Characterization of transboundary POP contamination in aquatic ecosystems of Pearl River delta

During the past two decades, the rapid development of the Pearl River delta leads to substantial accumulation of various toxic organic compounds. This study aims to give a preliminary characterization of the existing state of contamination in this region and to provide insight into the possible fate of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in this estuary. The available data on POPs in water, river, estuarine sediments, soil, and marine organisms within the Pearl River delta are compiled. It is shown that it may lead to transboundary POP pollution problems at both Hong Kong and Macau Special Administration Regions located at the downstream end of the region. It is noted that the levels of DDTs and HCHs in various environmental media are at alerting levels and that fresh DDT might still be applied illegally within the region. A systematic research is required to determine both the temporal and spatial variations of all POPs in various carrying media of the Pearl River delta as a whole.     

Global Climate Change — the Latest Assessment: Does Global Warming Warrant a Health Warning?

Global climate change is a qualitatively distinct, and very significant, addition to the spectrum of environmental health hazards encountered by humankind. Historically, environmental health concerns have focused on toxicological or microbiological risks to health from local exposures. However, the scale of environmental health hazards is today increasing; indeed, the burgeoning human impact on the environment has begun to alter global biophysical systems (such as the climate system). As a consequence, a range of larger-scale environmental hazards to human population health has emerged. This includes the health risks posed by climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, loss of biodiversity, stresses on terrestrial and ocean food-producing systems, changes in hydrological systems and the supplies of freshwater, and the global spread of persistent organic pollutants. Appreciation of this scale and type of influence on human health entails an ecological perspective — a perspective that recognises that the foundations of long-term good health in populations reside in the continued stability and functioning of the biosphere's "life-supporting" ecological and physical systems. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The shift of biogeochemical cycles indicative of the progressive marine ecosystem collapse across the Permian-Triassic boundary: An analog to modern oceans

Global warming, the most severe faunal mass extinction and the shift of biogeochemical cycles were observed in the ocean across the Permian-Triassic boundary about 252 million years ago, providing an analog to understanding the modern oceans. Along with the progressive global warming, the biogeochemical cycle was documented to show a shift from the decoupled processes of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur prior to the mass extinction to the coupled biogeochemical processes during faunal mass extinction. The coupled biogeochemical cycle was further observed to shift from the coupled C-N processes during the first episode of the faunal mass extinction to the coupled C-N-S processes during the second episode, diagnostic of the progressive development of more deteriorated marine environmental conditions and the more severe biotic crisis across the Permian-Triassic boundary. The biogeochemical cycles could thus be an indication to the progressive collapse of marine ecosystems triggered by the global warming in Earth history. In modern oceans, the coupled C-N cycle triggered by the global warming was observed in some regions. If these local C-N processes develop and expand to the global oceans, the coupled C-N-S processes might be brought into existence and the marine ecosystems are inevitable to suffer from complete collapse as observed at 252 million years ago.     

全球变暖对淡水湖泊浮游植物影响研究进展

全球变暖对湖泊生态系统的影响已经成为近年来湖沼学领域的研究热点.本文首先列举了目前研究全球变暖对淡水湖泊浮游植物影响的常用方法:监测数据分析、时空转换、遥感信息提取、控制实验、模型预测和古湖沼学技术等.研究结果表明气候变暖导致的气温升高、湖泊热力分层提前破坏以及无冰期提前等因素可导致春季物候提前;在全球变暖大背景下浮游植物群落结构正朝着蓝藻占优的方向发展,但是不同地区以及不同物种对全球变暖的响应不一致.在营养盐充足的湖泊中,由于全球变暖延长了浮游植物生长季节等,从而能提高浮游植物初级生产力;但在贫营养湖泊中,浮游植物初级生产力与变暖趋势甚至可能呈负相关.由于生态系统往往是多因子的共同作用,这也使得全球变暖对浮游植物群落的影响效应复杂化,区分各因子的净影响份额是目前研究的一个难点;全球变暖引起的风场改变会促进浅水湖泊中营养盐从底泥的释放,同时也会增加水体中悬浮物的浓度而影响水下光场,因此开展气候变化对再悬浮及浮游植物群落结构的影响可能是将来研究的一个切入点.     

Climate change and the oceans – What does the future hold?

The ocean has been shielding the earth from the worst effects of rapid climate change by absorbing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This absorption of CO₂ is driving the ocean along the pH gradient towards more acidic conditions. At the same time ocean warming is having pronounced impacts on the composition, structure and functions of marine ecosystems. Warming, freshening (in some areas) and associated stratification are driving a trend in ocean deoxygenation, which is being enhanced in parts of the coastal zone by upwelling of hypoxic deep water. The combined impact of warming, acidification and deoxygenation are already having a dramatic effect on the flora and fauna of the oceans with significant changes in distribution of populations, and decline of sensitive species. In many cases, the impacts of warming, acidification and deoxygenation are increased by the effects of other human impacts, such as pollution, eutrophication and overfishing.     

