Understanding local community attitudes toward industrial development in the Great Barrier Reef region World Heritage Area: are environmental impacts perceived to overshadow economic benefits?

Conflicts between industrial development and environmental conservation can be particularly acute when such development occurs in the vicinity of World Heritage sites. A key example is the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) in northeastern Australia, where a 2012 review by the World Heritage Council found that rapid port development inshore of the coral reef posed significant risks to local marine ecosystems. Such instances pose pressing challenges for decision‐makers seeking to manage World Heritage sites for multiple values and needs, including those of key stakeholder groups, such as local communities. There is increasingly a societal expectation that public decision‐making takes into account local views and priorities, and that companies seek a ‘social license to operate’. This research explored local community attitudes toward port development associated with the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal through the GBRWHA. Using data drawn from a survey and interviews, the research examined how a range of geographical factors, including proximity to gas infrastructure and the perceived impacts and risks of development to the local community, economy and environment shape community perceptions of the industry. Findings suggest that local attitudes toward gas and coal terminal development inshore of the GBRWHA are shaped predominantly by community perceptions of environmental impacts and risks associated with such infrastructure, in contrast to a broader public narrative that focuses largely on economic benefits. A complex combination of other factors, including social impacts, personal environmental values, community trust in industry, and equity in decision‐making and distribution of the risks and benefits of industrial development also contribute. Placed in a broader, global context, the findings have important implications for public decision‐making processes in Australia and elsewhere as they suggest that, for local communities, the perceived impacts of gas development on the environment may overshadow the benefits of industry.     

Local government,political decentralisation and resilience to natural hazard-associated disasters

Natural hazards affect development and can cause significant and long-term suffering for those affected. Research has shown that sustained long-term disaster preparedness combined with appropriate response and recovery are needed to deliver effective risk reductions. However, as the newly agreed Sendai framework recognises, this knowledge has not been translated into action. This research aims to contribute to our understanding of how to deliver longer term and sustained risk reduction by evaluating the role of political decentralisation in disaster outcomes. Specifically, we investigate whether countries which devolve power to the local level experience reduced numbers of people affected by storms and earthquakes, and have lower economic damage. Using regression analysis and cross-country data from 1950 to 2006, we find that, in relation to both storms and earthquakes, greater transfers of political power to subnational tiers of government reduce hazard impacts on the population. The downside is that more politically decentralised countries, which are usually wealthier countries, can increase the direct economic losses associated with a natural hazard impact after the storm or earthquake than those which are more centralised. However, overall, it seems advantageous to give subnational governments more authority and autonomy in storm and earthquake risk planning.     

金融深化对绿色发展的门槛效应分析

在绿色发展的过程中,金融作为现代经济体系中必不可少的一环正扮演着越来越重要的角色。从一般的理论认知和实践而言,可从金融的深化和广化两个角度来看待金融发展。相对金融广化而言,金融深化更能体现金融对于资本的配置功能和金融体系不断完善的过程,它通过引导投资边际收益率促进绿色发展的效率,进而影响整个绿色经济系统的全要素生产率。本文通过构建一个经济内生增长模型来检验金融深化对绿色发展的影响效应,以2003—2014年中国280个地级单元的面板数据为样本,采用面板门槛模型分析其内在作用的非对称性。结果表明:(1)模型推导发现,金融深化作用在不同生产部门所占份额的配置未达到最优时,金融深化对绿色发展存在门槛效应,即金融深化对绿色发展作用存在可能的非对称性;否则,二者以近似对数函数的关系相互作用。(2)实证发现,金融深化对绿色发展在中国地级层面存在一重门槛效应,似然比检验结果表明该门槛效应在1%的临界值下显著,并且其门槛值大小为0.635 5,门限回归结果显示金融深化对绿色发展在门限值前后的偏效应系数分别为-0.056 8和0.129 9,说明中国金融深化与绿色发展的关系呈现库兹涅茨曲线的倒U形形状。(3)稳健性检验发现,控制变量对金融深化导致的绿色发展门槛效应的扰动仅体现在P值的变化范围之内且变化幅度较小,门限值的大小及置信区间不会发生明显变化,反映中国金融深化与绿色发展的关系结构依然稳健。显然,应当大力推进金融深化过程,突破"门槛效应"的制约,充分发挥金融深化对资本的配置效应,从而推动中国绿色发展进程。     

