Multicriteria analysis as a tool to investigate compatibility between conservation and development on Salina Island,Aeolian Archipelago,Italy

Several multicriteria evaluation techniques have been developed since the 1970s. The need to compare different territorial policies has justified their introduction into environmental research. These methods are based on the numerical manipulation of heterogeneous information, which varies in terms of reference scale and type of measure (continuous, ordinal, qualitative, binary, etc.). During recent years, diverse investigations have focused on general conditions on Salina, the “green island” of the Aeolian archipelago. Such studies, within an interdisciplinary project, aimed to explore the possibility of implementing conservation strategies that are compatible with human needs, landscape preservation, and sustainable economic development. Three different evaluation techniques are applied, namely multicriteria weighted concordance and discordance analysis and a qualitative procedure. They are used to compare four alternative plans for the socioeconomic development of Salina Island. These plans lie between extreme alternatives: total protection of natural resources and maximizing economic development based on tourism. The plans are compared to each other on the basis of 14 criteria that reflect the socioenvironmental perception of Salina's inhabitants. The approach used in this research seems particularly fruitful because of its flexibility: it offers decision makers the chance to manage heterogeneous data and information that is not easily quantifiable. Such “soft” information helps to evaluate environmental conditions more precisely, and to make a less damaging choice among alternative development plans.     

小城镇灾害易损性分析与评估

随着我国城镇化进程的加快 ,小城镇的防灾减灾问题逐步引起社会的关注 ,而小城镇易损度分析和评价是灾害危险性评价的重要组成部分 ,也是小城镇决策部门制定防灾减灾规划的重要依据 ;笔者在综合分析了小城镇的自然易损性、经济易损性及社会易损性的基础上 ,选取相应的灾害指标和社会经济指标 ,应用多级模糊综合评判方法 ,对小城镇的易损程度作出了评估 ,从而为小城镇制定相应防灾、减灾对策提供科学依据。     

复采残采煤层小煤矿开采技术研究

平顶山市新华区为全国重点产煤县 (区 ) ,区内煤矿以乡镇小煤矿为主 ;小煤矿井田多位于平顶山煤业集团大型矿井浅部报废水平内 ,主要开采残留煤柱和采后剩余底部煤层。笔者根据新华区小煤矿生产的特点 ,总结、规范了复采残采煤层小煤矿井田开拓、采煤方法 ,重点研究了房柱式采煤法采准巷道布置和采煤工艺 ,特别是保持煤房稳定、提高采煤工作面安全生产的特殊支护问题 ;同时结合小煤矿生产中存在的主要问题 ,依据煤炭行业的法律、法规 ,提出了小煤矿采煤方法改进的技术措施。上述研究成果 ,对规范我国小煤矿的采煤方法、提高小煤矿的安全生产能力、推动小煤矿由数量型向质量效益型转化、发展地方经济都具有重要的现实意义。     

Sustainable Development in Small Island Developing States

This paper explores the status of sustainable development in small island developing states (SIDS), through the presentation of a case study on the Maldives, which is a typical small island developing state in the Central Indian Ocean. At the outset, a brief history of sustainable development as related to SIDS on the international agenda is outlined, starting from Rio to Barbados to Johannesburg. SIDS are expected to face many challenges and constraints in pursuing sustainable development due to their ecological fragility and economic vulnerability. It is the position of this paper that issues related to environmental vulnerability are of the greatest concern. A healthy environment is the basis of all life-support systems, including that of human well-being and socio-economic development. Priority environmental problems are: climate change and sea-level rise, threats to biodiversity, threats to freshwater resources, degradation of coastal environments, pollution, energy and tourism. Among these, climate change and its associated impacts are expected to pose the greatest threat to the environment and therefore to sustainable development. For small islands dependent on fragile marine ecosystems, in particular on coral reefs, for their livelihoods and living space, adverse effects of climate change such as increased frequency of extreme weather events and sea-level rise will exacerbate the challenges they already face. It is concluded that the paper path from Rio to Barbados to Johannesburg has made significant progress. However, much remains to be done at the practical level, particularly by the developed countries in terms of new and additional efforts at financial and technical assistance, to make sustainable development a reality for SIDS.     

The potential for combining indigenous and western knowledge in reducing vulnerability to environmental hazards in small island developing states

The benefits of indigenous knowledge within disaster risk reduction are gradually being acknowledged and identified. However, despite this acknowledgement there continues to be a gap in reaching the right people with the correct strategies for disaster risk reduction.This paper identifies the need for a specific framework identifying how indigenous and western knowledge may be combined to mitigate against the intrinsic effects of environmental processes and therefore reduce the vulnerability of rural indigenous communities in small island developing states (SIDS) to environmental hazards. This involves a review of the impacts of environmental processes and their intrinsic effects upon rural indigenous communities in SIDS and how indigenous knowledge has contributed to their coping capacity. The paper concludes that the vulnerability of indigenous communities in SIDS to environmental hazards can only be addressed through the utilisation of both indigenous and Western knowledge in a culturally compatible and sustainable manner.     