Downscaling IPCC control run and future scenario with focus on the Barents Sea

Global atmosphere-ocean general circulation models are the tool by which projections for climate changes due to radiative forcing scenarios have been produced. Further, regional atmospheric downscaling of the global models may be applied in order to evaluate the details in, e.g., temperature and precipitation patterns. Similarly, detailed regional information is needed in order to assess the implications of future climate change for the marine ecosystems. However, regional results for climate change in the ocean are sparse. We present the results for the circulation and hydrography of the Barents Sea from the ocean component of two global models and from a corresponding pair of regional model configurations. The global models used are the GISS AOM and the NCAR CCSM3. The ROMS ocean model is used for the regional downscaling of these results (ROMS-G and ROMS-N configurations, respectively). This investigation was undertaken in order to shed light on two questions that are essential in the context of regional ocean projections: (1) How should a regional model be set up in order to take advantage of the results from global projections; (2) What limits to quality in the results of regional models are imposed by the quality of global models? We approached the first question by initializing the ocean model in the control simulation by a realistic ocean analysis and specifying air-sea fluxes according to the results from the global models. For the projection simulation, the global models’ oceanic anomalies from their control simulation results were added upon initialization. Regarding the second question, the present set of simulations includes regional downscalings of the present-day climate as well as projected climate change. Thus, we study separately how downscaling changes the results in the control climate case, and how scenario results are changed. For the present-day climate, we find that downscaling reduces the differences in the Barents Sea between the original global models. Furthermore, the downscaled results are closer to observations. On the other hand, the downscaled results from the scenario simulations are significantly different: while the heat transport into the Barents Sea and the salinity distribution change modestly from control to scenario with ROMS-G, in ROMS-N the heat transport is much larger in the scenario simulation, and the water masses become much less saline. The lack of robustness in the results from the scenario simulations leads us to conclude that the results for the regional oceanic response to changes in the radiative forcing depend on the choice of AOGCM and is not settled. Consequently, the effect of climate change on the marine ecosystem of the Barents Sea is anything but certain.     

东北松嫩平原区湖泊对气候变化响应的初步研究

以气候变暖为主要特点的气候变化已成为当前研究的焦点,气候变化和不同类型的生态系统之间的相互作用更是受到广泛关注.东北地区作为我国气候变化的一个敏感区,观测记录和多种模式预估显示该区气候变暖显著并将进一步增强,降水变化趋势则不明显或略有增加.东北松嫩平原湖泊群是我国湖泊密度最大的湖区之一,但近几十年来,该区湖泊生态环境不断恶化,其中气候因素最为受人关注.本文从以下几个角度综述了松嫩平原湖泊群对气候变化的响应:(1)湖泊面积和湖泊水位;(2)湖泊水质;(3)湖泊生态多样性.在此基础上,探讨了该区未来气候变化对湖泊的可能影响以及湖泊的演变趋势,也阐述了在这种自然背景下的人类活动对湖泊环境演变的影响.     

Using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) to improve the ocean circulation from a GCM 20<Superscript>th</Superscript> century simulation

Global coupled climate models are generally capable of reproducing the observed trends in the globally averaged atmospheric temperature. However, the global models do not perform as well on regional scales. Here, we present results from a 20-year, high-resolution ocean model experiment for the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. The atmospheric forcing is taken from the final 20 years of a twentieth-century control run with a coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model. The ocean model results from the regional ocean model are validated using observations of hydrography from repeat cruises in the Barents Sea. Validation is performed for average quantities and for probability distributions in space and time. The validation results reveal that, though the regional model is forced by a coupled global model that has a noticeable sea ice bias in the Barents Sea, the hydrography and its variability are reproduced with an encouraging quality. We attribute this improvement to the realistic transport of warm, salty waters into the Barents Sea in the regional model. These lateral fluxes in the ocean are severely underestimated by the global model. The added value with the regional model that we have documented here lends hope to advance the quality of oceanic climate change impact studies.     

