甘肃省地矿局“十三五”水文与环境地质成果及“十四五”发展设想综述

水文与环境地质专业服务对象涉及自然资源、生态环境、文化旅游、林业草原、水利水务、农业农村、应急管理、交通住建等政府职能管理部门,服务范围涵盖资源能源调查监测、水土污染评价防治、国土空间生态修复、旅游规划、生态环境保护与治理、防灾减灾、重大工程建设等社会经济领域,水工环队伍是资源、环境、生态、空间等国土要素调查评价、利用及保护和监测预警的重要专业技术力量。本文在总结甘肃省地矿局“十三五”期间的水文与环境地质工作在提供资源能源保障、地质技术服务方面的主要成就和支撑生态环境保护与修复方面成果的基础上,依托行业技术优势和发展基础,结合国家及省经济社会发展和生态文明建设等战略部署,面向政府需要和社会需求,分析提出了甘肃省地矿局“十四五”期间水文与环境地质业务转型升级与高质量发展的宏观设想和思路。对地勘单位适应新发展阶段的水文与环境地质工作新要求,规划部署和构建相应的新发展格局有一定的参考意义。     

Environmental problems and policies in East Central Europe: A changing agenda

Considerable environmental damage occurred during the socialist era as a consequence of the rapid rate of economic growth with low priority for the quality of life. High levels of air and water pollution impacted negatively on human health as well as the physical environment. The rural areas did not escape because of soil and forest degradation, while open pit mining and associated tipping devastated large areas of countryside especially in former Czechoslovakia and East Germany. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster proved to be a turning point since public opinion was mobilised to the point that underground movements began to lobby for improvements and environmental quality became a factor in system change in 1989. Much has been achieved over the past decade, thanks in part to expertise and financial help from abroad, and the priority currently being given to membership of the European Union means that all the requirements of the environmental 'acquis' must be met over the medium term. However, the 1990s have also introduced the sustainability agenda and current challenges are much more extensive that those of the past. While many obligations now carry the full force of law, it is also evident that sustainability is a matter for interpretation nationally and locally in the light of economic pressures and cultural values, moderated through the education process and negotiation with both statutory bodies and environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs). This paper therefore serves as a context for the more local studies that follow. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Environmental pollution and bio-politics: The epistemological constitution in Japan’s 1960s

This article examines the epistemological reconstitution in Japan—from Eisei (hygiene) to Kankyo (environment and ecology)—in the 1960s, particularly focusing on Yokkaichi city in the Mie prefecture that was infamous for environmental pollution. Post World War II, Yokkaichi port and its petrochemical industrial complexes were regarded as a symbol of Japan’s development. Referred to as ‘a million dollar night’s view’ for its ability to provide light the entire day, it played a central role in the country’s industrial reconstruction. Due to its reputation for ‘nature’-filled countryside, many enjoyed swimming at Yokkaichi despite the presence of the nearby industrial plants. Both these facts imply that people did not realize the risks posed by the dirtiness of the wastewater and the fumes emitted by the plants, an ignorance that may be traced back to the epistemic constitution of hygiene in Japan at the time. Since modernization, the government had adopted the idea of hygiene to control infectious and venereal diseases. The Department of Interior in 1873, and later, the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 1938 were also instituted to discipline human aesthetics through bio-politics. In the 1960s, when diseases of unknown origins began to appear and ‘scientific’ researches made the risks of wastewater and fumes visible, a new idea, Kankyo (which included but went beyond that of hygiene), was implemented to mitigate these risks. This transition saw the landscape of ‘a million dollar night’s view’ being transformed into a symbol of injustice and became a basis for grassroots political acts.     

Contaminated identities: Mercury and marginalization in Ghana’s artisanal mining sector

This article provides a counter-narrative to the dominant discourse of marginalization and criminalization of Ghana’s illegal gold miners (galamsey) by focusing on the contested mercury debate. We first examine the complex and multifaceted policy problem that underlies the current conflictual aspects in the small-scale mining sector, arguing that mercury use and contamination are key elements in the antigalamsey rhetoric. Second, we describe an interdisciplinary pilot study on human and environmental health that involved health personnel and illegal miners from two sites. Through participatory ranking and mapping activities, we explored participants’ understanding of mercury and other life hazards as well as causes and consequences of mercury contamination. We used chemical indicator strips to sample contaminated areas in collaboration with the miners. By drawing upon novel concepts from the environmental justice and ecohealth literature, we propose a political ecology of human and environmental health that advocates recognition of galamsey operators and their participation in learning opportunities as a first step out of the current impasse in the Ghanaian small-scale mining sector.     

渐趋完善的第四纪冰川研究范式——记第四届中国第四纪冰川与环境变化研讨会

冰川是气候变化敏感的指示器,第四纪冰川研究在地球科学中占有重要的地位。2017年8月,第四届中国第四纪冰川与环境变化研讨会在兰州成功举办。与会专家认为,地貌学与沉积地层学的结合以及测年技术的发展,使中国第四纪冰期划分研究取得长足进展,不仅建立了80万年以来可与MIS进行比对的中国第四纪冰期与间冰期演化序列,还推动了中国第四纪环境变化研究的深入。通过研讨和交流,绝大多数专家认为中国东部中低山地某些疑似的第四纪冰川遗迹完全可以用非冰川成因予以解释,在今后的研究工作中应加强岩石地貌、气候地貌和外动力地貌过程的综合研究,尤其需要加强诸如颤痕等微观冰蚀地貌的分类、形成机制和环境意义研究。适时指出泛冰川论的缺陷和不足是本领域科学家的历史责任和使命担当,进一步开展具备科学事实、科学理论和科学观念的研究,从而完善中国第四纪冰川理论。建议国家级学会组织编制第四纪冰川遗迹调查与评价技术规范,加强全国高校自然地理学等相关专业的教师培训工作,同时加大冰川学、地貌学的科学普及力度。