Towards phosphorus sustainability in North America: A model for transformational change

Global food production and security rely heavily on finite reserves of newly mined phosphate for fertilizers. However, systemic inefficiencies result in the deposition in aquatic ecosystems of much of the phosphorus mined for food production causing costly eutrophication problems that damage aquatic ecosystems and human health. The Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance (SPA, formerly named North American Partnership for Phosphorus Sustainability) was created to implement sustainable phosphorus solutions through active engagement of stakeholders in both the private and public sectors. This paper describes a conceptual model of transformative change to a sustainable phosphorus system for the North American region. The model emerged from discussions at a series of formal and informal meetings held in conjunction with a ‘Future of Phosphorus’ event (National Science Foundation’s Phosphorus Sustainability Research Coordination Network) and an inaugural SPA Board meeting. Model development drew on the multi-level perspective of socio-technical transitions to develop a series of pathways to a transformed phosphorus system. The uses of the model and transition pathways are discussed in terms of their potential to form an important first step towards the development of a regional vision for improved phosphorus sustainability. The process provides an example of how research in sustainability science can contribute to action on environmental improvement.     

俄罗斯的天然气输送与环境保护

俄罗斯年产天然气５０００×１０８ｍ３，年输天然气２４００×１０８ｍ３，输气干线多采用多管线并列埋设方式。大量的长输管道、加压站和地下储气库的设计和施工都必须解决相应的环境保护问题。在河床处多采用埋管的办法；在沙漠地带要尽可能避开流沙地区；在永冻地区应注意输气管道的加热效应；过铁路的交叉口应设计自动监测系统；在确定管道线路时，必须注意生态保护；用植树绿化等方法尽量减轻加压站内燃气轮机发出的噪音危害；地下储气库的环境保护重点是回注水的处理。最后阐述了管道等输气工程的工作程序及所使用的法规和标准等。     

浅谈医疗危险固体废弃物的安全处置

在抗击非典疫情的关键时期 ,如何对医疗废物的安全处置 ,防止疫情扩大 ,非常重要     

Soils Characteristics of The Bassendean and Spearwood Sands of the Gnangara Mound (Western Australia) and their Controls On Recharge, Water Level Patterns and Solutes of The Superficial Aquifer

The flow pathways of water in the soils of the Gnangara Mound are highly irregular and depend upon the moisture content, the repellency and preferential wettability potential of the soils. The occurrence of preferential flow is more evident in dry soils. As the soil wets during the rainy season, the water repellence and differential wettability decreases, the fingering and the preferential flow paths disappear. Most of the agricultural sites in the Spearwood Sands which showed more irregular flow than the Bassendean Sands are under continuous irrigation during cultivation season. As the repellency problems are chemically treated, it is therefore expected that the flow will be more uniform all the year round. Landuse is mainly responsible for variation in recharge rates; however, the hydraulic properties control aquifer response and water level pattern to a greater degree. Water levels in the mid 1970s were in a semi steady state. Since that time, a combination of increasing water use by pine plantations, heavy pumping from private boreholes in market gardens and private homes and intensive pumping from the Gnangara Mound for the metropolitan water supply have caused water levels to continually decline in the Superficial aquifer. Nitrate and phosphate concentrations in the regional Superficial aquifer are generally very low. None of the tested pesticides (atrazine, diazinon, dimethoate, endosulfan, fenamiphos, iprodione, malathion and chlorpyrifos) were detected in the groundwater samples collected from the monitoring bores.     

山地农业种植结构演变特征及其调控途径分析——以贵州省为例

为分析山地农业种植结构的演变特征及其主要驱动因子,制定种植结构的调控途径,采用C-PCA耦合模型(典型主成分分析)对贵州省1949~2013年种植结构演变的15个驱动因子进行分析。结果表明:(1)贵州省1949~2013年种植结构逐渐向市场导向型转变,经济作物比重上升,粮食作物比重下降,粮食作物和经济作物产量分别以7.24%和2.95%的速率增长;(2)通过C-PCA耦合模型的贡献率得出种植结构演变的主要驱动因子为总人口、城市化水平、仓储运输业比重、年均气温、年降水量和农业人口比重,其对应累计贡献率达86.04%;(3)调控山地农业种植结构,不仅需要发展山地高效复合型农业,提高种植系统抗灾能力,还需借助农产品生产、加工、销售云平台实现农业的可持续发展,从而为山地农业经济的发展提供重要支撑。     

Evidence of the impacts of the national housing programme on the accessibility of the low‐income population in Rio de Janeiro

The Brazilian shift from a primarily rural to a more urban society has created major challenges that public policies must address. One of the most relevant challenges is deep social exclusion in urban areas, especially in terms of adequate housing and access to urban opportunities (e.g., jobs, housing, and services). In this context, land use and transport planning play a critical role in the sustainable development agenda. The work presented here analyses the accessibility of low‐income dwellings licenced under the Brazilian housing programme to the low‐income population. To evaluate the accessibility of the programme's target population, a case study was conducted in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where 58,000 homes licensed under the programme were analysed using GIS tools in terms of the present public transport network and the location of the homes. The amount of time it takes to access public transport on foot and the homes’ locations in relation to major urban opportunities were also analysed. Finally, the same analysis was performed for the future transport network, and the results of the two analyses were compared to identify the scope of the legacy generated by investments in preparation for the 2016 network.     

