Are We There Yet? NSW local governments’ progress on climate change

Local governments are responding to top-down policy initiatives from both federal and State governments to reduce emissions, and adapt to any potential impacts of climate change. Although climate change is clearly a global problem, many of the solutions will be implemented at the local level. To explore this issue, the aim of this research was to examine regional variation in climate change response across New South Wales (NSW). To this end, between September 2010 and September 2011, we reviewed publicly available council and regional documentations for all NSW councils. The indicators of response examined were based on the NSW Greenhouse Plan (2005). These were awareness-raising, emissions reduction and adaptation planning. It was found that councils were undertaking many practical projects to fulfil the goals of this plan. As a result, they are abating significant quantities of emissions. Adaptation is progressing through the development of risk-based climate change adaptation plans. Councils are addressing particular areas of management, such as water management, assisted by guidelines which incorporate consideration for climate change as part of best practice. While overall responses to this threat are progressing, a distinct urban bias in action has been observed, due to biases in policy and funding arrangements.     

From SARS to pandemic influenza: the framing of high-risk populations

Natural Hazards - The 2003 global outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was a wake-up call for health systems in Canada, with realization of occupational health risks faced by health...     

A desktop image processing and photogrammetric method for rapid volcanic hazard mapping: application to air-photo interpretation of Mount Pelée,Martinique

 A desktop image processing and photogrammetric method was developed for digitizing black-and-white aerial photographs. The technique was applied to airborne optical images of Mt. Pelée, Martinique, a historically active volcano in the tropical Lesser Antilles island arc, to evaluate its utility for rapid geologic mapping and hazard assessment in vegetated areas. The digital approach provides several advantages over traditional air-photo interpretation by allowing for change detection in time-series images, morphologic characterization, development of digital elevation models from stereopairs, and geo-referencing with other digital data sets. A digital mosaic of Mt. Pelée was created from air photos acquired in 1951, which covered the region affected by the 1902 eruption. Severe mismatches occurred along edges of adjacent photographs prior to correction, which precluded quantitative morphologic analysis of the volcanic edifice. Geometric corrections and histogram equalization of digitized air photos allowed creation of a continuous mosaic. Comparison of the mosaic and a map based on differences in gray scale and texture to a volcanostratigraphic map revealed that not only the various deposits produced during the 1902 event were easily differentiated, but that older eruptive products were identified, suggesting that this approach may be used for rapid hazard evaluation of historically active tropical volcanoes. Received: 22 January 1996 / Accepted: 26 July 1996     

Model-based processing for a large aperture array

A model-based approach to solve a deep water ocean acoustic signal processing problem based on a state-space representation of the normal-mode propagation model is developed. The design of a model-based processor (MBP) for signal enhancement employing an array consisting of a large number of sensors for a deep ocean surveillance operation is discussed. The processor provides enhanced estimates of the measured pressure-field, modes, and residual (innovations) sequence indicating the performance or adequacy of the propagation model relative to the data. It is shown that due to the structure of the normal-mode model the state-space propagator is not only feasible for this large scale problem, but in fact, can be implemented by a set of decoupled parallel second-order processors, implying a real-time capability. In the paper we discuss the design and application of the processor to a realistic set of simulated pressure-field data developed from a set of experiments and sound speed parameters     

Estimation and detection issues in matched-field processing

A conceptual framework in which the model-based, space-time acoustic signal processing procedure known as matched field processing (MFP) can be handled in a consistent manner is established. A framework for strong-signal MFP based on standard statistical estimation theory, in which MFP is regarded as essentially an estimation problem in the strong-signal regime, is developed. In the weak-signal case, the necessary requirement of detection dictates that MFP then be considered a joint detection-estimation task. It is demonstrated that, generally, MFP is essentially a space-time processing problem rather than simply an array processing (spatial processing only) procedure. An overview of the processing schemes used to date in MFP is given, showing how these methods relate to the optimal space-time structure. Weak-signal detection and estimation scenarios relevant to MFP are then noted. Present methods for dealing with the inherent instability of MFP algorithms (mismatch) are discussed. The current status of MFP is summarized, and recommendations for future research are made     

