Atlanta’s urban heat island under extreme heat conditions and potential mitigation strategies

The urban heat island (UHI), together with summertime heat waves, foster’s biophysical hazards such as heat stress, air pollution, and associated public health problems. Mitigation strategies such as increased vegetative cover and higher albedo surface materials have been proposed. Atlanta, Georgia, is often affected by extreme heat, and has recently been investigated to better understand its heat island and related weather modifications. The objectives of this research were to (1) characterize temporal variations in the magnitude of UHI around Metro Atlanta area, (2) identify climatological attributes of the UHI under extremely high temperature conditions during Atlanta’s summer (June, July, and August) period, and (3) conduct theoretical numerical simulations to quantify the first-order effects of proposed mitigation strategies. Over the period 1984–2007, the climatological mean UHI magnitude for Atlanta-Athens and Athens-Monticello was 1.31 and 1.71°C, respectively. There were statistically significant minimum temperature trends of 0.70°C per decade at Athens and −1.79°C per decade at Monticello while Atlanta’s minimum temperature remained unchanged. The largest (smallest) UHI magnitudes were in spring (summer) and may be coupled to cloud-radiative cycles. Heat waves in Atlanta occurred during 50% of the years spanning 1984–2007 and were exclusively summertime phenomena. The mean number of heat wave events in Atlanta during a given heat wave year was 1.83. On average, Atlanta heat waves lasted 14.18 days, although there was quite a bit of variability (standard deviation of 9.89). The mean maximum temperature during Atlanta’s heat waves was 35.85°C. The Atlanta-Athens UHI was not statistically larger during a heat wave although the Atlanta-Monticello UHI was. Model simulations captured daytime and nocturnal UHIs under heat wave conditions. Sensitivity results suggested that a 100% increase in Atlanta’s surface vegetation or a tripling of its albedo effectively reduced UHI surface temperature. However, from a mitigation and technological standpoint, there is low feasibility of tripling albedo in the foreseeable future. Increased vegetation seems to be a more likely choice for mitigating surface temperature.     

Satellite monitoring of spatio-temporal dynamics of China’s coastal zone eco-environments: preliminary analysis on the relationship between the environment,climate change and human behavior

In this paper, temporal dynamics of eco-environmental changes in coastal areas of China during 1981–2000 are investigated based on four key surface parameters including normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), thermal index, moisture index and surface broadband albedo derived from quantitative remote sensing techniques and meteorological data. Firstly, land surface temperature (LST) and land surface broadband albedo are retrieved by the split-window algorithms and high-order polynomial regression method, respectively, using NOAA/AVHRR series images. Then, moisture index and thermal index, indicators of climate and moisture conditions in the study area, are computed from meteorological data and LST using principal component analysis (PCA). Finally, long-term dynamics of these eco-environmental factors and the reasons responsible for these changes are analyzed further. The results show that during the years from 1981 to 2000, the study area experienced a gradual increase in annual NDVI and climate factors and a decrease in surface annual broadband albedo, which indicates that the coastal thermal and moisture conditions and the subsistence conditions of natural vegetation have changed to a considerable extent. According to the results, a warming and wetting tendency over the last two decades is obvious in the China’s coastal zone that are mainly due to land use changes as of growing urbanization, exhaust emissions from industries and transportations and, partly global climate change. Uncontrolled rapid development of the study area may be blamed for these negative changes as a major driving force. The positive feedback mechanisms between albedo, NDVI and climate factors also partly explain these changes. This study suggests that the method integrating biophysical parameters retrieved from remote sensed images and meteorologic data provides a novel and feasible way to monitor large scale eco-environmental changes.

Methodology for preliminary assessment of Natech risk in urban areas

Concern for natural hazard-triggered technological disasters (Natech disasters) in densely populated and industrialized areas is growing. Residents living in urban areas subject to high natural hazard risk are often unaware of the potential for secondary disasters such as hazardous materials releases from neighboring industrial facilities, chemical storage warehouses or other establishments housing hazardous materials. Lessons from previous disasters, such as the Natech disaster during the Kocaeli earthquake in Turkey in 1999 call for the need to manage low frequency/high consequence events, particularly in today’s densely populated areas. However, there is little guidance available on how local governments and communities can assess Natech risk. To add to the problem, local governments often do not have the human or economic resources or expertise to carry out detailed risk assessments. In this article, we propose a methodology for preliminary assessment of Natech risk in urban areas. The proposed methodology is intended for use by local government officials in consultation with the public. The methodology considers possible interactions between the various systems in the urban environment: the physical infrastructure (e.g., industrial plants, lifeline systems, critical facilities), the community (e.g., population exposed), the natural environment (e.g., delicate ecosystems, river basins), and the risk and emergency management systems (e.g., structural and nonstructural measures). Factors related to vulnerability and hazard are analyzed and qualitative measures are recommended. Data from hazardous materials releases during the Kocaeli, Turkey earthquake of August 17, 1999 are used as a case study to demonstrate the applicability of the methodology. Limitations of the proposed methodology are discussed as well as future research needs.

