanized technologies was conducted. In-depth interviews were used to contextualize the experiences of smallholder farmers toward understanding how mechanization may be impacting traditional agriculture. Our findings reveal a mechanization paradox in which farm sizes are expanding, while cropping patterns are shifting away from traditional staple crops (pearl millet and sorghum bicolor) to market-oriented crops (maize, rice and groundnuts). This transition we argue, has adverse implications on the cultural dimension of food security, the organization of social life, and climate change adaptation. We recommend a retooling of the current agricultural policy focus to ensure context sensitivity for a more robust battle against food insecurity.     

Using fuzzy set theory to address the uncertainty of susceptibility to drought

This paper presents the technical aspects of a new methodology for assessing the susceptibility of society to drought. The methodology consists of a combination of inference modelling and fuzzy logic applications. Four steps are followed: (1) model input variables are selected—these variables reflect the main factors influencing susceptibility in a social group, population or region, (2) fuzzification—the uncertainties of the input variables are made explicit by representing them as ‘fuzzy membership functions’, (3) inference modelling—the input variables are used to construct a model made up of linguistic rules, and (4) defuzzification—results from the model in linguistic form are translated into numerical form, also through the use of fuzzy membership functions. The disadvantages and advantages of this methodology became apparent when it was applied to the assessment of susceptibility from three disciplinary perspectives: Disadvantages include the difficulty in validating results and the subjectivity involved with specifying fuzzy membership functions and the rules of the inference model. Advantages of the methodology are its transparency, because all model assumptions have to be made explicit in the form of inference rules; its flexibility, in that informal and expert knowledge can be incorporated through ‘fuzzy membership functions’ and through the rules in the inference model; and its versatility, since numerical data can be converted to linguistic statements and vice versa through the procedures of ‘fuzzification’ and ‘defuzzification’.     

长江三峡柑桔的冻害和热害（二）

本文从柑桔冻害和热害的危害因子和指标等级划分的研究和选取入手,着重探讨了长江三峡地区(湖北境内)两害显著的时空变化特征、差异与关联性及对柑桔生产的影响;揭示了80年代以来冬暖春热的重大气候变化是使两害向“两极分化”的根本原因;讨论了三峡水利工程对两害时空格局的可能调整及减灾原理;最后提出了可能的对策。     

Vulnerability assessment of sea-level rise in Viti Levu, Fiji Islands

Fiji is expected to come under increasing pressure and risk from various threats resulting from climate change and sea-level rise (SLR). Fiji consists of 332 islands and thus has a predominant and large coastline. Viti Levu is the largest and most important of the islands, harboring Fiji’s capital city and most of the major towns concentrated around its coast. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the extent of possible sea-level rise using GIS, and to identify high-risk locations. Potential sea level rise was shown graphically as an output to determine where inundation or flooding would take place. This analysis allowed important areas facing risk to be highlighted for future action. Flooding/inundation can be classified into two kinds: ‘permanent inundation’, which is the result of sea-level rise with tide; and ‘temporary flooding’, also including occasional storm surge events. The inundated area was displayed under different projections and quantified. The results produced output maps showing the distribution of inundation/flooding around the island of Viti Levu as well as the extent of flooding. Six scenarios for sea-level rise were used (0.09, 0.18, 0.48, 0.50, 0.59, 0.88 m). Six scenarios for storm surge were used with return intervals of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 years. High risk and priority locations are identified as Fiji’s capital Suva, the major tourist center and arrival port of Nadi, and Fiji’s second city Lautoka. Future action, adaptation and response strategies in these identified locations must occur to reduce risk from climate change.     