The Newfoundland Basin: ocean-continent boundary and Mesozoic seafloor spreading history

The ocean-continent boundary in the Newfoundland Basin is defined as the seaward limit of a continental margin magnetic smooth zone. East of the Grand Banks this boundary is marked by a prominent NNE-trending magnetic anomaly that is correlated with the J-Anomaly (115 m.y.). South of Flemish Cap the smooth zone boundary strikes approximately 060° and is approximately 15 m.y. younger. Magnetic anomaly trends suggest two directions of motion during separation of Iberia and North America. The first phase of motion, commencing at J-Anomaly time with a spreading center strike of 015°, produced a rifted margin along the Grand Banks south of the Newfoundland Seamounts. No spreading occurred north of the seamounts during this phase, implying a counter-clockwise rotation of Iberia and no Grand Banks-Galicia Bank separation. The second phase began at about 102 m.y. with a shift of the pole of rotation to a location near Paris, producing a ridge orientation of approximately 060°. This spreading center extended north and east into the northern Newfoundland Basin and Bay of Biscay, producing a rifted margin south of Flemish Cap and opening of Biscay. This ridge geometry produced a component of extension across the Newfoundland Fracture Zone and the southeastward migration of the resultant “leaky” transform fault between 102 m.y. and the next pole shift produced the volcanic edifice of the Southeast Newfoundland Ridge. Fracture zone trends during this phase also exerted strong control on volcanism within the Newfoundland Seamount province; this activity ceased at about 97 m.y. The date at which the second phase ended is not well defined by presently available data. A RRR triple-junction existed in the northeastern Newfoundland Basin-western Biscay region for a short time prior to anomaly33/34 (80 m.y.) which marks the inception of a continuous Mid-Atlantic Ridge spreading center between the Newfoundland and Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zones.     

The rent gap revisited: gentrification in point Chevalier,Auckland

The rent gap is the difference between the actual and potential ground rent of a site. This paper estimates the rent gap into two ways: gaps estimated using actual and potential ground rents at the same scale, and those based on different scales, and unpacks the relationship between renovation and both of these rent gaps via logistic regression. Using the suburb of Point Chevalier in Auckland as a case study, we find that the rent gap at a single scale is a more appropriate proxy for Smith’s rent gap concept in this particular case. A comparison between Point Chevalier and other neighborhoods in Auckland suggests that the co-occurrence between renovation events and rent gap derives from capital flows and class struggle in gentrification and that the rent gap is both an outcome of the social relations that produce gentrification, and a symptom of it.     

Preliminary study on the preservation of giant clam (Tridacnidae) shells from the Balobok Rockshelter archaeological site,south Philippines

Tridacnidae shells, a valuable archive of past environments, are common in the Balobok Rockshelter archaeological site on Sanga‐Sanga Island in the south Philippines. This site was occupied during the mid‐Holocene (ca. 5000–8800 ¹⁴C yr B.P.), a period of Neolithic cultural expansion in the Philippines. This paper focuses on the preservation of two shell specimens, Hippopus hippopus and Tridacna maxima, unearthed from two mid‐Holocene layers within the rockshelter. The shells' mineralogy and microstructure (prismatic and crossed‐lamellar) were studied using micro‐Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy to determine if the samples were suitable as paleoenvironmental records. Both shells are still aragonitic but aragonite crystals of both microstructure types are partly dissolved. This dissolution, characteristic of meteoric water alteration, precludes their utility in paleoenvironmental geochemical studies. Nevertheless, these shells are abundant in archaeological sites in the region and may be better preserved in other depositional contexts; more studies on Philippine Tridacnidae shell diagenesis are needed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.