The Great East Japan Earthquake,tsunami, and nuclear meltdown: towards the (re)construction of a safe,sustainable, and compassionate society in Japan's shrinking regions

Japan's rural regions have been shrinking for the entire post-war period, and successive efforts to revitalise rural society have failed. This article examines whether the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, and the subsequent meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, present the Japanese state and society with a watershed opportunity to rethink regional revitalisation and national energy procurement strategies. The article begins by summarising the events of March and April 2011, examines possible approaches to the reconstruction of communities in the Tōhoku region, and critiques problems of governance in post-war Japan that the disaster reveals. It concludes by pulling together the information and analysis presented into a discussion of the prospects for achieving the three-point vision for a safe, sustainable, and compassionate society that Prime Minister Naoto Kan set the Reconstruction Design Council.     

A bottom-up approach towards the assessment of ecological footprints and biocapacity

The concept of ecological footprint (EF) assessment embeds into the broader concept of sustainable development, relating directly to quality of life and maintaining the natural constraints of the global ecosystem. EFs relate to the balance between the Earth's biocapacity and consumption, measured as land equivalence in global hectares per capita. The majority of studies relating to EF assessments have adopted a top-down methodology in order to assess national and regional EFs. Furthermore, these studies are mainly based upon national accounts of input, output and trade; information which is readily available for most countries, and the EFs usually require an assessment of equivalent land area per capita to maintain the current levels of consumption. Since its inception in the mid-1990s, the EF methodology has been refined and has been widely adopted by many countries and governments as a tool to measure biocapacity, or, the consumption of resources. In this paper, we present a bottom-up methodology to measure the EF of a rural region (near Chennai) in southern India. Advantages and limitations of this approach are then discussed through comparisons with regional and national assessments.     

Analysis of the Difference of the Basic Pension by Regions

Abstract

Nowadays, the disparity of the basic pension in local regions of China can be described as follows: the low level of the unification of the basic pension systems, the large disparity of the level of the basic pension, and unfairness of the enterprises' payment for the basic pension in different local regions in China. These have already brought many negative influences, which have greatly held back the development of the society and national economy. We should build the basic pension system in all local regions of China as a whole, which can cover all people and decrease the disparity in different local regions in China.     

全球变化对长江三角洲土地持续利用的影响及其对策

全球变化对区域土地持续利用的影响表现为其多方面内容从不同侧面直接或间接地对区域土地利用生产性、安全性、保持性、可行性和接受性产生影响。在长江三角洲地区 ,全球变化对土地持续利用的影响主要表现为不利的方面 :( 1)海平面上升导致土地面积减少及土壤性质恶化 ;( 2 )自然灾害增多导致土地利用安全性降低 ;( 3)酸雨危害加重导致土地生态环境恶化 ;( 4 )地表植被减少及湿润指数降低导致土地退化加剧。针对以上问题 ,应采取以下对策以促进长江三角洲土地持续利用 :( 1)加强全球变化监测与预警 ;( 2 )制定适应于全球变化的土地持续利用规划 ;( 3)增强土地利用对全球变化的应变能力 ;( 4 )加强全球合作 ,减缓不利于人类生存的全球变化速度。     

PREDICTIVE REAL TIME CONTROL OF SURCHARGED INTERCEPTORS: IMPACT OF SEVERAL CONTROL PARAMETERS1

ABSTRACT: A global predictive real time control strategy minimizing overflow volumes from combined sewers during rainfall was applied to control flows entering the Marigot interceptor (Laval, Canada) for 23 rain events that occurred in this urban area during the summer of 1989. Different surcharge intensities were allowed in the sewer. The duration of the control horizon as well as the location and number of control regulators were varied to assess the impact of these parameters on total overflow volumes and on control safety. Due to the high propagation speed of flow waves in pressurized conduits, it was found that five‐ minute control horizons were sufficient to ensure control performance and safety when important surcharges were permitted in the interceptor and when the controlled regulators were located where pressurized flow occurred. It was also found that it is possible to reduce the number of controlled regulators by placing them at locations intercepting the largest volumes of water during rain periods.     

