Environmental policies and marine engines—effects on the development and adoption of innovations

This study indicates that environmental policy interventions significantly influence the innovation processes for reducing the emissions of marine engine technology. Several different types of interventions have been important and the effect is not directly proportional to the strength or spatial coverage of the intervention. Despite its relative weakness, the MARPOL rule on NO_x emissions has contributed to technology development. We also show that the rise of environmental issues in other fields has had a marked effect on the development of the marine sector and that relatively local interventions can influence innovation even in an international sector like marine transport.     

Trace metal and geochemical variability during 5,500 years in the sediment of Lake Lehmilampi,Finland

A high-resolution geochemical profile from a 5,500-year-old sediment core of Lake Lehmilampi in eastern Finland was analyzed to study long-term trends and variability in element concentrations and accumulation rates. The accumulation rates of all studied elements followed the same trend, responding to changes in the total sedimentation rate. Concentration profiles differed among elements and showed considerable variation over time. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used on the concentration data to identify groups of elements that have similar geochemical controls. The first principal component was influenced by changes in mineral matter accumulation, and it incorporated elements that are associated with stable allochthonous minerals (such as Mg, K, Cs, Rb, Li, Ti and Ga), as well as elements in forms that become diluted when mineral matter increases (e.g., S, Fe and Mn). The second and third principal components showed that a large proportion of the variance was accounted for by elements with continuously increasing or decreasing concentrations related to pedogenetical development of the catchment soil. In the case of Hg, Pb and Cd, however, accumulation rates increased faster at the surface than is simply accounted for by changes in total sedimentation rates. For Cu, Cr, Ni and Zn, concentrations increased over the past 150 years, but there were no indications of a significant addition due to atmospheric deposition. These elements had more variable concentrations before the mid nineteenth century than after, as did elements that are often used for normalization. These findings suggest that lake sediments may not properly reflect the history of atmospheric metal deposition in remote areas.     

Impacts of climate change on the risk of snow-induced forest damage in Finland

This work studied the temporal and spatial variability of the risk of snow-induced forest damage in Finland under current and changing climatic conditions until the end of this century. The study was based on a snow accumulation model in which cumulative precipitation, air temperature and wind speed were used as input variables. The risk was analyzed in terms of the number of days per year when the accumulated amount of snow exceeded 20 kg m^???2. Based on the risk, the forest area and mean carbon stock of seedling, young thinning and advanced thinning stands at risk were calculated. Furthermore, the number of 5-day periods, when the accumulated amount of snow exceeded a risk limit, was calculated for the current and changing climatic conditions in order to study the frequency of damaging snowfalls. Compared to the baseline period 1961–1990, the risk of snow-induced forest damage and the amount of damaging snowfalls were predicted to decrease from the first 30-year period (1991–2020) onwards. Over the whole country, the mean annual number of risk days decreased by 11%, 23% and 56% in the first, second and third 30-year period, respectively, compared to the baseline period. In the most hazardous areas in north-western and north-eastern Finland, the number of risk days decreased from the baseline period of over 30 days to about 8 days per year at the end of the century. Correspondingly, the shares of the forest area at risk were 1.9%, 2.0% and 1.0% in the first, second and third 30-year period, respectively. The highest mean annual carbon stocks of young stands at risk were found in central, north-eastern and north-western Finland in the first and second 30-year period, varying between 0.6 and 1.2 Mg C ha^???1 year^???1, meaning at highest 3% of the mean carbon stock (Mg C stem wood ha^???1) of those areas. This study showed that although the risk of snow-induced forest damage was mainly affected by changes in critical weather events, the development of growing stock under the changing climatic conditions also had an effect on the risk assessment. However, timely management of forest stands in the areas with a high risk of snow-induced damage contributes to the trees’ increased resistance to the damage.     

全球变暖背景下的中国西部地区气候变化研究进展

全球变暖是19世纪80年代以来,地球的年平均气温和地表温度呈上升趋势的现象.在全球变暖的大背景下,我国的气候也发生了显著的变化.探讨全球变暖背景下中国西部地区的气温、降水、气候转型以及青藏高原对中国气候的影响等,对我国应对气候变化问题有着重要的意义.本文从气温、降水、气候转型以及青藏高原对中国气候的影响等方面概述了近年来中国西部地区气候变化的最新研究进展,并探讨了未来的研究方向.     

