Environmental Mechanics Research in China

By recalling mankind's path during past 50 years in the present article, we mainly highlight the significance of environmental issues today. In particular, two major factors leading to environment deterioration in China such as water resources and coal burning are stressed on. Present-day environmental issues are obviously interdisciplinary, of multiple scales and multi-composition in nature. Therefore, a process-based approach for environment research is absolutely necessarily. A series of sub-processes, either physical, chemical or biological, are subsequently analyzed in order to established reasonable parameterization scheme and credible comprehensive model. And we are now in a position to answer questions still open to us, improve existing somewhat empirical engineering approaches and enhance quantitative accuracy in prediction. To illustrate this process-based research approach, three typical examples associated with the Yangtze River Estuary, Loess Plateau and Tenggeli Desert environments have been dealt with respectively. A theoretical model of vertical flow field accounting for runoff and tide interaction has been established to delineate salinity and sediment motion which are responsible for the formation of mouth bar at the outlet and the ecological evolution there. A kinematic wave theory combined with the revised Green-Ampt infiltration formula is applied to the prediction of runoff generation and erosion in three types of erosion region on the Loess Plateau. Three approaches describing water motion in SPAC system in arid areas at different levels have been improved by introducing vegetation sub-models. However, we have found that the formation of a dry sandy layer and biological crust skin are additional primary causes leading to deterioration of water supply and succession of ecological system.

The environmental and economic sustainability of potential bioethanol from willow in the UK.

Life cycle assessment has been used to investigate the environmental and economic sustainability of a potential operation in the UK in which bioethanol is produced from the hydrolysis and subsequent fermentation of coppice willow. If the willow were grown on idle arable land in the UK, or, indeed, in Eastern Europe and imported as wood chips into the UK, it was found that savings of greenhouse gas emissions of 70-90%, when compared to fossil-derived gasoline on an energy basis, would be possible. The process would be energetically self-sufficient, as the co-products, e.g. lignin and unfermented sugars, could be used to produce the process heat and electricity, with surplus electricity being exported to the National Grid. Despite the environmental benefits, the economic viability is doubtful at present. However, the cost of production could be reduced significantly if the willow were altered by breeding to improve its suitability for hydrolysis and fermentation.

Environmental evaluation of localising production as a strategy for sustainable development: a case study of two consumer goods in Jamaica

The objective of this study was to compare the life-cycle environmental impacts of changed production structures for two consumer goods (high-density polyethylene (HDPE) shopping bags and beds) in Jamaica. A scenario technique was used to construct three alternative production structures for each product; each scenario reflecting an increase in local production in Jamaica which depended on an increased supply of input materials which may be sourced: (1) externally from overseas suppliers, (2) from post-consumer recycling, and (3) locally on the island of Jamaica. These three constructed scenarios were then compared to the existing supply chain or reference scenarios of the products. The results showed that for both case products the recycling scenario was most preferable for localising production, resulting in the lowest environmental impact. This was because the production of raw materials accounted for the largest effect on total environmental impact. As such, the most immediate environmental improvements were realised by lowering the production of virgin materials. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Approach to the stability of international environmental agreements: the absorbing sets solution

We study international environmental negotiations when agreements between countries can not be binding. A problem with this kind of negotiations is that countries have incentives for free-riding from such agreements. We develope a notion of equilibrium based on the assumption that countries can create and dissolve agreements in their seeking of a larger welfare. This approach leads to a larger degree of cooperation compared to models based on the internal-external stability approach.

Environmental Assessment of Vancouver Harbour Data Report for the PICES Practical Workshop

Table of Contents [pdf, 0.13 Mb] Section I - Practical Workshop Description [pdf, 21.22 Mb] Section II - Site Description and Oceanography [pdf, 0.40 Mb] Section III - Extended Abstracts Contaminant Concentrations in Sediment and Biota [pdf, 1.36 Mb] Biochemical and Physiological Studies [pdf, 0.77 Mb] Community Studies [pdf, 1.01 Mb] Harmful Algae Studies [pdf, 0.67 Mb] Section IV - Comprehensive Data Tables Site Locations [pdf, 0.10 Mb] Sediment Chemistry [pdf, 0.54 Mb] Tissue Chemistry – Fish [pdf, 1.20 Mb] Tissue Chemistry – Bivalves [pdf, 0.49 Mb] Lipid and Fatty Acids in Mytilus trossulus [pdf, 0.15 Mb] Biochemical, Physiological and Histopathological Parameters [pdf, 1.20 Mb] Biological Community Data – Fish and Mussels [pdf, 0.87 Mb] Biological Community Data – Macrobenthos [pdf, 0.85 Mb] Harmful Algae [pdf, 0.07 Mb] (Document contains 205 pages)

