苏锡常城市群地区地下水环境问题

苏锡常地区经济高度发达,城市化程度高,地下水开发利用程度也较高,主要开采第Ⅱ承压地下水。自６０年代以来,地下水的开发经历了四个阶段。地下水长期过量开采地下水位不断下降,地下水资源日益减少,并产生了严重的区域性地面沉降和地裂缝等地质灾害。解决地下水超采问题和地质环境问题是一个系统工程,不仅是一个科学技术问题,要求根本上解决问题,还必须同时依靠政治和社会经济力量,从某种意义讲,政治和社会经济力量比科学     

Energy sector policies in Botswana and their implications for global climate change

Like most African countries, Botswana contributes almost insignificantly to global greenhouse emissions (GHGs). In this context, some have argued that energy policy and legislative measures to regulate emissions in Botswana should not be accorded high priority. This is a misguided view when one considers that each country, no matter how under-industrialized, contributes to the overall global emission problem. Moreover, the least developed countries will have to industrialize in order to meet the increasing economic and social needs of their growing populations. For rapidly growing economies like Botswana, whose annual energy demand is projected to increase by about 4% for the next ten years, the importance of compiling accurate inventories of sources and sinks of GHGs and formulating environmentally-friendly policies can hardly be over- emphasized. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) provides the ideal basis for the country-by-country investigations and management of global climatic change; specifically its nature, properties, directionality, characteristics and probable consequences. Botswana was a founding signatory of UNFCCC in 1992 and ratified the Convention in 1994. The country is also involved in regional cooperation efforts, within the Southern African Development Community, to enforce regulatory mechanisms to minimize GHG emissions from the energy sector. There exist certain energy-related institutions, policies, and regulations in the country which could mitigate the impact of GHG emissions on global warming. This paper, based on government and other relevant documentation, critically analyses Botswana's energy sector policies in as far as they affect climate change. It is clear that much still needs to be done about energy policies in terms of proper formulation, monitoring, co-ordination, energy pricing and the exploration of energy alternatives to mitigate potentially negative impacts on climate change.     

地下水与环境变化研究

环境变化研究是当前国际地球科学和环境科学界最为活跃的研究领域之一。作为全球水循环的重要环节,地下水是全球环境变化的受体和信息载体。地下水及其沉积物的物理、化学指标,诸如地下水水位、宏量组分、微量组分、同位素、惰性气体等可以用作不同时间尺度上环境变化的指示剂。从地下水及其沉积物中识别和提取高分辨率的环境变化信息,实现对环境变化的预警功能是地下水科学向环境科学延伸的重要方向;而随着全球淡水资源紧缺形势不断恶化,全球环境变化、特别是全球气候变化对地下水资源的影响成为水文地质研究的新课题。     

Modelling the response of river systems to environmental change: Progress,problems and prospects for palaeo-environmental reconstructions

Over the last decade several computational models, and several types of model, have been developed to simulate the response of river systems to environmental change over time scales of decades to millennia: hydrological models, flood inundation models, channel morphology models, channel network models, models of river meandering and river braiding, alluvial stratigraphy models, and landscape evolution models. Each type of model simulates different aspects of a river's response to changes in environmental inputs such as climate and land-use — and to changes in these inputs. And each type of model has its abilities, advantages and limitations. We provide an overview of the different types of model that have been developed, and we evaluate their suitability for testing hypotheses about past environmental conditions, as well as for investigating the response of alluvial river systems to future environmental change. Additionally, we discuss the general issues and problems of computational modelling (e.g. scale and resolution, data availability, process representation, process parameterization, model calibration, non-linearity, and uncertainty), and the extent to which these hamper the usefulness of the models as a tool in environmental landscape studies. Finally, we identify trends in computational modelling research to outline possible future directions of the discipline.     

