Surficial Stabilization of Wildfire-Burnt Hillslopes Using Xanthan Gum and Polyacrylamide

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Post-wildfire erosion and the slope instability issues associated with it are a global problem that can negatively affect transportation corridors, the...     

Paleolimnological evidence for increased landslide activity due to forest clearing and land-use since 3600 cal BP in the western Swiss Alps

Schwarzsee is located in the western Swiss Alps, in a region that has been affected by numerous landslides during the Holocene, as evidenced by geological surveys. Lacustrine sediments were cored to a depth of 13 m. The vegetation history of the lake's catchment was reconstructed and investigated to identify possible impacts on slope stability. The pollen analyses record development of forest cover during the middle and late Holocene, and provide strong evidence for regional anthropogenic influence such as forest clearing and agricultural activity. Vegetation change is characterized by continuous landscape denudation that begins at ca. 4300 cal. yrs BP, with five distinct pulses of increased deforestation, at 3650, 2700, 1500, 900, and 450 cal. yrs BP. Each pulse can be attributed to increased human impact, recorded by the appearance or increase of specific anthropogenic indicator plant taxa. These periods of intensified deforestation also appear to be correlated with increased landslide activity in the lake's catchment and increased turbidite frequency in the sediment record. Therefore, this study gives new evidence for a strong influence of vegetation changes on slope stability during the middle and late Holocene in the western Swiss Alps, and may be used as a case study for anthropogenically induced landslide activity.     

I cannot afford to live alone in this city and I enjoy the company of others: why people are share housing in Sydney

ABSTRACT

Share housing is changing. Once considered a form of short-term housing and a lifestyle choice for young adults fresh out of the family home, share housing is increasingly playing a broader role into advanced adulthood. Recent work has claimed the emergence of Generation Rent; however, the reconfiguration of housing experiences is illustrated not only by renting but also by an increase in house sharing and the emergence of ‘Generation Share’ within the renting cohort. We know surprisingly little about share housing and its increasingly important role in housing. This paper draws upon exploratory research conducted on share housing in Sydney, Australia, and argues that share housing as traditionally understood is changing. Share housing has a widening demographic and it is driven primarily by economic factors. Despite this, the social affordances offered by share housing are highly valued. Share housing therefore offers us a unique lens into changing housing pathways and values and provokes us to think of ways to produce more socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable housing.     

Does Foreign Direct Investment Affect SO_2 Emissions in the Yangtze River Delta? A Spatial Econometric Analysis

As the major source of air pollution, sulfur dioxide(SO_2) emissions have become the focus of global attention. However, existing studies rarely consider spatial effects when discussing the relationship between foreign direct investment(FDI) and SO_2 emissions. This study took the Yangtze River Delta as the research area and used the spatial panel data of 26 cities in this region for2004–2017. The study investigated the spatial agglomeration effects and dynamics at work in FDI and SO_2 emissions by using global and local measures of spatial autocorrelation. Then, based on regression analysis using a results of traditional ordinary least squares(OLS) model and a spatial econometric model, the spatial Durbin model(SDM) with spatial-time effects was adopted to quantify the impact of FDI on SO_2 emissions, so as to avoid the regression results bias caused by ignoring the spatial effects. The results revealed a significant spatial autocorrelation between FDI and SO_2 emissions, both of which displayed obvious path dependence characteristics in their geographical distribution. A series of agglomeration regions were observed on the spatial scale. The estimation results of the SDM showed that FDI inflow promoted SO_2 emissions, which supports the pollution haven hypothesis. The findings of this study are significant in the prevention and control of air pollution in the Yangtze River Delta.     

Mapping spectral tropicality in The Maid and Return to Pontianak

Contemporary, postcolonial Singapore has tamed, managed, and essentially disavowed its tropicality, aptly captured symbolically as the 'air-conditioned nation'. This essay traces how two recent Singapore horror films, The Maid (2005) and Return to Pontianak (2001), evoke the 'return of the repressed' as a form of haunting that I call 'spectral tropicality'. The films image and imagine this spectral return through unruly bodies (citizen subjects, female domestic workers, ghosts and vampire-ghosts) and uncanny landscapes (the jungle and city). In particular, the films and this analysis examine two sociocultural spectres lurking beneath Singapore as a tropical urban city-nation: the female domestic worker ( The Maid ) and ethnoracial folk beliefs ( The Maid and Return to Pontianak ). The Maid features the Hungry Ghosts Festival in the Chinese religious calendar, ghost marriages and an engagement with yin and yang energies, while Return to Pontianak deals with Malay folk beliefs of semangat ('life force'), and the pontianak, a female vampire-ghost. The Maid attempts to integrate Chinese folk beliefs into contemporary Singapore's cityscape, particularly the architecturally conserved Chinatown shophouses, while Return to Pontianak displaces Malay folk beliefs onto the tropical forest, which is mapped as a threatening other(ed) space and serves as Singapore's tropical doppelganger. Both films suggest that these folk beliefs have an unruly presence within the state's seemingly harmonious and meritocratic ethnoracial ideologies.     

