Increased Bioavailability of Mercury in the Lagoons of Lomé, Togo: The Possible Role of Dredging

Surface sediments of the lagoons of Lomé, Togo, were analyzed for mercury, methylmercury, and trace elements. Concentrations were greater than typical for natural lagoon sediments, and with greater variability within the Eastern lagoon compared to the Western one. The Eastern lagoon is larger and has been dredged in the past, while the Western lagoon, which also receives major waste inputs, has not been dredged and shows less tidal flushing. Accordingly, one naturally believes that the Eastern lagoon is cleaner and probably safe to use due to its natural resources, including fishes to eat. Unexpectedly, we describe here that mercury methylation was greater in the Eastern lagoon, indicating increased bioavailability of mercury, as probably facilitated by past dredging that decreased solid-phase retention of inorganic mercury. Urbanization has historically been more developed in the southern part of the lagoons, which is still reflected in contamination levels of sediment despite dredging, probably because sources of contamination are still more important there today. Such urban contamination emphasizes the need to regulate waste discharges and possible airborne contamination in growing cities of developing countries, and implements environmental and public health monitoring, especially in relation to misbelieves systematically associated with the cleansing effect of dredging activity.     

Global Urban Growth and the Geography of Water Availability,Quality, and Delivery

Globally, urban growth will add 1.5 billion people to cities by 2030, making the difficult task of urban water provisions even more challenging. In this article, we develop a conceptual framework of urban water provision as composed of three axes: water availability, water quality, and water delivery. For each axis, we calculate quantitative proxy measures for all cities with more than 50,000 residents, and then briefly discuss the strategies cities are using in response if they are deficient on one of the axes. We show that 523 million people are in cities where water availability may be an issue, 890 million people are in cities where water quality may be an issue, and 1.3 billion people are in cities where water delivery may be an issue. Tapping into groundwater is a widespread response, regardless of the management challenge, with many cities unsustainably using this resource. The strategies used by cities deficient on the water delivery axis are different than for cities deficient on the water quantity or water quality axis, as lack of financial resources pushes cities toward a different and potentially less effective set of strategies.     

基于星座图法的湖北省农业功能分区

农业功能分区是准确把握县域农业功能定位、推动区域农业功能拓展和向现代农业转型的基础工作。旨在探索运用一种新的分类方法即星座图法在农业功能分区中的应用。剖析现代农业的功能定位问题,从农产品供应、就业与社会保障、生态调节和文化传承与休闲4大类综合功能选取30个定量指标和2个定性指标,构建了湖北省农业功能分区指标体系。采用星座图法,根据星座图中各星点的位置,确定各县（市）单项功能的分等类型;并以此为基础结合分区单元的实际地理位置和社会经济及环境现状,作出湖北省农业功能分区方案。分区结果以县级行政区域为分区单元,按照农业功能分区的基本原则,湖北省分4个农业主导功能区,各主导功能区分为3个二级区共12个二级农业功能区     

Terrestrial exposure of oilfield flowline additives diminish soil structural stability and remediative microbial function

Onshore oil production pipelines are major installations in the petroleum industry, stretching many thousands of kilometres worldwide which also contain flowline additives. The current study focuses on the effect of the flowline additives on soil physico-chemical and biological properties and quantified the impact using resilience and resistance indices. Our findings are the first to highlight deleterious effect of flowline additives by altering some fundamental soil properties, including a complete loss of structural integrity of the impacted soil and a reduced capacity to degrade hydrocarbons mainly due to: (i) phosphonate salts (in scale inhibitor) prevented accumulation of scale in pipelines but also disrupted soil physical structure; (ii) glutaraldehyde (in biocides) which repressed microbial activity in the pipeline and reduced hydrocarbon degradation in soil upon environmental exposure; (iii) the combinatory effects of these two chemicals synergistically caused severe soil structural collapse and disruption of microbial degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons.     

IC反应器处理MTO废水的中试研究

中试研究了内循环(IC)反应器处理甲醇制烯烃(MTO)废水的启动和运行过程,同时考察了颗粒污泥的性状及沼气产量的变化情况。试验过程运行稳定,系统抗冲击性强。以絮状污泥为接种污泥,经过131 d的启动和运行,IC反应器的COD去除负荷可达10 kg/(m~3·d)以上,COD去除率可达90%以上。IC反应器中的成熟颗粒污泥形状规则、密实、粒径大、沉降速率快。IC反应器的沼气产量符合理论预期。     

于GRI体系的机场企业环境信息披露研究

机场作为民航运输的关键节点和重要枢纽,肩负着服务区域经济的重要使命,同时也面临环境保护与可持续发展的巨大挑战。作为公共基础设施和城市形象窗口,机场上市公司具有披露环境信息的义务与责任。在充分研究国内机场上市公司环境信息披露制度背景的基础上,本研究借鉴全球报告倡议组织（GRI）发布的《可持续发展报告指南》（第四版）及机场运营者行业补充（GRI-AOSS）构建了适用于我国机场的环境信息披露评价指标体系,并利用公开数据对国内6家机场上市公司的环境信息披露情况进行了实际测评。结果表明：我国机场环境信息披露程度较低,存在内容简单、量化不足、质量下降等问题。机场上市公司环境信息披露亟待在法律法规层面进行系统规范。建议借鉴GRI等相关国际标准及成功经验,制定适用于我国的科学可行的环境信息披露标准和制度体系。     

