Domestic or imported? An assessment of carbon footprints and sustainability of seafood consumed in Australia

The distance between where food is produced and consumed is increasing, and is often taken as evidence of an unsustainable global food system. Seafood is a highly traded commodity yet seafood sustainability assessments do not typically consider the impacts of the movement of products beyond the fishery or farm. Here we use life cycle assessment to examine the carbon footprint of the production and distribution of select seafood products that are consumed in Australia and determine differences in the sustainability of imports and their domestically produced counterparts. We found that the distance food is transported is not the main determinant of food sustainability. Despite the increased distance between production and consumption, carbon footprints of meals from imported seafood are similar to meals consisting of domestically produced seafood, and sometimes lower, depending on the seafood consumed. In combining LCA with existing seafood sustainability criteria the trade-offs between sustainability targets become more apparent. Carbon ‘footprinting’ is one metric that can be incorporated in assessments of sustainability, thereby demonstrating a broader perspective of the environmental cost of food production and consumption.     

Impact of Growing Income Inequality on Sustainable Development in China： A Provincial-level Analysis

A growing body of literature has documented the rapidly increasing income disparities that accompanied China＇s economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s, and the driving factors behind this. Growing income inequality in its turn may have important implications for the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital and as a consequence for sustainable economic development. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential impact of income inequality on savings, human resources and the environment in China. It starts with an overview of the different causal mechanisms through which income inequality may affect the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital, and discusses to what extent these causal relationships may be relevant in the case of China. Next, provincial data for the year 2002 are used to explore the relationship between income inequality and different elements of sustainable development in China. It is found that income inequality does not affect aggregate savings levels. Rising inequality, however, contributes to lower health and possibly also to higher fertility levels. It also lowers the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture and therefore is likely to reduce water pollution. Other types of environmental degradation are not affected.     

贫困地区可持续发展指标体系及其综合评估--以湖南湘西贫困地区为例

本文依据贫困地区可持续发展固有的制约因素，特殊的内涵与目标，首次利用压力（Pressure)——状态（State)——响应（Respons)模型，构建了贫困地区可持续发展指标体系，并采用专家咨询与定量模型相结合的方法，对湖南湘西贫困地区可持续发展水平作了实证评估与分析。     

Strategic Environmental Assessment： A New Tool for Ecological Urbanization of Coastal Cities in China

Recently, there has been growing concerns about environmental issues related to urbanization in China. The intense natural resources utilization and increasing population has brought great pressure, especially in coastal areas, consequently affecting the sustainable development of coastal cities. In 2002, Environmental Impact Assessment Act （EIA Act） was enacted in China. Environmental impact assessment targeted at planning, one level of strategic environmental assessment （SEA）, thus became a legislative requirement. This paper considers SEA to be one of the important approaches not only to control coastal pollution, but also to conserve coastal ecosystems and finally to achieve sustainable development during urbanization, thus it will be a set an example for other areas of China. The experience of SEA in Xiamen, a coastal city in southeast China, illustrates the potentials of SEA. This paper first briefly introduces the concept and potentials of SEA, then compares two SEA cases and a project EIA case in Xiamen, and finally identifies the key characteristics of SEA.     

Biological degradation of some organic compounds involved in the paper industry

An evaluation of the biodegradation by aerobic microorganisms was investigated for some organic compounds occurring in paper manufacturing technology. Lines of biodegradation for nine organic compounds, as a percentage removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), were detected over seven days incubation. The results of the biodegradability test clearly revealed that some of the organic compounds under investigation were highly biodegradable while others ranked from fairly biodegradable to non-biodegradable. Significant biodegradation results were recorded as COD removal, for anti-coating ester (95.0 percent), Basoplast 200D (85.3 percent) and Basoplast PR 8050 (87.6 percent). The bleaching agent (formamidin-sulfinic acid), Ukanol BSA and Solidurit KM demonstrated moderate biodegradation with results of 62.1 percent, 76.2 percent and 69.8 percent, respectively. Poor biodegradation results for Hedifix M/35 (12.7 percent), Basazol Orange (34.9 percent) and Basazol Brown (29.0 percent) were recorded. Accordingly, appropriate precautions should be taken into consideration when applying these compounds to paper manufacturing processes.     

Environmental Impact Assessment in Victoria: Australian Discretion Rules EA!

Victoria enacted EIA legislation in 1978, before any other state in Australia. The current EIA system, which is administered by the state government, is based upon non-mandatory guidelines which are far more comprehensive than the provisions of the law they elaborate. As it has matured, Victoria's EIA system has developed requirements for the consideration of alternatives, screening, scoping (with project-specific outlines), EIA report-quality checks, proponent response to public comment and the preparation of a ministerial assessment report containing recommendations. The use of consultative committees to advise on scoping and EIA report preparation is one of several public participation provisions. EIA system evaluation criteria are advanced and used to help in reviewing the largely discretionary Victorian system, elements of which could serve as an example to other jurisdictions with incomplete EIA legislative requirements, such as the U.K.     