长江经济带PM_(2.5)时空特征及影响因素研究

大气细颗粒物(PM_(2.5))因其对空气环境质量乃至人类健康的巨大危害而逐渐引起学者们的关注。本文以我国综合实力最强、战略支撑作用最为突出的区域之一——长江经济带为研究对象,基于城市级空气质量监测数据,运用地理学时空分析与GIS可视化方法探索并呈现了2015年长江经济带PM_(2.5)的时空分布特征及其演变规律;在此基础上,结合空间回归模型考察了PM_(2.5)浓度与区域城市发展之间的内在关系。结果表明,就空间特征而言,长江中下游地区PM_(2.5)污染较长江上游地区更为严重,长江北岸地区比长江南岸地区更为严重;PM_(2.5)高浓度集聚地带主要位于鄂皖苏大部分地区,与空气质量较佳的云南及其周边地区呈"对角"分布状态。长江经济带内城市间PM_(2.5)浓度存在着显著的正向空间自相关,且自相关性随距离增大而不断减弱,其门槛尺度约为900 km;在这一范围内,PM_(2.5)空间集聚效应较为明显。就时间特征而言,冬季PM_(2.5)浓度相对较高,春秋两季次之,夏季空气质量最好;各地区浓度分布在年初相对离散,后有所趋同。此外,PM_(2.5)与其他类型的大气污染物(如SO2、NO2、O3)浓度两两之间均存在着显著的正相关性,暗示大气污染物从原发污染演变为二次污染,形成恶性循环。空间回归分析结果表明,PM_(2.5)污染随经济发展水平的提高呈现先上升后下降的趋势,在一定程度上支持了"环境库兹涅兹曲线"假说;且人口密度、公共交通运输强度均在不同程度上导致长江经济带PM_(2.5)浓度的升高。最后,从区域性联防联控、不同类型大气污染物协同治理、促进经济发展方式转型等方面为长江经济带的大气环境治理提出切实可行的政策建议。     

东北地区农业现代化与新型城镇化协调发展研究

新型城镇化与农业现代化作为"三化"、"四化"乃至"五化"战略的重要核心内容,研究新型城镇化与农业现代化的协调发展对于开创中国未来城乡经济社会发展一体化的新格局至关重要。以东北三省34个地级城市为研究对象,构建农业现代化与新型城镇化的评价指标体系,结合熵值赋权、变异系数赋权的综合确权法测算城市农业现代化与新型城镇化的发展水平,基于耦合协调度模型探讨二者的耦合度与协调发展度,并划分其阶段类型,研究表明:(1)东北三省新型城镇化的发展水平排序:辽宁省吉林省黑龙江省,农业现代化的发展优势排序:黑龙江省辽宁省吉林省;辽宁与吉林省的新型城镇化发展速度超前于农业现代化,仅黑龙江省的新型城镇化发展滞后于农业现代化;(2)东北三省新型城镇化的高值区分布在以哈尔滨为核心的黑龙江省西南、以长春为核心的吉林省中部、以沈阳和大连为核心的辽宁省中部及南端,农业现代化的高值区分布在哈—大—齐—绥沿线的松嫩平原;沈阳、大连、哈尔滨、长春新型城镇化水平居于东北三省前列,哈尔滨、沈阳、齐齐哈尔、绥化农业现代化水平位于首位;(3)辽宁省新型城镇化与农业现代化的耦合协调发展度均强于黑龙江省,吉林省略低;耦合度高值区位于黑龙江省东北部的三江平原、辽宁省的沿海经济带,协调发展度高值区位于黑龙江省西南部的松嫩平原及以长春、沈阳、大连为核心的小范围圈层区域;仅哈尔滨与沈阳市处于勉强协调阶段,多数城市处于高强度、中高强度拮抗耦合与轻度、中度失调阶段。     

Communicating risk for vulnerable groups: a case study of the Mano community’s strategies for collective knowledge to action

