Environmental Damage,Abandoned Treaties,and Fossil-Fuel Dependence: The Coming Costs of Oil-and-Gas Exploration in the “1002 Area” of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Contrary to claims from American politicians, lobbyists, and oil and gas executives, allowing energy development in the Alaskan Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) will harm the environment, compromise international law, erode the social significance of wilderness protection, and ultimately fail to␣increase the energy security of the United States. After exploring a brief history of the ANWR controversy, this piece argues that the operation of oil and gas refineries in ANWR will release discharged solids, drilling waste, and dirty diesel fuel into the ecosystem’s food-chain, as they have from oil operations in Prudhoe Bay. Less obvious but equally important, oil and gas exploration in ANWR will violate a number of international treaties on biodiversity protection. In the end, development in ANWR will threaten the concept of wilderness protection, and will do little to end US dependence on foreign sources of energy. About the Author: Benjamin K. Sovacool is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. He works as a research analyst for the Consortium on Energy Restructuring and is a Senior Research Fellow for the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research. He also just completed a Graduate Fellowship in Energy Policy at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

近48a宁夏寒潮的变化特征及可能影响的成因初步分析

利用1961—2008年宁夏日温度及逐月北半球500 hPa环流特征量、北极涛动指数(AOI)和NCAR/NCEP再分析资料,对宁夏寒潮频次变化的气候特征进行了分析,并对影响其变化的可能原因进行了讨论,结果表明:宁夏寒潮活动各地差异较大,主要出现在春季;近48年,春秋季寒潮频次呈弱增加趋势,冬季呈弱减少趋势;寒潮频次与AOI、气温呈负相关,与西伯利亚高压、东亚冬季风强度及入侵中国的冷空气活动频次呈正相关,相关关系在秋冬季明显,春季不明显;在气候变暖的大背景下,从20世纪80年代末开始,随着AOI从负位相转为正位相,冬季西伯利亚高压和东亚冬季风强度的减弱使得宁夏地表温度持续升高,是宁夏冬季寒潮频次减少的可能原因;春季也有类似的变化,不同的是:20世纪80年代中期以前,西伯利亚高压对寒潮活动作用更显著,之后,随气温持续增暖,冷空气活动对寒潮频次的影响更明显;秋季,西伯利亚高压和冷空气活动对寒潮的影响更直接明显。研究还发现,进入21世纪后,随着全球持续增暖,北极涛动对西伯利亚高压和东亚冬季风的影响有所减弱。因此,北极涛动、西伯利亚高压、冷空气活动频次、东亚冬季风、气温这几者之间的相互反馈作用是宁夏寒潮频次变化的可能原因。     

西北冰洋海域表层沉积物中厌氧菌分布特征

用逐步稀释法在4℃和25℃培养条件下测定了西北冰洋海域24个表层沉积物样品中厌氧菌(Anaerobic bacteria,AAB) 的检出率和含量.同时,分析了这两项指标的水平分布（纬度间、经度间）差异,以及在不同水深的变化特征.结果表明,在4℃和25℃培养条件下厌氧菌检出率高达100%,AAB含量范围分别为9.00×102~2.40×107cell·g-1和2.90×104~2.40×107cell·g-1,平均含量分别为4.54×106cell·g-1和3.99×106cell·g-1.AAB含量存在水平分布差异,随着纬度升高,或经度自西向东,或水深的加大,AAB的含量均呈现逐渐降低的趋势.     

北极沉积物中硫酸盐还原菌与生物地球化学要素的相关分析

对北极楚科奇海、白令海测区34个沉积物样品的硫酸盐还原菌(SRB)含量与CaCO3、Si、S、P、Cd、Fe、Ti、Pb、Hg等地球化学要素作了相关分析．同时分析了SRB与其所在沉积物粒度与底层水温间的关系．结果表明：SRB与Si、砂及底层水温为正相关；SRB与CaCO3、Fe、Ti、P、Pb、Hg、粉砂、粘土为负相关；而SRB与Cd、S的相关性因海区不同而不同．既有负相关．也有正相关．分析了这些相关状况及其原因．     

中国第二次北极科学考察沿线气溶胶可溶性离子分布特征和来源

对2003年7月15～9月28日间中国第二次北极科学考察沿线所采集的气溶胶样品进行分析,获得了Na 、NH4 、K 、Mg2 、Ca2 、Cl-、MSA、SO2-4、NO3-、C2O2-4和CH3COO-11种离子的浓度.离子组成表明,气溶胶主要以海盐颗粒为主,其中(Na Cl-)的贡献平均为60.2%;其次为硫酸盐.根据因子分析,11种离子归为4个因子,解释方差为83.7%.因子1包括Na 、nss-Mg2 、nss-Ca2 、Cl-和nss-SO2-4,代表陆地和海洋混合源,解释方差为41.2%;因子2包括NH 4、nss-K 和NO3-,来源于化石燃料燃烧和生物质燃烧所释放的二次污染物,解释方差为18.9%;因子3只有MSA,来源于海洋表层浮游植物排放的二甲基硫(DMS)的氧化,解释方差为11.9%;因子4包括CH3COO-和C2O2-4,主要来源于高纬度的北温带北部森林大火,解释方差为11.6%.     

