Threat level green: Conceding ecology for security in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the predicted scenarios of Central Asian water wars and catastrophic nuclear accidents have failed to materialize. However, the Aral Sea continues to shrink apace, and dangerous Soviet-built nuclear reactors have since proliferated in the former eastern bloc. These seemingly paradoxical outcomes can in part be attributed to the framing of these environmental issues as security matters by leading international regulatory, aid and lending institutions. Integrating these environmental concerns with the realist worldview of security studies systematically emphasized security dimensions at the expense of ecological concerns even amongst organizations distant from traditional defense affairs. This article proposes that international security strategy in this period is one of environmental appeasement defined as the systematic granting of ecologically unfriendly concessions in order to reduce short-term security risks. The article presents evidence that this appeasement strategy generated seemingly impressive results in terms of ameliorating short-term security risks, while actually exacerbating the underlying ecological situation. The article argues that while the foundational environmental risks remain unaddressed, the associated security threats have likewise not been ultimately resolved.     

Landscape governance: The “politics of scale” and the “natural” conditions of places

Governance has become an iridescent concept in recent years. The term is widely used in almost all social-science disciplines as well as in the political process. The intention of this paper is not so much to clarify these sometimes vague meanings but to highlight some characteristics of environmental governance connected with the restructuring of the spatial dimensions of politics. It starts from the assumption that the quest for multi-level decision making is particularly pressing for environmental governance. However, multi-level governance raises concern about the constitution of various spatial levels and their relationships with each other, as discussed under the term of “politics of scale”. Moreover, it is argued that for environmental governance the spatial reference is strongly connected with another challenge, which concerns the question of how to deal with the biophysical conditions of particular places. The term landscape governance is introduced to tackle this question without referring to an ontologically given space. Thus, landscape governance deals with the interconnections between socially constructed spaces (the politics of scale) and “natural” conditions of places. For this task, the concept of societal relationships with nature is introduced and applied to the term “landscape” as a bridging concept between social and natural sciences. The paper illustrates the approach of landscape governance with examples of problem-oriented interdisciplinary research at the UFZ-Centre for Environmental research in Leipzig, Germany.     

江苏省里下河(兴化-泰州)地区浅表沉积物特征及古地理环境演变

里下河地区浅部沉积物多为全新世中、晚期堆积,多数地区缺失全新世早期沉积。沉积物以淤泥质亚粘土、亚粘土、亚砂土,粉砂质淤泥、淤泥质粉砂、淤泥及泥炭为特征。沉积前的古地貌为四周高、中间低的碟形盆地。古气候经历了温湿—暖湿—温湿—温干的变化过程。区内曾有两次海侵,第一次海侵发生在全新世早中期,范围几乎遍及全区;第二次海侵发生在全新世晚期,规模小、范围窄、时间短,为海水沿江河倒灌、回溯形起。该区古环境自全新世以来经历了浅水海湾—古泻湖—湖沼地及平原的演变过程,最终形成现今河湖稠密的低凹平原。     

秦巴山区暴雨及其诱发地质灾害的特征分析

MapGis气象分析系统,借助Micaps系统提供的大量数据,转换为简单、直观、准确的图形,大大增加了节目创作的方便性、准确性和灵活性。向公众展示实用性、指导性更强的气象服务项目,满足了人民群众对气象信息精细化的需求,在电视媒体中向观众发布灾害性天气及次生灾害落区预报,为防灾减灾趋利避害提供科学指导。     

Sustainable Management of Electronic Waste (e-Waste)

Electronic waste or e-waste is one of the fastest growing areas of the international waste stream and is increasing at a much higher rate than all other waste streams. Fast growing electronics industries arising from the demands of information and communication technologies around the world coupled with the rapid product obsolescence and lack of end-of-life management options, have all led to the unsustainable management of the waste stream. Computers are manufactured from over 1,000 materials, many of which are toxic, and they contribute significantly to the e-waste stream, which is estimated to be ca. 20 to 50 million tonnes annually. Design for environment cleaner production, extended producer responsibility, standards and labeling, product stewardship, recycling and remanufacturing are some of the practices adopted by various countries around the world to deal with the e-waste stream. An overview of these practices is presented and the manner in which they contribute to the sustainable management of e-waste is discussed.     