Input–output and life-cycle emissions accounting: applications in the real world

A considerable body of academic literature has emerged that addresses methods for consumption-based accounting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as opposed to the territorial approach used under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The consumption-based approach attributes emissions to consumers of final goods and services by accounting for the GHG emissions ‘embedded’ in raw materials and intermediate goods and services. Many authors have advocated the wider adoption of a consumption-based approach. This article does not take one side or another in the consumption-based versus territorial debate. Instead, it explores the extent to which consumption-based thinking has already found practical application by companies and public authorities and assesses the potential for further adoption. The methodologies underlying consumption-based approaches are critically reviewed to note criteria such as accuracy and the timeliness of data generation, which suggest the potential for practical application. A typology of applications is then developed and each category of application is systematically explored citing real-world examples where possible. The article concludes with a discussion of the potential for the wider application of consumption-based approaches and identifies further research needs.Policy relevanceConsumption-based approaches to accounting for GHG emissions are gradually being adopted in the policy domain, albeit in a haphazard way. This article (1) identifies the strengths and weaknesses associated with top-down input–output approaches and bottom-up life cycle assessment approaches to consumption-based accounting in terms of criteria such as accuracy and timeliness of data generation; (2) provides a comprehensive review of actual and proposed applications to date; (3) constructs a taxonomy of applications drawing on the analysis of strengths and weaknesses; and (4) considers the prospects for further application. The article will help policy makers and policy analysts to assess the feasibility and desirability of future applications of consumption-based approaches and address implementation barriers.     

Carbon dioxide in surface seawater of the eastern North Pacific Ocean (Line P), 1973–2005

Partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂) in surface seawater has been measured in the northeastern Pacific Ocean at Station P and along Line P since 1973. These data have been divided into ‘oceanic’ and ‘coastal/transition’ zones, and the seasonal and interannual variability and the long-term trends for each zone have been examined. The oceanic zone shows little seasonality in surface seawater pCO₂, with undersaturation throughout the year. A strong, biologically-driven seasonal cycle is offset by variation in temperature-dependent solubility of CO₂. The coastal/transition zone shows a decline in pCO₂ from winter–spring through summer and fall that is likely the result of seasonal stratification and convection rather than coastal upwelling. Interannual variability all along Line P is correlated with the multivariate ENSO index (MEI), with lower seawater pCO₂ associated with El Niño conditions. Correlations with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation Index are similar but weaker, in part because there are few data prior to the 1976 regime shift. The long-term trend in seawater pCO₂ in the oceanic zone is +1.36±0.16 μatm year^?1, indistinguishable from the atmospheric growth rate, and varies little among the seasons. In the coastal/transition zone a slow increase in the pCO₂ of surface seawater relative to that of the atmosphere has led to increasing undersaturation, particularly in spring. Aliasing of the seasonal and interannual variability due to sampling frequency may explain part of the observed trend in the coastal/transition zone, but real changes in physical or biological processes are also possible and require more detailed study.     

The Relative Role of Nutrients, Grazing, and Predation as Controls on Macroalgal Growth in the Waquoit Bay Estuarine System

Understanding whether nutrient availability and grazing by consumers can control macroalgal growth is important to mitigate blooms. To assess the effect of long-term nitrogen loading on macroalgae, we ran a field experiment in which we measured growth of green and red macroalgae in estuaries where loads and eutrophication status differed. The relative abundances of consumers differed among estuaries with more grazers in non-eutrophied estuaries, an important interaction of bottom-up and top-down controls. In the estuary with the lowest nitrogen load, grazers controlled green macroalgal growth, but in higher nitrogen-loaded estuaries, where grazing was lower, growth of green macroalgae overwhelmed potential grazer control. The red macroalga was not controlled by grazers, even in the estuary where grazing pressure was highest. In the low-loaded estuary, invertebrate predators exerted top-down control over grazers, but predation effects did not cascade to macroalgae. Bottom-up mechanisms dominated control of macroalgae through an interaction of direct stimulation of growth and indirect alteration of consumer abundances, and thus, long-term nutrient regimes are likely determining potential for bloom formation in Waquoit Bay.