Discriminate Analysis for Dust Storm Prediction in the Gobi and Steppe Regions in Mongolia

A discriminate analysis method for probability forecast of dust storms in Mongolia has been developed. The prediction method uses data recorded at 23 meteorological stations in the Gobi and steppe regions of Mongolia, including surface air pressure and geo-potential height at the 500-hPa level on grid points, and weather maps from 1975 to 1990. Weather elements such as air temperature, pressure, geo-potential height etc, which influence the formation of dust storms, are prepared as predictors. To select the most informative/important predictors (variables), we used a mean correlation matrix of variables together with the Mahalonobis distance, and correlation coefficients between dust storms and predictors with an orthogonalization for removing correlated predictors. The most informative predictors for dust storm prediction are intensities of surface cyclones and migratory anticyclones, passage of cold fronts, the horizontal gradients of the surface air pressure in the cold frontal zone, cyclonic circulations from the ground surface up to the 500-hPa level, the geo-potential height at 500-hPa level and its temporal changes. Selected predictors are used in discriminate analysis for formulating dust storm prediction equations. Sandstorm data have been classified into three classes, viz., strong, moderate and weak dust storms, depending on their intensities, durations and areas covered. Predictions of the probabilities of dust storm occurrence use the prediction equations for each class. The prediction is made from 12 hours to 36 hours. Verification of the probability forecasts of dust storms is also shown. The accuracy of forecasts is 72.2–79.9% with the data used for developing equations (dependent variables), in contrast to 67.1–72.0% with unrelated data for deriving equations (independent variables).     

ARE RURAL RESIDENTS WILLING TO PAY ENOUGH TO IMPROVE DRINKING WATER QUALITY?1

ABSTRACT: The concentrations of iron and sulfate in community water supplies are a concern for a number of areas in southwestern Minnesota. This study used the contingent valuation method to determine how much consumers would be willing to pay to improve their drinking water quality. On average, individuals were willing to pay US$5.25 per month (in 1995 U.S. dollars) to reduce the level of iron and US$4.33 per month to reduce the level of sulfate in their water to the USEPA's secondary standards for drinking water quality. Respondents with negative perceptions of their drinking water quality were willing to pay more to improve water quality. The aggregate annual willingness to pay (WTP) for all consumers in community water systems in southwestern Minnesota that were out of compliance with water quality standards were estimated to be US$2.4 million and US$2.0 million (in 1995 dollars) for reducing the levels of iron and sulfate, respectively. Yet the total WTP of consumers who use small community water systems may not be enough to pay the full cost of providing improved water in those systems. Economies of scale in water treatment and difficulties in financing improvements mean that technical innovation, government assistance, or institutional changes may be needed to improve water quality in these areas.     

城乡接合部居民楼火灾风险评价及防控对策研究

为了准确探究城乡接合部居民楼火灾事故致因机理,预防与控制城乡接合部日常生产与生活过程中引发火灾事故的有效途径,建立信息面更全、实际性更强的火灾风险评估模型是目前行之有效的手段。基于湖南省某地发生火灾事故的实际情况,根据事故树分析法,以城乡接合部居民楼火灾事故为顶事件构建事故树,计算得到事故树的最小割集、最小径集和结构重要度,研究城乡接合部居民楼火灾事故的发生模式、致因因素及影响程度,为改善城乡接合部居民楼火灾安全提供重要的理论依据,并提出相应的防控措施及对策。     

Arts as a vehicle for community building and post‐disaster development

Use of the arts in international aid is common in an ad hoc form, but it has not been systematically theorised or evaluated. The arts have the potential to be a culturally contextualised and sustainable intervention for adults and children in the aftermath of war or disaster. On the micro level, the arts are a method to enable the retrieval and reprocessing of traumatic memories that are often encoded in images rather than in words. On a macro level, they can help to reconstruct a group narrative of a disaster as well as mobilise people back into control of their lives. This paper researches a long‐term project using arts in Sri Lanka following the civil war and tsunami. A central finding is the need to understand arts within their cultural context, and their usefulness in strengthening the voices and problem‐solving capacities of the victims of the disaster.     