Planning for Biodiversity: the Role of Ecological Impact Assessment

Abstract:  Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the process of identifying potential environmental effects of proposed development and the required mitigation measures. It is one of the most widely used planning tools today, but its ability to promote biodiversity conservation is largely unexplored. We studied the ecological component of the Israeli EIA system by reviewing a representative sample of 52 environmental impact statements (EISs) produced since 1995 and their corresponding guidelines issued by the Ministry of the Environment. Quality of both EISs and guidelines was determined using a simple scoring approach. Lack of quantitative data, meaningful analyses, and ecosystem perspective was apparent throughout. Many EISs failed to perform field surveys and their qualitative nature hampered meaningful impact prediction. Most EISs concentrated on aesthetic mitigation measures and did not assess their feasibility and likely success. Most of these flaws reflect poor standards rather than true scientific limitations. Guideline quality scores were the most important factor determining the quality of EISs; second was the involvement of an ecological consultant in preparing the EIS. We found a decreasing trend of EIS quality scores over time. Improvements in EIA procedures, particularly in ecological guidelines and the incorporation of ecological consultation, are important for upgrading ecological impact assessment so that the potential of EIA to advance biodiversity conservation can be realized.     

经度、纬度及时差设置对AERMOD预测结果的影响

为了验证经度、纬度和时差参数对AERMOD模式预测结果是否有影响,假设在某气象条件下存在一个点源,利用AERMOD模式计算该点源排放的污染物的浓度分布.保持气象条件和污染源参数不变,仅改变点源所在地的经度、纬度或时差,重新利用AERMOD模式进行了预测,比较预测结果的差异.结果表明,经度、纬度和时差参数对白天时段行星边界层参数的计算值有影响,受影响的参数包括地表热通量、摩擦速度、Monin-Obukhov长度、对流速度尺度、温度尺度和混合高度.经度、纬度和时差的不同取值对AERMOD计算出的污染物小时平均浓度最大值和浓度分布影响明显.根据AERMOD公式的描述和能量变化得出,经度、纬度和时差的改变引起了项目所在地白天太阳高度角的变化,进而改变了地表热通量.地表热通量的改变,造成了行星边界层参数的变化,最终影响了浓度分布的计算值.     

基于支持向量机的湖泊生态系统健康评价研究

利用支持向量机在处理分类问题、小样本问题和泛化推广方面的优势,构建了基于支持向量机的湖泊生态系统健康评价模型.同时,对广州市最大的人工湖——白云湖的水质及生物群落情况进行了监测,最后运用该模型对白云湖生态系统健康状况进行了评价.评价结果表明,白云湖生态系统处于病态状态,不能达到其净化水质的设计作用.建议从提高进水水质、实施湖区截污和丰富生物量3方面改善白云湖生态系统健康水平.与传统熵权综合健康指数法和熵权模糊综合评价法相比,所建模型更加客观、科学地评价了湖泊生态系统健康状况,能够为湖泊生态系统健康管理提供一定依据,具有广阔的应用前景.     

象山港养殖区缢蛏和泥蚶的Cu、Cd、Pb含量及其健康风险评价

根据2010年全年4个季节象山港5个养殖区(大佳何、郭巨、咸祥、桐照、西店)两种贝类(缢蛏、泥蚶)体中的3种重金属(Cu、Cd、Pb)的检测结果,分析和比较了象山港内贝类体中的重金属含量,并应用两种评价模型进行了健康风险评价.结果为:所测得Cu、Pb、Cd在5个不同的养殖区的缢蛏和泥蚶体中的含量分别在2.89～4.99、0.24～0.39、0.12～0.22mg.kg-1和0.79～1.05、0.10～0.38、2.17～4.60mg.kg-1范围,其中大佳何的缢蛏体内的Cu、Pb含量要高于其他4个养殖区,郭巨的泥蚶体内的Cd含量高于其他4个区;其次,同一种重金属Cu、Pb、Cd在两种贝类中的含量分别为1.52～10.48和0.66～1.20mg.kg-1,0.08～0.68和0.02～1.01mg.kg-1,及0.04～0.50和0.74～4.43mg.kg-1范围,Cu在缢蛏体中的含量远远大于泥蚶,而Cd在泥蚶中的含量远远大于缢蛏;所得结论为:不同养殖区内,同一种重金属在同种贝类体内的含量存在明显的差异;同一种重金属在不同种类贝类中的含量也存在明显的差异;贝类的不同养殖规格及不同年龄间Cu、Pb、Cd的含量基本相同,无明显差异;采用USEPA和PMTDI两种健康风险评价模型得出相同的结果:除泥蚶体中Cd可能存在致癌健康风险外,其他对人体均不存在健康风险.