The Barents Sea impact study (BASIS): methodology and first results

Global and climate changes are subject to scientific, societal and political debates. Recent observational evidence and results of global climate models have identified the circumpolar North as a region particularly susceptible to future climate change. To understand and assess the consequences of these changes for environmental and societal components of the European Arctic, the Barents Sea Impact Study (BASIS), an EU-funded integrated regional impact study (IRIS) has been carried out (ENV4-CT-97-0637). In common with global integrated assessments (IAs), IRISs also take a holistic view on climate change and its impact. Contrary to IAs, however, IRISs adopt a regional to sub-regional spatial scale. BASIS was carried out by an interdisciplinary team of specialists from 13 institutions in 6 countries. Major results pertain to impacts of possible climate change on marine and terrestrial ecosystems, freshwater hydrology, marine trace gas budgets, forestry and fishery. However, in this paper we focus on the major methodological aspects of an IRIS in general and on methods applied in BASIS in particular.     

Recent trends of extreme temperature indices for the Iberian Peninsula

Climate change and extreme climate events have a significant impact on societies and ecosystems. As a result, climate change projections, especially related with extreme temperature events, have gained increasing importance due to their impacts on the well-being of the population and ecosystems. However, most studies in the field are based on coarse global climate models (GCMs). In this study, we perform a high resolution downscaling simulation to evaluate recent trends of extreme temperature indices. The model used was Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) forced by MPI-ESM-LR, which has been shown to be one of the more robust models to simulate European climate. The domain used in the simulations includes the Iberian Peninsula and the simulation covers the 1986–2005 period (i.e. recent past). In order to study extreme temperature events, trends were computed using the Theil-Sen method for a set of temperature indexes defined by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI). For this, daily values of minimum and maximum temperatures were used. The trends of the indexes were computed for annual and seasonal values and the Mann-Kendall Trend test was used to evaluate their statistical significance. In order to validate the results, a second simulation, in which WRF was forced by ERA-Interim, was performed. The results suggest an increase in the number of warm days and warm nights, especially during summer and negative trends for cold nights and cold days for the summer and spring. For the winter, contrary to the expected, the results suggest an increase in cold days and cold nights (warming hiatus). This behavior is supported by the WRF simulation forced by ERA-Interim for the autumn days, pointing to an extension of the warming hiatus phenomenon to the remaining seasons. These results should be used with caution since the period used to calculate the trends may not be long enough for this purpose. However, the general sign of trends are similar for both simulations despite some differences in their magnitudes.     

地震和潮汐对气候波动变化的影响

2004年12月26日印尼地震海啸后,全球低温冻害和暴雪灾害频繁发生."潮汐调温说"和"深海巨震降温说"是一种合理的解释.根据"潮汐调温说"和"深海巨震降温说"理论,2005年以后全球气温将因为地震海啸和强潮汐南北震荡而降低.2009年11月至2010年1月低温暴雪袭击北半球,西方科学家也承认2000～2010年气候的...     

Microplastics in the marine environment

This review discusses the mechanisms of generation and potential impacts of microplastics in the ocean environment. Weathering degradation of plastics on the beaches results in their surface embrittlement and microcracking, yielding microparticles that are carried into water by wind or wave action. Unlike inorganic fines present in sea water, microplastics concentrate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) by partition. The relevant distribution coefficients for common POPs are several orders of magnitude in favour of the plastic medium. Consequently, the microparticles laden with high levels of POPs can be ingested by marine biota. Bioavailability and the efficiency of transfer of the ingested POPs across trophic levels are not known and the potential damage posed by these to the marine ecosystem has yet to be quantified and modelled. Given the increasing levels of plastic pollution of the oceans it is important to better understand the impact of microplastics in the ocean food web.     

Another Important Factor of Rising Sea Level: Soil Erosion

Global mean sea level is a sensitive factor of climate change. Global warming will contribute to worldwide sea‐level rise from thermal expansion of ocean water, melting of glaciers and polar ice. Consideration of global soil erosion, water vapor cycle, and hydraulic actions suggests that soil erosion is another important factor contributing to sea‐level rise in addition to global warming. Much terrestrial sediment flows into the rivers each year but cannot be replenished, resulting in land surface declines. Moreover, sediment flow into rivers and oceans contributes to rising sea level. Ecological protection measure was proposed to prevent rising sea levels caused by soil erosion. This commentary should be useful to attract attention on rising sea levels caused by soil erosion.     

Köppen Climate Types in Observed and Simulated Climates

The Köppen climate classification was applied to the observed gridded climatological sets and the outputs of four general circulation models (GCMs) over the continents of the Earth. All data had been acquired via the Data Distribution Centre established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The ability of the GCMs to simulate the Köppen climate zones identified in the real data was explored and possible future (global warming) changes in the climate types' distribution for each GCM were assessed. Differences in the area distributions derived from the GCMs' recent climate simulations give evidence about uncertainties generally involved in climate models. As to the global warming simulations, all GCM projections of warming climate (horizon 2050) show that the zones representing tropical rain climates and dry climates become larger, and the zones identified with boreal forest and snow climates together with the polar climates are smaller.     

