Comparison of China’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Law with the European Union (EU) EIA Directive

In this paper, we first review the development of China’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system in the past 30 years. Then we compare the framework and operational procedures of China’s new EIA law with those of the EU EIA Directive. We also compare public participation, as well as sanctions and control in the two EIA systems. In addition, we identify where the processes in both EIA systems are similar or different from one another. By comparison, we noted that there are at least three obvious weaknesses in China’s EIA system: (1) the application of new models for EIA legislation; (2) the improvement of EIA guidance and education; and (3) the enhancement of public participation in EIA process. Our study indicates that these three major shortcomings should be overcome and improved in China’s EIA system, when compared with the EU EIA system.     

Analysis of patterns and ecological security trend of modern oasis landscapes in Xinjiang, China

Ecological security has become so important that it will affect the national security and social sustainable development. In this paper, a case study on the ecological security indexes of modern oasis landscapes in Beitun Oasis, Xinjiang, was carried out. The spatial neighbouring parameters, such as the contiguous length, measure of area and patch quantity of oasis landscape patches, affected by desert landscape patches were calculated by using GIS-based buffer analysis, the method of calculating ecological security indexes of oasis landscape was developed, and the dynamic changes of patterns and ecological security indexes of the oasis landscapes since recent 30 years were analyzed. The results showed that soil salinization or alkalization and paludification were major factors affecting the ecological security in Beitun Oasis. Therefore, measures should be taken actively to prevent and control secondary salinization and paludification. The ecological security indexes of the oasis landscape in 1972, 1990 and 2005 were 78.91, 82.28 and 83.86, respectively, which showed the degree of security is improving, and the environment was developing harmoniously between human and nature. The methods of evaluating ecological security based on the spatial neighbouring relations between landscape patches can be used to reflect preliminarily the ecological security patterns of landscapes.     

Heavy metals in bark of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus massoniana</Emphasis> (Lamb.) as an indicator of atmospheric deposition near a smeltery at Qujiang,China

Goal, Scope and Background Rapid urbanization and the expansion of industrial activities in the past several decades have led to large increases in emissions of pollutants in the Pearl River Delta of south China. Recent reports have suggested that industrial emission is a major factor contributing to the damages in current natural ecosystem in the Delta area. Tree barks have been used successfully to monitor the levels of atmospheric metal deposition in many areas, but rarely in China. This study aimed at determining whether atmospheric heavy metal deposition from a Pb-Zn smeltery at Qujiang, Guangdong province, could be accurately reflected both in the inner bark and the outer bark of Masson pine (Pinus massoniana L.). The impact of the emission from smeltery on the soils beneath the trees and the relationships of the concentrations between the soils and the barks were also analyzed. Methods Barks around the bole of Pinus massoniana from a pine forest near a Pb-Zn smeltery at Qujiang and a reference forest at Dinghushan natural reserve were sampled with a stainless knife at an average height of 1.5 m above the ground. Mosses and lichens on the surface barks were cleaned prior to sampling. The samples were carefully divided into the inner bark (living part) and the outer bark (dead part) in the laboratory, and dried and ground, respectively. After being dry-ashed, the powder of the barks was dissolved in HNO₃. The solutions were analyzed for iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co) by inductively coupled plasmas emission spectrometry (ICP, PS-1000AT, USA) and Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS, ZEENIT 60, Germany). Surface soils (0–10 cm) beneath the sample trees were also collected and analyzed for the selected metals. Results and Discussion Concentrations of the selected metals in soils at Qujiang were far above their environmental background values in the area, except for Fe and Mn, whilst at Dinghushan, they were far below their background values, except for Cd and Co. Levels of the metals, in particular Pb and Zn, in the soils beneath the sample trees at Qujiang were higher than those at Dinghushan with statistical significance. The result suggested that the pine forest soils at Qujiang had a great input of heavy metals from wet and dry atmospheric deposition, with the Pb-Zn smeltery most probably being the source. Levels of Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Ni and Pb at Qujiang, both in the inner and the outer bark, were statistically higher than those at Dinghushan. Higher concentrations of Pb, Fe, Zn and Cu may come from the stem-flow of elements leached from the canopy, soil splash on the 1.5 m height and sorption of metals in the mosses and lichens growing on the bark, which were direct or indirect results from the atmospheric deposition. Levels of heavy metals in the outer barks were associated well with the metal concentrations in the soil, reflecting the close relationships between the metal atmospheric deposition and their accumulation in the outer bark of Masson pine. The significant (p<0.01) correlations of Fe-Cu, Fe-Cr, Fe-Pb, Fe-Ni, Pb-Ni, and Pb-Zn in the outer barks at Qujiang again suggested a common source for the metals. The correlation only occurred between Pb and Ni, Cd and Co in the outer barks at Dinghushan, which suggested that those metals must possibly have other uncommon sources. Conclusions Atmospheric deposition of the selected metals was great at Qujiang, based on the levels in the bark of Pinus massoniana and on the concentrations in the soils beneath the trees compared with that at Dinghushan. Bark of Pinus massoniana, especially the outer bark, was an indicator of metal loading at least at the time of sampling. Recommendations and Perspectives The results from this study and the techniques employed constituted a new contribution to the development of biogeochemical methods for environmental monitoring particularly in areas with high frequency of pollution in China. The method would be of value for follow up studies aimed at the assessment of industrial pollution in other areas similar with the Pearl River Delta.     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Environmental Impact Assessment of Industrial Structure Change in a Rural Region of China