Toward a new understanding of the links between poverty and illegal wildlife hunting

Conservation organizations have increasingly raised concerns about escalating rates of illegal hunting and trade in wildlife. Previous studies have concluded that people hunt illegally because they are financially poor or lack alternative livelihood strategies. However, there has been little attempt to develop a richer understanding of the motivations behind contemporary illegal wildlife hunting. As a first step, we reviewed the academic and policy literatures on poaching and illegal wildlife use and considered the meanings of poverty and the relative importance of structure and individual agency. We placed motivations for illegal wildlife hunting within the context of the complex history of how wildlife laws were initially designed and enforced to indicate how hunting practices by specific communities were criminalized. We also considered the nature of poverty and the reasons for economic deprivation in particular communities to indicate how particular understandings of poverty as material deprivation ultimately shape approaches to illegal wildlife hunting. We found there is a need for a much better understanding of what poverty is and what motivates people to hunt illegally.     

The role of digital data entry in participatory environmental monitoring

Many argue that monitoring conducted exclusively by scientists is insufficient to address ongoing environmental challenges. One solution entails the use of mobile digital devices in participatory monitoring (PM) programs. But how digital data entry affects programs with varying levels of stakeholder participation, from nonscientists collecting field data to nonscientists administering every step of a monitoring program, remains unclear. We reviewed the successes, in terms of management interventions and sustainability, of 107 monitoring programs described in the literature (hereafter programs) and compared these with case studies from our PM experiences in Australia, Canada, Ethiopia, Ghana, Greenland, and Vietnam (hereafter cases). Our literature review showed that participatory programs were less likely to use digital devices, and 2 of our 3 more participatory cases were also slow to adopt digital data entry. Programs that were participatory and used digital devices were more likely to report management actions, which was consistent with cases in Ethiopia, Greenland, and Australia. Programs engaging volunteers were more frequently reported as ongoing, but those involving digital data entry were less often sustained when data collectors were volunteers. For the Vietnamese and Canadian cases, sustainability was undermined by a mismatch in stakeholder objectives. In the Ghanaian case, complex field protocols diminished monitoring sustainability. Innovative technologies attract interest, but the foundation of effective participatory adaptive monitoring depends more on collaboratively defined questions, objectives, conceptual models, and monitoring approaches. When this foundation is built through effective partnerships, digital data entry can enable the collection of more data of higher quality. Without this foundation, or when implemented ineffectively or unnecessarily, digital data entry can be an additional expense that distracts from core monitoring objectives and undermines project sustainability. The appropriate role of digital data entry in PM likely depends more on the context in which it is used and less on the technology itself.     

三峡蓄水期间汉丰湖消落区营养状态时间变化

为探明三峡蓄水后汉丰湖消落区水质营养状态的变化特征,于2013年10月至2014年2月对水质进行连续观察,测定了水质物理参数、营养盐与叶绿素(Chl-a)的质量浓度.结果表明,水体中营养盐与Chl-a质量浓度的增加,在淹水后营养程度有升高现象,2014年2月与2013年10月相比,TN、TP、高锰酸盐指数与Chl-a质量浓度分别增加了4.7、1.0、0.2、3.27倍,TN、TP质量浓度均超过藻类生长限值,随滞留时间延长易造成水体富营养化,应引起重视.Chl-a单因子评价反映出水质由贫营养向富营养演变.TN/TP结果表明,TN、TP分别在不同时间内制约着藻类的生长;2013年10~12月与2014年2月,藻类生长受TN限制;2014年1月,藻类生长受TP限制.Chl-a与p H、DO、NH+4-N、NO-3-N、TN、高锰酸盐指数及TP呈显著正相关,而与SD、水温呈显著负相关;蓄水期间,水质受到了同一污染源的影响.因子分析结果表明,汉丰湖消落区水质主要受p H、DO、NO-3-N、TN的影响,同时Chl-a、TP、NH+4-N与好氧性有机物的污染不可忽视;在蓄水稳定初期水体具有自净能力,随蓄水滞留时间的延长,水质污染程度整体上呈现逐步恶化的趋势,应加以控制;三峡蓄水期间,南河、东河营养程度相对较高,应加强治理.     