Characterization and composition of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants in water and estuarine sediments from Gao-ping River, Taiwan

The objective of this study was to determine the concentrations and possible sources of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in water and estuarine sediments from Gao-ping River in order to evaluate the environmental quality of aquatic system in southern Taiwan. High concentrations of heavy metals including Cr, Zn, Ni, Cu and As, ranging from 10.7 to 180 mg/kg-dry weight (dw), were detected in sediments from Gao-ping River. When normalized to the principal component analysis (PCA), swinery and electroplating wastewaters were found to be the most important pollution sources for heavy metals. Of various organochlorine pesticide (OCP) residues detected, aldrin and total-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) were frequently found in sediments. The total concentrations of OCPs were in the range 0.47-47.4 ng/g-dw. Also, the total-HCH, total-cyclodiene, and total-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) were in the range 0.37-36.3, 0.21-19.0, and 0.44-1.88 ng/g-dw, respectively. The polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations in sediments from Gao-ping River ranged between 0.37 and 5.89 ng/g-dw. The PCB concentrations are positively correlated to the organic contents of the sediment particles. alpha-HCH was found to be the dominant compound of HCH in the sediments, showing that long-range transport may be the possible source for the contamination of HCH in sediments from Gao-ping River. In summary, trace amounts of POPs in estuarine sediments from Gao-ping River were detected, showing that there still exist a wide variety of POP residues in the river sediments in Taiwan. These POP residues may be mainly from long-range transport and weathered agricultural soils, while heavy metal contamination is primarily from the swinery and industrial wastewaters.     

Relationship between sea surface salinity and ocean circulation and climate change

Based on Argo sea surface salinity(SSS) and the related precipitation(P), evaporation(E), and sea surface height data sets, the climatological annual mean and low-frequency variability in SSS in the global ocean and their relationship with ocean circulation and climate change were analyzed. Meanwhile, together with previous studies, a brief retrospect and prospect of seawater salinity were given in this work. Freshwater flux(E-P) dominated the mean pattern of SSS, while the dynamics of ocean circulation modulated the spatial structure and low-frequency variability in SSS in most regions. Under global warming, the trend in SSS indicated the intensification of the global hydrological cycle, and featured a decreasing trend at low and high latitudes and an increasing trend in subtropical regions. In the most recent two decades, global warming has slowed down, which is called the"global warming hiatus". The trend in SSS during this phase, which was different to that under global warming, mainly indicated the response of the ocean surface to the decadal and multi-decadal variability in the climate system, referring to the intensification of the Walker Circulation. The significant contrast of SSS trends between the western Pacific and the southeastern Indian Ocean suggested the importance of oceanic dynamics in the cross-basin interaction in recent decades. Ocean Rossby waves and the Indonesian Throughflow contributed to the freshening trend in SSS in the southeastern Indian Ocean, while the increasing trend in the southeastern Pacific and the decreasing trend in the northern Atlantic implied a long-term linear trend under global warming. In the future, higher resolution SSS data observed by satellites, together with Argo observations, will help to extend our knowledge on the dynamics of mesoscale eddies, regional oceanography, and climate change.     

Modelling the impact of ocean warming on melting and water masses of ice shelves in the Eastern Weddell Sea

The Eastern Weddell Ice Shelves (EWIS) are believed to modify the water masses of the coastal current and thus preconditions the water mass formation in the southern and western Weddell Sea. We apply various ocean warming scenarios to investigate the impact on the temperature–salinity distribution and the sub-ice shelf melting in the Eastern Weddell Sea. In our numerical experiments, the warming is imposed homogeneously along the open inflow boundaries of the model domain, leading to a warming of the warm deep water (WDW) further downstream. Our modelling results indicate a weak quadratic dependence of the melt rate at the ice shelf base on the imposed amount of warming, which is consistent with earlier studies. The total melt rate has a strong dependence on the applied ocean warming depth. If the warming is restricted to the upper ocean (above 1,000  m), the water column (aside from the mixed surface layer) in the vicinity of the ice shelves stabilises. Hence, reduced vertical mixing will reduce the potential of Antarctic Bottom Water formation further downstream with consequences on the global thermohaline circulation. If the warming extends to the abyss, the WDW core moves significantly closer to the continental shelf break. This sharpens the Antarctic Slope Front and leads to a reduced density stratification. In contrast to the narrow shelf bathymetry in the EWIS region, a wider continental shelf (like in the southern Weddell Sea) partly protects ice shelves from remote ocean warming. Hence, the freshwater production rate of, e.g., the Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf increases much less compared with the EWIS for identical warming scenarios. Our study therefore indicates that the ice-ocean interaction has a significant impact on the temperature-salinity distribution and the water column stability in the vicinity of ice shelves located along a narrow continental shelf. The effects of ocean warming and the impact of increased freshwater fluxes on the circulation are of the same order of magnitude and superimposed. Therefore, a consideration of this interaction in large-scale climate studies is essential.     