Impact of leakage location and downwind storage tank on the gas dispersion in a typical chemical tank storage area

Toxic gas leakage in a tank area can have catastrophic consequences. Storage tank leakage location (particularly for high leakage) and downwind storage tanks potentially influence gas diffusion in tank areas. In this study, we developed a numerical and experimental method to investigate the impact of a high leakage location and downwind storage tank on gas diffusion based on three (1.05H, 0.90H, and 0.77H, H was the tank height, 22m) leakage field experiments on the leeward side of storage tank, which have been not conducted before. The experiments revealed an unexpected phenomenon: the maximum ground concentration first decreased and then increased with increasing leakage height. The simulations illustrated that the differences in micrometeorological conditions caused the maximum ground concentration of gas emitted from the roof to be higher than that emitted from the tank wall near the storage tank height. The downwind storage tank 1) had little influence on the entire diffusion direction but altered the local diffusion pattern; 2) reduced the maximum ground concentration (∼18.7%) and the distance from the emission source (approximately a storage tank diameter); and 3) had strong influences on the concentration, velocity, turbulence, and pressure on the leeward side. The concentration negatively correlated with the velocity, pressure, and turbulence in the middle of the two storage tanks on wind centerline. Our results can improve understanding of gas dispersion in tank areas and provide references for mitigating loss and protecting lives during emergency response processes.     

The Effects of Ocean Disposal of Sewage Sludge On the Relative Abundance of Benthic Megafauna

Disposal of sewage sludge in the New York Bight Apex (12-Mile Dump Site) ceased at the end of December 1987. Previous efforts to quantify the effects of sludge were hindered by the inability to obtain true replication. the cessation of dumping afforded the opportunity to apply the technique of replication in time, also known as a Before/After, Control/Impact design. Conditionally, this method allows one to separate treatment effects from the natural differences that confound many environmental impact studies. the Environmental Processes Division of the Northeast Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service sampled the benthic environment of the New York Bight Apex from June 1986 through September 1989 using a sample design based on the technique of replication in time.

Three dominant species (rock crab, Cancer irroratus; little skate; Raja erinacea; and winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus) and total demersal finfish, collected by otter trawl, showed no statistically significant response to the cessation of disposal. American lobster (Homarus americanus) increased in local abundance, but this result was possibly confounded by a change in fishing effort.     

锅炉温控炉拱的设计及燃烧技术性能

论述了将小型链条炉排工业锅炉的炉拱设计成在运行中可以全量调节的结构,以适应燃用多种煤种的需要,并减少与固定拱操作有关的意外伤亡事故。这项技术有创新性,适用性和推广价值     

小兴凯湖浮游植物功能群特征及其影响因子

为分析北方寒冷地区浑浊型富营养化湖泊湿地浮游植物功能群时空变化特征及其影响因子,分别于2014年春季(5月)、夏季(7月)和秋季(9月)对小兴凯湖12个采样点进行了浮游植物采样,系统分析了浮游植物功能群的组成特征. 结果表明:小兴凯湖浮游植物共划分为21个功能群,其中重要功能群为H1、MP、D、C、Y、X2、J和W1,春季以功能群X2和D占优势,分别占49.02%和24.32%;夏季以功能群X2、C和H1占优势,分别占28.86%、16.11%和14.16%;秋季以功能群X2和C占优势,分别占46.97%和27.66%. 浮游植物功能群随季节变化表现为X2+D→X2+C+H1→X2+C的特点,反映至水体环境,春季为低温、高营养、中度浑浊水体,夏季为高温、富营养、高度浑浊、低光照水体,秋季为低温、富营养、高度浑浊、低光照水体. Pearson线性相关性分析表明,重要功能群功能群H1同ρ(TP)极显著正相关;功能群D同透明度、ρ(BOD₅)极显著正相关,同ρ(COD_Cr)显著正相关,同浊度和ρ(TIC)显著负相关;功能群X2同透明度极显著正相关,同ρ(TP)显著正相关,同浊度极显著负相关. RDA多元统计分析表明,ρ(TP)、浊度、透明度是小兴凯湖浮游植物功能群的主要影响因子,ρ(TC)、ρ(TOC)同大多数小兴凯湖浮游植物功能群正相关,但不是主要影响因子,ρ(TIC)与小兴凯湖浮游植物功能群无相关性. 小兴凯湖虽然整体营养盐水平很高,但较高的浊度抑制了浮游植物的生长.      

An Exploratory Study of Meanings of Risk Control for Long Term and Acute Effect Occupational Health and Safety Risks in Small Business Construction Firms

A qualitative study of employers' and employees' meanings of occupational health and safety (OHS) risk control was conducted among a sample of small businesses engaged in the Australian construction industry. Two OHS risks relevant to the construction industry were selected for study. One risk (falls from height) represented an immediate consequence, whereas the other (occupational skin disease) represented a long-term health effect. Meanings of the sources and control for these risks were explored during in-depth interviews. Participants perceived the immediate effect, falls from height OHS risk, as being more important in their workplaces than the delayed effect, skin disease OHS risk. The risk of falls from height was perceived to be controllable but requiring a great deal of effort to prevent, whereas there was a fatalistic resignation to the risk of occupational skin disease. Meanings of risk control for both occupational skin disease and falls from height focused on individual rather than technological risk controls. Organizational barriers to the adoption of technological OHS risk controls in the construction industry were identified.