A Review of “Pesticide Drift and the Pursuit of Environmental Justice”

Measured by growing student numbers and new programs, master's education is one of the most dynamic areas of U.S. higher education. We focus here on the current state of programs that award the master's as their highest degree, so-called master's only departments, a distinct institutional type in the United States, which has received little research attention. Focusing on sixty-four geography programs, considerable differences are apparent in terms of size (both student and faculty numbers), mission, and curriculum; this includes a number of new programs and hybrid degrees that have recently been developed. The findings raise questions about levels of program staffing, program structure, student recruiting, and overall program quality and viability. Given the changing nature of master's education, further attention should be focused on helping universities create, strengthen, and expand such programs in the future.     

A field-based population model for the sediment toxicity test organism Leptocheirus plumulosus: II. Model application

A stage-structured population model has been developed for the estuarine amphipod Leptocheirus plumulosus to provide interpretive guidance for sediment toxicity tests with this species. This time-varying, field-based model includes several matrices to reflect seasonal changes in demographics. In this paper, we conduct sensitivity analysis of the model to identify which life history parameters have the greatest potential impact on population growth rate (lambda). Results indicate seasonal variability in the relative demographic importance of vital rates. Over winter, annual population growth is most sensitive to the persistence of juveniles and adults and growth from the juvenile to the adult stage. In spring and fall, changes in fecundity are likely to have large effects on population dynamics. In addition, we demonstrate the applicability of the model by using it to interpret toxicological data from an assessment of sediment contamination in Baltimore Harbor, MD. The model was parameterized with survival data from acute toxicity tests with L. plumulosus to project effects on population growth rate (lambda). Results of these model simulations indicate that relatively small changes in survival can result in large changes in lambda, indicating high risk to benthic populations. Furthermore, population projections mirror observed abundances of L. plumulosus at the test sites. These analyses provide a first indication of the usefulness of the Leptocheirus population model as a tool for exploring ecological effects of sediment contamination.     

21世纪中国城市未来的软规划与生态文明建设

文章旨在通过理念性的探讨,试就“中国在日益深入地参与全球贸易和投资中所面临的主要挑战”这一议题激发大家的讨论。文章论述了当代城市化理论现状、城市化和可持续发展之间的关系对中国国家发展目标的影响以及中国21世纪面临的发展挑战,认为：1）中国应注重基于本土发展经验的理论知识构建,以指导自身的城市化道路。特别地,中国需要平衡经济增长与可持续发展之间的关系,充分利用和部署生态资本,推动生态文明建设;2）以部署生态资本为重心的“软规划”在未来规划中将占据更重要的地位,为此需要进行体制改革、机构重组以及加强政府部门与私营部门和民间社会之间的合作;3）扩展型都市区可在生态文明建设中发挥更大作用,努力打造一个可持续的、宜居的和有经济活力的体制性框架,从而为“一带一路”倡议提出的国际贸易和投资深化发展提供基础。     

Palaeolimnology of Lake Sapanca and identification of historic earthquake signals,Northern Anatolian Fault Zone (Turkey)

Lake Sapanca is located on a strand of the Northern Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ, Turkey), where a series of strong earthquakes (Ms >6.0) have occurred over the past hundred years. Identifying prehistoric earthquakes in and around Lake Sapanca is key to a better understanding of plate movements along the NAFZ. This study contributes to the development of palaeolimnological tools to identify past earthquakes in Lake Sapanca. To this end several promising proxies were investigated, specifically lithology, magnetic susceptibility, grain size (thin-section and laser analysis), geochemistry, pollen concentration, diatom assemblages, ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb. Sedimentological indicators provided evidence for reworked, turbidite-like or homogeneous facies (event layers) in several short cores (<45 cm). Other indicators of sediment input and the historical chronicles available for the area suggest that three of these event layers likely originated from the AD 1957, 1967 and 1999 earthquakes. Recent changes in sediment deposition and nutrient levels have also been identified, but are probably not related to earthquakes. This study demonstrates that a combination of indicators can be used to recognize earthquake-related event layers in cores that encompass a longer period of time.     

Puhimau Thermal Area: A Window into the Upper East Rift Zone of Volcano, Hawaii?

We report the results of two soil CO₂ efflux surveys by the closed chamber circulation method at the Puhimau thermal area in the upper East Rift Zone (ERZ) of volcano, Hawaii. The surveys were undertaken in 1996 and 1998 to constrain how much CO₂ might be reaching the ERZ after degassing beneath the summit caldera and whether the Puhimau thermal area might be a significant contributor to the overall CO₂ budget of . The area was revisited in 2001 to determine the effects of surface disturbance on efflux values by the collar emplacement technique utilized in the earlier surveys. Utilizing a cutoff value of 50 g m⁻² d⁻¹ for the surrounding forest background efflux, the CO₂ emission rates for the anomaly at Puhimau thermal area were 27 t d⁻¹ in 1996 and 17 t d⁻¹ in 1998. Water vapor was removed before analysis in all cases in order to obtain CO₂ values on a dry air basis and mitigate the effect of water vapor dilution on the measurements. It is clear that Puhimau thermal area is not a significant contributor to CO₂ output and that most of CO₂ (8500 t d⁻¹) is degassed at the summit, leaving only magma with its remaining stored volatiles, such as SO₂, for injection down the ERZ. Because of the low CO₂ emission rate and the presence of a shallow water table in the upper ERZ that effectively scrubs SO₂ and other acid gases, Puhimau thermal area currently does not appear to be generally well suited for observing temporal changes in degassing at .     

The significance of dilution in evaluating possible impacts of wastewater discharges from large cruise ships

In response to public concerns about discharges from large cruise ships, Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) sampled numerous effluents in the summer of 2000. The data showed that basic marine sanitation device (MSD) technology for black water (sewage) was not performing as expected. Untreated gray water had high levels of conventional pollutants and surprisingly high levels of bacteria. Both black water and gray water discharges sometimes exceeded state water quality standards for toxicants. The state convened a Science Advisory Panel (the Panel) to evaluate impacts associated with cruise ship wastewater discharges. The effluent data received wide media coverage and increased public concerns. Consequently, legislative decisions were made at the State and Federal level, and regulations were imposed before the Panel completed its evaluation. The Panel demonstrated that following the rapid dilution from moving cruise ships, the effluent data from the Summer of 2000 would not have exceeded water quality standards, and environmental effects were not expected.