Remittances as aid following major sudden‐onset natural disasters

There is a general assumption, based on macroeconomic studies, that remittances will rise following major sudden‐onset natural disasters. This is confirmed by a few assessments involving country‐specific research, and usually short‐term data. This study, questioning conventional wisdom, reviewed and graphed annual and quarterly remittance flows using International Monetary Fund and World Bank data from 2000–14 for 12 countries that confronted 18 major natural disasters. It found that, regardless of event type, annual remittances rose steadily from 2000–14 except for after the 2008–09 financial crisis. Post disaster, there was a quarterly increase in the majority of cases (confirming previous research) but there was seldom an annual increase in the year of the disaster greater than the average annual increase in 2000–14. It appears that remittance senders rush to provide assistance after a natural disaster, but since their own financial situation has not changed, the immediate increase is compensated by a later decrease.     

基于改进U-Net网络与联合损失函数的海南自然保护区高分辨率遥感变化检测模型

海南自然保护区遥感监测对森林资源监测、生态保护及热带亚热带地表研究具有重要意义。基于深度学习方法,针对海南省自然保护区大范围变化检测问题,对U-Net网络结构进行了改进,在每一个卷积层后加入标准化层,以跳线连接的形式将原有卷积模块改进为优化模块,同时在编码器底端添加金字塔池化模块以更好提取全局信息,形成了改进U-Net网络模型。模型训练采用基于交叉熵损失函数和广义骰子损失函数构建的联合损失函数,配合多种优化策略实现端到端的地物变化信息提取。该模型应用于公开数据集和研究构建的海南自然保护区数据集的变化检测任务,总体精度分别为97.21%(Kappa系数0.88)和95.12%(Kappa系数0.90),相比原始U-Net效果提升显著。     

Bridging research and practice in conservation

Calls for biodiversity conservation practice to be more evidence based are growing, and we agree evidence use in conservation practice needs improvement. However, evidence-based conservation will not be realized without improved access to evidence. In medicine, unlike in conservation, a well-established and well-funded layer of intermediary individuals and organizations engage with medical practitioners, synthesize primary research relevant to decision making, and make evidence easily accessible. These intermediaries prepare targeted evidence summaries and distribute them to practitioners faced with time-sensitive and value-laden decisions. To be effective, these intermediaries, who we refer to as evidence bridges, should identify research topics based on the priorities of practitioners; synthesize evidence; prepare and distribute easy-to-find and easy-to-use evidence summaries; and develop and maintain networks of connections with researchers and practitioners. Based on a review of the literature regarding evidence intermediaries in conservation and environmental management, as well as an anonymous questionnaire searching for such organizations, we found few intermediaries that met all these criteria. Few evidence bridges that do exist are unable to reach most conservation practitioners, which include resource managers in government and industry, conservation organizations, and farmers and other private landowners. We argue that the lack of evidence bridges from research to practitioners contributes to evidence complacency and limits the use of evidence in conservation action. Nevertheless, several existing organizations help reduce the gap between evidence and practice and could serve as a foundation for building additional components of evidence bridges in conservation. Although evidence bridges need expertise in research and evidence synthesis, they also require expertise in identifying and communicating with the community of practitioners most in need of clear and concise syntheses of evidence. Article Impact Statement: Evidence-based conservation will not be realized without improved access to evidence. We call for intermediary evidence bridges.     

Wildlife collection for scientific purposes

Illegal transfer of wildlife has 2 main purposes: trade and scientific research. Trade is the most common, whereas scientific research is much less common and unprofitable, yet still important. Biopiracy in science is often neglected despite that many researchers encounter it during their careers. The use of illegally acquired specimens is detected in different research fields, from scientists bioprospecting for new pharmacological substances, to taxonomists working on natural history collections, to researchers working in zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens. The practice can be due to a lack of knowledge about the permit requirements in different countries or, probably most often, to the generally high level of bureaucracy associated with rule compliance. Significant regulatory filters to avoid biopiracy can be provided by different stakeholders. Natural history collection hosts should adopt strict codes of conduct; editors of scientific publications should require authors to declare that all studied specimens were acquired legally and to cite museum catalog numbers as guarantee of best practices. Scientific societies should actively encourage publication in peer-reviewed journals of work in which specimens collected from the wild were used. The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature could require newly designated types based on recently collected specimens to be accompanied by statements of deposition in recognized scientific or educational institutions. We also propose the creation of an online platform that gathers information about environmental regulations and permits required for scientific activities in different countries and respective responsible governmental agencies and the simplification of the bureaucracy related to regulating scientific activities. This would make regulations more agile and easier to comply with. The global biodiversity crisis means data need to be collected ever faster, but biopiracy is not the answer and undermines the credibility of science and researchers. It is critical to find a modus vivendi that promotes compliance with regulations and scientific progress.     

