Water demand management and the quest for sustainability

This paper problematises positivist framings of water demand management (WDM) that define the average‐water‐user. Through a situated, case‐study account undertaken in suburban Auckland, we highlight variable social and cultural underpinnings of domestic water use. Activities that are commonly the focus of WDM are shown to be embedded elements of life around which relationships, affects and futures are woven. As a consequence, myopically focusing on the technical–managerial mediation of what are socionatural relations reduces prospects to achieve intended policy outcomes. Reframing WDM as a hydrosocial process provides a basis for water providers to develop more culturally appropriate water management.     

Climate-Change Journalism and “Edgeball” Politics in Contemporary China

ABSTRACT

Climate change is a complex and uncertain phenomenon, requiring political approaches that can find compromise and incorporate feedback from experience, as well as harness the role of civil society in holding governments to account. It thus presents an unusual challenge for China, the world’s largest greenhouse-gas emitter and an authoritarian regime, which tends to avoid the inclusion of non-state actors in governance. Drawing on ethnographic research among contemporary Chinese environmental journalists, this article suggests that climate change, as a destabilizing phenomenon with nonlinear and uncertain dynamics, can be drawn upon to develop a pluralistic political position that may run counter to such authoritarian approaches. It shows that Chinese journalists can create in climate reporting a space where outcomes are not known in advance, and where people therefore might generate political positions that challenge dominant narratives around science, technology, and the environment.     

Biogeographic variability in the physiological response of the cold‐water coral Lophelia pertusa to ocean acidification

While ocean acidification is a global issue, the severity of ecosystem effects is likely to vary considerably at regional scales. The lack of understanding of how biogeographically separated populations will respond to acidification hampers our ability to predict the future of vital ecosystems. Cold‐water corals are important drivers of biodiversity in ocean basins across the world and are considered one of the most vulnerable ecosystems to ocean acidification. We tested the short‐term physiological response of the cold‐water coral Lophelia pertusa to three pH treatments (pH = 7.9, 7.75 and 7.6) for Gulf of Mexico (USA) and Tisler Reef (Norway) populations, and found that reductions in seawater pH elicited contrasting responses. Gulf of Mexico corals exhibited reductions in net calcification, respiration and prey capture rates with decreasing pH. In contrast, Tisler Reef corals showed only slight reductions in net calcification rates under decreased pH conditions while significantly elevating respiration and capture rates. These differences are likely the result of environmental differences (depth, pH, food supply) between the two regions, invoking the potential for local adaptation or acclimatization to alter their response to global change. However, it is also possible that variations in the methodology used in the experiments contributed to the observed differences. Regardless, these results provide insights into the resilience of L. pertusa to ocean acidification as well as the potential influence of regional differences on the viability of species in future oceans.     

Remote sensing of alpine glaciers in visible and infrared wavelengths: a survey of advances and prospects

Remote sensing is an efficient tool for temporal monitoring of inaccessible alpine glacial terrain. This study discusses the methods of remote sensing in visible and infrared (IR) wavelengths, which are helpful in providing important information about alpine glaciers. The scope of this study covers recent advances and prospects in optical and thermal remote sensing of glacier facies, glacier velocity, mass balance, glacial hazards and automated mapping techniques. The technology is ever evolving with the advent of new remote sensors capturing data in visible/IR wavelengths and better digital computing technology. An extensive list of significant studies further helps the reader to explore a particular topic of interest. We survey recent advances in this field and additionally highlight the emerging prospects.     

Murky water: Analyzing risk perception and stakeholder vulnerability related to sewage impacts in mangroves of East Africa

Coastal cities in East Africa are growing rapidly and consequently there is a rapid increase in urban sewage production, putting added pressure on already strained treatment systems. As a result, peri-urban mangroves are receiving extensive amounts of sewage but very little is know as to the ecological and societal consequences of this. However, UNEP among others advocate the use of low-cost, natural sewage treatment technology whenever possible and mangroves have been suggested as useful second stage biofilters. Because of the high resource dependency in many peri-urban coastal communities in East Africa, it is imperative to investigate potential societal impacts on local communities using sewage impacted peri-urban mangroves. Consequently this paper aims to characterize stakeholder groups currently affected by sewage impacted mangroves and thus also map vulnerabilities across local users in relation to future initiatives to use mangroves as biofilters along the East African coast. As risk perception is an important part of vulnerability, and risk perception related to sewage and pollution in an African setting has been little studied, we also aim to contribute baseline data on risk perception related to pollution across peri-urban populations in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique.     

Inter‐instrument comparison of particle‐size analysers

This paper presents a methodological framework for inter‐instrument comparison of different particle‐size analysers. The framework consists of: (i) quantifying the difference between complete particle‐size distributions; (ii) identifying the best regression model for homogenizing data sets of particle‐size distributions measured by different instruments; (iii) quantifying the precision of a range of particle‐size analysers; and (iv) identifying the most appropriate instrument for analysing a given set of samples. The log‐ratio transform is applied to particle‐size distributions throughout this study to avoid the pitfalls of analysing percentage‐frequency data in ‘closed‐space’. A Normalized Distance statistic is used to quantify the difference between particle‐size distributions and assess the performance of log‐ratio regression models. Forty‐six different regression models are applied to sediment samples measured by both sieve‐pipette and laser analysis. Interactive quadratic regression models offer the best means of homogenizing data sets of particle‐size distributions measured by different instruments into a comparable format. However, quadratic interactive log‐ratio regression models require a large number of training samples (n > 80) to achieve optimal performance compared to linear regression models (n = 50). The precision of ten particle‐size analysis instruments was assessed using a data set of ten replicate measurements made of four previously published silty sediment samples. Instrument precision is quantified as the median Normalized Difference measured between the ten replicate measurements made for each sediment sample. The Differentiation Power statistic is introduced to assess the ability of each instrument to detect differences between the four sediment samples. Differentiation Power scores show that instruments based on laser diffraction principles are able to differentiate most effectively between the samples of silty sediment at a 95% confidence level. Instruments applying the principles of sedimentation offer the next most precise approach.