Comparative agroenvironmental risks of pesticides in different cropping systems: application of the I-Phy indicator

The green revolution laid the foundations of modern agriculture, by using science and technology to produce more from same resources. The pesticides contributed to agricultural output in the last decades; however, their use has resulted in environmental pollution, health problems, soil and water contamination and negative impact on biota. The impacts of agricultural activities to the environment depended on the practices adopted during the production process. Measurement tools to assess the impacts of those practices are necessary to improve agricultural systems and must be evaluated in different ecosystems. Different soils, climates and crops impose many phytosanitary arrangements. This complex network and the fact that most of the indicators and measurement tools are developed for temperate climates makes it difficult to quantify the environmental impacts under subtropical regions. The I-Phy index is a predictive indicator that assesses the risks of pesticide usage in agriculture and identifies as to which practices generate the main environmental impacts of pesticides. The objective of this study was to test the suitability of the I-Phy index for subtropical conditions and, if suitable, compare the pesticide risk between two regions. Five crops were assessed under three different cropping systems: no-tillage, minimal tillage and conventional tillage. The I-Phy index was sensitive in both regions and capable of identifying that no-tillage generally presented risks of environmental pollution slightly lower than the other tillage systems. The results of I-Phy index showed that high environmental vulnerability of the fields and the numerous applications of active ingredients with high risks resulted in high risks of general contamination. The application of I-Phy on these two case studies showed the indicator can be useful as a support tool to farmers, research and extension institutions pursuing management practices with lower impact on the environment.     

Methodology for the analysis of causes of drought vulnerability on the River Basin scale

The concept of vulnerability has emerged in recent decades as a key concept for the research on drought risk as well as in the implementation of mitigation strategies of drought risk. The context within which this concept emerges is one of scientific consensus: the research community agrees that we are witnessing a paradigm shift in water management policies, within a broader framework of changes in the relationship between humans and nature. In this context, vulnerability studies must become an instrument for the assessment and mitigation of risk. Based on the proposals put forward by the IPCC concerning the components of vulnerability (exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity), this paper proposes a methodology for the evaluation and analysis of drought vulnerability on the river basin scale. The methodology results in the calculation of a Drought Vulnerability Index (DVI) and the use of different techniques for the interpretation of results.     

构建地下水污染防护与修复管理中的综合决策系统(英文)

试图阐述如何对一个国家或地区在可持续发展国策下优化资金及人力配置,采取必要的防护和修复地下水污染的可行措施,从而最大限度减少由地下水污染对人类及生态可能产生的危害。提出了一个管理地下水污染防护与修复的综合决策系统框架。该系统框架的构筑是基于资金及人力的有限性、系统优化原理、地下水污染对人类及生态可能产生的危害,地下水防护与修复的难度或费用高低、地下水保护的效益与价值,以及同时考虑满足可持续发展要求。其中,由不同地下水污染防护与修复措施产生的地下水污染危害减少量构成了优化分析的目标函数。有限资金的最佳配置是通过使目标函数的最大化,并满足所有的管理、资源等限制条件加以确定的。还就执行该决策系统框架中所需完成的主要任务及步骤给予简述,并就几个相关的前沿性问题加以探讨。     

考虑污染物扩散风险的场地地下水污染多层次风险评估方法

地下水中污染物具有迁移性和扩散性,会对下游敏感受体造成威胁,目前场地地下水风险评估主要关注人体健康风险,还未能综合考虑地下水污染的整体风险,尤其是忽视了污染物迁移引起的对下游敏感受体的风险。本研究基于“源-径-汇”模型构建了考虑污染物扩散风险的场地地下水污染风险评估的指标体系与风险评估模式。在指标体系构建方面,重点考虑场地地下水的污染源、迁移路径和敏感受体3个方面。在风险评估模式方面,根据场地不同地下水污染状态开展3个层次的风险评估。基于假想的铬污染场地开展了案例分析,设置了地下水污染状态的4种情景,利用Wexler溶质运移模型计算了地下水污染羽的时空变化,并针对地下水污染的不同层次开展了风险评估。结果表明,在场地地下水污染羽未到达场地边界的2种情形中,场地地下水的风险评分分别为4.0,6.2,分别属于低风险与中风险。在场地地下水污染羽到达或超出场地边界的2种情形中,场地地下水的风险评分分别为7.0,8.8,分别属于中风险与高风险。综合而言,本研究构建的方法能够用来对场地地下水进行系统全面的评估和对比,能够根据风险结果对污染场地进行有效的分级管控,为污染场地的风险管控提供技术支撑。     