Traumatic brain injury-related hospitalizations and deaths among American Indians and Alaska natives — United States, 2008–2014

IntroductionDespite progress, injury remains the leading cause of preventable death for American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/AN), aged 1 to 44. There are few publications on injuries among the AI/AN population, especially those on traumatic brain injury (TBI). A TBI can cause short- or long-term changes in cognition, communication, and/or emotion. Methods: To describe changes over time in TBI incidence by mechanism of injury, injury intent, and age group among AI/ANs, the CDC analyzed hospitalization and death data from the 2008–2014 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) National Inpatient Sample (NIS) and the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), respectively. Results: From 2008-2014, the incidence of TBI-related hospitalizations increased by 32% (1,477 in 2008 to 1,945 in 2014) and resulted in a 21% increase in age-adjusted rates of people hospitalized with TBI. TBI-related deaths increased in number (569 in 2008 to 644 in 2014) and age-adjusted rate (22.7 in 2008 to 25.4 in 2014) by approximately 13% and 12%, respectively. Motor-vehicle crashes were the leading cause of TBI-related deaths among AI/ANs aged 0–54 years. Practical application: Prevention efforts should focus on increasing motor-vehicle safety and advancing prevention strategies for other leading causes of TBI, including: falls, intentional self-harm, and assaults.     

EFFECTS OF LIME-SLUDGE DISCHARGE ON AN ARCTIC RIVER1

ABSTRACT: The Fairbanks Water Treatment Plant in Fairbanks, Alaska, processes approximately 3 MGD of drinking water using lime softening. Approximately 0.3 MGD of lime-sludge from the treatment process is combined with effluent from a nearby power plant and discharged to the Chena River. There is little information available on the impact of water-treatment sludge discharges, and virtually no information on the impacts of such discharges in polar environments. Concern surrounding the discharge of water treatment sludges have centered on alum-sludge due to the potential toxic effects of aluminum. Because of the relatively benign composition of lime-sludge, very little research has been published. However, there is the possibility that discharge of solids will result in sedimentation, accumulation of solids, and subsequent impacts on benthic organisms. This paper reports on the results of a study to determine if lime-sludge discharge from the water treatment plant is adversely impacting the river environment. The results provide basic information on the important variables of concern in lime-discharges to rivers. Samples from the discharge of the water treatment plant and combined water treatment plant/power plant effluent were collected weekly over a one-year period, and in-stream benthic and water column samples were collected biweekly during the fall and spring. Sediment and water quality data indicate that while significant accumulation of sludge solids is found downstream of the water treatment plant outfall, they are flushed out of the system by spring flows, which are significantly increased by snow melt. This process is most likely repeated on a yearly cycle. Hence, the data suggest that the FMUS water treatment plant's discharge of lime-sludge is probably not adversely impacting the river. More generally, this may indicate that the natural flow variations and sediment-laden characteristics of Arctic, glacier-fed rivers may assimilate large quantities of nonputrescible solids without significant changes in the natural river environment. Further research in this area is required to verify this conclusion.     

Time series analysis of elemental and isotopic data from biomineralized whale tissue

A temporal record of environmental conditions is often contained within accretionary biological tissue. These records can provide knowledge of the environmental conditions that existed at the time the tissue was formed. In this study, we look at trace element concentrations and isotopic ratios of carbon and nitrogen as contained in baleen from bowhead whales in the eastern and western Arctic Ocean. Time series techniques, including maximum likelihood method and likelihood ratio tests, are applied to analysis of data and inference about their mean structures.     

The Danish eulerian hemispheric model — a three-dimensional air pollution model used for the arctic

A three-dimensional Eulerian hemispheric air pollution model, the Danish Eulerian Hemispheric Model (DEHM), is in development at the National Environmental Research Institute (NERI). The model has been used to study long-range transport of air pollution in the Northern Hemisphere. The present version of the model includes long-range transport of sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and particulate sulphate (SC₄²⁻. The chemistry in the model is described by a simple linear oxidation of SO₂ to SO₄²⁻, and the wet deposition of SO₂ and SO₄⁻ is estimated based on the amount of precipitation, which is calculated from the contents of liquid cloud water (see Christensen, Air Pollution Modelling and its Applicatioons, Vol. X, pp. 119–127, Vol. XI, pp. 249–256, Plenum press, New York; 1995, Ph.D. thesis, National Environmental Research Institute, Denmark). The model has been used to study the air pollution in the Arctic. Results from yr simulation with an analysis of the results is presented: the model results are verified by comparisons, to measurements not only from the Arctic region but also from Europe and Canada. Some examples of episodes in the Arctic including analysis of the meteorological conditions during the episodes are presented. Finally, the model has been used to estimate the contribution from the different source regions on the northern hemisphere to the Arctic sulphur pollution.