Response of a Fuzzy INdex of Ecosystem integrity (FINE) to water and sedimentary chemical data in two northern Adriatic lagoons

The European WFD (2000/60/EC) requires the assessment of the ecological quality status of water bodies, and gives great importance to the biological components of the ecosystem. A multimetric, fuzzy-based index for the evaluation of environmental quality (FINE: Fuzzy INdex of Ecosystem integrity) has been developed. The FINE index was calculated at 7 sites in the Sacca di Goro and the Valli di Comacchio (Adriatic Sea), where water and sedimentary chemical data were available for the years 2004 and 2005. A significant positive correlation was found between FINE values and dissolved oxygen, while significant negative correlations were observed between FINE values and transparency, nitrogen and phosphorous in the water column, and heavy metals and PCB in the sediments.     

Use of biomarkers in zooplankton for assessment of the ‘health status’ of marine and brackish environments: a short overview

The biomarker approach has been used for 25 years to study the environmental quality of marine, brackish and freshwater ecosystems. Biomarkers may indicate health status and can be applied to organisms of all zoological phyla by destructive or non destructive methods. For 5 years we have been using this approach in zooplankton to detect ecotoxicological alterations at low levels of the food chain due to contaminants. Here we review our approach to validate and apply biomarker techniques in zooplankton. We discuss advantages, limitations, some results and future research. We indicate that biomarkers in zooplankton can be used as new indices of trophic status and ecological integrity of Italian marine coastal and lagoon environments, to be included among the tools specified by Italian law D.Lgs. 152/2006.     

Environmental education,community mobilization and sustainable development in Hong Kong: a comparative perspective

SUMMARY

This paper focuses on efforts to promote environmental education and community mobilization around environmental issues in Hong Kong. It is primarily concerned with efforts directed at the broader community (i.e. the population as a whole) rather than with environmental education through formal school and college curricula. The paper draws on a recently completed study commissioned by the Environmental Campaign Committee, the principal source of financial support for such efforts undertaken by environmental NGOs, community groups and educational institutions in Hong Kong. The study examined how and to what effect the Committee had used its financial resources between 1994–1999. It also examined international experience with a view to recommending changes in the overall approach to environmental education and community mobilization initiatives and their funding in Hong Kong.

The paper suggests that the existing approach to community-wide environmental education and its funding in Hong Kong have suffered from various weaknesses, most notably the absence of an integrated and goal-oriented strategy, an over-reliance on a ‘top-down’ campaign-based approach, a failure to establish explicit linkages with the concept of sustainable development and to ground initiatives at the local neighbourhood and community levels, and a preoccupation with the financial inputs provided to support this work at the expense of effective monitoring and auditing of project outputs and benefits.     

东湖、汤逊湖和梁子湖沉积物磷形态及pH对磷释放的影响

文章采用淡水沉积物中磷形态标准测试程序(SMT)研究了东湖、汤逊湖和梁子湖沉积物中磷的形态分布,并比较了不同pH条件下沉积物磷释放特征的差异性。结果表明:东湖沉积物总磷质量分数最高,平均值1.232 mg.g-1,其次为汤逊湖(0.762mg.g-1),梁子湖沉积物总磷质量分数最低(0.572 mg.g-1);3个湖泊上覆水总磷质量浓度也表现出类似的变化规律,线性相关性分析显示上覆水中总磷质量浓度与沉积物总磷质量分数显著正相关。东湖和梁子湖沉积物总磷中无机磷和有机磷所占比例较接近,汤逊湖无机磷所占比例远低于有机磷。不同湖泊之间磷形态的分布并没有一定的规律性,湖泊的地理分布以及人为因素可能是造成磷形态差异的主要因素。当pH为2.0~7.0时,3个湖泊沉积物中溶解性活性磷(SRP)释放量均呈先增加后减小的趋势;当pH为7.0~12.0时,SRP释放量呈增加趋势。相关分析结果表明,SRP的释放与有机质的质量分数无显著相关性。方差分析结果显示3个湖泊沉积物在黏粒和粉粒组成上均没有显著差异(P>0.1),表明实验样品的粒径组成不是造成各个湖泊间磷释放差异的原因。不同pH条件下,SRP释放量与沉积物总磷质量分数显著正相关;酸性环境下,SRP释放量与酸式磷(HCl-P)的相关性优于碱式磷(NaOH-P),碱性环境下则刚好相反。     

Incorporating health outcomes into environmental justice research: The case of children's asthma and air pollution in Phoenix,Arizona

Asthma is a health condition that is also an environmental justice issue. Using an environmental justice frame, this paper explores socio-demographic, indoor hazard, and air quality factors that contribute to disparities in asthma hospitalizations. Multivariate Poisson regression models predicting asthma hospitalizations at the zip code level are employed to examine the case of metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona (AZ). Controlling for socio-demographics, indoor hazards, and toxic releases from industry, ozone was the strongest predictor of asthma hospitalizations. This paper contributes to the project of inserting health measures into quantitative environmental justice studies.     