基于WRF驱动的CLM模型对青藏高原地区陆面过程模拟研究

NCAR-CLM是目前国际上发展较为完善的陆面过程模型.鉴于大多数研究利用气象站点的数据驱动CLM模型, 尝试将WRF气候模型的模拟结果作为驱动CLM的面上强迫场数据来对青藏高原陆面能量特征进行模拟研究.对WRF气候模型模拟的输出结果与青藏高原气象站观测数据进行比较分析表明, WRF模拟输出的气温和向下短波辐射数值与观测值的相关系数大于0.92(p >0.05), 气压和比湿的R²在0.80以上(p >0.05), 降雨和风速的模拟性能不稳定, 但WRF模拟输出的强迫场也可以作为CLM模型的驱动数据. CLM模拟的地表温度、 感热和潜热通量与青藏高原气象站观测的地表温度以及涡度通量数据验证分析表明, 虽然CLM对地表温度的模拟在合理范围内, 但模拟与观测值还是有较大偏差, 潜热和感热之间的相关系数分别为0.87和0.68(p >0.05), 表明CLM的模拟结果在单点上是可靠的.据此, 在此模拟结果基础上分析了青藏高原地区的陆面能量时空分布特征.     

The regionalization of urban natural disasters in China

An integrated urbanization level (CL) index and an integrated natural disaster intensity (QC) index were developed on the basis of Disaster System Theory and China Natural Disaster Database for integrated urban disaster risk assessment. Integrated quantitative assessments of the urban socio-economic system and the intensity of hazards in China were carried out by the Model-Tupu (map series) and inter-feedback process using digital map technology. On the basis of this assessment, China can be regionalized into three regions, namely, coastal urban disaster region, eastern urban disaster region and western urban disaster region, 15 sub-regions and 22 units. These results can provide a scientific basis for determining a city’s disaster risk management and natural disaster relief regionalization in China.

Implications of subsurface thermal–hydraulic–mechanical processes associated with glaciation on Shield flow system evolution and performance assessment

A deep geologic repository (DGR) situated on the Canadian Shield will be subject to long-term climate change that will markedly alter surface conditions as a result of glaciation and permafrost penetration. Systematic, two-dimensional and three-dimensional coupled thermal–hydraulic–mechanical finite-element simulations with varying degrees of coupling, including depth-dependent salinity (represented as a change in groundwater density) and temperature-dependent density and viscosity, were undertaken to address the implications of glaciation on groundwater flow system dynamics as it could affect DGR performance. The modelling domain consisted of a 1.6-km deep sub-regional scale (≈100 km²) fractured Shield flow system. Initial and transient thermal, hydraulic and mechanical boundary conditions were developed from two realizations of the University of Toronto Glacial Systems Model of the last Laurentide glaciation. Results indicate that during the glacial loading/unloading cycle, for this particular conceptual model, there is limited penetration of glacial meltwaters to depth and small residual anomalous hydraulic head. During glacial coverage, the mechanical factor of safety increases in the moderately fractured and sparsely fractured rock mass, but principal effective stress reorientation also occurs. Given the assumed nonglacial in situ state of stress and mechanical properties, the fracture zones were predicted to be less stable under glacial conditions.

