Possibilities and options for the Clean Development Mechanism and the Green Investment Scheme in Central and Eastern Europe: Macedonian and Romanian perspectives

Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is a rapidly changing and developing region which is making the transition to a market based economy. Along with economic reforms, the countries of the region are engaged in substantial environmental reforms, including climate change mitigation activities. Mitigation of, and adaptation to, the consequences of climate change are costly processes. It is therefore of great importance that the national and international mechanisms addressing these problems use methods both environmentally sound and economically efficient. Through two case studies that address the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the Green Investment Scheme (GIS) in Romania, this paper explores challenges, related tasks and main problems in the establishment of mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol in Central and Eastern Europe.     

An Integrated Approach to Reservoir Management: The Williston Reservoir Case Study

/ The management of industrial reservoirs for hydroelectric energy can cause severe impacts to surrounding communities. This study examines the generation of dust along the northern foreshore zones of Williston Reservoir in northern British Columbia. The dust is generated in the spring when the reservoir levels are low and impacts a relocated First Nations' village (Tsay Keh) at the north end of the reservoir. Data were gathered to provide an overview of the physical conditions that contribute to the dust problem, including a social survey, soil analysis, and vegetation inventory. The study provides a scoping method to assess a large-scale and complex problem with respect to dust management along a large reservoir. Methods for dust control include short- and long-term solutions that integrate the use of native vegetation along the foreshore zones of the reservoir.     

光纤线路运行维护智能系统研究

针对当前光纤线路运行中日益突出的维护和管理问题 ,笔者提出了开展光纤线路运行维护智能系统研究的问题。通过分析现有光纤运行维护技术 ,认为当前的网络运营维护思路“故障维修” ,已不适应现代网络运营的发展需要 ,应该采取“状态维修”的新思路和防患于未然的策略。为此 ,笔者运用系统工程的思想、人工智能技术、数据挖掘技术、Agent技术 ,研究了具有故障预警功能的光纤线路运行维护智能系统 ,给出了该系统的分析和设计方案 ,从整体上探索保障光纤网络的安全运行措施 ,为建立实际的预警系统奠定了基础。     

Decision Support for Road System Analysis and Modification on the Tahoe National Forest

The United States Forest Service is required to analyze road systems on each of the national forests for potential environmental impacts. We have developed a novel and inexpensive way to do this using the Ecosystem Management Decision Support program (EMDS). We used EMDS to integrate a user-developed fuzzy logic knowledge base with a grid-based geographic information system to evaluate the degree of truth for assertions about a roads environmental impact. Using spatial data for natural and human processes in the Tahoc National Forest (TNF, California, USA), we evaluated the assertion the road has a high potential for impacting the environment. We found a high level of agreement between the products of this evaluation and ground observations of a TNF transportation engineer, as well as occurrences of road failures. We used the modeled potential environmental impact to negatively weight roads for a least-cost path network analysis to 1573 points of interest in the forest. The network analysis showed that out of 8233 km of road analyzed in the forest, 3483 km (42%) must be kept in a modified road network to ensure access to these points. We found that the modified network had improved patch characteristics, such as significantly fewer cherry stem roads intruding into patches, an improved area-weighted mean shape index, and larger mean patch sizes, as compared to the original network. This analysis system could be used by any public agency to analyze infrastructure for environmental or other risk and included in other mandated analyses such as risks to watersheds.     

铁路运营隧道病害现状及检测评估

目前铁路运营隧道病害状况严重 ,有些已达到了威胁铁路行车安全的程度。因此有必要采取可靠的检测方法来检测和评估隧道的实际状况 ,同时检测的数据也为隧道日常的维修保养及必要的整治工程提供了系统完整的依据。因此 ,就形成了从日常维护、检测评估到病害整治的一整套技术体系 ,从而使铁路隧道的运营管理技术提高到一个新的水平。最后通过一个工程实例的分析 ,进一步明确了隧道病害工作的紧迫性和必要的检测评估所起的指导作用     

