The values and vulnerabilities of ‘Star Wars Island’: exploring tensions in the sustainable management of the Skellig Michael World Heritage Site

This paper explores challenges in reconciling the cultural, economic and ecological pillars of the sustainable development concept. It does so by examining how conflicts in the management of an island off the Irish coast called Skellig Michael, which has been internationally designated for its significant cultural and ecological attributes, have been intensified by: (a) increasing tourist numbers; (b) a re-framing of the site’s identity and (c) changing visitor motivations. These have resulted from the amplified attention the island has received following the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi in which it features prominently. Following a critical identification and discussion of the fault lines between different stakeholders involved in the conservation and use of the island, the paper advances a roadmap for action to help resolve animosity in the governance of the site and facilitate its sustainable management in the context of changing visitor numbers and profiles.     

北京PM2.5背景值定值方法及其变化特征研究

通过气团识别方式,确定了较强气团判别指标,定量评估了较强气团对北京上甸子区域大气本底站PM2.5浓度影响.结果显示,偏北风过程中PM2.5的背景值介于10.3~13.5μg/m3,平均值为(11.7±1.3)μg/m3;偏南风过程中PM2.5的背景值介于60.2~92.6μg/m3,平均值为(76.2±12.8)μg/m3.偏北风过程中,PM2.5背景值变化趋势不明显;偏南风过程中,PM2.5背景浓度呈线性下降趋势,下降速率为5.5μg/(m3×a).2009~2012年期间,区域本底站观测到的PM2.5年均值变化不大,这与北京地区的局地产生的二次PM2.5逐步增大有关,在一定程度上抵消了区域背景值下降的影响.当出现系统性偏南风时,北京以南区域输送对北京当地PM2.5浓度增加的平均贡献接近60%,但是自2009年开始逐步下降,截止2012年该贡献降低到44%.     

Evaluating the conservation impact of Antarctica's protected areas

Antarctic specially protected areas (ASPAs) are a key regulatory mechanism for protecting Antarctic environmental values. Previous evaluations of the effectiveness of the ASPA system focused on its representativeness and design characteristics, presenting a compelling rationale for its systematic revision. Upgrading the system could increase the representation of values within ASPAs, but representation alone does not guarantee the avoided loss or improvement of those values. Identifying factors that influence the effectiveness of ASPAs would inform the design and management of an ASPA system with the greatest capacity to deliver its intended conservation outcomes. To facilitate evaluations of ASPA effectiveness, we devised a research and policy agenda that includes articulating a theory of change for what outcomes ASPAs generate and how; building evaluation principles into ASPA design and designation processes; employing complementary approaches to evaluate multiple dimensions of effectiveness; and extending evaluation findings to identify and exploit drivers of positive conservation impact. Implementing these approaches will enhance the efficacy of ASPAs as a management tool, potentially leading to improved outcomes for Antarctic natural values in an era of rapid global change. Evaluación del impacto de conservación de las áreas protegidas de la Antártida     

京津冀与长三角地区氢氯氟碳化物本底特征

基于北京上甸子与浙江临安区域大气本底站2011—2019年氢氯氟碳化物(HCFCs)采样观测数据,开展了京津冀与长三角地区6种HCFCs(HCFC-22、HCFC-141b、HCFC-142b、HCFC-124、HCFC-132b和HCFC-133a)本底特征研究。研究结果表明:临安站HCFCs浓度水平和浓度变率比上甸子站明显更高,尤其是HCFC-133a,其浓度及浓度变率均比上甸子站高1个量级,表明长三角地区HCFCs排放量可能较京津冀地区更大。2个站点HCFCs本底浓度基本一致,差异范围为-6.1%~7.1%。上甸子站本底数据占比为26.4%~69.0%,而临安站本底数据占比不足23%。在《关于消耗臭氧层物质的蒙特利尔议定书》的约束下,2个站点多数HCFCs年均浓度呈下降趋势或变化较小。2个站点HCFC-132b浓度相对较低,但2019年相比2018年有明显升高。结合风向进行分析,发现上甸子站HCFC-22、HCFC-141b、HCFC-142b和HCFC-132b高浓度水平主要由西南扇区(北京城区方向)的WSW、SSW及SW方向贡献,而HCFC-124和HCFC-133a在各风向上的浓度和载荷差异较小。临安站HCFC-124高浓度水平主要由SSE和NNE方向贡献,分别对应金华和湖州方向;其他5种HCFCs的高浓度水平主要由东北扇区的ENE方向贡献,对应杭州城区方向。     

武汉20世纪90年代暴雨异常的物理环境变化背景探讨

根据武汉1951－2000年50年暴雨日数资料，应用Mann-Kendall统计方法对暴雨邓列进行年限突变检验。揭示出武汉暴雨在1979年发生突变，20世纪80年代后暴雨出现频数明显上升，强度增大，90年代达到最大，同时指出武汉20世纪90年代暴雨日数和暴雨量异常的显著特征，着重从西太平洋副热带高压，阻塞高压，太平洋海温等重要物理环境因子的突变出发，探讨造成20世纪90年代武汉暴雨异常的物理变化背景，结果表明，在武汉暴雨异常多的90年代与暴雨异常少的70年代，所对应的大气，海洋环境背景显著不同，90年代北半球500hPa月平均高度场是处于几十年中正异常最大的阶段，西太平洋副热带高压持续偏南，偏强，西伸脊点偏西，东亚中高纬度环流异常，维持稳定的阻塞高压形势，赤道东太平洋海温（SST）出现最大正距平，为近50年来的异常增温时期，厄尔尼诺（ENSO）事件发生频繁。     

