Analysis of the Energy Embodied in Foreign Goods Trade of China

In recent years, scientists have been increasingly interested in the energy embodied in traded goods among countries. In this article, the direct energy intensities in various economic sectors of China were calculated with the data of energy consumption and output value of each sector, and the input-output table was used to estimate the external energy consumption. The total energy intensity of all sectors was then obtained. From the data of international trade, the energy embodied in goods trade of China was estimated for the period of 1994-2001. During this period, the average energy intensity of imported goods was always higher than that of exported ones. As a country with a surplus in international goods trade, China actually imported net embodied energy in the past few years. The net embodied energy imported was at the same magnitude of the imported energy in the form of fossil fuels.     

Agricultural Structure in Western China by Comparing with before and after CFFG Based on Shift-share Method

Based on shift-share method, this article employs re- gional share, structural shift and competitive shift to analyze the structural benefit and competitive position of agricultural structure in western China by comparing with agriculture, foresting, stockbreeding and fishing before and after Conversion of Farmland to Forest and Grassland （CFFG）. Then authors draw following conclusion： while CFFG program has been put in practice, the agricultural structure in western China has some typical characteristics, such as growth faster, structural predominance obvious and more competitive. But the contributiveness from the competition is not too much yet, and the structural benefit of forest estate and stockbreeding are restrained.     

我国旅游教育发展的初步研究

我国旅游业的高速发展推动了旅游教育事业快速发展,同时也给旅游教育提出了更高的要求和挑战.在文献分析和整理的基础上,简要梳理了改革开放以来我国旅游教育发展所取得的显著成就,归纳出旅游专业教育在培养目标和模式、教学观念、课程设置、教学方法、师资力量、就业等方面存在的问题,最后提出了未来旅游教育发展的对策和建议.     

Have government regulations improved workplace safety? : A test of the asynchronous regulatory effects in China's coal industry, 1995-2006

Problem

Empirical studies on the effectiveness of workplace safety regulations are inconclusive. This study hypothesizes that the asynchronous effects of safety regulations occur because regulations need time to become effective. Safety regulations will work initially by reducing the most serious accidents, and later by improving overall safety performance.

Method

The hypothesis is tested by studying a provincial level aggregate panel dataset for China's coal industry using two different models with different sets of dependent variables: a fixed-effects model on mortality rate, which is defined as fatalities per 1,000 employees; and a negative binominal model on the annual number (frequency) of disastrous accidents.

Results

Safety regulations can reduce the frequency of disastrous accidents, but have not reduced mortality rate, which represents overall safety performance.

Discussion and summary

Policy recommendations are made, including shifting production from small to large mines through industrial consolidation, improving the safety performance of large mines, addressing consequences of decentralization, and facilitating the implementation of regulations through carrying on institutional actions and supporting legislation.

Impact on industry

Until recently, about 4,000 coal miners perished annually in China, demonstrating that workplace safety in China's coal industry is an urgent and important issue. This research provides evidence that safety regulations have asynchronous effects and identifies the priorities in improving safety in China's current coal mining. This may assist the Chinese government to design more effective safety improvement policies and improve the effectiveness of safety regulations and safety performance.     

中美职业安全健康法对比

通过对中美职业安全健康立法目的和背景的考察,对比分析职业安全健康法涉及的6项具体内容,即体例结构、适用范围、监管方式、监管体制、教育与培训、法律责任,并指出国情不同是造成中美职业安全健康法立法巨大差异的原因之一。经对比分析,可得出几点结论:从中国国情出发,走逐步完善的职业安全健康立法路径,建立独立的职业安全健康法律体系,是我国安全生产的治本之策;对从业人员的职业安全健康保护具有首要性,须明晰保护劳动者的上层法律要求,《安全生产法》并不能代替《职业安全健康法》;完善中国职业安全健康法律制度须走一体化整合的道路。     

21世纪中国城市环境地质问题

从全球环境的角度对中国城市的环境地质问题进行了研究.文中分析了当今全球主要环境问题,探讨了全球环境变异对中国城市地质环境的影响,详细研究了现代城市工程经济建设中引起的环境工程地质问题.     

Impact of Global Climate Change on China's Water Resources

It is indicated that up to the year 2030, the annual average temperatures in China will increase by 0.88 to 1.2°C, with increments in the south less than in the north. Annual average precipitation would raise slightly, but the increment could be 4% in northeastern China. The increment of annual mean runoff could rise over 6% in the northeastern area, and decrease in the other regions 1.4 to 10.5%. The increased water shortage due to climate change could achieve 160 to 5090 million m³ in some areas of China. Financial loss due to the lack of water could reach 1300 million yuan, and up to 4400 million yuan in serious drought years in the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan area.     

