Indian Ocean tsunamis: environmental and socio-economic impacts in Langkawi, Malaysia

We report the results of a study of the physical characteristics and socio-economic impacts of the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 26 December 2004 on the tourist island of Langkawi, Malaysia. In comparison with many other locations struck by the tsunami, the immediate physical and socio-economic impacts in Langkawi were relatively minor. A detailed survey of the watermark and ground elevations was undertaken in the worst affected area between Sungei Kuala Teriang and Sungei Kuala Melaka. Here, the tsunami reached a maximum elevation of 4.29 m as it crossed the coast, with a maximum flow depth of 2.0 m and a very consistent run-up elevation relative to mean sea level of 300 ± 10 cm. The tsunami inundated inshore areas for 300 m and penetrated inland along creeks for 500–1000 m. Structural damage to buildings was confined to within 50–150 m of the shoreline where about 10% of the houses were completely destroyed and 60–70% suffered significant structural damage. Damage was particularly severe in areas where there was no engineered coastal protection, but while coastal revetments did provide enhanced protection for houses at the waterfront, the coastline in the study area appeared to be more heavily impacted than elsewhere in Langkawi because wave energy was focused on the area by offshore breakwaters built to protect the Langkawi port and airport. Emergency response after the tsunami was rapid and efficient but would have been improved if the local police station had not been rendered inoperative by the first wave, and if a mechanism had been in place to ensure that informal advance warnings transmitted between Phuket (Thailand), Langkawi and Penang (Malaysia) by tourist operators could have been more widely disseminated.     

Land-use structure and physical,socio-economic impacts in China

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Spatiotemporal analysis of climate variability impacts on malaria prevalence in Ghana

There are conflicting results from research on the impacts of temperature and rainfall on malaria prevalence. As a result predicting malaria prevalence still remains a challenge. Generating relevant information on the role of temperature, rainfall, and humidity on malaria prevalence at different geographic scales is critical to efforts to combat the burden of prevalence. For better understanding of climate variability and the impacts on malaria prevalence, this study examined the varying spatial and seasonal distribution in malaria prevalence over time in Ghana. We used trajectory and time series analyses for temporal distribution and conducted GIS-based analyses of the spatial distribution of yearly malaria incidence and climate variables. We observed that the national annual malaria incidence has increased. Considerable inter-annual variations were also detected in the intensity of incidence across regions characterized with varying rainfall and temperature regimes. The results indicated that temperature and humidity have some association with malaria prevalence in Ghana. Although annual rainfall in the model was found to be less significant, there is evidence of rainfall as a predictor of malaria in Ghana. These findings show that public health resource allocations should focus on the areas with the highest malaria risk in Ghana.     

The environmental impact of small-scale gold mining in Ghana: identifying problems and possible solutions

This paper examines the environmental impacts of small-scale gold mining in Ghana, and prescribes a series of recommendations for improving environmental performance in the industry. Since the enactment of the Small Scale Gold Mining Law in 1989, which effectively legalized small-scale gold mining in the country, industrial operations, collectively, have made important contributions to national gold output, foreign exchange earnings and employment. Accompanying this pattern of socio-economic growth, however, have been increased environmental complications – namely, mercury pollution and land degradation. The Ghanaian Minerals Commission has been burdened with most of the jurisdictional responsibilities related to small-scale mining, but with a staff of only 35–40 people working with a pool of highly obsolete research resources, it is clearly incapable of facilitating sufficient environmental improvement on its own. It is concluded that marked environmental improvements can only be achieved if: (1) assistance is provided to the Minerals Commission from local governmental bodies and academic units; (2) industry-specific environmental management tools and strategies are designed and implemented; (3) concerted effort is made to prospect for deposits suitable for small-scale gold mining, a key to preventing unnecessary exploration; and (4) a nation-wide industrial mercury study is commissioned, and a mercury retorting programme is implemented.     

The formation of biogeochemical laminations in Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana, and their usefulness as indicators of past environmental changes

The sediments from Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana contain a unique record of fine-scale (mm to sub-mm) laminations, which will provide a valuable annual chronometer for reconstructing paleoenvironmental changes in West Africa covering much of the last 1 Ma. Comparisons of laminae counts to independent ²¹⁰Pb dates and the rise in anthropogenic “bomb” radiocarbon support the interpretation of the laminations in the uppermost sediments as registering annual events. Radiocarbon dates on in-situ fish-bone collagen are in agreement with varve counts, further supporting the annual nature of our varve chronology. Over the instrumental period (1925–1999), dark-varve thickness measurements are correlated with local rainfall (r = 0.54) and appear able to resolve decadal-scale changes in precipitation. The relationship between varve thickness and rainfall provides support for our interpretation that dark-colored varve thickness records catchment runoff during the rainy season rather than dust flux during the dry season. Dark laminae alternate with organic and carbonate-rich light laminae formed during the fall period of enhanced productivity. Downcore, varves undergo significant microstratigraphic and geochemical variations, but retain the same pattern of alternating clastic and organic-rich laminae, providing support that the laminae may represent annual time markers for reconstructions of the deeper part of the record.     

