The overlooked role of New York City urban yards in mitigating and adapting to climate change

There is a dearth of research focusing on the role that urban residential open space plays in climate change adaptation, despite evidence suggesting that environmental benefits accrue when even small pockets of open space are made permeable and vegetated. In densely built New York City, there are 21,448?ha (53,000 acres) of such land. One city block with adjoining contiguous open space was investigated to quantify its existing environmental value and also its potential to provide enhanced services through redesign. The study block's open space was found to be 35% permeable and planted with 96 trees, storing 45,359?kg (100,000?lb) of carbon. Simulations conducted using the United States Environmental Protection Agency Stormwater Management Model contrasting normal, light, and heavy precipitation years suggested that increases in annual precipitation could be fully mitigated by reducing impervious surface cover by 25%. The preservation of the existing vegetated residential urban open space and the conversion of paved surfaces to a pervious condition both appear to be effective strategies for enhancing the city's ability to adapt to and mitigate for climate change.     

北京大型体育赛事突发事件及应急处理

系统研究了北京大型体育赛事突发事件特点及应急处理的相关问题,涉及的主要内容有:北京大型体育赛事的特点,大型体育赛事突发事件的特点及种类,国内外处理大型体育赛事突发事件的经验及面临的突出问题,北京大型体育赛事突发事件应急处理体系的建立和完善等.本研究成果对北京大型体育赛事突发事件应急处理具有借鉴和参考价值.     

Methodology for the development of a new Sustainable Infrastructure Rating System for Developing Countries (SIRSDEC)

The improvement of infrastructures in developing countries has become a priority for the most advanced economies, which have founded a broad range of international development organizations to undertake infrastructure projects worldwide. Infrastructure is the key driver that can accelerate the balance among the economic, social and environmental aspects forming the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) in these countries. Given the lack of appropriate tools to ensure the achievement of this goal, this paper describes the methodology conceived for the development of a Sustainable Infrastructure Rating System (SIRSDEC) aimed at promoting the design, construction and operation of sustainable infrastructure projects in these geographical areas. SIRSDEC is structured into a hierarchical decision-making tree consisting of three levels of elements (requirements, criteria and indicators) selected to assess infrastructure systems according to sustainability principles. The methodology on which SIRSDEC is based combines the action of two multi-criteria decision-making methods (MCDM) such as the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Integrated Value Model for Sustainable Assessment (MIVES). AHP is proposed to weight the elements forming the decision-making tree after processing the opinions provided by a group of international experts regarding the importance of requirements, criteria and indicators, whilst MIVES is suggested to value infrastructure projects according to their contribution to the TBL. The article emphasizes the added value provided by the combination of AHP and MIVES in the design of an ad-hoc rating system aimed at fostering the implementation of sustainable infrastructure projects in developing countries.     

Effects of Future Infrastructure Development on Threat Status and Occurrence of Amazonian Birds

Abstract:  Researchers predict that new infrastructure development will sharply increase the rate and extent of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. There are no predictions, however, of which species it will affect. We used a spatially explicit model that predicts the location of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon by 2020 on the basis of historical patterns of deforestation following infrastructure development. We overlaid the predicted deforested areas onto maps of bird ranges to estimate the amount of habitat loss within species ranges. We also estimated the amount of habitat loss within modified ecoregions, which were used as surrogates for areas of bird endemism. We then used the extent of occurrence criterion of the World Conservation Union to predict the future conservation status of birds in the Brazilian Amazon. At current rates of development, our results show that at least 16 species will qualify as threatened or will lose more than half of their forested habitat. We also identified several subspecies and isolated populations that would also qualify as threatened. Most of the taxa we identified are not currently listed as threatened, and the majority are associated with riverine habitats, which have been largely ignored in bird conservation in Amazonia. These habitats and the species they hold will be increasingly relevant to conservation as river courses are altered and hydroelectric dams are constructed in the Brazilian Amazon.     

重要基础设施的依赖性模型及应用

把无效果投入产出模型(IIM)引入到重要基础设施的相互依赖性模型研究中,模型中的参数估计通过问卷调查从各领域专家处获得,并使用三角模糊数对该估计值进行修正,最终分别用依赖性指标和影响增益指标评价相互依赖性造成的影响;采用专家调查法和三角模糊数估计模型的参数值,构建了重大自然灾害中重要基础设施的相互依赖性模型。将模型应用于中国2008年南方冰冻雨雪灾害中重要基础设施的依赖性研究中,比较得到受影响最大的设施系统和依赖性最大的设施系统,为防灾减灾和有侧重地进行重要基础设施的保护和完善提供了依据。     

