OF DOGS AND TAILS: WATER POLICY AND SOCIAL POLICY IN ARIZONA1

ABSTRACT: The general relationship between water policy and social policy in the Western United States is examined by utilizing the example of the Arizona Groundwater Management Act. Too often, this is a relationship which goes largely unexamined, at least in any explicit way. In areas of perceived or real water scarcity, it is often the case that the setting of water policy severely constrains the social policy. Too many fundamental social policy issues are left to unstated assumptions through such a procedure. But, this paper asks, should not the social policy lead, and the water policy follow? In other words, in this relationship, which is the dog, and which is the tail?     

Assessing community vulnerability to floods and hurricanes along the Gulf Coast of the United States

Hurricanes and flooding have affected millions of people and generated massive economic losses over the past several decades. Geographic information system (GIS) methods are employed in this paper to analyse coastal communities' vulnerability to these two hazards along the Gulf Coast of the United States. Specifically, two types of quantitative indicators are developed: (i) exposure to hurricanes and flooding, based on information from multiple sources; and a social vulnerability index, constructed using census data. These indices are combined to depict the spatial patterns of overall community vulnerability to hurricanes and flooding along the US Gulf Coast. The results of this study can potentially inform disaster management agencies, county governments, and municipalities in areas at heightened risk. Furthermore, the demonstration of the geographic distribution of community vulnerability can assist decision-makers in prioritising to-do items and designing policies and plans for the more effective allocation of resources. The paper ends by discussing the study's limitations and its practical implications.     

Is Multilateralism the Future? Sustainable Development or Globalisation as ‘A Comprehensive Vision of the Future of Humanity’

This paper provides an overall evaluation of the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which took place in Johannesburg from 26 August to 4 September 2002, in a historical perspective, against the background of earlier major United Nations conferences and General Assembly resolutions on environment and development. It focuses on the political and institutional context of the WSSD and its preparatory process and explores its policy implications for future international cooperation on sustainable development in a globalizing world. Both the results of the formal intergovernmental negotiations and the new phenomenon of partnerships for sustainable development between governments, international organizations, the private sector and other major groups are analysed. The Johannesburg Declaration and the WSSD Plan of Implementation are shown to contain little in the way of political vision, credible new commitments and innovative approaches, likely to reinvigorate the implementation of the objectives of sustainable development as formulated in Rio. Though ostensibly designed to give a new political impetus to multilateralism, the WSSD rather revealed the inadequacy of intergovernmental political governance structures to address the social and environmental consequences of economic globalization.     

Does nutritional surveillance have a role to play in early warning of food crisis and in the management of relief operations?*

A major area of investment in data collection in developing countries has been that of nutritional surveillance and monitoring. From recent debate it is clear that there is currently no consensus on the potential role of nutritional status as an early warning indicator. The author presents a synthesis of the broad spectrum of views on the role nutritional surveillance could or should have in early warning. Conceptual problems and technical difficulties are reviewed in the light of recent experiences in Africa and Asia. The author raises a number of issues for future discussion in this ongoing debate.     

ANNUAL,SEASONAL, AND MONTHLY CHANGES IN RUNOFF IN THE UNITED STATES1

ABSTRACT The runoff from a series of watersheds in the United States is examined to determine if there are distinct trends present. The data are examined for the period 1931-1960 and the results compared with those obtained for the period from the beginning of record to 1960. A larger sample of streams with records of various lengths is also utilized. The data used are annual, seasonal, and monthly values. The streams are grouped geographically to determine if regional patterns exist. The runoff increased on the majority of streams for the period 1931-1960, but for the period from the beginning of record to 1960 most streams exhibited a negative trend. When geographical distribution is considered, the streams located in the interior of the continent show greater similarity of trend than do those on the continental margins.     

论我国海岸带立法的核心内容

2018年11月18日发布的《中共中央国务院关于建立更加有效的区域协调发展新机制的意见》明确提出了"推动海岸带管理立法"的工作要求。该工作的重心理应是解决目前我国海岸带管理实践中的突出问题，即陆海之间、部门行业之间和行政辖区之间难以统筹协调的问题。解决该问题的有效途径是通过立法的方式构建统筹协调机制。美国海岸带管理制度中的统筹协调机制颇具特色，由"总协调人"和"联络人"制度、"联邦一致性"制度、州海岸带管理项目与州其他项目的统筹协调制度，以及陆海统筹协调制度等方面组成。我国可以借鉴其成功经验，在海岸带立法中，以构建统筹协调机制为核心内容。该机制以程序性规则为主体，设立"总协调人"和"联络人"制度，组成统筹协调网络，并规定统筹协调的基本"排序规则"。     