以缓释肥的形式回收污泥溶解液中磷的研究

以聚合硫酸铁(PFS)为絮凝剂,单宁酸为助凝剂回收污泥溶解液中的磷。研究结果表明:在铁盐投加量为160mg/L,pH为8,单宁酸投加量为10 mg/L条件下,磷酸盐的回收率可达到97.0%。单宁酸促进了混凝沉淀物中磷的释放,表明利用该方法回收磷作为缓释肥的可行性。将沉淀物作为缓释磷肥施用于土壤中能够明显促进黑麦草的生长。     

不同硝/铵比值对小麦幼苗根系释放氢氧根的影响

为研发酸化土壤的生物修复技术,采用水培试验和自动电位滴定装置研究酸性条件下氮素形态对小麦幼苗根系释放氢氧根及培养液pH变化的影响。结果表明,小麦幼苗在初始pH值为4.0,n(NO3-)∶n(NH4+)比值(以下简称硝/铵比)分别为15∶1、3∶1和1∶1的营养液中培养6 d后营养液pH升高,且增幅随硝/铵比的增加而增大,小麦对硝态氮的吸收量和氢氧根释放量呈相同的变化趋势,说明小麦对硝态氮的吸收偏好导致根系释放氢氧根,进而使得培养液pH升高。小麦幼苗在硝/铵比为3∶1,初始pH值分别为4.0、4.5和5.0的营养液中培养6d后,培养液pH和氢氧根释放量的增幅随初始pH的升高而降低,说明低pH条件有利于小麦幼苗对硝态氮的吸收,可促进小麦根系释放更多的氢氧根。10 h的恒定pH试验结果表明,恒定pH条件下小麦根系释放的氢氧根数量大于非恒定pH条件,且硝态氮比例越大,差值越大。因此,可以根据小麦在酸性条件下对硝态氮的吸收偏好建立酸化土壤的生物修复方法,即调节硝态氮含量以加大小麦根系的氢氧根释放量,进而提高土壤pH。     

Environmental federalism and environmental liability

Environmental federalism considers what level of government should optimally regulate pollution. This paper addresses this question for accidental pollution, which government regulates through the ex post liability regimes of either negligence or strict liability. We find that decentralizing the choice between these regimes does not, in general, induce the socially optimal outcome. When firms can pay all damages, all regions may choose negligence and impose an overly strict standard of due care. When firms may be bankrupted by damages, all regions may choose strict liability, which induces too little care. In addition, asymmetric equilibria are possible in which some regions choose negligence, others strict liability. Combining negligence with a Pigovian tax, or strict liability with a bonding requirement can align regional authorities' incentives with those of a central government.     

Multiple receptor ambient monitoring and firm compliance with environmental taxes under budget and target driven regulatory missions

We analyze the potential for an environmental monitoring agency under different regulatory missions to use multiple measures of ambient pollution levels to induce firm compliance via endogenously determined probabilistic firm-level inspections of polluting activities. Departing from previous analyses, we consider a framework where the regulator has multiple, rather than a single, measures of ambient pollution in a setting where many firms are subject to a self-reported emissions tax that is not perfectly enforceable. Under a budget-driven mission, we show that a regulator can fruitfully utilize the added information from multiple ambient monitoring receptors to induce improved environmental compliance through the creation of strategic interactions among firms. Additionally, our results provide new evidence on the relative efficiency of budget- vs. target-driven environmental enforcement missions.     

Investment in cleaner technology and signaling distortions in a market with green consumers

I analyze the pricing and investment behavior of a firm that signals the environmental attributes of its production technology through its price to uninformed environmentally conscious consumers. I then analyze the effect of change in environmental regulation on the signaling outcome and the firm's ex ante incentive to invest in cleaner technology. When regulation is weak, a firm signals cleaner technology through higher price; in this case, the firm earns lower profit when it has cleaner technology and thus, has no incentive to invest in cleaner technology. The price charged by the clean firm declines sharply beyond a critical level of regulation. When regulation is sufficiently stringent, the firm with cleaner technology charges lower price but earns higher signaling profit, and ex ante the firm has positive incentive to invest in cleaner technology. With weak regulation, the incentive of the firm to directly disclose its environmental performance rather than signal it through price is increasing in the level of regulation; the opposite holds when regulation is sufficiently stringent.