Environmental Studies of Monterey Bay and the Central California Coastal Zone : Progress Report: First Half of 2nd Year of Operation--July 1971-February 1972

PDF contains 94 pages.

A Review of the Aquatic Environmental Fate of Triclopyr and its Major Metabolites

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the aquatic environmental fate of triclopyr and its major metabolites, TCP and TMP. This review is primarily based on results of laboratory and field studies conducted by various Federal Agencies and the registrant to support the US aquatic registration for triclopyr TEA.

Whales and Sonar: Environmental Exemptions for the Navy’s Mid-Frequency Active Sonar Training

Mid-frequency active (MFA) sonar emits pulses of sound from an underwater transmitter to help determine the size, distance, and speed of objects. The sound waves bounce off objects and reflect back to underwater acoustic receivers as an echo. MFA sonar has been used since World War II, and the Navy indicates it is the only reliable way to track submarines, especially more recently designed submarines that operate more quietly, making them more difficult to detect. Scientists have asserted that sonar may harm certain marine mammals under certain conditions, especially beaked whales. Depending on the exposure, they believe that sonar may damage the ears of the mammals, causing hemorrhaging and/or disorientation. The Navy agrees that the sonar may harm some marine mammals, but says it has taken protective measures so that animals are not harmed. MFA training must comply with a variety of environmental laws, unless an exemption is granted by the appropriate authority. Marine mammals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and some under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The training program must also comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and in some cases the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). Each of these laws provides some exemption for certain federal actions. The Navy has invoked all of the exemptions to continue its sonar training exercises. Litigation challenging the MFA training off the coast of Southern California ended with a November 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court said that the lower court had improperly favored the possibility of injuring marine animals over the importance of military readiness. The Supreme Court’s ruling allowed the training to continue without the limitations imposed on it by other courts. (pdf contains 20pp.)

Modeling Environmental Stress

The word stress when applied to ecosystems is ambiguous. Stress may be low-level, with accompanying near-linear strain, or it may be of finite magnitude, with nonlinear response and possible disintegration of the system. Since there are practically no widely accepted definitions of ecosystem strain, classification of models of stressed systems is tenuous. Despite appearances, most ecosystem models seem to fall into the low-level linear response category. Although they sometimes simulate systems behavior well, they do not provide necessary and sufficient information about sudden structural changes nor structure after transition. Dynamic models of finiteamplitude response to stress are rare because of analytical difficulties. Some idea as to future transition states can be obtained by regarding the behavior of unperturbed functions under limiting strain conditions. Preliminary work shows that, since community variables do respond in a coherent manner to stress, macroscopic analyses of stressed ecosystems offer possible alternatives to compartmental models.

Effects of commercial fishing regulations on stranding rates of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

Fisheries management actions taken to protect one species can have unintended, and sometimes positive, consequences on other species. For example, regulatory measures to reduce fishing effort in the winter gillnet fishery for spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) off North Carolina (NC) also led to decreases in the number of bycaught bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). This study found that a marked decrease in fishing effort for spiny dogfish in NC also corresponded with a marked decrease in winter stranding rates of bottlenose dolphins with entanglement lesions (P= 0.002). Furthermore, from 1997 through 2002, there was a significant positive correlation (r2 = 0.79; P= 0.0003) between seasonal bycatch estimates of bottlenose dolphins in gill nets and rates of stranded dolphins with entanglement lesions. With this information, stranding thresholds were developed that would enable the detection of those increases in bycatch in near real-time. This approach is valuable because updated bycatch estimates from observer data usually have a time-lag of two or more years. Threshold values could be used to detect increases in stranding rates, triggering managers immediately to direct observer effort to areas of potentially high bycatch or to institute mitigation measures. Thus, observer coverage and stranding investigations can be used in concert for more effective fishery management.