利用GPS反解大气水汽含量

介绍地基和空基ＧＰＳ气象技术,简要讨论了ＧＰＳ遥感大气水汽含量对误差源。     

浙西上奥陶统于潜组Spirodesmos遗迹化石组合的环境意义

在概述了浙江西部上奥陶统于潜组的沉积学特征,并进而描述了发现的14个遗迹化石属基础上,从4个方面对Spirodesmos为代表的遗迹组合进行了环境分析:(1)14个遗迹属中仅3个属为穿相型分子,其余占遗迹总属2/3以上的遗迹化石均为典型的深水型分子,它们都是Nereites遗迹相的主要成员,因此该遗迹组合可归属于深海Nereites遗迹相中;(2)大部分遗迹化石呈复杂规则弯曲的形态,这种形态的遗迹化石是深海环境的遗迹化石标志;(3)14个遗迹属均为觅食迹和牧食迹,它们的行为习性,尤其是牧食迹主要分布于深海环境;(4)多数遗迹属的水深分布均在200m以下。由此可认为Spirodesmos遗迹组合是半深海-深海环境的产物。     

On the solar cycle dependence of winds and planetary waves as seen from mid-latitude D1 LF mesopause region wind measurements

At the Collm Observatory of the University of Leipzig LF D1 low-frequency total reflection nighttime wind measurements have been carried out continuously for more than two decades. Using a multiple regression analysis to derive prevailing winds, tides and the quasi-2-day wave from the half-hourly mean values of the horizontal wind components, monthly mean values of mesopause wind parameters are obtained that can be analysed with respect to long-term trends and influences of solar variability. The response of the prevailing wind to the 11-year solar cycle differs throughout the year. While in winter no significant correlation between the zonal prevailing wind and solar activity is found, in spring and summer a negative correlation between the TWC can be seen from the measurements. This is connected with stronger vertical gradients of the zonal prevailing wind during solar maximum than during solar minimum. Since the amplitude of the quasi-2-day wave is dependent on the zonal mean wind vertical gradient, this is connected with a positive correlation between solar activity and quasi-two-day wave activity.Paper Presented at the Second IAGA/ICMA (IAMAS) Workshop on Solar Activity Forcing of the Middle Atmosphere, Prague, August 1997     

Incoherent scatter radar observations of AGW/TID events generated by the moving solar terminator

Observations of traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) associated with atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) generated by the moving solar terminator have been made with the Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radar. Three experiments near 1995 fall equinox measured the AGW/TID velocity and direction of motion. Spectral and cross-correlation analysis of the ionospheric density observations indicates that ST-generated AGWs/TIDs were observed during each experiment, with the more-pronounced effect occurring at sunrise. The strongest oscillations in the ionospheric parameters have periods of 1.5 to 2 hours. The group and phase velocities have been determined and show that the disturbances propagate in the horizontal plane perpendicular to the terminator with the group velocity of 300–400 m s^–1 that corresponds to the ST speed at ionospheric heights. The high horizontal group velocity seems to contradict the accepted theory of AGW/TID propagation and indicates a need for additional investigation.     

Parametrization of the precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere and its verification in Mexico

To improve results in monthly rainfall prediction, a parametrization of precipitation has been developed. The thermodynamic energy equation used in the Adem thermodynamic model (ATM) and the Clausius and Clapeyron equation, were used to obtain a linear parametrization of the precipitation anomalies as a function of the surface temperature and the 700 mb temperature anomalies. The observed rainfall in Mexico over 36 months, from January 1981 to December 1983, was compared with the results obtained of the heat released by condensation, which is proportional to precipitation, using our theoretical formula, and those obtained using a statistical formula, which was derived for the ATM using 12 years of hemispheric real data. The verification using our formula in Mexico, showed better results than the one using the statistical formula.