The Global Warming Debate: A Review of the State of Science

A review of the present status of the global warming science is presented in this paper. The term global warming is now popularly used to refer to the recent reported increase in the mean surface temperature of the earth; this increase being attributed to increasing human activity and in particular to the increased concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) in the atmosphere. Since the mid to late 1980s there has been an intense and often emotional debate on this topic. The various climate change reports (1996, 2001) prepared by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), have provided the scientific framework that ultimately led to the Kyoto protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (particularly carbon dioxide) due to the burning of fossil fuels. Numerous peer-reviewed studies reported in recent literature have attempted to verify several of the projections on climate change that have been detailed by the IPCC reports.The global warming debate as presented by the media usually focuses on the increasing mean temperature of the earth, associated extreme weather events and future climate projections of increasing frequency of extreme weather events worldwide. In reality, the climate change issue is considerably more complex than an increase in the earth’s mean temperature and in extreme weather events. Several recent studies have questioned many of the projections of climate change made by the IPCC reports and at present there is an emerging dissenting view of the global warming science which is at odds with the IPCC view of the cause and consequence of global warming. Our review suggests that the dissenting view offered by the skeptics or opponents of global warming appears substantially more credible than the supporting view put forth by the proponents of global warming. Further, the projections of future climate change over the next fifty to one hundred years is based on insufficiently verified climate models and are therefore not considered reliable at this point in time.     

Physically Consistent Responses of the Global Atmospheric Hydrological Cycle in Models and Observations

Robust and physically understandable responses of the global atmospheric water cycle to a warming climate are presented. By considering interannual responses to changes in surface temperature (T), observations and AMIP5 simulations agree on an increase in column integrated water vapor at the rate 7 %/K (in line with the Clausius–Clapeyron equation) and of precipitation at the rate 2–3 %/K (in line with energetic constraints). Using simple and complex climate models, we demonstrate that radiative forcing by greenhouse gases is currently suppressing global precipitation (P) at ～?0.15 %/decade. Along with natural variability, this can explain why observed trends in global P over the period 1988?2008 are close to zero. Regional responses in the global water cycle are strongly constrained by changes in moisture fluxes. Model simulations show an increased moisture flux into the tropical wet region at 900 hPa and an enhanced outflow (of smaller magnitude) at around 600 hPa with warming. Moisture transport explains an increase in P in the wet tropical regions and small or negative changes in the dry regions of the subtropics in CMIP5 simulations of a warming climate. For AMIP5 simulations and satellite observations, the heaviest 5-day rainfall totals increase in intensity at ～15 %/K over the ocean with reductions at all percentiles over land. The climate change response in CMIP5 simulations shows consistent increases in P over ocean and land for the highest intensities, close to the Clausius?Clapeyron scaling of 7 %/K, while P declines for the lowest percentiles, indicating that interannual variability over land may not be a good proxy for climate change. The local changes in precipitation and its extremes are highly dependent upon small shifts in the large-scale atmospheric circulation and regional feedbacks.     

全球及中国近海海平面变化趋势研究进展及展望

海平面变化是全球气候系统变化的一个组成部分,是环境变化的重要指标,也会影响沿海区域及岛屿的生态环境甚至存亡.全球海平面变化由海水质量变化和比容海平面变化构成.海水质量变化主要是由于两极冰盖和高山区的冰川融化流入海洋所致;比容海平面变化是由海水的温度和盐度变化所引起的,其中温度变化是最主要的因素.本文介绍了海平面变化各种监测技术的发展过程,并对海平面变化的研究现状进行了总结.所有研究成果均表明,近100多年以来,全球海平面一直处于上升态势;近几十年以来,海平面呈现加快上升并且越来越快的趋势.目前仍然存在一些问题:人们还没有完全掌握海平面变化规律,对未来海平面变化预测有较大不确定性;深海缺乏实测数据;厄尔尼诺—南方涛动(ENSO)的变化规律以及对海平面的影响;GRACE陆地与海洋信号无法完全分离以及GRACE与GRACE-FO之间的一致性分析等.这些问题都需要进一步开展研究.