Off-flavor compounds from decaying cyanobacterial blooms of Lake Taihu

The effect of cyanobacterial bloom decay on water quality and the complete degradation of cyanobacterial blooms in a short period were examined by an enclosure experiment in Gonghu Bay of Lake Taihu,China.Water quality parameters as well as taste and odor compounds during the breakdown of cyanobacterial blooms were measured.Results showed that the decay of cyanobacterial blooms caused anoxic water conditions,decreased pH,and increased nutrient loading to the lake water.The highest concentrations of dimethyl sulfide (DMS),dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS),and β-cyclocitral were observed in the anoxic water,at 62331.8,12413.3,and 1374.9 ng/L,respectively.2-Methylisoborneol was dominant during the live growth phase of cyanobacterial blooms,whereas DMS and DMTS were dominant during the decomposition phase.Dissolved oxygen,pH,and chlorophyll a were negatively correlated with DMS,DMTS,and β-cyclocitral,whereas total phosphorus,total nitrogen,and ammonium (NH4+-N) were positively correlated with DMS,DMTS,β-cyclocitral,and β-ionone.The experimental results suggested that preventing the anaerobic decomposition of cyanobacterial blooms is an important strategy against the recurrence of a malodor crisis in Lake Taihu.     

Assessing the Potential to Restore Historic Grazing Ecosystems with Tortoise Ecological Replacements

The extinction of large herbivores, often keystone species, can dramatically modify plant communities and impose key biotic thresholds that may prevent an ecosystem returning to its previous state and threaten native biodiversity. A potentially innovative, yet controversial, landscape‐based long‐term restoration approach is to replace missing plant‐herbivore interactions with non‐native herbivores. Aldabran giant (Aldabrachelys gigantea) and Madagascan radiated (Astrochelys radiata) tortoises, taxonomically and functionally similar to the extinct Mauritian giant tortoises (Cylindraspis spp.), were introduced to Round Island, Mauritius, in 2007 to control the non‐native plants that were threatening persistence of native species. We monitored the response of the plant community to tortoise grazing for 11 months in enclosures before the tortoises were released and, compared the cost of using tortoises as weeders with the cost of using manual labor. At the end of this period, plant biomass; vegetation height and cover; and adult, seedling, flower, and seed abundance were 3–136 times greater in adjacent control plots than in the tortoise enclosures. After their release, the free‐roaming tortoises grazed on most non‐native plants and significantly reduced vegetation cover, height, and seed production, reflecting findings from the enclosure study. The tortoises generally did not eat native species, although they consumed those native species that increased in abundance following the eradication of mammalian herbivores. Our results suggest that introduced non‐native tortoises are a more cost‐effective approach to control non‐native vegetation than manual weeding. Numerous long‐term outcomes (e.g., change in species composition and soil seed bank) are possible following tortoise releases. Monitoring and adaptive management are needed to ensure that the replacement herbivores promote the recovery of native plants. Estudiando el Potencial para Restaurar Ecosistemas Históricos de Forrajeo con Reemplazos Ecológicos de Tortugas Terrestres     

The 1970 Bhola cyclone,nationalist politics,and the subsistence crisis contract in Bangladesh

The devastating Bhola cyclone in November 1970 is credited with having triggered the political events that led to the division of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. A callous response to the disaster by the Pakistani regime resulted in a landslide electoral victory for Bengali nationalists, followed by a bitter and bloody civil war. Yet, despite its political momentousness, the Bhola cyclone has been the subject of little political analysis. This paper examines the events, arguing that its extraordinary political significance put disaster management on the nationalist agenda; the famine of 1974 confirmed its centrality, producing a social contract to protect the population against disasters and subsistence crises on which the country's acclaimed resilience to the effects of climate change rests. The Bhola cyclone also drew international attention to this neglected, little‐known region, and in general can be seen as foundational for the subsequent developmental achievements of Bangladesh.     

