Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Tropical and Temperae Agriculture: The Need for a Full-Cost Accounting of Global Warming Potentials

Agriculture's contribution to radiative forcing is principally through its historical release of carbon in soil and vegetation to the atmosphere and through its contemporary release of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CHM4). The sequestration of soil carbon in soils now depleted in soil organic matter is a well-known strategy for mitigating the buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere. Less well-recognized are other mitigation potentials. A full-cost accounting of the effects of agriculture on greenhouse gas emissions is necessary to quantify the relative importance of all mitigation options. Such an analysis shows nitrogen fertilizer, agricultural liming, fuel use, N2O emissions, and CH4 fluxes to have additional significant potential for mitigation. By evaluating all sources in terms of their global warming potential it becomes possible to directly evaluate greenhouse policy options for agriculture. A comparison of temperate and tropical systems illustrates some of these options.

Wheat Production Systems And Global Climate Change

About this book: Over 100 authors present 25 contributions on the impacts of global change on terrestrial ecosystems including:key processes of the earth system such as the CO2 fertilization effect, shifts in disturbances and biome distribution, the saturation of the terrestrial carbon sink, and changes in functional biodiversity,ecosystem services such the production of wheat, pest control, and carbon storage in croplands, and sensitive regions in the world threaten by rapid changes in climate and land use such as high latitudes ecosystems, tropical forest in Southeast Asia, and ecosystems dominated by Monsoon climate.The book also explores new research developments on spatial thresholds and nonlinearities, the key role of urban development in global biogeochemical processes, and the integration of natural and social sciences to address complex problems of the human-environment system.

Global trends in prescribing contact lenses for extended wear

Extended wear has long been the ‘holy grail’ of contact lenses by virtue of the increased convenience and freedom of lifestyle which they accord; however, this modality enjoyed only limited market success during the last quarter of the 20th century. The introduction of silicone hydrogel materials into the market at the beginning of this century heralded the promise of successful extended wear due to the superior oxygen performance of this lens type. To assess patterns of contact lens fitting, including extended wear, over the past decade, up to 1000 survey forms were sent to contact lens fitters in Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the USA each year between 2000 and 2009. Practitioners were asked to record data relating to the first 10 contact lens fits or refits performed after receiving the survey form. Analysis of returned forms revealed that, averaged over this period, 9% of all soft lenses prescribed were for extended wear, with national figures ranging from 2% in Japan to 17% in Norway. The trend over the past decade has been for an increase from about 5% of all soft lens fits in 2000 to a peak of between 9 and 12% between 2002 and 2007, followed by a decline to around 7% in 2009. A person receiving extended wear lenses is likely to be an older female who is being refitted with silicone hydrogel lenses for full-time wear. Although extended wear has yet again failed to fulfil the promise of being the dominant contact lens wearing modality, it is still a viable option for many people.

Rethinking financial literacy in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis

Systemic risks and other factors that contributed to the global financial crisis have highlighted the need to reconsider the scope and nature of financial literacy initiatives and programs. In this article, we argue the case for rethinking financial literacy and the need for integrated solutions that explicitly incorporate solutions to behavioural shortcomings exhibited by individuals in their financial decision-making. While recognising the need to consider behavioural biases in individuals’ financial decisions, to date regulatory responses have largely ignored those biases in their proposed education and other strategies designed to address poor financial literacy and improve financial disclosure that, in turn, will improve financial decision-making.

The potential to mitigate global warming with no-tillage management is only realized when practised in the long term

No-tillage (NT) management has been promoted as a practice capable of offsetting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions because of its ability to sequester carbon in soils. However, true mitigation is only possible if the overall impact of NT adoption reduces the net global warming potential (GWP) determined by fluxes of the three major biogenic GHGs (i.e. CO2, N2O, and CH4). We compiled all available data of soil-derived GHG emission comparisons between conventional tilled (CT) and NT systems for humid and dry temperate climates. Newly converted NT systems increase GWP relative to CT practices, in both humid and dry climate regimes, and longer-term adoption (>10 years) only significantly reduces GWP in humid climates. Mean cumulative GWP over a 20-year period is also reduced under continuous NT in dry areas, but with a high degree of uncertainty. Emissions of N2O drive much of the trend in net GWP, suggesting improved nitrogen management is essential to realize the full benefit from carbon storage in the soil for purposes of global warming mitigation. Our results indicate a strong time dependency in the GHG mitigation potential of NT agriculture, demonstrating that GHG mitigation by adoption of NT is much more variable and complex than previously considered, and policy plans to reduce global warming through this land management practice need further scrutiny to ensure success.

