Effect of long-term changes in soil chemistry induced by road salt applications on N-transformations in roadside soils

Of several impacts of road salting on roadside soils, the potential disruption of the nitrogen cycle has been largely ignored. Therefore the fates of low-level ammonium-N and nitrate-N inputs to roadside soils impacted by salting over an extended period (decades) in the field have been studied. The use of road salts disrupts the proportional contributions of nitrate-N and ammonium-N to the mineral inorganic fraction of roadside soils. It is highly probable that the degree of salt exposure of the soil, in the longer term, controls the rates of key microbial N transformation processes, primarily by increasing soil pH. Additional influxes of ammonium-N to salt-impacted soils are rapidly nitrified therefore and, thereafter, increased leaching of nitrate-N to the local waterways occurs, which has particular relevance to the Water Framework Directive. The results reported are important when assessing the fate of inputs of ammonia to soils from atmospheric pollution.     

Changing the story? The discourse of ecological modernisation in the European Union

ABSTRACT

Over the last three decades, ecological modernisation (EM) has emerged as a powerful political discourse, in which economic growth, environmental protection and energy security are mutually reinforcing. Here, the trajectory of EM in the European Union is traced, using a discourse analysis of the seven Environmental Action Programmes. The discourse articulated in these documents points towards an encroaching ‘double depoliticisation’. First, political decisions are discursively constructed as a matter of market rationality rather than a democratic process that engages with different political positions. Second, EM is reified as the only feasible solution, and alternative and contesting discourses are marginalised. Thus not only are political differences erased from the discourse, but the discourse is itself removed from political debate.     

我国的城市发展与大气污染

为了表明我国城市发展与大气污染的关系,以翔实的统计数据,采用两种分类的方法,研究和讨论了不同人口规模、不同功能类型的城市大气污染特点,并从防治大气污染的角度阐明了城市应定性质、定规模、定方向地协调发展。      

Threats of illegal,unregulated, and unreported fishing to biodiversity and food security in the Republic of the Congo

Illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing poses a major threat to effective management of marine resources, affecting biodiversity and communities dependent on these coastal resources. Spatiotemporal patterns of industrial fisheries in developing countries are often poorly understood, and global efforts to describe spatial patterns of fishing vessel activity are currently based on automatic identification system (AIS) data. However, AIS is often not a legal requirement on fishing vessels, likely resulting in underestimates of the scale and distribution of legal and illegal fishing activity, which could have significant ramifications for targeted enforcement efforts and the management of fisheries resources. To help address this knowledge gap, we analyzed 3 years of vessel monitoring system (VMS) data in partnership with the national fisheries department in the Republic of the Congo to describe the behavior of national and distant-water industrial fleets operating in these waters. We found that the spatial footprint of the industrial fisheries fleet encompassed over one-quarter of the Exclusive Economic Zone. On average, 73% of fishing activity took place on the continental shelf (waters shallower than 200 m). Our findings highlight that VMS is not acting as a deterrent or being effectively used as a proactive management tool. As much as 33% (13% on average) of fishing effort occurred in prohibited areas set aside to protect biodiversity, including artisanal fisheries resources, and the distant-water fleet responsible for as much as 84% of this illegal activity. Given the growth in industrial and distant-water fleets across the region, as well as low levels of management and enforcement, these findings highlight that there is an urgent need for the global community to help strengthen regional and national capacity to analyze national scale data sets if efforts to combat IUU fishing are to be effective.     

Does road salting induce or ameliorate DOC mobilisation from roadside soils to surface waters in the long term?

Soils down slope of roads have been affected over decades by road salting in the UK uplands. Salt additions to fresh soil facilitate dispersal of organic matter so there is a potential risk of release of DON and DOC to nearby rivers where these run parallel to roads. Over time, however, salting enhances soil pH of naturally acid soils, and thus organic matter degradation through to CO2, thereby, lowering soil organic matter content. In addition any relatively labile organic matter may have already been dispersed. Thus, it is hypothesised that enhanced DOC mobilisation should only be a potential problem if soils not previously exposed to salt become heavily exposed in the future. This paper combines data from field observations and laboratory simulations to elucidate mechanisms controlling organic matter mobilisation processes to determine what controls spatial and temporal trends in DOC concentrations in soil solutions down slope of roads. Organic matter solubilisation is dependent on the degree of road salt exposure soils have had. The laboratory experiment provided evidence that there are two competing effects upon which solubilisation is dependent (a) pH suppression and (b) sodium dispersion. Other organic matter solubility models, if correct, link quite well with the authors "when it's gone, it's gone" hypothesis.     