The concentrations, distribution and sources of PAHs in agricultural soils and vegetables from Shunde, Guangdong, China

The concentrations, distribution and sources of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in 30 agricultural soil and 16 vegetable samples collected from subtropical Shunde area, an important manufacturing center in China. The total PAHs ranged from 33.7 to 350 μg/kg in soils, and 82 to 1,258 μg/kg in vegetables. The most abundant individual PAHs are phenanthrene, fluoranthene, chrysene, pyrene and benzo(b)fluoranthene for soil samples, and anthracene, naphthalene, phenanthrene, pyrene and chrysene for vegetable samples. Average vegetable–soil ratios of total PAHs were 2.20 for leafy vegetables and 1.27 for fruity vegetables. Total PAHs in vegetable samples are not significantly correlated to those in corresponding soil samples. Principal component analyses were conducted to distinguish samples on basis of their distribution in each town, soil type and vegetable specie. Relatively abundant soil PAHs were found in town Jun’an, Beijiao, Chencun, Lecong and Ronggui, while abundant vegetable PAHs were observed in town Jun’an, Lecong, Xingtan, Daliang and Chenchun. The highest level of total PAHs were found in vegetable soil, followed by pond sediment and “stacked soil” on pond banks. The PAHs contents in leafy vegetables are higher than those in fruity vegetables. Some PAH compound ratios suggest the PAHs derived from incomplete combustion of petroleum, coal and refuse from power generation and ceramic manufacturing, and paint spraying on furniture, as well as sewage irrigation from textile industries. Soil PAHs contents have significant logarithmic correlation with total organic carbon, which demonstrates the importance of soil organic matter as sorbent to prevent losses of PAHs.     

Heavy metals in bark of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus massoniana</Emphasis> (Lamb.) as an indicator of atmospheric deposition near a smeltery at Qujiang,China

Goal, Scope and Background Rapid urbanization and the expansion of industrial activities in the past several decades have led to large increases in emissions of pollutants in the Pearl River Delta of south China. Recent reports have suggested that industrial emission is a major factor contributing to the damages in current natural ecosystem in the Delta area. Tree barks have been used successfully to monitor the levels of atmospheric metal deposition in many areas, but rarely in China. This study aimed at determining whether atmospheric heavy metal deposition from a Pb-Zn smeltery at Qujiang, Guangdong province, could be accurately reflected both in the inner bark and the outer bark of Masson pine (Pinus massoniana L.). The impact of the emission from smeltery on the soils beneath the trees and the relationships of the concentrations between the soils and the barks were also analyzed. Methods Barks around the bole of Pinus massoniana from a pine forest near a Pb-Zn smeltery at Qujiang and a reference forest at Dinghushan natural reserve were sampled with a stainless knife at an average height of 1.5 m above the ground. Mosses and lichens on the surface barks were cleaned prior to sampling. The samples were carefully divided into the inner bark (living part) and the outer bark (dead part) in the laboratory, and dried and ground, respectively. After being dry-ashed, the powder of the barks was dissolved in HNO₃. The solutions were analyzed for iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co) by inductively coupled plasmas emission spectrometry (ICP, PS-1000AT, USA) and Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS, ZEENIT 60, Germany). Surface soils (0–10 cm) beneath the sample trees were also collected and analyzed for the selected metals. Results and Discussion Concentrations of the selected metals in soils at Qujiang were far above their environmental background values in the area, except for Fe and Mn, whilst at Dinghushan, they were far below their background values, except for Cd and Co. Levels of the metals, in particular Pb and Zn, in the soils beneath the sample trees at Qujiang were higher than those at Dinghushan with statistical significance. The result suggested that the pine forest soils at Qujiang had a great input of heavy metals from wet and dry atmospheric deposition, with the Pb-Zn smeltery most probably being the source. Levels of Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Ni and Pb at Qujiang, both in the inner and the outer bark, were statistically higher than those at Dinghushan. Higher concentrations of Pb, Fe, Zn and Cu may come from the stem-flow of elements leached from the canopy, soil splash on the 1.5 m height and sorption of metals in the mosses and lichens growing on the bark, which were direct or indirect results from the atmospheric deposition. Levels of heavy metals in the outer barks were associated well with the metal concentrations in the soil, reflecting the close relationships between the metal atmospheric deposition and their accumulation in the outer bark of Masson pine. The significant (p<0.01) correlations of Fe-Cu, Fe-Cr, Fe-Pb, Fe-Ni, Pb-Ni, and Pb-Zn in the outer barks at Qujiang again suggested a common source for the metals. The correlation only occurred between Pb and Ni, Cd and Co in the outer barks at Dinghushan, which suggested that those metals must possibly have other uncommon sources. Conclusions Atmospheric deposition of the selected metals was great at Qujiang, based on the levels in the bark of Pinus massoniana and on the concentrations in the soils beneath the trees compared with that at Dinghushan. Bark of Pinus massoniana, especially the outer bark, was an indicator of metal loading at least at the time of sampling. Recommendations and Perspectives The results from this study and the techniques employed constituted a new contribution to the development of biogeochemical methods for environmental monitoring particularly in areas with high frequency of pollution in China. The method would be of value for follow up studies aimed at the assessment of industrial pollution in other areas similar with the Pearl River Delta.