An Environmental Risk Assessment/Management Framework for Climate Change Impact Assessments

This paper presents an environmental risk assessment/risk management framework to assess the impacts of climate change on individual exposure units identified as potentially vulnerable to climate change. This framework is designed specifically to manage the systematic uncertainties that accompany the propagation of climate change scenarios through a sequence of biophysical and socio-economic climate impacts. Risk analysis methods consistent with the IPCC Technical Guidelines for Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Adaptations are set within a larger framework that involves stakeholders in the identification, assessment and implementation of adaptation measures. Extensive consultation between parties occurs in a flexible structure that embeds scientific methods of risk analysis within a broad setting of social decision-making. This format is consistent with recent forms of environmental risk assessment/management frameworks. The risk analysis links key climatic variables expressed as projected ranges of climate change with an upper and lower limit, with impact thresholds identified collaboratively by researchers and stakeholders. The conditional probabilities of exceeding these thresholds are then assessed (probabilities using this method are conditional as the full range of uncertainty for the various drivers of climate change, and their probability distributions, remains unknown). An example based on exceeding irrigation demand limited by an annual farm cap is used to show how conditional probabilities for the exceedance of a critical threshold can be used to assess the need for adaptation. The time between the identification of an acceptable level of risk and its exceedance is identified as a window of adaptation.The treatment of risk consists of two complementary actions, adaptation to anticipated changes in climate and the mitigation of climate change through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Both of these actions will reduce the risk of critical thresholds being exceeded. The potential of this framework for addressing specific requirements of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change is discussed.     

Situating local experience of risk: Peripherality, marginality and place identity in the UK foot and mouth disease crisis

Research into exposure to, and experience of, environmental risk that has an explicitly spatial focus can be broadly differentiated into two strands. The first strand focuses on the responses of communities of exposure (or the threat of exposure) to some form of environmental hazard and to the policies put in place by institutional actors to manage the hazard. The second strand addresses social inequalities in exposure to environmental hazards and seeks to correlate uneven spatial distributions of risk across different social groups. It is argued that both strands are limited by their respective understandings of space - and that the way in which vulnerable communities experience environmental risk and its management will be shaped significantly by the complex interactions of different spatialisations or constructions of space. We explore this process by examining accounts of local experience of the UK’s 2001 foot and mouth disease crisis and its management in terms of the interplay of two different spatialisations: socio-cultural marginality and political-economic peripherality. We trace the relationship between these cultural and political-economic spatialisations through an analysis of the discursive mobilisation of contrasting place rhetorics. We conclude that focusing on these rhetorics can enhance our understanding of the spatial processes which are constitutive of place identity and in turn mediate the experience of environmental risk and its management.     

Sustainable mineral resources management: from regional mineral resources exploration to spatial contamination risk assessment of mining

Wide-spread environmental contamination associated with historic mining in Europe has triggered social responses to improve related environmental legislation, the environmental assessment and management methods for the mining industry. Mining has some unique features such as natural background contamination associated with mineral deposits, industrial activities and contamination in the three-dimensional subsurface space, problem of long-term remediation after mine closure, problem of secondary contaminated areas around mine sites, land use conflicts and abandoned mines. These problems require special tools to address the complexity of the environmental problems of mining-related contamination. The objective of this paper is to show how regional mineral resources mapping has developed into the spatial contamination risk assessment of mining and how geological knowledge can be transferred to environmental assessment of mines. The paper provides a state-of-the-art review of the spatial mine inventory, hazard, impact and risk assessment and ranking methods developed by national and international efforts in Europe. It is concluded that geological knowledge on mineral resources exploration is essential and should be used for the environmental contamination assessment of mines. Also, sufficient methodological experience, knowledge and documented results are available, but harmonisation of these methods is still required for the efficient spatial environmental assessment of mine contamination.     