The making and unmaking of gendered crops in northern Ghana

In rural West Africa, the gendered division of labour extends to labelling certain crops as 'male' or 'female'. With the introduction of new varieties of crops and technologies, these constructions of gendered plants undergo a process of renegotiation at social intrafaces. This process of attaching meaning to new features in cultivation results in the remaking of gendered crops. These negotiations, in turn, have an effect on the construction of gender in specific ethnic and environmental settings, unlinking labour from its gendered connotations and, thus, unmaking the social meaning and creating room for manoeuvre. Based on fieldwork among the Dagomba and Kusasi people in northern Ghana, this study examines how gendered responsibilities and access to the cultivation of crops are linked and expressed in obligations related to the cultural ideal of a proper meal, in this case consisting of the food categories (male) staple and (female) soup, which serve as the blueprint for assigning crops to a specific gender.     

The Impact of Herder Sedentarization on Natural Resource Access in Northeastern Ghana

The Fulani of West Africa have increasingly migrated to humid West Africa since the Sahelian droughts of the 1970s, drawing opposition from indigenous groups that are concerned about the deprivation of their livelihood and monopolization of resources for herders’ livestock. This research, which involved farmers, shepherds, and Fulani herders, addressed three issues: the nature of indigenous grazing and watering regimes, shepherd–herder relations, and herders’ impact on resource access for indigenes’ livestock. The research indicates that in-community and off-community platforms for resource access exist. The former has not been impacted by the herders; the latter has experienced changes insufficient to constitute an overhaul of resource access at the expense of indigenes’ livestock. Instead, a “shepherd–herder” category of resource access has emerged that is characterized by negotiation for resource space, opening avenues for addressing broader resource access issues, and typically tense indigene–herder relationships.     

The impacts of urbanization on soil erosion in the Loess Plateau region

1 IntroductionThe Loess Plateau region covers an area of 62.4(104 km2 and lies in the center of northern China. Urbanization and economic development have been quickened in recent decades. Both the number of towns established and scale of cities have increased. Although the pace of urbanization has been accelerated, the eco-environmental control in urban areas still lags behind relatively. Moreover, the construction and development of cities damaged the already vulnerable eco-environment to …     

The price of spice: Ethnic minority livelihoods and cardamom commodity chains in upland northern Vietnam

The northern uplands of Vietnam are witness to rapidly developing commodity markets for a range of forest and agricultural products. Since the early 1990s the cultivation of black cardamom (Amomum aromaticum) has become a source of cash income for a growing number of ethnic minority households in these uplands. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, and utilizing a commodity chain and livelihoods approach, this article investigates the contemporary dynamics surrounding the cultivation, harvesting and trade of dried cardamom fruit from Hmong cultivators in Lao Cai province to consumers elsewhere in Vietnam and beyond to China and the global market. We analyse the spatial and social structures of these commodity chains, drawing attention to a range of mechanisms of access. We find that these mechanisms are reliant upon specific ethnic relations as well as different forms of capital that together sustain economic advantages for particular actors. While focusing on the ethnic minority cultivators active in these commodity chains, we also call for more nuanced understandings of how the trade in forest products fits within local agricultural systems and household livelihood decision making processes in the Vietnam uplands.     

杭州市农民工生计脆弱性特征与对策

农民工是我国大城市中的弱势群体之一,极易受到失业、生产事故、经济波动等社会风险的冲击,其生计日益成为影响我国经济社会转型期国计民生的重要问题之一。本文从脆弱性视角出发,建立了符合城市农民工生计特征的生计资本评估指标体系,并结合实地调查资料对杭州市农民工生计脆弱性特征及成因进行了分析。研究认为,杭州农民工生计资本具有典型的脆弱性特征,突出表现在教育培训缺失、人力资本不足,租房生活为主、物质资本薄弱,收入水平低下、金融资本虚化,边缘感较强、社会资本匮乏。最后,探讨了可持续生计分析框架在大城市农民工生计问题研究中的适用性,并结合实证研究结果提出了增强大城市农民工生计资本降低其生计脆弱性的调控对策,以期为杭州市及我国其他大城市农民工生计可持续性研究提供新的分析思路和实践参考。     