Influence of different land-surface processes on Indian summer monsoon circulation

The impact of different land-surface parameterisation schemes for the simulation of monsoon circulation during a normal monsoon year over India has been analysed. For this purpose, three land-surface parameterisation schemes, the NoaH, the Multi-layer soil model and the Pleim-Xiu were tested using the latest version of the regional model (MM5) of the Pennsylvania State University (PSU)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) over the Indian summer monsoon region. With respect to different land-surface parameterisation schemes, latent and sensible heat fluxes and rainfall were estimated over the Indian region. The sensitivity of some monsoon features, such as Somali jet, tropical easterly jet and mean sea level pressure, is discussed. Although some features of the Indian summer monsoon, such as wind and mean sea level pressure, were fairly well-simulated by all three schemes, many differences were seen in the simulation of the typical characteristics of the Indian summer monsoon. It was noticed from the results that the features of the Indian summer monsoon, such as strength of the low-level westerly jet, the cross-equatorial flow and the tropical easterly jet were better simulated by NoaH compared with verification analysis than other land-surface schemes. It was also observed that the distribution of precipitation over India during the peak period of monsoon (July) was better represented with the use of the NoaH scheme than by other schemes.

Why are flood and landslide victims less willing to take mitigation measures than the public?

Almost annually, natural hazards such as floods and landslides cause a great deal of financial loss and human suffering in Taiwan. In order to gain a better understanding of disaster preparedness, this paper examines several factors in relation to hazard mitigation behavior: social economic status (education, income), psychological vulnerability (sense of powerless and helpless), risk perception (perceived impact and control) and social trust. The statistical analysis reported here is based on the “2004 National Risk Perception Survey of Floods and Landslides in Taiwan”. The main findings include: (1) in comparison with general public, victims are less willing to adopt risk mitigation measures than the public, even though they perceive larger impacts, worry more about the hazard, and pay more attention to hazard information; (2) trust, risk perception and social economic status are positive predictors for mitigation intentions, whereas psychological vulnerability is a negative predictor; and (3) psychological variables are stronger predictors for mitigation intentions than that of socio-economic variables. In light of these findings, the policy implications and intervention strategy are also discussed.

Post-Bam earthquake: recovery and reconstruction

This paper gives a brief explanation of the earthquake in Bam. It also reports on the rescue and relief operations, including the construction of emergency shelters and temporary housing, and on the country’s plan for the reconstruction of the city, which includes debris removal, the rebuilding of rural and urban residential and commercial units, the reconstruction of state and public buildings and public facilities such as schools, rural and urban water aqueducts and grids, the construction of a sewage system, power network and telecommunication system, the provision of water to orchards and farmlands, the renovation of industries and the revival of the cultural heritage, particularly the historical Bam citadel, among others. We also report briefly on the effect of the Bam earthquake on the Iran Earthquake Risk Reduction Strategy and actions.

Snow avalanches striking water basins: behaviour of the avalanche’s centre of mass and front

Gutenberg and Richter developed an empirical relation, \(\log_{10} N(M) = a - bM\), to quantify the seismicity rate of various magnitudes in a given region and time period. They found the equation fit observed data well both globally and for particular regions. In conventional G–R relation, N(M) represents an arithmetic mean. As a result, the arithmetic standard deviation cannot be explicitly incorporated in the log-linear G–R relation. Moreover, this representation is susceptible to influence of spuriously large numbers of aftershocks of major earthquake sequences. To overcome these shortcomings, we propose an alternative representation of the G–R relation in terms of the logarithmic mean annual seismicity rate and its standard deviation. We select the crustal earthquake data from 1973 to 2011, as listed in the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) global catalog and the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) Taiwan regional catalog, to illustrate our methodology. We first show that by using the logarithmic annual seismicity rates we can significantly suppress the influences of spuriously large numbers of aftershocks following major earthquake sequences contained in the Taiwan regional catalog. More significantly, both the logarithmic mean annual seismicity rate and its standard deviation can be explicitly represented in the Gutenberg–Richter relation as follows:

$${\text{For}}\,{\text{global}}\,{\text{crustal}}\,{\text{seismicity}}{:}\;\log_{10} N = 8.14 - 1.03M \pm (0.04M - 0.13);$$

$${\text{For}}\,{\text{Taiwan}}\;{\text{crustal}}\,{\text{seismicity}}{:}\;\log_{10} N = 5.62 - 0.90M \pm (0.02M + 0.17)$$

where log₁₀ N represents the logarithmic annual seismicity rate. Above analytical equations are very well constrained by observed global seismicity data with \(5.0 \le M \le 7.0\) and by Taiwan seismicity data with \(3.0 \le M \le 5.0\). Both equations can be extrapolated with confidence to simultaneously estimate not only the median annual seismicity rates but also their uncertainties for large earthquakes for the first time since inception of the G–R relation. These equations can be used to improve the conventional probabilistic seismic hazard assessment by including the dispersion of the annual seismicity rate. Finally, the corresponding numerical median annual seismicity rate with its upper and lower bounds obtained from above equations for \(5.0 \le M \le 9.0\) is listed in Table 1.