崩塌滑坡地质灾害风险排序方法研究

我国地质灾害具有点多面广的分布特点,而地质灾害风险管控人力和能力有限,因此需要开展地质灾害风险排序工作,筛选出优先管控的地质灾害隐患点,确保地质灾害风险管控对策实施的针对性和高效性。地质灾害风险排序的实质是运用定量化风险评价计算出每处隐患点的风险值,然后根据风险值开展排序工作。目前定量化风险评价模型多用于单个地质灾害点风险评价,并未应用于大范围地质灾害风险排序工作,且模型较为复杂,推广应用较难。在分析崩塌、滑坡地质灾害与其环境因素间的响应关系及规律的基础上,提取崩塌、滑坡地质灾害的主控环境因子与诱发因子,联合人口、物质、资源等易损性因子建立地质灾害风险评价指标体系;基于岩石工程系统相互作用矩阵与专家打分法确定各级地质灾害风险评价指标因子权重,构建地质灾害风险评分体系;并根据风险评价定义,提出了能够快速定量化的简易地质灾害风险计算模型。以贵州省98处地质灾害隐患点为例,开展模型应用验证,风险排序结果与灾害管理机构主观认识的实际风险一致,验证了本模型的合理性与有效性,提高了地质灾害风险管控能力与效率。     

The tourism disaster vulnerability framework: an application to tourism in small island destinations

Islands are known to be vulnerable to natural hazards, resulting in substantial risks for their tourism industries. To facilitate the systematic analysis of the underlying vulnerability drivers, a tourism disaster vulnerability framework was developed. The conceptual model then guided qualitative empirical research in three regions: the Caribbean, the South Pacific, and the Indian Ocean. The results from 73 interviews highlight common, as well as idiosyncratic, factors that shape the islands’ hazardscapes and vulnerabilities. Key vulnerabilities included social, economic, political, and environmental dimensions. Probably, the most critical vulnerability driver is the lack of private sector investment in disaster risk reduction. This is interrelated with deficient planning processes, on-going demand for coastal products, lack of political will, and poor environmental conditions. Notwithstanding many barriers, some businesses and organisations engage proactively in addressing disaster risk. The paper’s empirical evidence supports the validity of the framework, and suggestions for further research are made.     

Power,perception, and adaptation: Exploring gender and social–environmental risk perception in northern Guanajuato,Mexico

This paper examines how gender relations within rural communities in north-central Mexico affect women’s perceptions of and responses to environmental and social risks. Several studies currently exist which suggest various reasons as to how people especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change perceive their risks, and how this influences their responses. In this paper, I take a feminist approach to questions of social–environmental risks and adaptation to argue that risk perception is tightly linked to knowledge production, and knowledge production is a power-laden process involving the constant negotiation of resources, responsibilities and knowledge. I base this argument on the results of fieldwork conducted from September 2009 to May 2010 with women residents of two ejidos in northern Guanajuato, Mexico. In drawing from feminist political ecology studies, I intend to show how gender, environmental knowledge, risk perception and thus, adaptation are constituted by and embedded in social relations of power.     

Nature–society and development: social, cultural and ecological change in Nepal

This paper presents a theoretical framework for analyzing human–environment issues that examines shifting, dialectical relationships between social and power relations, cultural beliefs and practices, and ecological processes to allow an interdisciplinary, complex assessment of social and environmental change in Nepal. The purpose of this analysis is to capture the complexity and non-static nature of environmental and social change in the context of uneven development. Drawing from political ecology and feminist geography, this framework brings together scholarship on aspects of human–environment issues that are often pursued in isolation, yet all three processes, social–political relations, cultural practices and ecological conditions, have been acknowledged as important in shaping the trajectory of social and ecological change. I argue that a consideration of the articulations between them is necessary to understand first, how specific land management regimes arise and are dominant over time in specific places. And second, I examine the extent to which these regimes distribute resources equitably within communities, promote economic development and sustain ecological resilience. In this analysis, ecological processes are conceptualised as co-productive of social and cultural processes to explore their role in land management regimes without resorting to environmental determinist or similarly reductive paradigms. I present this framework through the example of natural resource management, specifically community forestry in Nepal, as it offers a rich case study of the relationships between the political economy of land use and the ecological effects of natural resource extraction.     

A DEA-based framework for innovation risk management in production systems: case study of innovative activities in industries

This paper provides a framework for evaluation of innovation risk based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. In this framework, the common paradigms of innovation risk are considered as inputs and the various types of innovation are as outputs. These risk paradigms were extracted from valid resources of innovation sector, and a comprehensive classification of innovation types, provided by OECD, was used as outputs category. The relationship between these inputs and outputs is assessed by DEA method based on the CCR model. In this survey, the framework was implemented for innovative activities in various industries, and the results lead us to draw the “Innovation Path” that shows the development direction for each understudy cases. The Innovation Path that is derived from the numerical results shows the numerical goal and useful information about innovation management systems. This path can be used by industrial managers, decision makers and strategists to take the best decision and design the practical strategies to manage the innovation risks.     