Getting of the seeds-and-tools treadmill with CRS seed vouchers and fairs

The free distribution of seeds and tools is the standard approach to agricultural recovery. The predominance of this approach is partly attributable to the: (1) perception that farmer seed quality is poor, (2) insistence on seed certification, (3) promotion of researcher varieties, (4) misdiagnosis of unavailability, (5) difficulty accessing farmer seed, and (6) support for the commercial seed sector. This paper presents a Seed Security Assessment Framework to distinguish among the causes of seed insecurity and focuses on three principal concepts: seed availability; access to seed; and factors associated with seed utilisation. Using this diagnostic framework, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has developed a better approach to promoting seed system-based agricultural recovery. It involves a combination of seed voucher distribution and the organization of seed fairs, which bring together a range of sellers from whom the holders of vouchers may purchase seed. This approach is advantageous because it: strengthens farmer seed procurement systems; is cost efficient; in economic terms, has a multiplier effect in the community; is straightforward to plan and implement; allows commercial sector participation; provides an opportunity to promote improved varieties for farmer evaluation; brings together different communities.     

Bioaccumulation of selenium from natural geologic sources in western states and its potential consequences

Ecological impacts of water-quality problems have developed in the western United States resulting from the disposal of seleniferous agricultural wastewater in wetland areas. Overt effects of selenium toxicosis occurred at five areas where deformities of wild aquatic birds were similar to those first observed at Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge in the west-central San Joaquin Valley of California. These areas are: Tulare Lake Bed Area, California, Middle Green River Basin, Utah, Kendrick Reclamation Project Area, Wyoming, Sun River Basin, Montana, and Stillwater Wildlife Management Area, Nevada. Potential for ecological damage is indicated at six more sites in Oregon, Colorado, the Colorado/Kansas border, and South Dakota out of 16 areas in 11 states where biological tissue data were collected. This conclusion is based on the fact that selenium bioaccumulated in bird livers to median levels that had exceeded or were in the range associated with adverse reproductive effects. Selenium concentrations in samples of fish and bird eggs support these conclusions at a majority of these areas. Reason for concern is also given for the lower Colorado River Valley, although this is not exclusively a conclusion from these reconnaissance data. Biogeochemical conditions and the extent of selenium contamination of water, bottom sediment, and biota from which this assessment was made are given here. In a companion paper, the biogeochemical pathway postulated for selenium contamination to take place from natural geologic sources to aquatic wildlife is defined.     

涂装循环水、机加工乳化液处理站的运行技术

五羊－本田摩托（广州）有限公司生产基地有年产40万台发动机和摩托车外观件的生产车间，其中，机加工乳化液和涂装循环水是由污水处理站处理的，通过工艺流程的改造利用及加强制度管理，使处理站平衡高效运行，出水达到了广州市一级排放标准。     

Use of wetlands for water quality improvement under the USEPA Region V Clean Lakes Program

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Region V Clean Lakes Program employs artificial and modified natural wetlands in an effort to improve the water quality of selected lakes. We examined use of wetlands at seven lake sites and evaluated the physical and institutional means by which wetland projects are implemented and managed, relative to USEPA program goals and expert recommendations on the use of wetlands for water quality improvement. Management practices recommended by wetlands experts addressed water level and retention, sheet flow, nutrient removal, chemical treatment, ecological and effectiveness monitoring, and resource enhancement. Institutional characteristics recommended included local monitoring, regulation, and enforcement and shared responsibilities among jurisdictions. Institutional and ecological objectives of the National Clean Lakes Program were met to some degree at every site. Social objectives were achieved to a lesser extent. Wetland protection mechanisms and appropriate institutional decentralization were present at all sites. Optimal management techniques were employed to varying degrees at each site, but most projects lack adequate monitoring to determine adverse ecological impacts and effectiveness of pollutant removal and do not extensively address needs for recreation and wildlife habitat. There is evidence that the wetland projects are contributing to improved lake water quality; however, more emphasis needs to be placed on wetland protection and long-term project evaluation.     

A SURVEY OF THE U.S. NATIONAL PRECIPITATION NETWORK1

ABSTRACT: Numbers and record lengths of precipitation stations were surveyed in the conterminous United States using climatological data published in 1975 by the National Weather Service (NWS). The total numbers of nonrecording (8247) and recording (3036) gages were about the same as in the 1940s and less than in the late 1950s; about 70 percent of the nonrecording gages have record lengths of 25 years or more. State network densities were increased exponentially with population density and long term precipitation average. Except for a few states, precipitation stations maintained by the NWS are adequate in numbers to ensure a 95 percent statistical probability that state sample means will estimate true means within ± 5 percent.