Table 1 Observed and estimated median annual seismicity rate and return period with their dispersions for Taiwan and global crustal earthquakes

Magnitude	Catalog
	Taiwan catalog (CWB)	Taiwan catalog (CWB)	Global catalog (NEIC)	Global catalog (NEIC)
	Annual rate (event/year)	Return period (year)	Annual rate (event/year)	Return period (year)
M ≥ 5.0	24.55 13.18 7.08	0.041 0.076 0.14	1148.16 977.24 831.76	0.0009 0.001 0.0012
M ≥ 5.5	8.91 4.68 2.45	0.11 0.21 0.41	367.28 298.54 242.66	0.0027 0.0033 0.0041
M ≥ 6.0	3.24 1.66 0.85	0.31 0.60 1.18	117.49 91.20 70.79	0.0085 0.011 0.014
M ≥ 6.5	1.17 0.59 0.30	0.85 1.69 3.33	37.58 27.86 20.65	0.027 0.036 0.048
M ≥ 7.0	0.43 0.21 0.10	2.33 4.76 10.0	12.02 8.51 6.03	0.083 0.12 0.17
M ≥ 7.5	0.15 0.074 0.036	6.67 13.51 27.78	3.85 2.60 1.76	0.26 0.38 0.57
M ≥ 8.0	0.056 0.026 0.012	17.86 38.46 83.33	1.23 0.79 0.51	0.81 1.27 1.96
M ≥ 8.5	0.020 0.009 0.004	50.00 111.11 250.0	0.39 0.24 0.15	2.56 4.17 6.67
M ≥ 9.0	0.0074 0.0033 0.0015	135.14 303.03 666.67	0.13 0.074 0.04	7.69 13.51 25.00

Observed value is shown in bold number, estimated value in regular number \(\log_{10} N = 5.62 - 0.90M \pm (0.02M + 0.17)\) for Taiwan crustal earthquakes \(\log_{10} N = 8.14 - 1.03M \pm (0.04M - 0.13)\) for global crustal earthquakes

     

Climate change impacts on groundwater recharge- uncertainty, shortcomings, and the way forward?

An integrated approach to assessing the regional impacts of climate and socio-economic change on groundwater recharge is described from East Anglia, UK. Many factors affect future groundwater recharge including changed precipitation and temperature regimes, coastal flooding, urbanization, woodland establishment, and changes in cropping and rotations.Important sources of uncertainty and shortcomings in recharge estimation are discussed in the light of the results. The uncertainty in, and importance of, socio-economic scenarios in exploring the consequences of unknown future changes are highlighted. Changes to soil properties are occurring over a range of time scales, such that the soils of the future may not have the same infiltration properties as existing soils. The potential implications involved in assuming unchanging soil properties are described.To focus on the direct impacts of climate change is to neglect the potentially important role of policy, societal values and economic processes in shaping the landscape above aquifers. If the likely consequences of future changes of groundwater recharge, resulting from both climate and socio-economic change, are to be assessed, hydrogeologists must increasingly work with researchers from other disciplines, such as socio-economists, agricultural modellers and soil scientists.

Evolution of natural risk: analysing changing landslide hazard in Wellington,Aotearoa/New Zealand

This paper addresses the temporal variation of rainfall-triggered landslide hazard within the broader context of natural risk evolution. Analysis of a sequence of aerial photos covering a period of 60 years allowed the establishment of a record of landsliding for a site in the Wellington region, New Zealand. The data show one very dominant peak in the magnitude of landslide occurrence in the late 1970s, followed by a continuous decrease. Landslide hazard can be expressed by the frequency and magnitude of the landslide events, with the total surface area affected used as a surrogate for magnitude. However, the distinct decline of landslide magnitude through time from the 1980s onwards indicates that landslide hazard may change with time. This possibility is further explored by correlating potential landslide triggering storms with the magnitude of the landslide event, using the ‘Antecedent Soil Water Status’ model in combination with daily rainfall. The relation between magnitudes of rainfall and magnitudes of landslide events is found to be weak, suggesting that a given ‘Critical Water Content’ (antecedent soil water status and rainfall on the day) does not produce similar magnitudes of landsliding. Furthermore, the study shows that reactivation of previous landslides before the peak landslide occurrence of the late 1970s is low, while the situation is reversed after this peak and reactivation in the subsequent years plays a larger role. It is concluded that the pattern of landsliding cannot be explained by the pattern of rainfall and other factors are controlling the variation of landslide hazard in time. A possible explanation is a change of the geomorphological system with time, instigated by a massive period of landsliding (the late 1970s peak). Subsequent sediment exhaustion of source areas resulting from this period appears to alter the system’s subsequent reaction to an external trigger such as rainfall. The study demonstrates that landslide hazard analysis in general should not rely on the integral of the frequency–magnitude relationship only, but should include potential non-linear changes of system settings to increase the understanding of future system behaviour, and therefore hazard and risk.