不发达地区产业经济生态化发展初论--以青海省为例

青海作为我国主要河流的“江河源”和生态系统运行的“生态源”。其生态地位和生态效应已经超越了当地可持续发展的实现。基于生态经济理论和生态文明理念。文章以青海为例分析评价了该省产业经济生态化发展的基础、制约因素。认为发展生态产业经济、促进生态系统与经济系统的良性循环是实现不发达地区产业经济生态化发展的根本保证。提出从生态农业、生态工业和第三产业生态化等体系层面构建产业经济生态化发展的构想、政策建议和启示。     

论节能减排与低碳经济

根据低碳经济理论,结合我国现状,分析了我国实施低碳经济转型的优势和挑战。指出节能减排对发展低碳经济的意义,包括节约能源是实现低碳经济的重要手段和污染减排与减缓温室气体排放之间具有协同效应。提出了优化产业结构,发展循环经济,开展清洁生产,加快技术创新,鼓励绿色消费,积极开发可再生替代能源,优化能源结构,增加碳汇能力等具体措施建议。     

Explosion regions of 1,3-dioxolane/nitrous oxide and 1,3-dioxolane/air with different inert gases - Experimental data and numerical modelling

In this study, experimental determination and modelling investigations for the explosion regions of 1,3-dioxolane/inert gas/N₂O and 1,3-dioxolane/inert gas/air mixtures were carried out and compared. The experimental measurements were carried out at 338 K and atmospheric pressure according to EN1839 method T using the inert gases N₂, CO₂, He and Ar. The results showed that the ratio of the lower explosion limit in N₂O (LEL_N2O) to the lower explosion limit in air (LEL_air) is 0.52 and the ratio of the maximum oxygen content in air (MOC_air) to the limiting oxidizer fraction in nitrous oxide (LOF_N2O) is 0.36 ± 0.02 independent of the inert gas. When comparing the inert gas amount at the apex based on the pure oxidizing component, which is O₂ in case of air, N₂O-containing mixtures need less inert gas to reach the limiting oxidizer quantity whereas the efficiency of inert gases is in the same order. The coefficients of nitrogen equivalency however were found to differ to some extent. The explosion regions of 1,3-dioxolane/inert gas/oxidizer mixtures were modelled using the calculated adiabatic flame temperature profile (CAFTP) method as well as corrected adiabatic flame temperatures. The results indicate good agreement with experimental data for CO₂, N₂ and Ar- containing mixtures. The noticeable deviations that occur when He is the inert gas are due to the lacking transport data of that mixture.     

Bridging the gaps for global sustainable development: A quantitative analysis

Global human progress occurs in a complex web of interactions between society, technology and the environment as driven by governance and infrastructure management capacity among nations. In our globalizing world, this complex web of interactions over the last 200 years has resulted in the chronic widening of economic and political gaps between the haves and the have-nots with consequential global cultural and ecosystem challenges. At the bottom of these challenges is the issue of resource limitations on our finite planet with increasing population. The problem is further compounded by pleasure-driven and poverty-driven ecological depletion and pollution by the haves and the have-nots respectively. These challenges are explored in this paper as global sustainable development (SD) quantitatively; in order to assess the gaps that need to be bridged.Although there has been significant rhetoric on SD with very many qualitative definitions offered, very few quantitative definitions of SD exist. The few that do exist tend to measure SD in terms of social, energy, economic and environmental dimensions. In our research, we used several human survival, development, and progress variables to create an aggregate SD parameter that describes the capacity of nations in three dimensions: social sustainability, environmental sustainability and technological sustainability. Using our proposed quantitative definition of SD and data from relatively reputable secondary sources, 132 nations were ranked and compared.Our comparisons indicate a global hierarchy of needs among nations similar to Maslow's at the individual level. As in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, nations that are struggling to survive are less concerned with environmental sustainability than advanced and stable nations. Nations such as the United States, Canada, Finland, Norway and others have higher SD capacity, and thus, are higher on their hierarchy of needs than nations such as Nigeria, Vietnam, Mexico and other developing nations. To bridge such gaps, we suggest that global public policy for local to global governance and infrastructure management may be necessary. Such global public policy requires holistic development strategies in contrast to the very simplistic north–south, developed–developing nations dichotomies.     

南方丘陵山地农户对生态系统服务的感知及其影响因素——以湖南省慈利县为例

生态系统服务是保障乡村生态安全、环境健康以及经济可持续发展的重要基础,农户作为乡村地域生态系统与乡村经济发展的重要关联主体,其生产生活以及对生态系统服务的认知与感知变化对维护生态系统功能具有重要影响。以南方丘陵山地重点生态功能区——湖南省慈利县6个不同发展类型的农村社区为研究对象,基于农户访谈与入户调查,探究了2008—2018年农户对各类生态系统服务的多样性感知变化,采用多元线性回归方法构建农户对生态系统服务多样化感知指数模型,分析其影响因素,在此基础上提出两者协同发展的建议策略。结果表明：（1）农户对各类生态系统服务感知变化以及不同区域之间的感知均呈现差异性,农业生产主导区感知强于生态保护核心区和生态经济发展区;（2）农户对林地、农田、园地、湿地生态系统服务的多样性感知以及属性感知依次减弱;（3）自然环境、资源禀赋、个体特征等是影响农户生态系统服务属性感知的重要因素。研究结果以期为维护区域生态系统服务,提升农户福祉推进生态服务提升及乡村协同发展提供参考。