Signal authentication and integrity schemes for next generation global navigation satellite systems

This paper describes a number of techniques for GNSS navigation message authentication. A detailed analysis of the security facilitated by navigation message authentication is given. The analysis takes into consideration the risk of critical applications that rely on GPS including transportation, finance and telecommunication networks. We propose a number of cryptographic authentication schemes for navigation data authentication. These authentication schemes provide authenticity and integrity of the navigation data to the receiver. Through software simulation, the performance of the schemes is quantified. The use of software simulation enables the collection of authentication performance data of different data channels, and the impact of various schemes on the infrastructure and receiver. Navigation message authentication schemes have been simulated at the proposed data rates of Galileo and GPS services, for which the resulting performance data is presented. This paper concludes by making recommendations for optimal implementation of navigation message authentication for Galileo and next generation GPS systems.

Embedding values through global education in social sciences pre-service teacher education : linking the head and heart

This chapter aims to situate values education as a core component of social science pre-service teacher education. In particular, it reflects on an experiment in embedding a values laden Global Education perspective in a fourth year social science curriculum method unit. This unit was designed and taught by the researcher on the assumption that beginning social science teachers need to be empowered with pedagogical skills and new dispositions to deal with value laden emerging global and regional concerns in their secondary school classrooms. Moreover, it was assumed that when pre-service teachers engage in dynamic and interactive learning experiences in their curriculum unit, they commence the process of ‘capacity building’ those skills which prepare them for their own lifelong professional learning. This approach to values education also aimed at providing pre-service teachers with opportunities to ‘create deep understandings of teaching and learning’ (Barnes, 1989, p. 17) by reflecting on the ways in which ‘pedagogy can be transformative’ (Lovat and Toomey, 2011 add page no from Chapter One). It was assumed that this tertiary experience would foster the sine qua non of teaching – a commitment to students and their learning. Central to fostering new ‘dispositions’ through this approach, was the belief in the power of pedagogy to make the difference in enhancing student participation and learning. In this sense, this experiment in values education in secondary social science pre-service teacher education aligns with the Troika metaphor for a paradigm change, articulated by Lovat and Toomey (2009) in Chapter One.

Transnational business masculinities : media representations of gender and management in global mining corporations

This paper examines Australian media representations of the male managers of two global mining corporations, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. These organizations are transnational (or multinational) corporations with assets and/or operations across national boundaries (Dunning and Lundan, 2008), and indeed their respective Chief Executive Officers, Tom Albanese and Marius Kloppers are two of the most economically (and arguably politically) powerful in the world overseeing 37 000 and 39 000 employees internationally. With a 2008 profit of US$15.962 billion and assets of US$ 75.889 Billion BHP Billiton is the world's largest mining company. In terms of its profits and assets Rio Tinto ranks fourth in the world, but with operations in six countries (mainly Canada and Australia) and a 2008 profit of US$10.3 billion it is also emblematic of the transnational in that its ‘budget is larger than that of all but a few nations’ (Giddens, 2003, p. 62).

Multicultural education, global studies and studies of Asia

Like other nations, Australia has experienced significant change in the past few decades as its society has become increasingly diverse. The new cultures and traditions that result from ethnic and religious diversity have both enriched Australian society and presented it with some challenges. Other challenges have resulted from increased globalisation. For example, the economic fallout from the recent global financial crisis indicates that global issues can impact across a range of levels, from multinational corporations and nation-states to local sites and individual livelihoods. Some suggest that Australia fared better than other nations during this economic crisis because of its export trade with China. Although this is disputed by economists, it highlights another facet of change that is impacting on Australian society and this relates to Australia’s growing engagement with the nations of Asia. There is increasing awareness in education systems that if young people are to achieve their potential as future citizens they need to be able to negotiate the cultural, social, political and economic ties that connect them to the global and regional community through work, leisure and citizenship. Multicultural education, global studies and studies of Asia play a particular part in helping young people to: • appreciate cultural diversity within and beyond their own nation • imagine with some accuracy how others view their world • participate in shaping a better future. This chapter explores the origins, distinctions and common features of each approach.