绿色经济新理念及中国开展绿色经济研究的思考

联合国里约20周年世界峰会的重要内容之一是倡导绿色经济。绿色经济的概念最早在1989年由英国环境经济学家Pearce提出,但现在的绿色经济却具有全新的意义。本文基于参加联合国有关绿色新政和绿色经济的政策咨询和研究报告,论述了绿色经济的基本背景、三重效益、研究模型以及绿色经济与生活质量的关系,对如何开展中国绿色经济研究进行探讨。首先,文章认为在深入探讨绿色经济前,需要了解当前发展绿色经济的基本背景,明确为什么要发展绿色经济、什么才是我们所需要的绿色经济,以及怎样促进绿色经济发展三个基本问题。其二,绿色经济与褐色经济的情景模拟表明,绿色经济发展模式具有更好的三重底线效益。联合国的T-21模型对过去40年(1970-2010)及未来40年(2010-2050)进行了绿色情景与褐色情景两种模拟,认为在自然资本的环境收益方面,绿色经济发展情景下自然资本的退化得到了基本遏制,而褐色经济发展情景下自然资本的退化会进一步增强;在物质资本的经济收益方面,绿色经济发展情景下,2020年以前经济增长率(2.5%)会低于褐色经济(3%),但从长期平均增长率看绿色经济发展模式(2.5%)可以带来比褐色经济发展模式(2%)更好的经济增长;在人力资本的社会效益方面,在2030年以前绿色经济发展情景下就业机会有小幅减少,但长期来看,绿色经济能够创造与褐色经济同样多的就业机会,甚至可以有小幅的增加(0.6%)。其三,绿色经济研究模型表明,绿色经济投资于自然资本可以实现所需要的经济社会发展与自然资本消耗的脱钩。绿色经济假说是:将资金投资于提高资源能源效率与扩大自然资本两个方面,是否能够导致更好的经济社会发展。基于该理论假设,联合国等国际组织将自然资本引入生产函数,建立了Threshold-21模型,证明绿色经济即投资于自然资本可以实现所需要的经济社会发展与自然资本消耗的脱钩。其四,绿色经济发展模式不仅有利于经济增长,同时能够增加生活质量。绿色经济假说,强调了绿色投资对生活质量有正的影响。通过生态绩效模型、结构方程模型以及典型案例研究等三种方法进行分析,研究表明:减少自然资本消耗可以减少生态环境的治理成本和维护成本、维持与增加自然资本对人类的功能;可以提高自然资本的生产效率,用较少的自然资本投入达到社会稳定所需要的人造资本;可以提高人造资本的服务效率,用一定的物质存量为更多的人服务。其五,开展深化中国绿色经济理论与绿色发展模式的系统研究。联合国等国际组织倡导的绿色经济可以给我们发展中国的绿色经济带来新的启示,笔者认为对中国绿色经济理论与绿色发展模式开展深入和系统的研究,应该包括理论内涵、实证分析、发展情景、行动领域、政策体系等五个依次递进、前后照应的研究模块。     

Climate in the News: How Differences in Media Discourse Between the US and UK Reflect National Priorities

Studies dealing with media coverage of climate change have increased steadily over the last decade or so, alongside the media coverage of climate change itself. This article aims to contribute to this growing literature on two levels: to deepen understanding of distinctive patterns of language use across nations speaking a common language and to demonstrate the usefulness of a new approach for finding such patterns. Articles in The (London) Times and the New York Times, published between 2000 and 2009, were analyzed using methods related to computational linguistics. Results show that the US seemingly still constructs climate change as a problem, whereas the UK focuses on finding solutions for the (established) problem of climate change. This linguistic and conceptual gap may hamper mutual understanding and the crafting of global climate change mitigation policies.     

沈阳市农村污水处理设施运营管理机制研究

介绍了目前国外发达国家农村污水处理设施运营管理机制、成熟经验及我国农村污水处理设施运营管理的现状和存在的问题,并结合沈阳市现有农村污水处理设施运行管理的实际情况,在运营模式、监管机制、经费筹措、绩效考核与政策支持等方面提出了一系列措施和建议,以期对沈阳市农村污水处理设施的长效运营起到积极的促进作用。     

Contaminants and their effects on estuarine and coastal organisms in the United Kingdom in the late twentieth century

The biological effects of contaminants in British estuaries and coastal waters have been studied for over 100 years. Until the 1970s. the major pollution impact on estuarine organisms was probably caused by poorly treated sewage which led to severe oxygen deficits and consequent asphyxiation of many water-breathers. However, since the introduction of improved sewage treatment in the last 30 years, a number of continuing impacts have come to light which represent true toxic effects of micro-contaminants. Sublethal changes observed in various bioassays and biomarkers are widespread in both fish and invertebrates, and in the most urbanised and industrialised estuaries, these effects are probably having impacts at the population and community levels. For example, there is good evidence to show that tributyltin from some antifouling paints has not only affected the sexuality and reproductive success of individual estuarine and coastal molluscs, but has also damaged some benthic communities of which molluscs are but a part. Although there are data to show that some contaminant concentrations are now declining, we do not yet have enough data in most cases to decide whether organisms have also begun to recover. This paper reviews the entire field of contaminant effects in UK estuarine and marine waters, focusing especially on the years 1985-2000, and makes some recommendations for future research and monitoring programmes.