As the embodiment of human activities, the change of regional industrial structure is an essential driving factor of global environmental change. Consequently, the research on the change of regional industrial structure and associated effects on the environment is one of the key issues of researches on sustainable development, human–environment relationship, and regional response to global environment change. However, compared to the flourish of researches on environmental impact assessment of industrial departments, few studies have been conducted to assess the environmental impact of regional industrial structure. In this study, based on a synthetic analysis of environmental disturbances of different industrial departments, the environmental impact coefficient of industrial department associated with the index of environmental impact of industrial structure was constructed, so as to make a quantitative assessment of environmental impact of the change of regional industrial structure. And the results of the case study in Lijiang City, a rural region of China, have showed that there are two obvious changes of industrial structure in the study area from 1992 to 2003, associated with a continuous decreasing of the index of environmental impact of industrial structure, which indicated a positive environmental effects of the change of regional industrial structure.     

“十五”期间解决我国工业用水问题的建议

本文针对我国工业用水存在的问题,从六个方面,提出了“十五”期间我国水资源可持续利用的对策。     

Application of environmental risk assessment for strategic decision-making in coastal areas: case studies in China

Environmental risk assessment (ERA) is a powerful technical tool for analyzing potential and extreme adverse environmental impacts, and has found wide application in supporting decision-making processes over the last two decades. However, to date there has been no interrelated application of ERA to support the processes of strategic decision-making (SDM), especially in coastal areas.

In this paper, we attempt to verify the feasibility of the proposed integrated ERA–SDM approach and its methodology by applying it to two case studies (in Xiamen Bay and Luoyuan Bay) of the principal coastal functional zoning (PCFZ, a kind of SDM and similar to the coastal and marine spatial planning in western). The results show that the integrated ERA–SDM approach could integrate ERA into the entire SDM process, directly support the PCFZ, and avoid or mitigate dire environmental risk that can be introduced by SDM processes.     

Characterization of peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) under different PM2.5 concentration in wintertime at a North China rural site

As a secondary pollutant of photochemical pollution, peroxyacetyl nitrate(PAN) has attracted a close attention. A four-month campaign was conducted at a rural site in North China Plain(NCP) including the measurement of PAN, O₃, NO_x, PM_2.5, oxygenated volatile organic compounds(OVOCs), photolysis rate constants of NO₂ and O₃ and meteorological parameters to investigate the wintertime characterization of photochemistry from November 2018 to Fe...     

中国南中国海海岸湿地退化现状和保护对策

南中国海湿地包括广东省、香港特别行政区、澳门特别行政区、广西壮族自治区和海南省等五个行政区,总面积为15 393.75 km2。由于受人口增加和经济发展的巨大压力,中国南中国海湿地破坏严重,退化趋势明显。本文在对中国南中国海地区海岸湿地的现状、类型及湿地退化的主要原因进行分析的基础上,提出中国南中国海地区海岸湿地资源保护与管理的建议,以便切实保护中国南中国海沿海多样化的湿地类型,持续发挥其生态服务功能。     

模糊聚类分析在中国火灾危害分类中的应用

火灾现象具有随机性、模糊性,是个复杂的模糊系统行为。运用模糊聚类分析方法,借助于M ATLAB计算软件,对中国火灾的危害程度进行了分类。根据2000年中国火灾统计资料,把31个省市分为重灾区、较重灾区、一般灾区、轻灾区等4类,与传统的概率统计方法相比,本方法更符合客观实际。城市火灾分类是动态的,重灾区吸取教训,增强消防意识,增大消防投入,可减少火灾隐患;而轻灾区如不注意防范,也会增加火灾隐患。因此不论轻重灾区,均应时时增强防范意识,把火灾危害降至最低。     

Characteristics that make trophy hunting of giant pandas inconceivable

In November 1928, Theodore Jr. and Kermit Roosevelt led an expedition to China with the expressed purpose of being the first Westerners to kill the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). The expedition lasted 8 months and resulted in the brothers shooting a giant panda in the mountains of Sichuan Province. Given the concurrent attention in the popular press describing this celebrated expedition, the giant panda was poised to be trophy hunted much like other large mammals around the world. Today, however, the killing of giant pandas, even for the generation of conservation revenue, is unthinkable for reasons related to the species itself and the context, in time and space, in which the species was popularized in the West. We found that the giant panda's status as a conservation symbol, exceptional charisma and gentle disposition, rarity, value as a nonconsumptive ecotourism attraction, and endemism are integral to the explanation of why the species is not trophy hunted. We compared these intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics with 20 of the most common trophy-hunted mammals to determine whether the principles applying to giant pandas are generalizable to other species. Although certain characteristics of the 20 trophy-hunted mammals aligned with the giant panda, many did not. Charisma, economic value, and endemism, in particular, were comparatively unique to the giant panda. Our analysis suggests that, at present, exceptional characteristics may be necessary for certain mammals to be excepted from trophy hunting. However, because discourse relating to the role of trophy hunting in supporting conservation outcomes is dynamic in both science and society, we suspect these valuations will also change in future.