Linking pesticides and human health: A geographic information system (GIS) and Landsat remote sensing method to estimate agricultural pesticide exposure

Accurate pesticide exposure estimation is integral to epidemiologic studies elucidating the role of pesticides in human health. Humans can be exposed to pesticides via residential proximity to agricultural pesticide applications (drift). We present an improved geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing method, the Landsat method, to estimate agricultural pesticide exposure through matching pesticide applications to crops classified from temporally concurrent Landsat satellite remote sensing images in California. The image classification method utilizes Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values in a combined maximum likelihood classification and per-field (using segments) approach. Pesticide exposure is estimated according to pesticide-treated crop fields intersecting 500 m buffers around geocoded locations (e.g., residences) in a GIS. Study results demonstrate that the Landsat method can improve GIS-based pesticide exposure estimation by matching more pesticide applications to crops (especially temporary crops) classified using temporally concurrent Landsat images compared to the standard method that relies on infrequently updated land use survey (LUS) crop data. The Landsat method can be used in epidemiologic studies to reconstruct past individual-level exposure to specific pesticides according to where individuals are located.     

扎龙保护区丹顶鹤栖息地适宜性评价

结合TM影像和ENVISAT ASAR(HH/HV)数据,以扎龙保护区丹顶鹤栖息地为研究对象,在分布式定量提取评价因子(植被类型、生境结构、巢下水深、植被盖度、人为干扰)的基础上,建立HSI模型对丹顶鹤栖息地质量进行评价,并根据实测巢址空间分布情况对评价结果进行验证。结果表明:基于主观专家知识建立的HSI模型得到丹顶鹤高适宜栖息地面积为48km2,适宜栖息地面积为265km2,低适宜栖息地面积为385km2,不适宜栖息地面积为1 403km2,结合实测数据验证,得出高适宜、适宜和低适宜栖息地巢址共占实测巢址的92.86%,不适宜栖息地巢址占7.14%。经检验HSI模型对淡水沼泽湿地典型水禽栖息地的质量评价有良好的适用性。     

河流型国家湿地公园功能区规划方法探析

国家湿地公园总体规划的核心工作是功能区划分,功能区划分直接影响到相关的保护和恢复工程规划,也为湿地公园的建设布局指明了方向。功能区规划前实地调查工作的重点为理清水系脉络、确定核心资源、找出威胁因子,归纳了4种适合于河流型国家湿地公园功能区划的区划方式,为湿地公园功能区规划提供参考模式。     

Polygonal deformation bands

We report for the first time the occurrence of polygonal faults in sandstone, which is compelling given that layer-bound polygonal fault systems have been observed so far only in fine-grained sediments such as clay and chalk. The polygonal faults are shear deformation bands that developed under shallow burial conditions via strain hardening in dm-wide zones. The edges of the polygons are 1–5 m long. The shear deformation bands are organized as conjugate faults along each edge of the polygon and form characteristic horst-like structures. The individual deformation bands have slip magnitudes ranging from a few mm to 1.5 cm; the cumulative average slip magnitude in a zone is up to 10 cm. The deformation bands heaves, in aggregate form, accommodate a small isotropic horizontal extension (strain <0.005). The individual shear deformation bands show abutting T-junctions, veering, curving, and merging where they mechanically interact. Crosscutting relationships are rare. The interactions of the deformation bands are similar to those of mode I opening fractures. The documented fault networks have important implications for evaluating the geometry of km-scale polygonal fault systems in the subsurface, top seal integrity, as well as constraining paleo-tectonic stress regimes.     

三江源地区秋季典型多层层状云系的飞机观测分析

利用三江源地区一次机载粒子测量系统PMS(Particle Measuring Systems)的分层垂直探测资料,系统研究了该地区秋季典型多层层状云系的微物理特性,结果表明:(1)云系由4层云层组成,Cs(卷层云)和上层As(高层云)为冰云,下层As和Sc(层积云)为过冷混合态云。下层As的云粒子浓度和过冷水含量最大,Sc的云粒子尺寸及谱宽最大,且具有较明显的地区特性;(2)Sc(下层As及对流泡)中中值直径在3.5～18.5 μm(3.5～ 21.5 μm)之间的云粒子为液相,中值直径大于21.5 μm(24.5 μm)的云粒子为冰相;(3)混合态云中高过冷水区与低过冷水区云的粒子谱分布差异明显,Sc高过冷水区有较明显的淞附增长现象;(4)Sc、下层As云底、对流泡顶高过冷水区的云滴有效半径依次增加。Sc高过冷水区的过冷水含量比率均值及标准差为69.9±19.4%,且与过冷水含量存在一定的关联性;下层As云底高过冷水区的过冷水含量比率无明显变化,其均值及标准差为89.2±8.1%;(5)混合态云各高度层FSSP(前向散射粒子谱探头)平均粒子谱均为单峰型伽玛分布,混合态云和冰云各高度层2DC(二维灰度云粒子探头)平均粒子谱基本上都为负指数型分布。     

Will the Clean Development Mechanism be effectively implemented in China?