岩溶地区地下水污染风险评价方法探究——以地苏地下河系流域为例

岩溶地下水污染风险评价对岩溶地下水的保护、管理和合理利用具有重要意义。文章总结了近年来国内外地下水污染风险评价方面的研究进展,针对目前评价体系存在的不足,构建了适合岩溶区地下水污染风险评价体系。该方法基于欧洲模式,实现地下水防污性能评价;污染负荷评价则考虑污染物在覆盖层中的衰减过程,利用折减系数实现污染负荷量化;最后,基于GIS空间叠加分析耦合防污性能与污染负荷评价,实现区域地下水污染风险评价。文章以地苏地下河系流域为例,开展岩溶区域地下水污染风险评价,结果表明:区域整体地下水污染风险偏低,地下水中等及以上污染风险区域面积424.41 km2,占研究区总面积的39.03%,主要分布在研究区中东部地苏乡、东庙乡、六也乡局部等人类活动频繁与地苏地下河干流中下游段。地下水污染风险空间分布特征不仅显示了岩性、坡度、岩溶网络发育等自然条件对评价结果的影响,同时也反映了人类活动的影响。地势平缓,岩溶发育程度强烈,加之人类活动频繁是导致区域地下水污染风险较高的原因所在。      

Analytical hydrologic models and the design of policy instruments for groundwater-quality management

This paper explores how analytical hydrologic models can inform the effective design and choice of policy instruments to manage groundwater quality by coupling a social-planner’s problem of optimal groundwater-quality management with analytical solutions from the hydrology literature. A theoretical analysis is performed in order to characterize the properties of an optimal emissions policy. The model is then applied in a numerical analysis of groundwater contamination by chloride from highway deicers, demonstrating the relevance of the theoretical results to practical management settings. This analytical approach can help determine which policy instruments are likely to be effective in controlling groundwater pollution, especially if costly numerical groundwater models are not available for the aquifer in question. Unlike previous economic studies of groundwater contamination, this approach defines optimal emissions policies as a function of geophysical parameters employed by hydrologists such as distance between source and sink, groundwater velocity, and aquifer dispersivity. The theoretical section of this paper also demonstrates that the relationship between geophysical parameters and optimal emissions levels may be ambiguous.     

Are we all environmentalists now? Rhetoric and reality in environmental action

Throughout the western world, public support for environmental protection measures has grown consistently during the past three decades. Endorsement for a wide array of measures to reduce the human impact on nature and conserve resources has been high among individuals in the UK, relating to a variety of environmental issues, such as transport, waste management, water quality and green consumerism. These stated concerns are somewhat in contrast to the behavioural responses which similar research projects have reported. This attitude-behaviour inconsistency, or more colloquially, the ‘value-action gap’, has become a major area of soul searching for policy makers who have used techniques such as contingent valuation and willingness to pay models to construct their policy measures. Accordingly, this paper presents an alternative means of investigating the attitude-behaviour inconsistency, with the use of research by social psychologists, sociologists and geographers. A framework of environmental behaviour is presented, so as to provide environmental researchers with a means of examining which variables modify the relationship between stated intention and action. The results indicate that whilst there is a moderately strong relationship between stated intention and behaviour, the factors influencing these two constructs are significantly different so as to suggest that public rhetoric towards environmental action may be influenced by different antecedents to that of actual behaviour. As such, the paper provides a fresh perspective on the difference between rhetoric and reality in environmental action.     

Possibilities and Limitations of Interdisciplinary, User-oriented Research: Experiences from the German Research Network Natural Disasters

The German Research Network for Natural Disasters (DFNK) linked 15 partners with scientific expertise in the field of natural hazards. Main objectives were the development and provision of the scientific fundamentals for an advanced risk management of important natural disasters in Germany, i.e., floods, earthquakes, storms and wildland fires. This included risk analyses, the development of information systems for supporting disaster management, and recommendations for risk reduction measures. This paper gives an overview of DFNK and summarises its experiences concerning multidisciplinarity and user-orientation. It illustrates the concept of risk chains, causally linking the different processes from hazard to risk. The step from hazard to risk requires interdisciplinary research teams. The experiences show that integrative concepts allow results not achievable with mono-disciplinary approaches. Integrative approaches pave the way to harmonised safety considerations taking into account the different hazards in a region within a common framework. User-orientation, policy advice and development of operational tools are key issues of disaster research. The experiences of DFNK illustrate the limitations of a research network in bridging the gap between research and application within rather short-term projects. Successful cooperation with users could be established by those activities where, at the beginning of the project, a user was identified who had a strong interest in solving an urgent problem.     