This paper discusses the emergent interest in risk communication as a strategy for disaster risk reduction. Communication plays an essential role in understanding risk, but studies suggest that people often do not respond in the way that risk experts anticipate. For risk communication to be effective, vulnerable communities need to understand risk within the local context as well as in terms of sustainability. Risk messages offer communities a way to enhance their collective knowledge of existing vulnerabilities, leading them towards alternative solutions for action. A longitudinal study of the Mano community development approach and its recovery from the 1995 Kobe earthquake illustrates how risk communication dynamics contributed to the community’s sustainable risk reduction. The study concludes that risk communication is a collaborative way for a community to work with risk experts, own their risk information, influence existing policies and practices, develop solutions to reduce vulnerability, and ultimately enhance a community’s capacity for managing future risk.     

Comparison of the daily global solar radiation from different data sources in Northwest China climate

The solar radiation data are of high importance to the solar energy systems. Conventional methods to obtain the solar radiation data are from weather stations, solar radiation models, commercial software databases, and field measurements. In the present study, a new daily global solar radiation model is proposed, by combining the quadratic function of sunshine fraction and sine function of the day of the year. The solar radiation model calculated data are then compared with China Meteorological Data Sharing System (CMDSS) data, TRNSYS data, and field-measured data in Northwest China climate. It is found that the newly proposed solar radiation model has better performance than the other nine solar radiation models in the literature. The solar radiation model calculated data fit well with the CMDSS annually average data. The TRNSYS data are a bit larger than the CMDSS annually average data in summer half year and a little smaller than those in winter half year. The solar radiation model and the CMDSS annually average data have the best correlation, whereas the TRNSYS data and the field-measured data have the worst correlation. The solar radiation model calculated data have the best correlation with the other three data sources.     

Green and compatible industrial development in Western China

Western China has lagged a lot in terms of industrial structure and economic development,compared with the national average.And China announced its target of CO_2 emission reduction,i.e.by 2020,CO_2 emission per GDP will drop by40-45%compared with 2005.The target will be incorporated into China's long-term industrial planning.Against this background,this paper will make a comprehensive examination of the industrial development of Western China,aiming to discover a green and compatible way.First,we analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of regional industrial structure for the period 2000-2010.Second,we try to discover the industrial structure optimization path for Western China by employing the Vector Auto Regression model.Lastly,we try to provide some advice and suggestions for further industrial development in Western China.Our examination shows that further industrial development in Western China should pay full attention to resource conservation and recycling,and develop on a green and compatible path.     

全球低碳发展评估及中国低碳发展的实现路径

低碳发展日益成为国际关注的热点问题,中国正处在快速工业化和城镇化进程当中,通过低碳发展实现经济社会转型尤为迫切。在全球大背景下正确判断中国的低碳发展水平,汲取各国有益的低碳发展经验,寻求适合中国的低碳发展路径尤为重要。从低碳发展特征指标变动出发,通过统计分析,得出全球低碳发展历史和现状水平,以及中国所处的位置。研究表明,近20年来全球碳生产力水平不断提高,近年来中国的碳生产力水平飞速提升,但是中国的碳生产力仍然远远低于全球平均水平,离先进国家的差距更大,不足法国的1/10,人均二氧化碳排放增速位居世界前列,减排压力巨大。因此,结合国内外实践经验,总结了中国低碳发展的5个实现路径,分别是调整能源结构、发展低碳产业、倡导低碳消费、建设低碳城市和加强碳汇建设。     

房地产开发地铁振动达标距离研究

已建和待建的多条地铁线路穿过某房地产开发地块,为了防治地铁运行对建筑造成振动环境影响,需要设定建筑靠近地铁的最小达标距离,包括采取减振措施后的距离。通过现场系统实验监测结合数值模型分析,从工程实践的角度提出了上述距离。对于实验中观察到随距离出现振动局部放大以及进口与国产仪器监测结果不同的现象,佐证了有关学者的理论与实验分析,提出:(1)现有地铁环境影响评价报告常用的60m评价范围偏小,推荐可扩大至80~100m;(2)迫切需要新的振动环境标准发布,避免有关项目的环境管理要求偏低。