Post-disaster assessment of hazard mitigation for small and medium-magnitude debris flow disasters in Bali,Indonesia and Jimani,Dominican Republic

This article explores whether past exposure to debris flow disasters with a human dimension (e.g. caused in part by deforestation) results in adaptive hazard mitigation and improved environmental and resource management practices in affected areas. When guiding hazard mitigation practice, the ‘adaptive hazard mitigation’ approach views mitigation as a multi-dimensional experiment, with the associated need for post-experiment monitoring, evaluation, learning and adjustment, and attention paid to multiple scales (Bogardi 2004). This article explores how the concept of ‘adaptive hazard mitigation’ has emerged, linking this ‘adaptive management’ used increasingly in resource and environmental management. Two case studies of disasters linked to human-induced environmental change are examined, and the mitigation responses of local communities, NGOs and Government agencies are documented. Data sources include secondary data (journal articles, web-based disaster reports and grey literature) on each disaster, key informant interviews (n = 8) and direct observation over the 2005–2006 period of post-disaster mitigation actions implemented after each disaster. The research indicates that in both case studies, a limited range of hazard mitigation actions was employed, including both structural and non-structural approaches. However, the research also found that causal factors involving human-induced environmental change (e.g. deforestation) were not addressed, and overall, the hazard mitigation strategies adopted lacked monitoring, learning and adjustment. In both case studies, responses to disaster were judged to be examples of ‘trial and error’ adaptation, rather than either ‘passive’ or ‘active’ adaptation.

Consideration of natural hazards in the design and risk management of industrial facilities

Recent chemical accidents precipitated by natural disasters have prompted governments in the United States, Japan, and Europe, among other countries, to re-evaluate current practices in the design and risk management of industrial facilities. This paper presents an overview of natural hazard design considerations and external events risk management requirements in the industrial sector, with particular emphasis on industrial practices in the United States, Japan, and Europe. The analysis shows that although regulations exist to ensure industrial plant structures are built to resist natural hazards (up to the design level), there are few laws to address the performance of non-structural elements and safety and emergency response measures during a natural disaster. Laws usually also refer to natural hazards only indirectly, and provisions to prevent or respond to simultaneous disasters from single or multiple sources concurrent with the natural disaster are usually not present.

Social vulnerability and seismic risk perception. Case study: the historic center of the Bucharest Municipality/Romania

Social vulnerability is as much a part of risk as building damage, hazard magnitude, and economic loss. Social vulnerability refers to the capacity of a human community exposed during the impact of a natural hazard event (in this case, an earthquake) to resist, cope with, and recover from that impact. In the perspective of the 3rd millennium, we come to understand that the most efficient and accessible way to reduce the pressure of natural risks is to reduce the vulnerability level of the human communities exposed to that certain hazard. This study aims to test, in an exposed and vulnerable area, the relationship between social vulnerability and the perception of the seismic risk. The research focuses only on the first level of social vulnerability, defined as the ability of an individual within a household to recover from a natural hazard impact (Dwyer et al. 2004). A prevailing assumption was that social vulnerability influences the level of perception of the seismic risk, in an exposed, vulnerable area. To this end, two samples were used, different under the aspect of social vulnerability, in the context of the same residential area. Social vulnerability was computed as a normalized composed index that includes the poverty ratio and the demographic vulnerability ratio (depending on the age, gender, and education level indicators). The statistical processing has indicated a significant difference in the high perception level for the two samples that were compared, in the sense that in the context of an increased level of social vulnerability, people generally better acknowledge the seismic risk.