基于高频AQI数据的关中城市群空气污染规律探索

基于高频分时AQI及各污染物浓度数据,本文使用"AQI小时指数"、首要污染物等进行统计分析并建立VAR模型对关中城市群空气污染的总体情况、日内波动规律以及城市间空气污染的关联规律做了不同层次的挖掘。研究结果表明:(1)关中城市群的空气质量整体较差,春、冬季空气污染程度明显大于夏季,空气污染的"季节效应"和"集簇性"明显,且主要表现为颗粒物污染。(2)空气质量的日内波动规律在春、冬两季表现为下半天优于上半天,夏季夜间优于白天。但在不考虑四季AQI小时指数图"相位"差异的情况下,四季空气污染的日内波动呈现出明显的相似性。(3)各城市空气污染存在明显的关联规律。城市群内一个城市空气污染的恶化会加剧其他城市的空气污染,并且对其他城市空气污染的影响峰值会在24小时之内出现,且该影响会随着空间和时间尺度的增大而逐步衰减。     

Modeling potential herbicide loss to surface waters on the Swiss plateau

Lack of sufficiently detailed data often limits the applicability of complex transport-reaction models for estimating potential herbicide loss to surface waters. Therefore, there is also a need for simple models that are easy to apply but still capture the main features of the underlying processes.In this study, a simple regression model was developed to assess the vulnerability of catchments in the Swiss Plateau to diffuse herbicide loss to surface waters. The model is designed as a screening tool to rank the catchments in a relative sense and not to calculate Predicted Environmental Concentrations (PEC) of pesticides. The main goal is to capture two dominating factors controlling diffuse herbicide transport into streams and rivers. These factors are herbicide application and fast flow processes that are mainly responsible for herbicide transport. In a first step vulnerability of sites to herbicide loss is estimated based on site-specific conditions irrespective of actual herbicide application. In the second step, this vulnerability assessment is combined with actual herbicide application data to estimate the potential herbicide loss.The fast flow index (FFI), derived from discharge data using a base flow separation method, was applied as a proxy for the amount of fast flow occurring. The influence of catchment attributes (including topographic, climatic and soil data) on the FFI was analyzed using a multiple regression approach based on data from 57 catchments of the Swiss Plateau. By combining regression analysis with mechanistic knowledge, a two factor non-linear model based on river density and soil permeability as dominant input factors was selected as the best model for FFI prediction given the available data. Higher dimensional models had to be excluded because the strong correlation between the potential input factors led to unrealistic dependences while only minimally improving the quality of the fit.The spatial pattern of the predicted FFI as a measure for the vulnerability to diffuse herbicide losses shows a clearly increasing trend from the western to the eastern part of the Swiss Plateau and towards the pre-alpine/alpine regions in the south.In general the pattern of herbicide use corresponds to site conditions typical of a low FFI. However, the spatial analysis revealed exceptions, namely areas in which high actual herbicide use coincides with a high FFI.Despite the uncertainties in the model, this simple approach seems to be useful for supporting site-adapted agricultural practice whenever the higher accuracy of more detailed models is not required or too expensive to achieve. In addition, in combination with data on actual herbicide application, it can support the design of monitoring strategies by identifying critical areas of actual herbicide loss.     

The reliability of experts' opinions in constructing a composite environmental index: The case of ESI 2005

The complexity of the environment demands a well-constructed composite environmental index (CEI) to provide a useful tool to draw attention to environmental conditions and trends for policy purposes. Among the common difficulties in constructing a proper CEI are uncertainties due to the selection of the most representative underlying variables or indicators. A degree of uncertainty accompanies experts' judgments, and to deal with vague, subjective or inconsistent information, logic other than classic is required. This study analyzes a procedure that uses different experts' opinions in constructing a CEI, with the use of paraconsistent annotated logic. For this, a sensitivity analysis of the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI 2005) was used as an example to assess the reliability of experts' opinions. The uncertainty due to the disagreement in experts' opinions clearly indicates that the forms we presently use to measure and monitor the actual environment are insufficient, that is, there is a lack of a “science of sustainability”.     

Landfill site selection using spatial information technologies and AHP: A case study in Beijing,China

Site selection is an important and necessary issue for waste management in fast-growing regions. Because of the complexity of waste management systems, the selection of the appropriate solid waste landfill site requires consideration of multiple alternative solutions and evaluation criteria. Based on actual conditions of the study area, we considered economic factors, calculated criteria weights using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), and built a hierarchy model for solving the solid waste landfill site-selection problem in Beijing, China. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to manipulate and present spatial data. All maps are graded from 1 (lowest suitability) to 5 (highest suitability) using spatial information technologies. The candidate sites were determined by aggregation based on the criteria weights. The candidate sites are divided by ‘best’, ‘good’ and ‘unsuitable’ landfill areas. Best landfill areas represent optimal sites; good landfill areas can be used as back-up candidate sites. Our work offers a siting methodology and provides essential support for decision-makers in the assessment of waste management problems in Beijing and other rapidly developing cities in developing countries.