Carbon capture and storage laws in Australia : project facilitation or a precautionary approach?

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered to be an integral transitionary measure in the mitigation of the global greenhouse gas emissions from our continued use of fossil fuels. Regulatory frameworks have been developed around the world and pilot projects have been commenced. However, CCS processes are largely untested at commercial scales and there are many unknowns associated with the long terms risks from these storage projects. Governments, including Australia, are struggling to develop appropriate, yet commercially viable, regulatory approaches to manage the uncertain long term risks of CCS activities. There have been numerous CCS regimes passed at the Federal, State and Territory levels in Australia. All adopt a different approach to the delicate balance facilitating projects and managing risk. This paper will examine the relatively new onshore and offshore regimes for CCS in Australia and the legal issues arising in relation to the implementation of CCS projects. Comparisons will be made with the EU CCS Directive where appropriate.

The Australian response to climate change : business as usual or legal innovation?

Through international agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol the global community has acknowledged that climate change is a global problem and sought to achieve reductions in global emissions, within a sufficient timeframe, to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. The sheer magnitude of emissions reductions required within such an urgent timeframe presents a challenge to conventional regulatory approaches both internationally and within Australia. The phenomenon of climate change is temporally and geographically challenging and it is scientifically complex and uncertain. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the current Australian legal response to climate change and to examine the legal measures which have been proposed to promote carbon trading, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and carbon sequestration initiatives across Australia. As this paper illustrates, the current Australian approach is clearly ineffective and the law as it stands overwhelmingly inadequate to address Australia’s emissions and meet the enormity of the challenges posed by climate change. Consequently, the government should look towards a more effective legal framework to achieve rapid and urgent transformations in the selection of energy sources, energy use and sequestration initiatives across the Australian community.

The first global entertainment company : explaining Pathe's dominance in the pre-Hollywood film industry

For almost a decade before Hollywood existed, French firm Pathe towered over the early film industry with estimates of its share of all films sold around the world varying between 50-70%. Pathe was the first global entertainment company. This paper analyses its rise to market leadership by applying a theoretical framework drawn from the business literature on causes of industry dominance, which provides insights into how firms acquire and maintain market dominance and in this case the film industry. This paper uses evidence presented by film historians to argue that Pathe "fits" the expected theoretical model of a dominant firm because it had a marketing orientation, used an effective quality-based competitive strategy and possessed the six critical marketing capabilities that business research shows enable the best performing firms to consistently outperform rivals.

High-stakes national testing: it's global, it's here to stay, and graduating teachers need to know about it

My oldest daughter recently secured a position as a Science/Geography teacher in a P-12 Catholic College in regional Queensland. This paper looks at the teaching world into which she has graduated. Specifically, the paper will outline and discuss findings from a survey of graduating early childhood student teachers in relation to their knowledge and skills of the current regime of high-stakes testing in Australia. The paper argues that understanding accountability and possessing skills to scrutinise test data are essential for the new teacher as s/he enters a profession in which governments world-wide are demanding a return for their investment in education. The paper will examine literature on accountability and surveillance in the form of high-stakes testing from global, school and classroom perspectives. It makes the claim that it is imperative for beginning teachers to be able to interpret high-stakes test data and considers the skills required to do this. The paper also draws on local research to comment on the readiness of graduates to meet this comparatively new professional demand.

Cultural economic geography and global media studies : the rise of asian media capitals?

This paper considers the scope to develop an approach to the spatial dimensions of media and culture that is informed by cultural-economic geography. I refer to cultural-economic geography as that strand of research in the field of geography that has been informed on the one hand by the ‘cultural turn’ in both geographical and economic thought, and which focuses on the relationship between, space, knowledge and identity in the spheres of production and consumption, and on the other to work by geographers that has sought to map the scale and significance of the cultural or creative industries as new drivers of the global economy. The paper considers the extent to which this work enables those engaged with urban cultural policy to get beyond some of the impasses that have arisen with the development of “creative cities” policies derived from the work of authors such as Richard Florida as well as the business management literature on clusters. It will frame these debates in the context of recent work by Michael Curtin on media capitals, and the question of whether cities in East Asia can emerge as media capitals from outside of the US-Europe-dominated transnational cultural axis.