The Sensitivity of California Water Resources to Climate Change Scenarios1

Abstract: Using the latest available General Circulation Model (GCM) results we present an assessment of climate change impacts on California hydrology and water resources. The approach considers the output of two GCMs, the PCM and the HadCM3, run under two different greenhouse gas (GHG) emission scenarios: the high emission A1fi and the low emission B1. The GCM output was statistically downscaled and used in the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) macroscale distributed hydrologic model to derive inflows to major reservoirs in the California Central Valley. Historical inflows used as inputs to the water resources model CalSim II were modified to represent the climate change perturbed conditions for water supply deliveries, reliability, reservoir storage and changes to variables of environmental concern. Our results show greater negative impacts to California hydrology and water resources than previous assessments of climate change impacts in the region. These impacts, which translate into smaller streamflows, lower reservoir storage and decreased water supply deliveries and reliability, will be especially pronounced later in the 21st Century and south of the San Francisco bay Delta. The importance of considering how climate change impacts vary for different temporal, spatial, and institutional conditions in addition to the average impacts is also demonstrated.     

安全生产应急预案桌面推演的设计与实施探讨

对实战演练和桌面推演进行分析与比较;阐述桌面推演的历史沿革与演化;提出应急预案桌面推演方案框架设计要点;尤其对推演方案中事故场景设计的主要关注点,如事故发生现实可能性,事故后果危害或灾难性,场景演化过程合理性、可信性,事故发展演变多样性,事故场景典型代表性和桌面推演可实现性等都提出了见解。给出桌面推演实例,并阐述桌面推演取得实效的基本条件和保障措施,对应急预案桌面推演在技术上进一步深入发展和完善的前景进行了探讨和展望。     

安全氛围对企业安全行为的影响研究

国外大量研究表明,安全氛围调查在改进企业的安全行为方面有积极的作用,为组织制订未来的安全政策提供依据。本研究通过查阅文献、国外类似的诊断调查工具及软件,根据所提出的理论假设,采用线性结构方程建模的方法,构建了本研究的LISREL理论模型,并设计了相应的调查问卷和量表。从所建立的安全氛围的三个构面(安全管理、安全认知、安全态度)入手探讨企业的安全氛围对企业的安全行为(两个构面:安全执行、安全处理)的影响。本研究采用问卷调查的方式采集数据,将所得资料用SPSS11.0和LISREL8.3软件来分析处理和检验研究假设,研究结果为实证单位改进企业的安全行为提供了帮助。     

应对气候变化问题的法律调整机制

气候变化的不确定性决定对于其带来的不良环境影响也不能做出确切的预测。《联合国气候变化框架公约》、《京都议定书》及《关于消耗臭氧层物质的蒙特利尔议定书》的缔结和生效为各国一致行动提供了国际法上的依据。应当加强气候变化的科学研究，制定实施有效的政策法律措施，同时施加我国的大国影响，推动气候变化问题的国际解决进程。     

江淮地区极端气候事件的时空变化特征

利用1951—2003年的温度和降水资料，研究了江淮地区极端气候事件的空间结构及年代际变化特征。结果发现：（1）气候变暖影响了极端气候事件的变化，这种影响是由气候平均值和方差的共同变化引起的。（2）气候变暖加速了水分的循环过程，导致20世纪90年代以来江淮地区旱涝频率和强度加大，强降水事件增加；冬季极端最低温度升高，低温日数减少；夏季极端最高温度和高温日数开始回升。（3）从极端事件分布的区域变化来看，气候变暖对淮北的影响最大，使这个脆弱性本来就很严重的区域变得更加脆弱。     

中国北方沙尘暴与气候因素关系分析

利用气象观测数据，分析了我国北方沙尘暴发生频次年际变化与气候因素的关系，结果表明：（1）我国北方沙尘暴发生频次与北方大风日数的分布在空间上并不完全一致，沙尘暴的发生频次受区域特征条件影响较大；（2）我国北方沙尘暴发生频次的年际变化呈现减少的趋势，与我国北方温度持续升高，夏季降水量有所增加的趋势有着较好的一致性；（3）我国北方沙尘暴频次的年际和季节变化特点说明降水和温度通过改变地表植被、土壤等特征，影响着区域沙尘暴发生的风险等级。文章最后还提出了沙尘暴风险评估和建立预警系统的建议。     

气候变化对我国农业的可能影响及适应性对策

全球气候变暖已经成了一个不争的事实。在全球气候变化背景下,我国的气温不断增高,降水和极端天气气候事件不断增多。根据气候变化情景,从区域布局、种植结构、农作物产量和品质以及设施农业等方面分析了气候变化对我国农业的可能影响,并提出了我国农业应对气候变化的适应性对策。     

Creating safer workplaces: assessing the determinants and role of safety climate

PROBLEM: Although there has been considerable interest in safety climate, relatively little attention has been given to the factors that determine safety climate or to testing the hypothesized mediating role of safety climate with respect to safety-related outcomes. METHOD: Questionnaire responses were obtained from 2,208 employees of a large national retail chain in 21 different locations. RESULTS: After controlling for demographic variables, three factors: environmental conditions, safety-related policies and programs, and general organizational climate, accounted for 55% of the variance in perceived safety climate. Interestingly, organizational climate made a significant contribution to safety climate, even after controlling for the other more safety-relevant variables. Partial correlations showed that safety policies and programs had the largest observed correlation with safety climate, followed by two of the dimensions of organizational climate (communication and organizational support). Using Baron and Kenny's (J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 51 (1986) 1173) procedures, the principal effects of the various work situation factors on perceived safety at work were found to be direct rather than mediated by safety climate. Safety climate influenced perceived safety at work, but its role as a mediator was limited. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: These results are discussed in terms of other recent findings on safety climate and the growing interest in understanding management and organizational factors in the context of workplace safety.     

A cross-validation of safety climate scale using confirmatory factor analytic approach

PROBLEM: Given the lack of a consistent factor structure of safety climate, this study tested the stability of a factor structure of a safety climate scale developed through an extensive literature review using confirmatory factor analytic approach and cross-validation. METHODS: A cross-sectional sample of 722 U.S. grain industry workers participated in the questionnaire survey. RESULTS: The safety climate scale developed through the generation of an item pool based on a table of specifications, subsequent scientific item reduction procedures, reviews from experts, and pilot test yielded adequate reliabilities for each dimension. Each item showed proper discriminative power based on both internal and external criteria. Criterion validity was manifested by the significant positive correlation of the scale with five criteria. Evidence of construct validity was provided by both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Both calibration and validation samples supported a consistent factor structure. Management commitment and supervisor support were found to influence other dimensions of safety climate. DISCUSSION: This study provides an insight into the primary reason why previous attempts have failed to find a consistent factor structure of safety climate: No specification of the influence of management commitment and supervisor support on other dimensions of safety in their models. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The findings of this study provide a framework upon which accident prevention efforts can be effectively organized and underscore the importance of management commitment and supervisor support as they affect employee safety perceptions.