The oil industry along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon: Assessing impacts and possible solutions

While the oil industry along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon has made important contributions to the national economy, this has been accompanied with adverse environmental impacts. There has been significant pollution from oil drilling, refinery waste, oil spillage, gas and flaring. After discussing these impacts, this paper argues that prevailing regulations are inadequate and need overhauling. It proposes that cleaner production requires:

(i)

specific laws to protect dwellers in the neighbourhood of oil refineries, filling stations, service stations and pipelines;     

Individual-based modelling of fishermen search behaviour with neural networks and reinforcement learning

A model to mimic the search behaviour of fishermen is built with two neural networks to cope with two separate decision-making processes in fishing activities. One neural network deals with decisions to stay or move to new fishing grounds and the other is constructed for the purpose of finding prey within the fishing areas. Some similarities with the behaviour of real fishermen are found: concentrated local search once a prey has been located to increase the probability of remaining near a prey patch and the straightforward movement to other fishing grounds. The artificial fisherman prefers areas near the port when conditions in different fishing grounds are similar or when there is high uncertainty in its world. In the latter case a reluctance to navigate to other areas is observed. The artificial fisherman selects areas with higher concentration of prey, even if they are far from the port of departure, unless a high uncertainty is related to the fishing ground. Connected areas are preferred and followed in orderly fashion if a higher catch is expected. The observed behaviour of the artificial fisherman in uncertain scenarios can be described as a risk-averse attitude. The approach seems appropriate for an individual-based modelling of fishery systems, focusing on the learning and adaptive characteristics of fishermen and on interactions that take place at a fine scale.     

Social dimensions of mining: Research,policy and practice challenges for the minerals industry in Australia

The social dimensions of the mining industry are increasingly acknowledged as critical to business success, yet remain the least understood aspect of the business concept of sustainable development—the ‘triple bottom line’ of economy, environment and society.     

南充市大气PM10污染水平的分布特征

本文对南充市环境监测站2002年城区5个监测点的PM10监测资料进行了分析。结果发现南充市大气污染物PM10污染严重，并存在明显的空间和季节差异。嘉陵环保局测点污染最严重，西南石油学院和炼油厂测点污染相对较轻；冬季污染最严重，夏季污染程度最小。最后，结合其他相关资料，对造成上述状况的原因作了探讨。     

On the horizontal homogeneity of mass-related aerosol properties

We studied the mass-related aerosol properties, simultaneously attwo sites at the urban roof top level in the same city. Nosystematic influence of the wind vector on the difference in theaerosol concentrations between the two locations could be found.These results are compared with results from a second, similarexperiment over a larger distance including one urban and onerural site. Surprisingly, we could not detect a tendency whichwould indicate that sampling air at distance in the order of 1 kmwould be less affected by the heterogeneity than samplingdistanced in the order of 10 km apart. On the contrary, theresults suggest that mass-related properties at two sites in thesame city are not necessarily more similar than at an urban and arural site outside the city. These results stress the limitedhorizontal homogeneity of urban atmospheric aerosol. As aconclusion it is suggested that single-site measurements of mass-related aerosol properties should be considered to berepresentative for an area smaller than 1 km² on size.     

氨基黑10B褪色光度法测定痕量季铵盐型阳离子表面活性剂的研究

研究了在硫酸介质中,季铵盐型表面活性剂溴化十六烷基三甲基铵(CTMAB)、溴化十六烷基吡啶(CPB)对氨基黑10B的褪色作用,建立了褪色光度法测定痕量CTMAB和CPB的新方法,并探讨了褪色反应的机理和条件,测定CTMAB和CPB的线性范围皆为0～3×10-5mol L,摩尔吸光系数分别为1 77×104L mol·cm和1 17×104L mol·cm,用于水样中微量季铵盐型表面活性剂的测定,结果满意。     

Levels and Trend of Suspended Particles around Large Lignite Power Stations

The results of a 16 year long sampling program in a heavily industrialized area of NW Greece are presented and analyzed. Fourlignite power stations are operated in this area, which account forabout 70% of the total electrical energy produced in Greece.Ambient concentrations of Total Suspended Particles (TSP) over much of the period 1983–1998 as well as of particles of less than10 m aerodynamic diameter (PM₁₀) for three years were measured. Emphasis is given on the assessment of the levels of the daily average concentrations for the data period as well asthe determination of the spatial and temporal variation of suspended particle concentrations. Based on the data analysis, useful information is provided about air quality levels after taking into account air quality standards. The interannual concentrations trend is also investigated and an attempt is madeto examine the effectiveness of antipolluting procedures, which have occasionally been implemented in this industrial area. Finally the results are compared to those in the literature.     

2006年春季石家庄市沙尘天气与PM_(10)污染

文章应用气象资料和环境监测逐时资料,对2006年春季石家庄市出现的沙尘天气过程中PM10浓度变化,及其与污染源、天气形势、风、周边环境等的关系进行分析。结果表明,沙尘天气的首要污染物均是PM10,PM10的变化曲线呈正态分布,春季中度及以上污染日均出现在污染日当日或次日。造成石家庄沙尘天气污染源分本地型、外来型以及两者共同影响型三种。本地型沙尘污染强度取决于风速大小及强风持续时间,PM10浓度变化与风速呈正相关。而外来型污染多发生在地面弱气压场,PM10浓度变化与风速呈反相关。文章总结出沙尘天气污染预警的几个必要条件,可供实际的空气质量预警参考。     

Comparison of PM2.5 and PM10 in A Suburban Area in Korea During April, 2003

Airborne particulate matter (PM) concentrations were measured in Iksan, a suburban area in South Korea during April, 2003. PM_2.5 (particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm) and PM₁₀ (particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm) samples were collected, and the chemical characteristics of particles were examined for diurnal patterns, yellow dust/rainfall influences, and scavenging effects. Average concentrations of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ mass measured were 37.3 ± 16.2 μg m⁻³ and 60.8 ± 29.5 μg m⁻³, respectively. The sum of ionic chemical species concentrations for PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ was 16.9 ± 7.3 and 23.1 ± 10.1 μg/m³, respectively. A significant reduction in PM mass concentrations during rainfall days was observed for coarse mode (PM_{2.5 − 10}) particles, but less reduction was found for fine (PM_2.5) mass concentration. SO₄ ²⁻, NH₄ ⁺, and K⁺ predominated in fine particulate mode, NO₃ ⁻ and Cl⁻ predominated in fine particle mode and coarse particle mode, but Na⁺, Mg²⁺, and Ca²⁺ mostly existed in coarse mode. The high concentration of ammonium due to local emissions and long-range transport neutralized sulfate and nitrate to ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate, which were major forms of airborne PM in Iksan. Average mass concentrations of PM₁₀ in daytime and at night were 57.6 and 70.0 μg m⁻³, and those of PM_2.5 were 35.4 and 42.5 μg m⁻³, respectively. NO₃ ⁻ and Cl⁻ in both PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ were about double at night than in the daytime, while the rest of the chemical species were equal or a little higher at night than in the daytime. The results suggest the formation of ammonium nitrate and chloride when high ammonia concentration and low air temperature are allowed. Backward air trajectory analyses showed that air masses arriving at the site during yellow dust period were transported from arid Chinese regions, which resulted in high concentrations of airborne PM mass concentrations. In the meantime, air mass trajectories during a rainfall period were mostly from the Pacific Ocean or the East China Sea, along with a relatively low PM concentration.