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse whether the presence of surplus emission allowance trading jeopardizes the environmental target of an international environmental agreement. We argue that surplus emission allowance trading can be used as an implicit side-payment mechanism to actually bring about higher environmental protection compared with the situation without the trade option. We point to the existence of a fundamental trade-off between costs of compliance and the creation of dynamic incentives to develop cheaper reduction technologies. Implicit side payments, in terms of surplus emission allocations, may be needed in order to establish a compromise between these opposing demands. We identify the shortcomings and benefits of allowing fully flexible permit trading, including the allocation rule of grandfathering.     

Implementing adaptation in developed countries: an analysis of progress and trends

Little attention has been paid thus far to the experiences of developed countries in adapting to climate change. This article addresses this research gap by providing an assessment of broad trends in progress on planning and implementing adaptation in developed countries. Primary inputs are the National Communications (NCs) by these countries to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), although the article also discusses illustrative examples of recent adaptation activities that have not been covered in the NCs. NCs reflect ‘whole government’ perspectives and follow a standardized reporting format, which facilitates cross-national comparisons. The analysis shows that impacts and adaptation receive limited attention within NCs. The discussion on impacts and adaptation has typically been dominated by climate scenarios and impacts analysis, while the discussion on adaptation is often limited to the identification of generic options. There are signs of recent progress, however, in the Third and especially the Fourth NCs, in which a growing number of developed countries report on establishing frameworks for adaptation and on efforts to implement adaptation measures that take future climate into account. Although an encouraging sign, it is still too early to assess the eventual impact of such measures.     

Effects of economic recession and local weather on climate change attitudes

How are large companies responding to the challenges of reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions? An analysis of the published climate change policies and performance of 125 large European companies is presented. The results suggest that most large European companies have now developed the management systems and processes necessary for them to effectively manage their GHG emissions and related business risks. However, there is a significant disconnect between the targets that companies set for themselves and the more ambitious targets being set by the European Union (which has committed to a 20% reduction in its emissions by 2020 against a 1990 baseline). Of the companies surveyed, just over one-third had stabilized or reduced their total GHG emissions over the period 2002–2007, and fewer than one-third expected their emissions to stabilize or reduce in the coming years. The relationship between the quality of corporate policies and performance outcomes (in terms of GHG emissions) suggests that while companies with stronger policies are likely to have relatively better performance, only a minority of those companies with the highest-quality policies are committing to absolute reductions in their GHG emissions.     

A shale gas revolution for China?

The question of whether China is on the verge of a ‘shale gas revolution’ is examined. This has potentially significant consequences for energy policy and climate change mitigation. Contrary to the optimistic reading of some commentators, it argues that various technological, environmental, political, regulatory and institutional factors will constrain the growth of China's shale gas market and that such a revolution might in any event have consequences that are at best mixed, at worst antithetical to climate change mitigation.Policy relevanceChina's reserves of unconventional gas have the potential to transform energy policy, as has occurred in the US, resulting in the substitution of shale gas for coal in the energy mix. Because gas emits only approximately half the GHG per unit as coal, such a move would have important implications for climate policy. However, substantial obstacles stand in the way of the ‘energy revolution’ that some policy analysts see China as embarking upon. The need to acknowledge these obstacles, particularly those relating to regulation and governance (and whether or to what extent they can be overcome), is an issue of profound importance to the future of climate and energy policy.     

The design of California's cap-and-trade and its impact on electricity markets

California is considering the adoption of a cap-and-trade regulatory mechanism for regulating the greenhouse gas emissions from electricity and perhaps other industries. Two options have been widely discussed for implementing cap-and-trade in the electricity industry. The first is to regulate the emissions from electricity at the load-serving entity (LSE) level. The second option for implementation of cap-and-trade has been called the ‘first-seller’ approach. Conceptually, under first-seller, individual sources (i.e. power plants) within California would be responsible for their emissions, as with traditional cap-and-trade systems. Emissions from imports would be assigned to the ‘importing firm’. An option that has not been as widely discussed is to implement a pure source-based system within California, effectively excluding imports from the cap-and-trade system altogether. This article examines these three approaches to implementing cap-and-trade for California's electricity sector. The article discusses many of the issues relating to measurement and the impacts on bidding and scheduling incentives that are created by the various regulatory regimes.