近14年西北地区甲醛柱浓度的时空变化研究

基于臭氧监测仪（OMI）卫星反演数据,对2005~2018年西北4省区域大气甲醛柱浓度数据进行提取及分析,探讨其时空变化特征及影响因素.结果表明：在时间变化上,14a甲醛柱浓度整体呈先上升后下降的波动变化趋势,夏秋季显著高于冬春季,且冬季均值略高于春季.在空间分布上,甲醛柱浓度自西向东、自北向南逐渐升高,高值区集中于陕西和甘肃东南部及青海西南部;低值区集中于宁夏、青海和甘肃的西北部;稳定性呈现出东部分散、西部集聚、差异显著的分布格局.影响甲醛柱浓度变化的因素包括自然和人为因素,自然因素中,甲醛柱浓度受地形影响显著,与风向、气温均呈现显著正相关;人为因素中,甲醛柱浓度与人口密度、地区生产总值、工业废气排放量及建筑房屋竣工面积均表现出正相关关系,与工业废气排放量的相关度最高.大气中甲醛分子与气溶胶粒子二者间呈显著正相关关系,这进一步说明甲醛浓度受到了诸多因素的综合影响,但气溶胶粒子、气温及工业废气的排放是主导因素.     

NOx存在条件下相对湿度对甲苯氧化产物的影响

利用流动管反应器模拟甲苯与氧化剂×OH在NO_x存在条件下的反应,定量测定了不同相对湿度条件下（17.5%、35%、50%、70%）反应生成的部分气相产物和颗粒相产物,计算了不同相中产物产率,测量了不同相对湿度下的颗粒相有机碳（OC）产率,推导了相对湿度对甲苯氧化反应的影响机制.结果表明,相对湿度不仅对甲苯与×OH反应途径比例有影响,还对产物的产率及氧化程度有影响.     

磁性氧化石墨处理乳化含油废水及磁致增强效应

以高铁酸钾为氧化剂,基于改进Hummers法制备了新型磁性氧化石墨材料,在SEM、FTIR、氮气吸脱附和表面接触角表征基础上,探究了该材料处理乳化含油废水的效果及磁致增强效应.结果表明：相较于石墨,磁性氧化石墨比表面积增大,表面有卷曲结构并负载着Fe₃O₄颗粒,具有含氧官能团,存在疏水性较强的微观孔隙结构.在外加磁场条件下,磁性氧化石墨团聚,形成疏水性宏观孔隙结构,利于乳化油滴的吸附和附着.磁性氧化石墨处理乳化含油废水的能力远好于石墨与粉末活性炭,且处理效率与磁场强度成正相关,COD去除率可达95%以上.使用后的磁性氧化石墨进行溶剂萃取或热处理,可以循环使用.磁性氧化石墨经过4次循环使用,热再生效率为92%,溶剂萃取再生效率为86%.以上研究为乳化含油废水的处理提供了一种有效的方法.     

中国乘用车塑料的动态物质流分析

结合行业信息并基于动态物质流模型,本文对1950~2050年间中国乘用车塑料流量与存量进行了历史测算与情景分析.历史测算表明：1950~2018年国内乘用车行业累计消耗了以聚丙烯（PP）、聚氨酯（PU）等为主的塑料3278万t,产生了337万t塑料废弃物;报废汽车拆解后的车用废塑料仅28%得到回收利用.针对未来情况,本文设计了乘用车保有量、单车塑料使用量两大关键因素下的不同情景组合.结果显示车用塑料存量及废塑料产生量将大幅增长,到2050年存量将达到0.7~2.7亿t,废塑料产生量将达到500~1600万t,汽车拆解和塑料再生等相关行业对此应充分关注.到2050年车用废塑料回收率若能提升至80%,将减少376万t/a的车用废塑料填埋或焚烧,显著减少环境风险.     

农业经营规模化发展对环境效率的影响——基于地块层面的实证分析

为探析农业规模化经营与农业环境可持续性之间的关系,对农业经营规模对农业环境效率的影响进行理论分析,并在此基础上构建了物料平衡原则下农业环境效率测算模型和农业环境效率影响模型.基于2004~2016年浙江省农户水稻种植地块层面的面板数据,实证检验了土地面积、劳动投入、资本投入和农业产出等农业经营规模指标对农业环境效率的影响.结果显示,农业规模化发展将因投入和产出的扩张以多种方式影响其环境效率,其中土地面积规模与农业环境效率之间呈倒U型关系,劳动投入和资本投入对农业生产环境效率均有负向的影响,而农业产出规模的增加将促进农业环境效率的提升.