白洋淀地区全新世以来的气候环境变化

白洋淀是华北平原最大的淡水湖泊,是研究全新世气候变化的理想区域。文章选择白洋淀东垒头剖面（厚382 cm）,在8个AMS-¹⁴C测年数据基础上,通过对其189个样品的地球化学元素、粒度和磁化率等指标分析,高分辨率地揭示了白洋淀地区全新世气候变化过程。研究结果显示：1）11335~10300 cal.a B.P.期间,CaO/MgO比值（多高于4.8）、（CaO+K₂O+Na₂O）/Al₂O₃比值（多高于1.3）、CaCO₃含量（多高于12%）和中值粒径（多高于15 μm）均为整个剖面最大值,干旱指数（平均约为0.019）为剖面次高值,CIA值（多低于45）、Ti含量（多低于0.38%）和低频磁化率值（多低于10×10^-8 m³/kg）为整个剖面的最低值,指示气候冷干,受新仙女木事件影响较大;2）10300~8500 cal.a B.P.期间,CaO/MgO比值、（CaO+K₂O+Na₂O）/Al₂O₃比值、干旱指数和中值粒径明显下降,CIA值、Ti含量、低频磁化率值均不同程度上升,指示气候向暖湿发展;3）8500~6000 cal.a B.P.期间,气候总体温暖湿润,干旱指数（平均达0.014）为剖面的最小值,CIA值和Ti含量较高,CaO/MgO比值、（CaO+K₂O+Na₂O）/Al₂O₃比值较低;但该阶段所有指标波动剧烈,8200 cal.a B.P.和6800 cal.a B.P.左右CaO/MgO比值、（CaO+K₂O+Na₂O）/Al₂O₃比值、干旱指数、CaCO₃含量出现高峰值,CIA值和Ti含量出现低峰值,指示2次明显冷干事件;4）6000~4200 cal.a B.P.期间,CaCO₃含量最低,但干旱指数较高,CaO/MgO比值、（CaO+K₂O+Na₂O）/Al₂O₃比值均有不同程度上升,指示气候湿润度有所下降;其中4500 cal.a B.P.为一次明显冷干事件,干旱指数呈现高峰值;5）4200~1035 cal.a B.P.期间,砂含量（多低于2%）、中值粒径（多低于10 μm）为剖面最小值;干旱指数、CaO/MgO比值、（CaO+K₂O+Na₂O）/Al₂O₃比值、CaCO₃含量明显升高,指示气候向着凉干方向发展;干旱指数在2800 cal.a B.P.呈现高峰值,指示一次明显冷干事件,同时,该时段受人类活动影响,低频磁化率值（多高于20×10^-8 m³/kg）明显高于其他时段。

     

Holocene environmental change in a montane region of southern Europe with a long history of human settlement

This paper uses a palynological sequence to examine the Holocene (8390–160 cal yr BP) environmental history of the Sierra de Baza (Granada, southeastern Spain) with the goal of establishing the mechanisms exerting control over vegetation change. During the period ca 8390–6320 cal yr BP, Pinus dominated the pollen spectra, indicating a forested landscape over the high-elevation areas of the Sierra. From ca 6320–3800 cal yr BP, an expansion of deciduous oaks and other broad-leaf trees took place. After an optimum around 5800–5600 cal yr BP, mesophytes decreased in the 3800–2560 cal yr BP interval while a fire-prone scrub became established. The main loss of forest accompanied the spread of thorny matorral after ca 2560 cal yr BP. Overall, this mountain region has shown itself to be sensitive to a range of influences, among which a continental climate that has become increasingly arid over the last 5000 years, the scarcity of soils suitable for cultivation, a geology that includes sources of copper and other metals and, especially, the incidence of grazing as well as the repeated appearance of fires during the last 4000 years, are highlighted. The history of the vegetation of the Sierra de Baza seems clearly influenced by changes in local economy. Here we discuss how ecological transitions have interacted with cultural changes, with emphasis on the locally highly populated Chalcolithic (5700–4400 cal yr BP) and Argaric (4400–3550 cal yr BP) periods, as well as the Iberian period (3200–2220 cal yr BP). The sierra was abandoned during the Iberian Period which was, paradoxically, when the highest human impact on mountain vegetation is noticeable.     

Holocene environmental change and vegetation contraction in the Sonoran Desert

Two types of microtopographic features (plant scar mounds and plant scar depressions) on surfaces of barren desert pavements provide a unique record of the former presence of large perennial plants. Evidence of bioturbation by burrowing animals extends more than 1 m beneath each type of plant scar, indicating that both features originated as large bioturbation mounds. Formation of bioturbation mounds in desertscrub environments is generally restricted to areas beneath widely separated, large perennial plants. The contrasting forms of plant scars (mounds vs. depressions) represent time-dependent changes following disappearance of the large plants and eventual cessation of bioturbation. Plant scar mounds represent a geologically recent episode of plant mortality, whereas plant scar depressions represent the disappearance of plants at a considerably earlier time, possibly at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Contrasting spatial distributions of the two kinds of plant scars indicate that vegetation on alluvial fans has progressively contracted from a more diffuse, former vegetation cover, yielding the wide, barren pavement surfaces present today. In less arid portions of the Sonoran Desert, spatial distribution of recent plant mortality due to persistent, severe drought provides an analog of the progressive loss of plants from different parts of the landscape in the past.     