试论我国道路交通危机管理体系的构建

道路交通危机事件具有意外性、紧急性和危险性等特征,人们在处理过程中往往面临着各种信息不完全、信息不准确或信息反馈不及时等情况,因此,在对整个危机事件的处理过程中都充满了复杂性、快速性等特点。笔者从危机管理角度,提出了道路交通危机和道路交通危机管理的概念;分析了道路交通危机管理的特点以及国内外目前的现状;探讨了在我国建立道路交通危机管理体系的必要性;从道路交通危机管理制度、管理机构、运行机制等方面讨论了构建道路交通危机管理体系的整体框架;从宏观角度重点研究了道路交通危机管理运行机制的预警机制、快速反应机制、信息发布机制、协调机制、评价机制等方面问题。     

Environmental policy implementation during the economic crisis: an analysis of European member state ‘leader-laggard’ dynamics

ABSTRACT

The long-standing debate on environmental policy ‘leaders’ and ‘laggards’ lends itself to a new analysis following with the advent of the 2008 economic crisis. This paper, therefore, asks the question to what extent do European Union (EU) member states have the capacity and willingness to implement EU environmental policy amid austerity, budget cuts, and rising costs over the period 2008–2014. Building upon previous studies, 26 interviews with European, Greek and United Kingdom participants and records of environmental infringements, the paper provides a contemporary picture of the environmental policy ‘leader-laggard’ dynamic in Europe. The findings demonstrate that the impact of the economic crisis seems contestable and varies amongst member states, while the reduction in environmental infringements appears to have a link with the decrease in economic activity. Although environmental policy ‘leaders’ maintain patterns of strong implementation, the improved implementation performance of some ‘laggards’ reflects a shift in their implementation patterns amid a period of intense political and economic controversies.     

WATER AND THE ENERGY CRISIS1

ABSTRACT: Water and energy are inextricably bound. Energy is consumed and sometimes produced by every form of water resources system. Opportunities for future development and production of energy resources abound as well as those for significant reductions in energy consumption through wise water development and management. Technological, political, social, economic and environmental factors interrelate in the energy-water mix. The role of the water resources planner will have to be expanded to include assessment of water-energy impacts in addition to traditional planning considerations. An energy conservation account may well have to be added to the dimensions of national economic development and environmental quality in water resources planning. Ways must be found to reduce amounts and rates of water used and energy consumed through new manufacturing processes, improved irrigation practices, better management, new or altered social-political-economic arrangements and other procedures. To do this will require setting priorities and making difficult management decisions. The water fraternity can play a major role in alleviating the energy crisis we now face.     

我国煤炭行业潜在危机与现实矿难的成因和对策

针对我国煤炭行业矿难频发,尚未有效遏制的现状,从对行业现实矿难的统计数据和潜在危机的现象分析入手,运用系统理论的观点,根据煤炭行业的复杂系统特征进一步分析危机和矿难形成的原因和机理。笔者认为,煤炭系统的危机和矿难是由系统运行过程中的矛盾和风险演变而来的,行业内部结构失衡是危机形成的内在因素,造成系统处于病态运行状态、危机潜伏;能源需求的非理性是危机形成的外部因素,造成系统病态运行加剧、危机加重;矿难则是处于危机状态的煤炭系统运行过程中剧烈波动而产生的突发危机事件。根据分析和研究所得的结论,提出必须纳入煤炭内部系统、纳入国家能源系统和宏观经济系统中,对煤炭行业危机和矿难进行多层次宏观层面的调控并采取新的对策。     

基本有色金属及其废料价格走势预测

2008年席卷全球的金融危机对我国再生资源回收行业造成了严重影响。受金融危机影响,有色金属中6种基本金属的价格均大幅下挫,与之相关的废有色金属更是损失惨重,部分品种价格下跌甚至超过50％。2009年再生资源行业仍将面临金融危机和增值税政策调整的双重压力和挑战。结合当前国内外经济形势,通过对近些年来有色金属价格走势的分析,预测：有色金属行业复苏仍需时日,有色金属价格已经接近底部,大幅下跌的可能性很小;铜和镍从中长期来看仍有下探的空间;铅和锌价格已见底,未来不会再创新低。     

从汶川地震看危机管理人才的能力

本文在分析地震危机事件特征以及管理人才在汶川地震的抗震救灾过程中的作用的基础上,总结出危机管理人才的素质及能力要求,并试探着提出培养和提高管理人才危机管理能力的途径.     

发展绿色经济 有效应对国际金融危机

湖南面临着国际金融危机和气候变暖问题双重挑战。发展绿色经济,是湖南有效应对双重挑战的明智选择。绿色经济的内涵、湖南应对金融危机所采取的举措,特别是如何通过大力发展绿色经济,促进可持续发展,使之成为湖南经济发展的新引擎,是当前亟需研究的一个重要课题。