中国西部小城镇环境基础设施技术需求分析

中国西部地区地域辽阔．自然地理环境复杂多样．经济发展水平落后。能力建设水平较低．所需环境基础设施（主要包括污水处理、垃圾处理和城镇供水）建设技术不能照搬国外或东部发达地区现有的技术．为了深入了解西部小城镇环境基础设施现状与技术总体需求状况。开发适合中国西部小城镇的环境基础设旋经济适用技术。论文对西部30余个小城镇的环境基础设施状况进行了调研．分析了适合中国西部小城镇社会经济状况、自然条件的拟选经济适用技术，以期为技术开发和集成提供参考。     

Managing climate change risks in New York City’s water system: assessment and adaptation planning

Managing risk by adapting long-lived infrastructure to the effects of climate change must become a regular part of planning for water supply, sewer, wastewater treatment, and other urban infrastructure during this century. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), the agency responsible for managing New York City’s (NYC) water supply, sewer, and wastewater treatment systems, has developed a climate risk management framework through its Climate Change Task Force, a government-university collaborative effort. Its purpose is to ensure that NYCDEP’s strategic and capital planning take into account the potential risks of climate change—sea-level rise, higher temperature, increases in extreme events, changes in drought and flood frequency and intensity, and changing precipitation patterns—on NYC’s water systems. This approach will enable NYCDEP and other agencies to incorporate adaptations to the risks of climate change into their management, investment, and policy decisions over the long term as a regular part of their planning activities. The framework includes a 9-step Adaptation Assessment procedure. Potential climate change adaptations are divided into management, infrastructure, and policy categories, and are assessed by their relevance in terms of climate change time-frame (immediate, medium, and long term), the capital cycle, costs, and other risks. The approach focuses on the water supply, sewer, and wastewater treatment systems of NYC, but has wide application for other urban areas, especially those in coastal locations.     

On Sustainable Development of Social Forestry in Bangladesh: Experiences from Sal (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Shorea Robusta</Emphasis>) Forests

Sustainability in forestry is a complex amalgam of trade-offs among its various dimensions and there is no easy route to achieve sustainable development. It is important that policy process and implementation strategy of these policies should be based on sound information about these trade-offs. There is a growing consensus amongst key forest decision-makers in Bangladesh that traditional forestry is needed to make the transition to more sustainable forestry, which is likely to involve local people in forest management. As a result, the government has initiated a social forestry program from 1981 with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) grant and operated mainly in Sal forest areas. The most important objective of this program is to protect, manage, and develop forests in a sustainable way by involving local communities. Although several studies have focused on the management issues of social forestry, none of these studies has evaluated the indicators of sustainable social forestry. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the criteria of sustainable development of social forestry in Bangladesh. The study is based on primary cross-sectional data collected using the multistage stratified sampling technique. In total, 581 social forestry farmers were selected randomly and interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire. The study evaluated some important components of sustainable development and identified the following conditions of social forestry in Bangladesh:(i) almost all the components of sustainable development of social forestry, although not at the aspiration level, were at good condition;(ii) participants were interested and committed to work with Forest Department in developing social forestry;(iii) they had been utilizing both hard and soft technology in practicing social forestry, although there exists ample scope of development;(iv) income of participants after involving in social forestry had increased, although not at satisfactory level; and(v) process of producing social and material goods had been under progress.However, there exist plenty of scopes for sustainable social forestry development through improving the sustainable development components more carefully.Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Sub-regional integration in Sudan: the key to food security and recovery

The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Sudan has created a new opportunity for peace. Approaches to food security must now be reoriented based on the agro-ecological diversity in Sudan. WFP is in a unique position to catalyse an approach to food security that meets immediate needs and contributes to long-term recovery, in collaboration with the Government of National Unity (GNU) and the Government of South Sudan (GOSS). Aggregate food production in Sudan has increased in the past decade. At sub-regional levels, however, many areas remain food insecure. Major research must be undertaken to identify optimum levels of food production and barriers to access to food at sub-regional levels as a first step towards linking deficit areas with areas of surplus. Initiatives must also be undertaken to facilitate increased integration between sub-regions. Increased sub-regional linkages could ensure more efficient delivery of food in the short term as well as recovery and economic growth in the long term.     

大型高含硫天然气净化厂仪表控制系统优化改造与应用

针对高含硫天然气净化厂集散控制系统(DCS)、安全仪表系统(SIS)在日常生产运行、检维修等方面存在的问题进行分析研究,并提出了可行性建议。通过实施控制系统软硬件升级、分区改造等,保障了控制系统的安全可靠,确保了装置的长周期运行。