重点工业行业碳排放现状与减排定位分析

基于企业样本数据和省级数据库,本文对中国电力、钢铁及水泥行业进行碳排放量核算、排放集中度分析、达峰情况分类及脱钩状态判断,并通过聚类分析方法判断各省份在减排行动中的定位。结果表明,全国钢铁及水泥行业碳排放量在2014年后增长明显放缓,电力行业碳排放量持续上升;在省级层面,电力、钢铁及水泥行业分别有15个、7个及12个省份碳排放量仍在快速增长;在空间分布上,电力行业碳排放呈现"东高西低",钢铁行业碳排放集中在河北周边,水泥行业碳排放呈现"南高北低中部突出";时间趋势上,各省份电力行业和水泥行业逐渐实现碳排放量与产品产量之间的脱钩,在产量增长的情况下碳排放量增长减缓甚至降低,各省份钢铁行业碳排放量与产量之间的脱钩状态则较为多样化。     

热障效应对有顶步行街自然排烟的影响

为了研究热障效应对有顶商业步行街自然排烟的影响,采用理论分析与数值模拟相结合的方法,对不同高度及不同环境温度条件下有顶商业步行街自然排烟时顶棚附近的温度、能见度以及排烟效率进行了分析。结果表明:顶棚附近环境温度越高,自然排烟效果越差,自然排烟效率随顶棚热空气温度的升高呈现线性降低趋势;步行街高度越高,竖直方向的温度差越小,到达顶棚的烟气流速越小,排烟效率越低;当顶棚附近环境温度为45℃时,有顶商业步行街高度不宜超过35 m。     

生态产品概念再定义及其内涵辨析

准确界定生态产品概念定义及其内涵是深入开展其理论研究和实践创新的前提和基础.该研究深入剖析了生态产品现有概念定义存在的问题,从我国提出生态产品价值实现理念的战略意图入手,在指明生产者的基础上,将生态产品定义为生态系统生物生产和人类社会生产共同作用提供给人类社会使用和消费的终端产品或服务,包括保障人居环境、维系生态安全、提供物质原料和精神文化服务等人类福祉或惠益,是与农产品和工业产品并列的、满足人类美好生活需求的生活必需品,分为公共性生态产品、准公共生态产品和经营性生态产品三类.阐明了生态产品与生态系统服务、经济产品、非生态自然资源之间的边界关系,明确了生态产品不仅反映了自然生态与人类之间的供给消费关系,还反映了人与人之间的供给消费关系.建议组织自然科学和社会科学领域的科研人员开展中长期联合攻关,解决生态产品价值实现过程中面临的科学技术难题,通过理论突破和技术创新抢占国际生态经济学研究的学术制高点.      

浅层天然气井喷对地层的损伤影响与桩基工程危害分析

针对杭州湾大桥在勘探过程中发现桥址区地层有浅层天然气分布并发生井喷这一现象,基于现场勘探时浅层气井喷特点与影响因素,认为引起井喷的主要原因是起钻抽吸作用和灌浆不及时所致。井喷是含浅层气土体的渗透比降超过其气压临界比降条件下的非饱和渗流破坏过程,对地层的影响表现为对土体的损伤和扰动,按扰动程度可分为剧烈扰动区、严重扰动区、轻微扰动区和含气层压密区。桥址区粘土层中的浅层气不会对桩基工程产生明显的危害,但砂土层中的浅层气可能会引起土体剧烈扰动显著降低桩基承载力、桩基发生不均匀沉降或桩腿下沉、桩基中产生负摩擦力和阻碍桩基础顺利施工等不利影响,应从桩基础合理选型、预先进行不扰动土体控制释放浅层气、充分考虑不利因素的安全设计,以及在施工过程中增高钻孔桩作业平台与增大泥浆比重等几方面进行灾害防治。     

天保、退耕工程与环境可持续发展的关系

天然林保护、退耕还林还草工程是人类生存哲学的革新,是可持续发展思维方式的具体实践。其目的在于改善人类生存环境,达到人和环境的协调统一,实现人类与环境的可持续发展。探讨了两大工程顺利推进并充分发挥生态效益的因素：（1）加强生态文明建设;（2）坚持生态效益优先原则;（3）加强恢复生态学基础理论研究,制定科学的工程评估和监测标准;（4）建立和完善生态补偿机制;（5）完善工程机构建设;（6）完善生态环境保护的法律、法规及办法。     

自然灾害情景下社区韧性研究评述

韧性社区代表了未来城乡建设发展的新方向,也是“风险社会”下“与灾共生”理念的具体实践。社区韧性的研究受到灾害学、社会学、地理学、城市规划学、管理学及工程学等多学科的关注。该文在查阅国内外研究文献的基础上,从灾害学视角对自然灾害情景下的社区韧性进行评述,梳理社区韧性的概念,介绍社区韧性相关概念模型,提出以衡量社区功能水平为核心的社区韧性动态模型。研究可为不同学科的社区韧性研究者们提供参考,也可为社区规划建设者提供实践建议。