地缘经济背景下的老挝橡胶林地扩张监测及其影响研究综述

20世纪90年代以来,在全球橡胶市场和地缘经济合作机制的影响下,作为中南半岛唯一的内陆国家,老挝正在经历以橡胶林扩展种植为主导的土地覆被/土地利用变化(LCLUC)。橡胶扩展种植不仅对全球最大的橡胶消费国——中国进口天然橡胶至关重要,其引起的LCLUC也对老挝国内农户社会经济和生态环境造成了深刻影响。本文首先总结了老挝橡胶林种植模式、扩展机制和发展潜力,其次回顾了老挝橡胶扩展种植相关研究进展及橡胶林遥感方法研究进展。综述表明：老挝境内橡胶林种植模式、适宜性空间评价、遥感监测、社会经济与生态环境影响评估研究,总体上仍处于起步阶段。迄今,有关老挝全国层面的橡胶林种植和扩展地理分布及时空变化信息仍非常缺乏,同时橡胶林种植与快速扩展对农户生计和自然环境(水土流失、水源涵养和生物多样性等)影响尚缺乏系统研究,这也是未来需要优先关注的研究方向。本文有助于更好地理解老挝橡胶林扩展特征及其社会与环境影响,既可为指导老挝橡胶种植业有序良性发展提供科技支撑,也可为中国海南与云南等省橡胶发展提供借鉴。     

Paleolimnological investigations of anthropogenic environmental change in Lake Tanganyika: IX. Summary of paleorecords of environmental change and catchment deforestation at Lake Tanganyika and impacts on the Lake Tanganyika ecosystem

Paleorecords from multiple indicators of environmental change provide evidence for the interactions between climate, human alteration of watersheds and lake ecosystem processes at Lake Tanganyika, Africa, a lake renowned for its extraordinary biodiversity, endemism and fisheries. This paper synthesizes geochronology, sedimentology, paleoecology, geochemistry and hydrology studies comparing the history of deltaic deposits from watersheds of various sizes and deforestation disturbance levels along the eastern coast of the lake in Tanzania and Burundi. Intersite differences are related to climate change, differences in the histories of forested vs. deforested watersheds, differences related to regional patterns of deforestation, and differences related to interactions of deforestation and climate effects. Climate change is linked to variations in sediment accumulation rates, charcoal accumulation, lake level and water chemistry, especially during the arid-humid fluctuations of the latter part of the Little Ice Age. Differences between forested and deforested watersheds are manifested by major increases in sediment accumulation rates in the latter (outside the range of climatically driven variability and for the last 40 years unprecedented in comparison with other records from the lake in the late Holocene), differences in eroded sediment and watershed stream composition, and compositional or diversity trends in lake faunal communities related to sediment inundation. Variability in regional patterns of deforestation is illustrated by the timing of transitions from numerous sedimentologic, paleoecologic and geochemical indicators. These data suggest that extensive watershed deforestation occurred as early as the late-18th to the early-19th centuries in the northern part of the Lake Tanganyika catchment, in the late-19th to early-20th centuries in the northern parts of modern-day Tanzania, and in the mid-20th century in central Tanzania. Rapid increases in sediment and charcoal accumulation rates, palynological and lake faunal changes occurred in the early-1960s. We interpret this to be the result of greatly enhanced flushing of sediments in previously deforested watersheds triggered by extraordinary rainfall in 1961/62. Regional differences in deforestation histories can be understood in light of the very different cultural and demographic histories of the northern and central parts of the lake shoreline. Incursion of slaving and ivory caravans from the Indian Ocean to the central coast of Lake Tanganyika by the early-19th century, with their attendant diseases, reduced human and elephant populations and therefore maintained forest cover in this region through the late-19th to early-20th centuries. In contrast, the northeastern portion of the lakeshore did not experience the effects of the caravan trades and consequently experienced high human population densities and widespread deforestation much earlier. These studies demonstrate the importance of paleolimnological data for making informed risk assessments of the potential effects of watershed deforestation on long-term lake ecosystem response in the Lake Tanganyika catchment. Differences in sediment yield and lake floor distribution of that yield, linked to factors such as watershed size, slope, and sediment retention, must be accounted for in management plans for both human occupation of currently forested watersheds and the development of future underwater reserves.     

The quality of life in Ukraine and in Russia as a factor of socio-economic development

The characteristic features of the socio-geographical approach in analyzing the “quality of life of population” category are highlighted. Experience in assessing the balanced development of Ukraine and Russia is presented; the most important factors that are responsible for the quality of life in these countries are determined.     

