ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING: Economic Values of Recreational Power Boating Resources in Pennsylvania

/ The travel cost method was used to estimate the economic value of seven major power boating resources in Pennsylvania. A significant relationship between number of visitor trips and cost per visitor trip existed for five of the seven water bodies. The annual total value for those five resources was $396 million, which was 2.5 times greater than the total out-of-pocket expenditures of approximately $157 million visitors spent to visit them. Research results can help resource managers plan and craft programs and policies that are founded on economic values of the natural resources involved.     

Nutritional risks of vegan diets to women and children: Are they preventable?

The potential health risks of vegan diets specifically for women and children are discussed. Women and children are at higher risk of malnutrition from consumption of unsupplemented vegan diets than are adult males. Those who are very young, pregnant, lactating, elderly, or who suffer from poverty, disease or other environmentally induced disadvantages are at special risk. The size of these risks is difficult to quantify from existing studies. Fortunately the risk of dietary deficiency disease can be avoided and the potential health benefits of vegan diets can be realized when diets for these groups are planned in line with theRecommended Dietary Allowances so that nutrient intakes reach or exceed recommended levels, and access to preventive and curative health services is assured.     

长三角地区地表干湿状况及极端干湿事件特征研究

利用Penman-Monteith模型及1957—2014年长三角地区43个气象站点逐日降水、气温、风速、日照时数及空气相对湿度实测数据,对参考作物蒸散量、地表湿润指数和极端干旱/湿润事件进行了计算和统计。运用线性回归、Trend-free pre-whitening (TFPW) Mann-Kendall趋势检验、Morlet小波分析等方法,分析了研究区地表湿润指数及极端干湿事件的时空分布特征。结果显示：1）近58 a长三角地区年及季节平均湿润指数在空间上呈南高北低分布格局;2）年湿润指数呈波动下降趋势,变化倾向率为-0.021/10 a,气候趋于干旱化。湿润期集中在20世纪80、90年代。突变年为2003年,并存在多个振荡周期。四季中,春秋季气候趋于干旱化,冬夏季反之。年际湿润指数变异系数和变化趋势存在明显的空间差异;3）年极端干旱事件发生频率呈波动上升趋势,年极端湿润事件则呈现微弱的下降趋势,均存在空间差异。     

中国地表臭氧浓度估算及健康影响评估

在PM2.5浓度逐年下降的背景下,臭氧浓度不降反升,臭氧已成为中国暖季的主要污染物之一.基于大数据关联分析思路,构建并开发了极限梯度提升(XGBoost)臭氧浓度估算模型,用以估算2019年中国每日最大8 h平均臭氧浓度(O3_8h),用于人类暴露评估.该模型输入地面监测站点数据、高分辨率遥感卫星数据、气象数据、排放清...     

中国高温热浪对碳排放量的响应

基于中国碳核算数据及气象资料,分析了8大经济区(30个省份)近20a来(1997～2017年)碳排放量和高温热浪的本底变化特征,探讨了不同区域高温热浪对碳排放量的多尺度响应关系.结果表明:(1)研究时段内,8个经济区的碳排放量均显著增加,增速最大和最小的经济区分别为黄河中游和西北;(2)不同级别(轻度、中度和重度)高温...     

贵州省土壤硒含量背景值研究

以贵州省耕地表层土壤(0～20 cm)为研究对象,系统采集了454431件土壤样品,分析测试了土壤硒含量,讨论了贵州省耕地表层土壤硒含量及其分布特征,以及不同土壤类型、不同酸碱度、不同地类土壤的硒含量背景值.结果 表明,贵州省耕地土壤硒含量背景值为0.482 mg/kg,变化范围为0.179～1.295 mg/kg.与...     

Optimal Allocation of Resources among Threatened Species: a Project Prioritization Protocol

Abstract: Conservation funds are grossly inadequate to address the plight of threatened species. Government and conservation organizations faced with the task of conserving threatened species desperately need simple strategies for allocating limited resources. The academic literature dedicated to systematic priority setting usually recommends ranking species on several criteria, including level of endangerment and metrics of species value such as evolutionary distinctiveness, ecological importance, and social significance. These approaches ignore 2 crucial factors: the cost of management and the likelihood that the management will succeed. These oversights will result in misallocation of scarce conservation resources and possibly unnecessary losses. We devised a project prioritization protocol (PPP) to optimize resource allocation among New Zealand's threatened‐species projects, where costs, benefits (including species values), and the likelihood of management success were considered simultaneously. We compared the number of species managed and the expected benefits gained with 5 prioritization criteria: PPP with weightings based on species value; PPP with species weighted equally; management costs; species value; and threat status. We found that the rational use of cost and success information substantially increased the number of species managed, and prioritizing management projects according to species value or threat status in isolation was inefficient and resulted in fewer species managed. In addition, we found a clear trade‐off between funding management of a greater number of the most cost‐efficient and least risky projects and funding fewer projects to manage the species of higher value. Specifically, 11 of 32 species projects could be funded if projects were weighted by species value compared with 16 projects if projects were not weighted. This highlights the value of a transparent decision‐making process, which enables a careful consideration of trade‐offs. The use of PPP can substantially improve conservation outcomes for threatened species by increasing efficiency and ensuring transparency of management decisions.     

Nesting biodiversity conservation into landscape management

There is universal recognition that biological diversity (biodiversity) is being lost at an alarming rate. The costs and risks of these losses for humanity are still not fully understood, but are believed to be very significant. While much is being achieved through conservation programmes, the task of addressing the current crisis remains complex, particularly as there are significant biological, social and economic challenges to nesting conservation objectives into land-use management. This paper emphasizes the socio-economic challenges, wherein a central issue is that of equitably sharing the costs and benefits of conservation among all beneficiaries, nationally and internationally. The world's biological heritage supplies mankind with a number of ecological goods and services, which have attached direct use values, indirect use values, existence values and option values. Currently, only a few direct values are tangible and here much remains to be done to capture effectively and distribute equitably the benefits arising from the other values. The paper discusses three instances where some of these challenges are being addressed, in Belize, Pakistan and Mongolia. Finally, the paper discusses the need for additional mechanisms that will help meet the challenge of establishing and maintaining conservation arrangements in the landscapes of developing countries, where much of the most threatened biota is found.     

Audience Response to Values-based Marketplace Advocacy by the Fossil Fuel Industries

A form of issue advocacy, marketplace advocacy campaigns often arise in response to burgeoning societal concerns, especially those faced by energy industries. Although these campaigns may include brief and selective references to corporate activities, most campaigns place a much stronger emphasis on commonly shared societal values. This study examines audience response to values-based environmental marketplace advocacy messages by the fossil fuel industries through a series of focus groups. Four instrumental values were identified in campaign videos (innovation, community, resilience, and patriotism), and the terminal value of pragmatism, especially as it relates to environmental issues, was identified as a result of identification with one or more of the instrumental values. The findings are discussed through the lens of extant research on marketplace advocacy and organizational values as well as Habermas's theory of refuedalization, shedding light on the ways corporations appeal to commonly held societal values in an effort to generate support for a given industry.