Effects of Traffic Management and Transport Mode on the Exposure of Schoolchildren to Carbon Monoxide

The exposure to CO of schoolchildren was assessed in the town of Northampton, UK, both by direct measurement and by GIS-based activity modelling. Personal measurement of CO showed that exposures when travelling by car were significantly greater than those when walking, although journey times by car were shorter. However, journey exposures had little effect on maximum 8h mean CO exposures. CO concentration fields in the study area were modelled from current traffic flows, and those expected under different traffic management scenarios. These fields were then used, in combination with children's home and school location, and their activity profiles, to simulate frequency distributions of exposure for different transport modes and traffic management scenarios. The results show a large variability in the effect of traffic management interventions, depending on the child's home and school location.     

Atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in an industrialized city, Kocaeli, Turkey: study of seasonal variations, influence of meteorological parameters and health risk estimation

Ambient gas and particle phase samples were collected during two sampling periods from a residential area of an industrialized city, Kocaeli, Turkey. The sampling occurred during winter months when structures were being heated, and summer months when structures were not being heated. Σ(13)PAH (gas + particle) concentrations ranged between 6.2 ng m(-3) (DahA) and 98.6 ng m(-3) (Phe) in the heating (winter) period and 3.0 ng m(-3) (BaA) and 35.1 ng m(-3) (Phe) in the non-heating (summer) period. Phe, Flt and Pyr were found to be at high concentrations in both sampling periods. Winter time to summer time concentration ratios for individual ambient PAH concentration ratios ranged between 1.2 (DahA) and 17.5 (Flu), indicating the effect of the emissions from residential heating on measured concentrations of PAHs, but great industrial plants and the only incinerator facility of Turkey are other important pollution sources around the city. Temperature dependence of gas phase PAHs was investigated using the Clausius-Clapeyron equation. A high slope obtained (5069.7) indicated the effect of the local sources on measured gas phase PAHs. Correlation of the supercooled vapor pressure (P) with the gas particle partitioning coefficient (K(p)) and particle phase fraction was also evaluated. The relationship between the meteorological parameters and individual PAH (gas + particle) concentrations was investigated further by multiple linear regression analysis. It was found that the temperature had a significant effect on all of the measured PAH concentrations, while the effects of the wind speed and direction were not significant on the individual PAHs. On the other hand, PAH concentrations showed a strong linear relationship with the ventilation coefficient (VC) which showed the influence of local sources on measured PAHs. Benzo[a]pyrene toxic equivalent (BaP(eq.)) concentrations were used for health risk assessment purposes. The winter period risk level (2.92 × 10(-3)) due to the respiratory exposure to PAHs was found to be almost 3 times higher than in the summer period (1.15 × 10(-3)).     

Improving mental health status and coping abilities for long‐term unemployed youth using cognitive‐behaviour therapy based training interventions

This paper reports on immediate and long‐term well‐being outcomes for a group of long‐term unemployed youth who attended specially devised training courses based on the cognitive‐behaviour therapy (CBT) model. The courses were aimed specifically at improving the mental health of participants, and providing them with coping skills to deal better with the negative consequences of prolonged unemployment. Results for participants were compared with a waiting‐list, control group. Outcomes investigated were well‐being (psychological distress, self‐esteem, positive and negative affect), and coping behaviours (social support, self care, recreation, and cognitive coping strategies). Behavioural plasticity effects were also examined by comparing outcomes for participants who had higher distress scores prior to the course with participants who reported lower scores at that time. Immediate benefits were identified for both mental health and coping behaviours, and many of these benefits persisted into the long term. Participants with higher levels of pre‐course psychological distress improved more than their low distressed counterparts, supporting the behavioural plasticity hypothesis. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.