Start-up performances of dry anaerobic mesophilic and thermophilic digestions of organic solid wastes

Two dry anaerobic digestions of organic solid wastes were conducted for 6 weeks in a lab-scale batch experiment for investigating the start-up performances under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. The enzymatic activities, i.e., β-glucosidase, N-α-benzoyl-Largininamide （BAA）-hydrolysing protease, urease and phosphatase activities were analysed. The BAA-hydrolysing protease activity during the first 2-3 weeks was low with low pH, but was enhanced later with the pH increase. β-Glucosidase activity showed the lowest values in weeks 1-2, and recovered with the increase of BAA-hydrolysing protease activity. Acetic acid dominated most of the total VFAs in thermophilic digestion, while propionate and butyrate dominated in mesophilic digestion. Thermophilic digestion was confirmed more feasible for achieving better performance against misbalance, especially during the start-up period in a dry anaerobic digestion process.     

Characterization and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in sediments of Haihe River, Tianjin, China

In this study sediment samples were collected from 13 sites of Haihe River in Tianjin City, China, sixteen of priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons （PAHs） listed in USEPA were analyzed by means of GC-MS. The total concentrations of PAH ranged from 774.81 to 255371.91 ng/g dw, and two to four rings of PAHs were dominant in sediment samples. Molecular ratios, such as phenanthrene/anthracene, fluoranthene/pyrene and low-molecular-weight PAH/high-molecular-weight PAH, were used to study the possible sources of pollution. It indicated a mixed pattern of parolytic and petrogenic inputs of PAHs in sediments in Haihe River. The petrogenic PAHs may be mainly derived from the leakage of refined products, e.g., gasoline, diesel fuel and fuel oil vehicle traffics or gas stations from urban area. The pyrolytic PAHs might be from the discharge of industrial wastewater and the emission of atmospheric particles from petrochemical factories. In addition, the levels of PAHs in the urban and industrial areas are far beyond the values reported from other rivers and marine systems reported. This situation may be due to polluted discharging from some petrochemical industrial manufactories and worse traffic conditions in Tianjin.     

Determination of alcohol compounds using corona discharge ion mobility spectrometry

Ion mobility spectrometry （IMS） is a very fast, highly sensitive, and inexpensive technique, it permits efficient monitoring of volatile organic compounds like alcohols. In this article, positive ion mobility spectra for six alcohol organic compounds have been systematically studied for the first time using a high-resolution IMS apparatus equipped with a discharge ionization source. Utilizing protonated water cluster ions （H2O）nH^＋ as the reactant ions and clean air as the drift gas, alcohol organic compounds, ethanol, 1- propanol, 2-propanol, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol and 2-octanol, all exhibit product ion characteristic peaks in their respective ion mobility spectrometry, that is a result of proton transfer reactions between the alcohols and reaction ions （H2O）nH^＋. The mixture of these alcohols, including two isomers, has been detected, and the results showed that they could be distinguished effectively in the ion mobility spectrum. The reduced mobility values have been determined, which are in very well agreement with the traditional ^63Ni-IMS experimental values. The exponential dilution method was used to calibrate the alcohol concentrations, and a detection limit available for the alcohols is in order of magnitude of a few ng/L.     

Number concentration and size distributions of submicron particles in Jinan urban area： Characteristics in summer and winter

The aerosol number concentration and size distribution were measured with the newly developed Wide-range Particle Spectrometer in summer and winter of 2006 at the urban site of Jinan City.Here reported the characteristics of fine particles of the different observation seasons.Relative high number concentrations for the particles in the diameter range of 10-500 nm were observed in both seasons.It was found that the dominant number distributed in particle diameter smaller than 100 nm and the percentage over the number concentration of all air particles is much higher than what has been measured in other urban sites over the world.The number mean diameter in summer was much smaller than in winter,strongly suggesting the different origin of ultrafine particles in different seasons.That is, particles in ultrafine mode mainly came from nucleation and new particle formation in summer while from traffic emission in winter. The diurnal variation also supported this point.Number concentration in the diameter range of 10-200 nm got their peak values at noontime,well correlated with the mixing ratio of SO_2 and the intensity of solar radiation in summer.While in winter,those in the same diameter range showed the main peaks during the traffic hours happened in the morning and evening.     

Nitrogen interception in floodwater of rice field in Taihu region of China

A field experiment located in Taihu Lake Basin of China was conducted,by application of urea or a mixture of urea with manure, to elucidate the interception of nitrogen(N)export in a typical rice field through"zero-drainage water management"combined with sound irrigation,rainfall forecasting and field drying,N concentrations in floodwater rapidly declined before the first event of field drying after three split fertilizations,and subsequently tended to retum to the background level.Before the first field drying,total particulate nitrogen(TPN)was the predominant N form in floodwater of plots with no N input,dissolved inorganic nitrogen(DIN)on plots that received urea only,and dissolved organic nitrogen(DON)on plots treated with the mixture of urea and manure.Thereafter TPN became the major form.No N export was found from the rice field,but total nitrogen(TN)of 15.8 kg/hm~2 was remained,mainly due to soil N sorption.The results recommended the zero-drainage water management for full-scale areas for minimizing N export.