Comparing urban air quality in Europe in real time a review of existing air quality indices and the proposal of a common alternative

The EU directives on air quality force member states to inform the public on the status of the ambient air quality. The Internet is commonly used for this purpose and often air quality is being presented as an index ranging from good to bad. A review of existing websites and air quality indices shows that the way air quality is interpreted differs considerably. The paper presents a new air quality index. The index is part of a project to develop a website dedicated to comparing air quality in European cities. The common air quality index (CAQI) is not aimed at replacing existing local indices. The CAQI is a set of two indices: one for roadside monitoring sites and one for average city background conditions. Differentiating between roadside and general city conditions is a first step in assuring consistence in the parameters that are being compared.     

Value Orientation and Forest Management: The Forest Health Debate

Among both forest practitioners and the general public, “forest health” has become an issue of contention. Whereas the debate over which treatments will best achieve healthy forests has been framed largely by the popular media and politicians as a struggle between industry and environmentalists, the views of the general public remain unexplored. Survey results from Oregon and Washington residents were used to assess the relationships between respondents’ self-described environmental or economic priorities and the following two variables: (1) acceptability of forest management practices and (2) perceived threats to forest health. Findings indicate that active management was generally accepted by a majority of respondents regardless of their environmental or economic orientation. Disagreement emerged, however, when the appropriateness of specific management practices within specific forest conditions was examined. Additionally, strong evidence was found for a relationship between self-described environmental or economic orientation and perceived threats to forest health. Those with an environmentally oriented viewpoint tended to perceive human-caused factors as the largest threats, whereas those with an economic orientation saw naturally occurring processes as the greatest threats. These findings suggest that the issue of contention is not active management per se. Rather, the major divisions in the forest health debate are defined by specific contexts and circumstances, as well as the management practices used.     

National baseline survey of soil quality in the Netherlands

To determine background values of the 252 chemical compounds listed in Dutch legislation, a survey was designed with the aim of estimating percentiles of the cumulative frequency distributions and areal fractions exceeding the former, legislative reference values. Sampling locations were selected by probability sampling, so that in estimating the target quantities no model assumptions on the spatial variation were required, and valid estimates could be obtained by design-based inference. Strata in random sampling were formed by overlaying an aggregated soil map and land use map. For most of the heavy metals the areal fraction with concentrations in the topsoil (0-10 cm) exceeding the reference value was smaller than the allowable maximum of 5%. For these compounds a background value was determined smaller than the reference value. Exceptions were V, Co, Ba and Cu, for which a background value was defined (slightly) larger than the reference value.     

Spaghetti soup: The complex world of food waste behaviours

There is growing awareness of the positive impact of reducing the amount of wasted food on greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, food and water security, and land use. In developed nations, food waste generated in homes is a large contributor to the total amount of food waste. The behaviours and practices associated with this waste prevention (and waste generation) are complex for a number of reasons: food waste is the result of multiple, interacting activities and this leads to separation between the activity and their consequences. These behaviours are usually performed for reasons unrelated to waste prevention and have both a marked habitual element and a pronounced emotional component. Furthermore, the prevention of food waste has less ‘visibility’ to other people (e.g. neighbours) than many other pro-environmental behaviours (e.g. recycling), and therefore social norms around ‘waste’ play a reduced role compared to more ‘visible’ activities.This paper discusses insights into these behaviours from research funded by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and its partners in the UK. It discusses how these insights have been used in the development of a successful public-engagement campaign, which has been influential in the recent reduction in household food waste. These insights are also discussed in light of commonly used behavioural models, highlighting that many of these models are not designed for multiple, complex behaviours. However, considering the subject of food waste through the ‘lenses’ of different academic disciplines has helped the development of the public engagement on this issue.     

Public acceptability towards environmental policy measures: Value-matching appeals

People’s acceptability of environmental policy measures is vital for a successful implementation. Identifying how information concerning radical policy measures can be improved may increase support and generate more positive attitudes towards the policy. The effect of tailored information on acceptability towards implementing a proposed congestion charge was investigated by matching ecocentric arguments to biospherically value-oriented participants, and anthropocentric arguments to those who endorsed egoistic values. 627 respondents living in two small Swedish cities participated via a web-based survey. The results show that the single arguments (anthropocentric or ecocentric appeals) were evaluated more favourably than the combination of arguments (including both anthropocentric and ecocentric appeals). Strong biospheric and strong egoistic values were associated with positive and negative evaluations of the policy proposal, respectively. Finally, while respondents who endorsed egoistic values tended to be more positive towards the proposal after reading anthropocentric arguments (value match) than after reading pro-environmental arguments (value mismatch), the opposite effect was observed for respondents who did not endorse egoistic values. Our results suggest that tailoring information with regard to people’s values would be effective in promoting positive attitudes towards important policy measures.     

长江三角洲地区CO2浓度本底特征及来源分析

二氧化碳(CO₂)是引起全球变暖的最主要的温室气体(GHGs),直接观测大气CO₂浓度对于研究人类活动和自然活动对大气温室气体的贡献至关重要,而在多个高度上观测大气CO₂浓度则有助于明晰CO₂浓度的时空变化规律,确定其影响机制.本文利用临安区域大气本底站2018-12—2020-11不同高度(距地面21 m、53 m)处的CO₂在线观测数据,结合日变化及地面风的影响,对观测数据进行筛分,采用HYSPLIT后向轨迹模型和潜在源贡献因子法,初步探讨气象因素以及大气远距离传输对长江三角洲地区大气CO₂浓度的影响.结果表明,临安站高低层大气CO₂日变化呈夜间高于白天的特点;低层CO₂浓度大于高层,冬季高低层浓度差小于其他三季;日较差呈夏季>春季>秋季>冬季的特点;大气CO₂本底季节变化由于受到风向和气团传输的影响呈现出冬季>春季>秋季>夏季的特点;潜在源贡献分析得...     

福建省自然灾害特点及背景分析

本文根据福建省历史上自然灾害事例概括出洪涝、干旱、地震、水土流失、冰雹、寒害等自然灾害特点。并从地理位置、环流因素、地形、地质构造、人为因素等方面分析了福建自然灾害形成的背景原因。最后针对福建省自然灾害特点提出了减灾建议。     

Heritage as exemplar: a pedagogical role for heritage studies in values education

Studies of heritage at all levels of education can help foster understanding of other peoples and cultures and of the environmental issues facing us all. Used judicially, such studies have a highly positive role to play in educating people everywhere to contribute to making the world a sustainable and just environment for future generations. They provide examples or case studies, in the pedagogical sense used by educationalists, that illustrate many valuable points that are central to a sound values education contributing to ensuring that the public, and hopefully the political elite, are engaged in a push for such a just and sustainable future. Individual examples of heritage sites, and especially of World Heritage properties, contain valuable lessons of great pedagogical value.     

环境影响评价中容易忽视的问题及处理方法

在环境影响评价过程中,经常会遇到一些简单却又很容易被忽视的问题,如水环境评价中的pH值、DO、大气环境影响预测中的取样时间等。如若处理不当将直接影响到环评报告书评价结论,只有掌握这些问题的处理方法,才能不断提高环评人员的业务水平和评价报告的质量。     

上海地区13种金属土壤背景值初探

对上海地区518组土壤金属浓度数据进行归纳和空间分析,得出了上海地区13种金属砷、铍、镉、铬、铜、铅、汞、镍、银、铊、锌、锑和硒在土壤中的背景值及空间分布图,直观地表现了上海地区13种金属的空间分布特点,为今后确定上海地区土壤污染的标准提供参考.