经口摄入土壤多溴联苯醚生物可给性变化及影响因素的体外消化模拟

误食土壤是污染物(如多溴联苯醚)人体(主要是儿童)暴露的重要途径,人体消化道内污染物吸收的生物可给性是针对此种暴露方式进行定量风险评估的有效途径之一.本研究采用体外消化实验模拟3种不同有机碳含量的天然土壤中典型多溴联苯醚(BDE-28、BDE-47、BDE-99和BDE-153)在胃和小肠消化液中的释放,验证部分消化释放的多溴联苯醚因消化残留固相表面的再吸附造成低估实际生物可给性,并通过不同水土比的拟合计算予以校正.结果表明,校正后的消化率普遍高于校正前;就不同土样而言,BDE-28、BDE-47、BDE-99和BDE-153在不同初始暴露浓度条件下平均提升比例范围分别为14.3%~42.3%、11.1%~32.1%、4.9%~12.3%和0.0%~7.7%.因此,未经校正的消化率会显著低估PBDEs消化道内的生物可给性,尤其是低溴代组分及PBDEs初始浓度较高或高TOC含量的土样.校正后BDE-28、BDE-47、BDE-99和BDE-153的消化率分别维持在21.9%~54.7%、18.8%~43.1%、13.4%~27.2%和9.3%~19.9%.此外,PBDEs的消化率与其辛醇-水分配系数的对数lg KOW呈显著负相关;而与土壤TOC含量及PBDEs初始暴露浓度的相关性并不显著,尤其是高溴代组分.     

开顶式气室原位研究水稻汞富集对大气汞浓度升高的响应

采用开顶式气室熏气实验和土壤加汞培育实验,原位研究水稻各器官汞富集对大气汞质量浓度升高的响应关系.结果表明,水稻根中汞含量与大气汞质量浓度无显著相关性(P0.05),与土壤汞含量呈显著正相关(R=0.998 8,P0.05),表明水稻根中的汞主要来自于对土壤中汞的吸收累积.水稻茎中汞含量随大气汞质量浓度的升高呈线性增加(RB=0.964 6,RU=0.983 1,P0.05),且上部茎中汞含量高于下部茎;茎下部汞含量随土壤汞含量的升高呈线性增加(R=0.990 1,P0.05),茎上部汞含量随土壤汞含量的升高呈二次拟合增加(R=0.998 9,P0.05),且下部茎汞含量高于上部茎,说明茎汞含量受土壤和大气汞浓度的共同影响.水稻叶中汞含量与大气汞质量浓度呈显著正相关(R=0.998 5,P0.05),与土壤汞含量也有很好的线性关系(R=0.998 3,P=0.058 5),表明水稻从大气吸收的汞主要积累在叶片中,从土壤吸收的汞主要富集在根中并通过茎部向叶部传输.利用实验建立的函数关系对水稻地上生物质中汞的大气来源估算,至少60%~94%和56%~77%水稻叶和上部茎中的汞来自大气,而大气对下部茎仅贡献8%~56%.由此水稻地上部分生物质汞主要来自对大气汞的吸收,为区域大气汞的收支及汞循环模型提供理论依据.     

西北石化区周围毒害类空气污染物污染特征及健康风险评价

采用SUMMA罐、活性炭吸附及玻璃纤维滤膜富集3种方式,于2014年12月对西北地区3个代表性炼化生产基地周围环境空气收集样品,并采用气相色谱-质谱联用、气相色谱法及高效液相色谱法3种方法,对13种典型毒害类物质进行分析,以研究其污染特征和人群健康风险.结果表明,3个石化区周围环境空气中8种毒害类物质普遍检出,检出率超过80%;石化区苯系物、1,3-丁二烯、对二氯苯、苯并[a]芘平均质量浓度范围分别为48.01~182.75μg·m~(-3)、6.28~7.95μg·m~(-3)、5.53~12.62μg·m~(-3)、7.03~36.08 ng·m~(-3).其中,苯并[a]芘超标最为严重,日均浓度超二级标准限值1.8~13.4倍,苯、甲苯、二甲苯也存在不同程度超标现象.3个石化区苯并[a]芘、1,3-丁二烯非致癌健康风险均已超出可接受的风险水平,兰州石化区周围人群遭受苯的非致癌不良影响风险也较高.与此同时,苯、乙苯、苯乙烯、1,3-丁二烯、对二氯苯、苯并[a]芘的致癌风险均超出了可接受的范围,其中苯、1,3-丁二烯、对二氯苯的致癌风险最为显著.