A risk society? Environmental hazards, risk and resilience in the later Middle Ages in Europe

Modern society is said to have restructured in reaction to contemporary hazards with the aim of improving its management of risk. This implies that pre-industrial societies were somehow fundamentally different. In this paper, we challenge that hypothesis by examining the ways in which risks associated with environmental hazards were managed and mitigated during the Middle Ages (defined here as the period from 1000 to 1550 AD). Beginning with a review of the many case studies of rapid onset disasters across Europe, we draw upon both historical and archaeological evidence and architectural assessments of structural damage for what is a pre-instrumental period. Building upon this, the second part of the paper explores individual outlooks on risk, emphasising the diversity of popular belief and the central importance of Christianity in framing attitudes. Despite their religious perspectives, we find that medieval communities were not helpless in the face of serious environmental hazards. We argue instead that the response of society to these threats was frequently complex, considered and, at times, surprisingly modern.     

Mobility of aqueous contaminants at abandoned mining sites: insights from case studies in Sardinia with implications for remediation

Public awareness of environmental health issues has increased significantly in recent years, creating the need for detailed scientific studies that can identify potential environmental problems. This paper reports the results of hydrogeochemical surveys carried out in Sardinia, an Italian region with a long mining history. When mining operations in Sardinia ceased, actions for limiting the potential adverse effects of mine closure on the water system were not undertaken. Drainages from flooded mines and seeps from mining residues left on the ground are the main mining-related sources of contamination in Sardinia. Due to the proximity of mining sites to water resources and land that is within reach of animals and humans, the major risks to human health are associated with the direct discharge of contaminated waters into the streams and soils located down-gradient of the abandoned mines. Results of hydrogeochemical surveys carried out under different seasonal conditions showed that the dispersion of toxic and harmful elements (As, Cd, Ni, Pb, Sb and Zn) increases during the rainy season, especially under high runoff conditions. These results should help regional and national authorities to address present environmental regulations, particularly those regarding the quality of water resources. Furthermore, the results might be useful elsewhere for planning remediation actions at abandoned mining sites. Lessons learned by past mining in Sardinia indicate that correct disposal and management of mining residues should be mandatory from the beginning of exploitation and processing at each active mine. This would allow reduction of the environmental risks as well as the cost of remediation.     

环境模拟和GIS集成的初步研究

GIS与环境模拟在技术、研究内容、方法上的进一步集成,具有广泛的应用前景.以开展的流域土壤和水资源研究模型的集成和系统化及其应用项目的实际工作,说明了环境模拟和GIS技术集成的必然性;从GIS技术的发展,环境模拟模型的改进与完善,数据的初始化与管理等方面系统地论述了环境模拟模型和GIS集成的必要性.通过现有集成模式的分析,对二者集成的概念框架以及不同的集成方式进行了概念性的描述,结合研究项目给出了集成示例.     

Going green or going away: Environmental regulation,economic geography and firms’ strategies in China’s pollution-intensive industries

The high-growth, resource- and pollution-intensive industrialization model that China has pursued has caused severe environmental pollution and deterioration, particularly in a number of clusters in the coastal regions of East and Southeast China, where the Reform and Opening-up policies first started. The lack of uptake of environmental norms/values, deficit of regulatory enforcement of environmental policies, and insufficient institutional capacity have been compounding factors. As environmental standards were raised by China’s central government, the enforcement of environmental regulation has been compromised more in inland China than in coastal regions, due to China’s “decentralized governance structure” and regional disparity in terms of both economic development and environmental pollution. This paper therefore argues that rising environmental regulations, as well as firm characteristics, regional hub effect and political environment, have all been particularly important in forcing China’s pollution-intensive enterprises to restructure their production, through innovation, upgrading, geographical relocation, outsourcing and plant closure, especially in China’s coastal regions. It contributes to recent studies by developing a heuristic analytical framework that aims to be sensitive to the impacts of environmental regulation, political environment and regional hub effect over firm restructuring, but which does so by stressing these impacts are simultaneously inflected by the nature and attributes of firms. The empirical analysis suggests a roughly inverted “U”-shaped relationship between firm relocation tendency and firm size (or firm capability), resulting from complex interactions between political environment, regional hub effect and environmental regulation.