Coastal geoindicators of environmental change in the humid tropics

The primary geoindicators appropriate for monitoring environmental changes in the humid tropics are transitory surface water levels, shoreline position, wetlands distribution, coral reefs, landforms, and sediment sequence and composition. Lateral zonations and temporal successions of vegetation also can be used as geoindicators of riverine and shoreline changes. All of these coastal geoindicators are sensitive to regional tectonic processes and anthropogenic alterations and they typically reflect significant changes in coastal conditions such as fluvial processes, coastal energy, water quality, relative sea level, and sediment supply. Where humid tropical coasts coincide with active tectonic margins, indicators of seismic activity are critical to understanding coastal changes associated with co-seismic subsidence or uplift, tsunamis, and liquefaction of coastal sediments. Coastal landforms and sedimentary deposits that record late Quaternary environmental changes include perched fluvial and marine terraces, delta-plain morphologies, crevasse-splay deposits, peats and other paleosols, beach ridges, mud capes, and mud volcanoes. Although these features and deposits typically reflect environmental changes spanning more than 100 years, they are relevant to modern processes, management of coastal lands and resources, and prediction of future conditions. In some regions of the humid tropics, large coastal areas are unaffected by hurricanes or typhoons. Nevertheless, these tropical coasts are vulnerable to other non-storm processes, such as El Niño events, tsunamis, and monsoons that increase water levels, and cause widespread flooding and beach erosion. The environmental and political significance of coastal geoindicators increases when they are integrated and applied to issues of human safety and health such as hazards mapping, risk assessment, and dispersion of contaminated sediments. However, to be relevant, those socio-environmental applications demand accurate predictions of future trends and rates of change.     

Natural resources and the environmental problems of their utilization in Hungary

The paper reports on the general state of the natural resources of Hungary. About half of the country's mineral resources used in energy production has to be imported. Agricultural production has a rather favourable natural environment, though the undergoing privatisation of land with the lack of investable capital caused a recent setback. The forested area is only 18% of the total territory. The surface waters are rather polluted with 95% arriving from abroad. About one fifth of the surface waters and almost half of the rich reserves of subsurface waters are being utilized. The spatial distribution of the locations of the country's natural reserves is not even. In recent years environmental protection is being paid special attention. The most important issues are avoiding further air pollution and the protection of the country's surface and subsurface waters by the construction of water treating stations and canalization.     

对环境岩土工程几个问题的探讨

根据近年来环境岩土工程的发展状况,从环境岩土工程的定义、研究内容、研究方法以及研究方向几个方面比较系统地进行了总结和阐述。对环境岩土工程的定义提出了看法,分析了环境岩土工程所面临并需要解决的主要问题,认为环境岩土工程的研究应以系统论为指导,强调多种研究方法的互补;环境岩土工程的发展潜力很大,有待于在理论上和实践中进一步得以发展和完善。     

Risk in the Okavango Delta in the face of social and environmental change

Information from 117 questionnaires and focus groups in four villages in the Okavango Delta, Botswana was used to identify households exposed to different levels of risk in order to relate them to various livelihood activities and coping strategies. Current household strategies such as migration and diversification that are used to cope with recurring hazards such as drought, reduced flooding and animal disease are becoming more limited because of fencing policies and changed flooding regimes. In the light of future challenges such as climate change and increased upstream water abstractions, the heavy reliance on government assistance will probably increase especially among female-headed households and high-risk households. Without targeted initiatives based on spatial and social distributions of risk, then the dependency syndrome of Botswana is likely to continue and be exacerbated.     

矿山环境问题诱发的环境效应研究

在矿山环境问题分类研究的基础上,文章分析了矿山环境问题与环境效应的因果对应关系及各类矿山环境问题的环境效应,将矿山环境问题所诱发的环境效应划分为占用与破坏土地资源、水资源损毁、矿山次生地质灾害以及自然景观与生态破坏四大类,并依据其影响程度对各类环境效应进行了量化等级划分,对应不同的影响程度将环境效应分为强烈、严重、中等、弱四个等级,为矿山环境调查、评价、修复治理、信息系统建设和科学管理等提供了重要科学依据。     

An archaeology of fear and environmental change in Philadelphia

This paper examines how mechanisms of social control function to mediate human-environment relations and processes of environmental change in the city. Using the Fairmount Park System of Philadelphia as a case study, I argue that a history of social control mechanisms, both formal and informal, maintained viable socio-environmental urban relationships. Their decline over the last several decades has produced a legacy of fear towards the city’s natural environment that has had, and continues to have, profound socio-spatial and ecological implications. I argue that these changes have their origin in a set of racially motivated decisions made during the volatile years of the late 1960s and early 1970s and that African American women, in particular, have been impacted disproportionately by their consequences. Fear of crime in the natural environment and suspicion of environmental change have resulted in the exclusion of local women and children from what was, historically, a politically and socially viable public space. In this context, urban ecological change is locally understood as more an issue of social control than one of environmental concern.     