Patterns of population change in Ghana (1984–2000): urbanization and frontier development

The study addresses population dynamics in Ghana on the urban and regional levels between 1984 and 2000. At the urban level, the development trends are analyzed for urban localities (population above 5,000) on the basis of geo-coded census data. Potential driving forces for rapid population growth related to size, location, accessibility and facility counts are examined using bivariate and multivariate analysis. An index of weighted accessibility relative to other urban localities provides significant explanation at the national level, as does initial locality size. At the regional level, population development is analyzed to provide insight into the rural–urban relations. The level of urbanization is steadily increasing but varies considerably between regions. Areas of high population growth are found in some rural areas that have a remote location relative to the large urban centers. This seems to indicate the existence of ‘frontier’ regions, i.e. areas that experience a high degree of in-migration by people aiming to undertake specific farming activities. A high proportion of the population growth in these areas appears to take place in relatively small towns. The paper concludes with a more in-depth discussion of the development characteristics of Ghana’s Western Region. This region has experienced one of the highest regional population growth rates, mainly due to its status as a ‘frontier’ for cocoa production.

Challenges of governing groundwater in U.S. western states

Over the last several decades, water users in the western United States have increasingly turned to groundwater resources to support economic development, but few institutional arrangements were in place to govern groundwater use. Over time, numerous groundwater problems have emerged. Two closely related explanations for this are explored. Surface water sources were the first to be developed, and institutional arrangements to allocate surface water were the first to be devised. These arrangements are not particularly well suited for governing groundwater. Furthermore, the physical differences between rivers and aquifers lead to differences in the development of each type of water, and in production and organization costs. Groundwater development involves low upfront production costs, which individual water users can cover. Once groundwater users have individually invested in productive activities problems emerge, such as declining water tables. Thus, unlike surface water users, groundwater users are faced with devising institutional arrangements to coordinate their water uses after they have invested in and developed productive economic activities. Most western states regulate pumping, although groundwater users, in general, resist pumping limits. The discussion concludes with proposals for modifying the prior appropriation doctrine to better accommodate the active management of groundwater basins for long-term sustainability.

Tornado shelters and the manufactured home parks market

Manufactured or mobile homes represent a fast growing portion of the housing market but are particularly vulnerable to tornadoes. In the US over 40% of tornado fatalities occur in mobile homes even though they comprise about 8% of US housing units. We examine the market for tornado shelters in manufactured home parks in Oklahoma. Almost 60% of parks in the state have shelters, with 90% of the shelters underground. Parks with shelters are not concentrated in urban areas but spread across the state, with parks with shelters in 32 counties. We find that rents for lots in parks with shelters are 5–8% higher, which generates sufficient revenue to approximately pay for shelters, but the point estimate is statistically significant in only one specification.

High-temperature phase transitions and elasticity of silica polymorphs

The single-crystal acoustic velocities of α- and β-quartz were measured by Brillouin spectroscopy to a maximum temperature >1,500°C at room pressure. From these velocities, the single-crystal elastic moduli were calculated up to 1,050°C, exceeding the temperature range of previous measurements by 350°C for the elastic moduli and by 710°C for acoustic velocities. The ordinary refractive index (n _o) of α- and β-quartz was measured from room temperature to 800°C. In the temperature interval from ∼950 to 1,000°C a subtle change in the temperature derivative of the longitudinal acoustic velocity was observed in platelet geometry for all measured directions. The high-temperature acoustic velocity data may indicate the presence of a second phase, presumably β-cristobalite, that nucleates below 1,000°C.

Weathering of sulfidic shale and copper mine waste: secondary minerals and metal cycling in Great Smoky Mountains National Park,Tennessee, and North Carolina,USA

Metal cycling via physical and chemical weathering of discrete sources (copper mines) and regional (non-point) sources (sulfide-rich shale) is evaluated by examining the mineralogy and chemistry of weathering products in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, and North Carolina, USA. The elements in copper mine waste, secondary minerals, stream sediments, and waters that are most likely to have negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems are aluminum, copper, zinc, and arsenic because these elements locally exceed toxicity guidelines for surface waters or for stream sediments. Acid-mine drainage has not developed in streams draining inactive copper mines. Acid-rock drainage and chemical weathering processes that accompany debris flows or human disturbances of sulfidic rocks are comparable to processes that develop acid-mine drainage elsewhere. Despite the high rainfall in the mountain range, sheltered areas and intermittent dry spells provide local venues for development of secondary weathering products that can impact aquatic ecosystems.Electronic Supplementary Material  Supplementary material is available for this article if you access the article at . A link in the frame on the left on that page takes you directly to the supplementary material.