我国和东亚地区硫化物的大气输送研究——流场分型统计输送模式

提出了一种流场分型欧拉酸沉降输送模式,计算了1993年4月东亚地区硫氧化物平均浓度的时空分布以及我国各省区和东亚主要国家的硫沉降量?通过与实测资料对比,模式有较好的可信度,是一个计算硫氧化物长期平均浓度和硫沉降的简便?实用的酸沉降输送模式?      

Energy efficiency and conservation for individual Americans

Americans make up only 4% of the world population, yet currently consume 25% of the world’s fossil fuels. The U.S. imports 63% of its oil and it is predicted that by 2020 the U.S. will be importing 95% of its oil resources. Over the past century, ample and affordable supplies of fossil fuels have powered the growth and prosperity of the economies of the US and other countries. Within this century, world oil supplies will decline while demand is projected to continue to increase, suggesting that we will have to transition to different fuels or become much more energy efficient or both. Looking ahead to the near decades, estimates are that consumers will have to reduce their energy use by at least 50%. This reduction will be necessary in large part due the decline in the availability of conventional oil and gas, but also because the U.S. population will continue to grow in number. Although government action is important, individuals too often discount their ability to make significant contributions to solving such major problems. This investigation identifies how informed and concerned individuals can collectively conserve fossil energy. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue. An erratum to this article can be found at     

A first generation dynamic ingress,redistribution and transport model of soil track-in: DIRT

This work introduces a spatially resolved quantitative model, based on conservation of mass and first order transfer kinetics, for following the transport and redistribution of outdoor soil to, and within, the indoor environment by track-in on footwear. Implementations of the DIRT model examined the influence of room size, rug area and location, shoe size, and mass transfer coefficients for smooth and carpeted floor surfaces using the ratio of mass loading on carpeted to smooth floor surfaces as a performance metric. Results showed that in the limit for large numbers of random steps the dual aspects of deposition to and track-off from the carpets govern this ratio. Using recently obtained experimental measurements, historic transport and distribution parameters, cleaning efficiencies for the different floor surfaces, and indoor dust deposition rates to provide model boundary conditions, DIRT predicts realistic floor surface loadings. The spatio-temporal variability in model predictions agrees with field observations and suggests that floor surface dust loadings are constantly in flux; steady state distributions are hardly, if ever, achieved. A contribution from ESF Center for the Urban Environment.     

冬小麦田O3气孔与非气孔沉降及风险评估

为了深入了解农田生态系统的O_3干沉降过程,并基于O_3通量(尤其是气孔O_3累积通量)指标进行风险评估,利用涡度相关系统对冬小麦田的O_3干沉降过程进行了连续动态观测,初步分析O_3浓度和总O_3通量的变化过程,着重探析气孔O_3沉降和非气孔O_3沉降的变化特征及其与主要气象因子的关系,并基于剂量指标(AOT40)和通量指标(DF_s06)分别推算出冬小麦的产量损失率.结果表明,观测期间(自2016年3月16日至5月30日)日平均O_3浓度(cO_3)为32.9 n L·L-1;白天(08:00~18:00)和夜间平均总O_3通量(F_(O3))分别为-7.6 nmol·(m~2·s)~(-1)和-3.1 nmol·(m~2·s)~(-1),日均F_(O3)为-5.1nmol·(m~2·s)~(-1).逐日平均气孔O_3通量(F_s)的变化范围为0~-5.1 nmol·(m~2·s)~(-1),日均F_s为-1.43 nmol·(m~2·s)~(-1).逐日平均非气孔O_3通量(F_(ns))的变化范围为-1.43~-10.31 nmol·(m~2·s)~(-1),日均F_(ns)为-3.66 nmol·(m~2·s)~(-1).较强的太阳辐射(SR)、较高的温度(T)和适度湿润的条件有利于冬小麦气孔沉降;较强的SR、适度的T和湿润条件是有利于冬小麦非气孔沉降.在整个观测期间,总O_3累积吸收通量(DF_(O3))、气孔O_3累积吸收通量(DF_s)和非气孔O_3累积吸收通量(DF_(ns))分别为31.58、9.99和21.59 mmol·m~(-2),总DF_s和总DF_(ns)分别占总DF_(O3)的32%和68%.通过剂量指标AOT40和通量指标DF_s06响应方程计算出的冬小麦产量损失率分别为11.58%~20.37%和20%~23.56%.