环境水力学反问题研究进展

反问题广泛存在于环境水力学的各个研究领域,通过环境水力学反问题研究可以实现对水流及伴随水流系统的污染物质迁移、输运过程的识别和控制,促进水资源的可持续利用。近年来,环境水力学反问题研究内容逐渐丰富,其重要性日渐突出。基于反问题理念阐述了环境水力学反问题的内涵,从不同的角度对环境水力学反问题进行了分类,强调了环境水力学反问题研究的重要意义。从参数反问题、源项反问题、边界条件反问题、初始条件反问题和形状反问题5个方面分析评述了环境水力学反问题的研究现状和研究成果。在此基础上,讨论了研究现状存在的问题并对该领域未来研究方向进行了展望。     

Gender and climate change linkages in the semi-arid region of Ghana

GeoJournal - Climate change is projected to have a serious impact on all sectors of the world. The agriculture sector is one of the most vulnerable sectors with implications for smallholder farmers...     

Patterns of Holocene environmental change in the midwestern United States

Four pollen sequences along a transect from north-central Iowa to southeast Wisconsin reveal the distribution of prairie and forest during the Holocene and test the use of pollen isopolls in locating the Holocene prairie-forest border. Prairie was dominant in central Iowa and climate was drier than present from about 8000 to 3000 yr B.P. During the driest part of this period in central Iowa (6500-5500 yr B.P.), mesic forest prevailed in eastern Iowa and Wisconsin, suggesting conditions wetter than at present. Prairie replaced the mesic forest about 5400 yr B.P. in eastern Iowa but did not extend much farther east; mesic forests were replaced in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois about 5400 yr B.P. by xeric oak forests. This change from mesic to xeric conditions at 5400 yr B.P. was widespread and suggests that the intrusion of drier Pacific air was blocked by maritime tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico until the late Holocene in this area.     

中国历史耕地变化及其对自然环境的影响*

农业开发已经直接或间接地影响并正在影响自然环境的许多方面,中国农业开发历史悠久,对自然环境造成的影响广泛而强烈,对认识人类活动导致的全球与区域环境变化具有代表性。文中总结了近年来基于考古和历史文献记录的中国历史耕地变化定量重建和耕地开发环境影响的研究成果。主要结论包括: (1)中国在历史耕地变化重建方面具有独特的优势,主要数据源包括田亩、税赋、人口等与耕地数量相关的数值记录,考古遗址点、聚落、路网、行政建制等与农业活动相关的信息,有关土地开发和农业生产的描述性记录等三大类。 (2)对全国尺度的耕地面积推断始于春秋战国时期,过去1000年以来已重建了省(路)域的垦殖率,过去300年基于历史记录重建的东北、华北等区域垦殖率的分辨率已到县,在重建基础上利用分配模型获得的过去300年格网化垦殖率的分辨率可达10 km×10 km甚至1 km×1 km。相比于当前广泛使用的国际数据集,这些区域定量重建结果更为准确。(3)历史时期中国耕地的3次大规模扩张分别主要出现在西汉、两宋和清中叶,与此相对应,植被破坏和水土流失从北方地区扩展到南方地区,从平原低地扩展到低山丘陵、深山地区;过去300年耕地变化导致了碳排放的增加和可辨识的区域气候变化。未来中国的历史耕地变化重建及其对环境影响研究,应与国际过去土地利用/覆盖研究衔接,研究重点为延长历史耕地重建时限、提高重建单元的空间分辨率和改进耕地格网化分配模型。     

环境地质学科:在关注重大环境地质问题中成长

通过对环境地质学内涵及其拓展的考察和研究,分析了当前环境地质学科面临的历史机遇与挑战,特别是面对日益发展的经济社会环境和不断增长的国家地质工作需求,环境地质学科必须适应现代化建设的需要,做好与经济建设的结合和服务,在关注重大环境地质问题中不断成长,文章还讨论了发展环境地质学对于经济建设和社会发展的重大意义.