航空和高铁对中国城市创新能力的影响

交通运输是创新网络中人才流、资本流等知识与技术流动的物理空间承载,其对城市的创新能力影响已成为经济地理学的交叉前沿热点。论文基于2007—2018年中国城市尺度数据,以航空和高铁运输为例,构建交通运输对城市创新能力影响效应的理论框架,采用双向固定效应面板回归模型,实证检验航空和高铁对城市创新能力的多重异质性机制,并探讨了知识传播、资本积累、产业升级在交通运输与创新能力之间的中介效应。研究发现：① 航空和高铁建设均对城市创新能力有显著正向影响,高铁对城市的创新溢出效应约为航空的3倍。② 航空和高铁对不同类型城市的创新溢出效应存在显著异质性。城市等级异质性方面,航空和高铁对中心城市创新能力的正向影响强度高于非中心城市。人口规模异质性方面,航空对大、中城市创新能力提升有显著正向影响,对小城市有抑制作用;高铁运输则对不同人口规模城市的创新能力均有正向影响,呈现大城市>中等城市>小城市的态势。区域异质性方面,航空和高铁对东、中、西、东北地区的创新能力均有不同程度的提升作用,表现出显著的“马太效应”,东部地区优势地位凸显。③ 航空和高铁均可通过促进技术转移、风险资本配置、外商资本配置间接促使城市创新能力提升。此外,航空还能够通过促进产业升级间接促使城市创新能力提升。     

中国中部地区技术关联对产业创新的影响研究

技术关联对地区产业创新和经济增长具有重要影响。本文从演化经济地理学认知邻近的视角出发,借助中部地区制造业企业数据和专利数据,运用技术关联分析方法,探究制造业四位数行业技术关联对产业创新的影响机制。结果表明：随着时间的推移,技术关联对创新能力较弱的中部地区产业创新的促进作用越来越强;对于资源型产业集中、经济发展前景不佳的山西省而言,技术关联的作用并不显著;技术关联对其他五省制造业创新具有正向作用,呈现中间强南北弱的空间格局;从产业门类看,技术关联对技术密集型产业创新促进作用最强,劳动密集型产业次之,资源密集型产业靠后,资本密集型产业最弱。     

中国环境污染源的区域差异及其社会经济影响因素——基于339个地级行政单元截面数据的实证分析

基于2012年环境污染物排放和社会经济截面数据,选取化学需氧量、二氧化硫及污染源结构指标,定量研究中国339个地级行政单元环境污染源的空间分异和集聚效应,解析环境污染源及排放空间格局的影响因素,并提出污染防控措施与综合治理建议。结果表明：① 环境污染源结构区域差异显著,水环境污染源以农业源主导型、城镇生活源主导型、城镇生活和农业源复合型为主,三者比重分别为35.40%、33.92%和25.66%,农业源主导型排放强度最高,主要分布于华北和东北地区;大气环境污染源以工业源绝对主导型为主,其比重为74.63%,分布于除青藏高原区的广大区域。② 农业源主导使水污染物集聚式排放加剧,工业源主导则促进了大气污染物集聚式排放,特别在环渤海及其经济腹地区域,污染源结构强化了污染物排放的空间集聚效应。③ 人口规模、城镇化水平和经济增长速度是污染物排放的主要驱动因素,其中以人口规模影响最为显著;经济发展水平在区域模型中呈现不同的影响效应,对工业源主导型区域的大气污染物排放呈正向影响,而对城镇生活源主导型区域的水体污染物排放具有抑制作用;工业化程度对工业源绝对主导型区域的大气污染物排放正向影响显著。     

The role of socio-economic status and spatial effects on fresh food access: Two case studies in Canada

This article comprehensively explores the effects of socio-economic status on residents' fresh food access in Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Spatial effects potentially resulting from agglomeration of food retailers and clustering of neighborhoods with similar characteristics have been integrated into analysis using spatial regression models. Key findings include: areas with a larger percentage of population density, single-parent households, senior populations, higher educational populations, and minority groups tend to have higher access to supermarkets and local grocery stores, although the effects vary by city. Areas with higher private car access are more inclined to be farther from these food retailers, meanwhile the influence of public transportation is found to be insignificant in both cities. Regression results demonstrate that ignoring spatial interaction leads to overestimates of the true disparities when investigating food-access inequality among residents with different socio-economic status.     

中国农户可持续生计研究进展及趋向

开展农户可持续生计研究,对于解决农村贫困问题,促进农村社会经济可持续发展具有重要意义。在查阅大量相关文献的基础上,本文首先阐述了可持续生计的概念,并对国外农户可持续生计研究概况进行了简介;然后从生计资产(资本)研究、生计脆弱性分析、生计策略研究、政策、机构和过程对农户生计影响研究、农户生计与生态环境的相互关系研究等5 个方面对近年来国内农户生计的主要研究进展进行了归纳总结。最后,提出了中国农户可持续生计研究的主要趋向:跨学科综合性、系统性研究,新技术方法的综合与动态研究,农户可持续生计与贫困问题研究,城乡转型期农户可持续生计研究,重点区域的农户可持续生计研究。