Innovative trend analysis of main agriculture natural hazards in China during 1989–2014

Natural Hazards - China is a country where the agricultural areas are frequently affected by natural hazards, and comprehending the change trends of natural hazards is of great significance to...     

REMOTE SENSING OF THE SEASONAL VARIATION IN COLUMN ABUNDANCE OF ATMOSPHERIC CH_4

Infrared solar spectra on clear days were measured automatically by an infrared solarspectrometer(ISS)with 0.4 cm~(-1) resolution developed by us.A line-by line(LBL)computationmethod was used to calculate theoretical atmospheric absorption.In the wavelength range of 3.410—3.438 μm.the absorption is mainly due to atmospheric methane and water vapor.Columnatmospheric methane was retrieved from the recorded infrared solar spectra.The seasonal variationof column atmospheric methane in Hefei has been obtained from the measuremental data of nearly18 months since the April of 1997.and found that it is similar to that of background data.Theinstruments.principles of measurement and some of results were introduced,and the results arealso discussed briefly in the paper.     

天山北坡雪岭云杉树轮宽度年表梯度特征分析

在天山北坡不同区域间隔海拔高度100 m左右采集5个树轮梯度年表,分析树木径向生长沿海拔高度变化的规律。结果发现:在树轮年表特征中,平均轮宽、树龄和敏感度等存在海拔梯度变化,平均轮宽和敏感度随海拔升高而降低,而平均树龄则与海拔高度呈正相关。高海拔采样点在同一区域和不同区域间一致性最好,低海拔采样点次之,而森林中部最差,东部和中部低海拔区域采样点的一致性要好于西部,坡向、坡度等小生境的差异也是影响树轮生长垂直变化规律的重要因素。存在同时影响不同海拔高度树轮生长的环境要素,西部和中部高海拔树木对该要素的响应更显著,在更为干旱的天山北坡中部和东部,对树木径向生长的影响较大的环境因子要多于西部伊犁地区。     

August–September Runoff Variation in the Kara Darya River Determined from Juniper (Juniperus turkestanica) Tree Rings in the Pamirs-Alai Mountains, Kyrgyzstan, Back to 1411 CE

A 606 year runoff reconstruction of the Kara Darya River was developed, based on the tree-ring width chronology of Turkestan juniper (Juniperus turkestanica) from the Pamir-Alai Mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Preliminary comparison between the snow cover variation and these climate/runoff reconstructions found that Central Asian snow cover may have strong associations with large-scale ocean-atmosphere-land circulations. The runoff reconstruction demonstrated that instrumental runoff was not representative of runoff over the past 606 years. The drought of the 1960s-1990s resulted in low runoff levels during the past 50 years; however, this probably does not represent a worst-case scenario for the Kara Darya because the runoff reconstruction showed additional extremely low runoff prior to the 20th century. The reconstruction will provide a long-term perspective on runoff variation in the Kara Darya River basin, aid sustainable water resource management and be useful in guiding expectations of future variations and water resource planning.     

小像幅航空摄影中若干技术要求的研究

本文系统研究了小像幅航摄资料用于小面积大比例尺地形图测绘的可能性以及实施中的技术要求，并用调制传递函数测定了小像幅航摄资料的分解力。     

Regionally optimized forest management under changing climate

The purpose of this study was to optimize forest management for a forest region (the total area of forest and scrub land 1.54 mill. ha) under changing climate by using the large-scale forestry scenario model MELA and sample plot data from the geo-referenced National Forest Inventory (NFI). The MELA model is based on integrated simulation and optimisation; in the simulation it utilises empirical tree-level models into which the impacts of climate change were introduced by transfer variables derived by using the physiological model FinnFor. Six scenarios with differences in climate and forest management were defined. In simulations, the accelerating tree growth caused by climate change resulted in an increase in maximum sustainable removal of trees at regional level. Changes in regionally optimized forest management were also detected during the analysis period of 30 years; the proportion of thinnings increased because the stands fulfilled the thinning requirements earlier than in the current climate. This study was the first attempt to solve endogenously maximum sustainable timber production and corresponding forest management at the regional level under different climate scenarios. When implemented in the MELA system, which is widely used in Finnish forestry, the transfer variables offer means of disseminating the results from physiological studies to planning of adjustment and mitigation measures under changing climate.