A Global Model Tracking Water, Nitrogen, and Land Inputs and Virtual Transfers from Industrialized Meat Production and Trade

Rising populations and incomes throughout the world have boosted meat demand by over 75% in the last 20years, intensifying pressures on production systems and the natural resources to which they are linked. As a growing proportion of global meat production is traded, the environmental impacts of production become increasingly separated from where the meat is consumed. In this paper, we quantify the use of three important resources associated with industrial livestock production and trade—water, land, and nitrogen—using a country-specific model that combines trade, agronomic, biogeochemical, and hydrological data. Our model focuses on pigs and chickens, as these animals are raised predominantly in intensive systems using concentrated, compound feeds. The results describe the geographical patterns of environmental resource use due to meat production, trade, and consumption. We show that US feed, animal, and meat destined for export require almost as much nitrogen and land, and 20% more water, than products destined for domestic consumption. Model results also demonstrate that among various production factors, improvements in crop yields and animal feed conversion efficiencies result in the most significant reductions in environmental harm. By explicitly tracking the externalities of meat production, we hope to bolster suppliers’ accountability and provide better information to meat consumers.

完善环境影响评价公众参与的初步研究

环境影响评价制度是我国的一项基本环境保护法律制度,是环境管理体系的重要组成部分,完善公众参与体系有利于解决当前环境影响评价中公众参与存在的问题。在总结国内外公众参与发展进程的基础上,对完善公众参与体系进行了初步研究,提出了完善公众参与体系的内涵要点,提高公众参与体系研究力度,建立公众参与学相关内容。     

Comparison of models of simazine transport and fate in the subsurface environment in a citrus farm

Contamination of groundwater by agrochemicals is now widely recognized as an extremely important environmental problem. Modern agricultural practices involve the combined use of irrigation with the application of large amounts of agrochemicals to maximize crop yield. Due to flood irrigation and natural runoff, agricultural activities might generate soil, surface water and groundwater contamination problems and leaching of pesticides. Modeling of the transport and fate of pesticides, such as simazine, may help understand the long-term potential risk to the subsurface environment. This paper illustrates a comparative study via the use of three different pesticide transport simulation models and the applicability of those models in determining the groundwater vulnerability to pesticides contamination in a citrus orchard located at the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). The three models used in the study are the pesticide root zone model-3 (PRZM-3), the pesticide analytical model (PESTAN) and integrated pesticide transport modeling (IPTM). The concentration values obtained from all three models are in agreement, and they show a decreasing trend from the surface through the vadose zone. The problem is how to use this information and, specifically, how to combine the testimony of a number of experts into a single useful judgment. With the aid of the fuzzy multiattribute decision making method, PRZM-3 is deemed as the most promising one for such precision farming applications.     

Towards a planning support system for environmental management and agri-environmental measures--the Colorfields study

The authors present the beginnings of a planning support system (PSS) for agri-environmental measures exemplified by a virtual implementation of Colorfields and blooming strips on model farms, based on real-world data. This paper starts with an introduction to the Colorfields, a concept for transdisciplinary and sustainable landscape design of set-aside land. Colorfields comprise of blooming strips of flowering annual or biennial plants, which are designed and drilled in pattern on fallow land creating Land Art. The temporary scenic arrangements of the Colorfields combine the advantages of ecological strips, e.g. providing habitats for insects (especially bees), improving soil fertility through the cultivation of intercrops, with improvements of the social recognition of farmers as producers of pleasant landscapes instead of monoculture fields.The prototype of the PSS uses two software tools of different scientific origin, the bio-economic modeling system MODAM and the landscape visualization system Lenné3D, which are linked based on geo-data. The resulting system helps to assess the economic effects and visualizes the effects of the specific landuse patterns under different scenarios.The economic assessment of blooming strips on arable land and of one Colorfield on fallow land shows that these measures prove to be profitable from an economic viewpoint assuming the current area payments for the obligatory European Union set-aside program. Furthermore, the visualizations enable the design to be tested virtually by exploring the resultant scenery. They provide artists, planners and stakeholders including farmers with a tool to virtually wander through landscape scenarios supporting a collaborative design and a shared vision for the community.The results of the two model farms and previous case studies for Colorfields demonstrate how current policy conditions could be used for the improvement of environmental and scenic qualities. Furthermore, the ability of the tools, MODAM and Lenné3D, suggests to support and promote these activities.     

土地一级开发环境影响评价初探

衔接土地利用规划和建设项目的土地一级开发伴随着土地政策的改革而出现。目前土地一级开发环境影响评价处于起步阶段,缺乏对这项工作系统的研究。本文结合工作中的实践经验,从土地一级开发环境影响评价实施的意义、作用和评价目的等方面对土地一级开发的环境影响评价进行了论述,分析了其环境影响评价存在的问题,总结了土地一级开发环境影响评价的技术要点,并对完善土地一级开发环境影响评价制度提出建议。     

生物质热电厂大气影响评价的研究

为确定生物质能发电环境方面的可行性,分析了生物质能发电的工艺流程,相比于火电的优缺点,并进行了生物质能热电联厂的大气环境影响评价研究。结果表明：预测评价的烟尘、SO2和NO2排放浓度分别为11,63mg／m^3、200．3mg／m^3和378．7mg／m^3,均远低于火力发电的排放值;在不同条件下、不同地点SO2和NO2的1小时、日均浓度也均远低于火力发电的浓度值。说明了生物质能发电在环境友好性方面具有明显的优势。     

官地水电站竹子坝料场高边坡的稳定性分析及其影响因数研究

竹子坝料场是官地水电站混凝土浇筑骨料的重要来源之一。结合竹子坝料场的地形地质情况,以及料场开挖后形成的东、南、西三段人工边坡,运用刚体极限平衡的方法进行稳定性分析及其影响因数的研究。     

垃圾堆肥场堆肥废气环境影响评价分析

垃圾堆肥场的建设将改变目前垃圾任意堆放的局面 ,堆肥产品可用于林业使垃圾得到无害化处理 ,并变废为宝。尽管如此在垃圾堆肥过程中还将释放出有害气体和垃圾渗透液等影响环境质量。针对堆肥所产生的大气污染物进行源强确定、扩散计算 ,分析其影响范围并推算卫生防护距离。     

核电站温排水卫星遥感监测应用研究

选取我国 HJ－1 B卫星红外相机为遥感数据源,在介绍了温排水卫星遥感监测的技术流程和基本原理之后,重点论述了海表温度反演的算法和基准温度提取的基本原则。以2013年1月17日大亚湾核电站和2013年5月22日田湾核电站2景 HJ－1 B红外相机数据为应用实例,说明了卫星遥感监测可作为开展核电站温排水影响监测与热污染评价的首选技术方向和主要监测手段,阐述了其在核电站温排水影响后评估中的作用和意义。