(Re-)Conceptualizing water inequality in Delhi, India through a feminist political ecology framework

This article demonstrates how a feminist political ecology (FPE) framework can be utilized to expand scholarly conceptualizations of water inequality in Delhi, India. I argue that FPE is well positioned to complement and deepen urban political ecology work through attending to everyday practices and micropolitics within communities. Specifically, I examine the embodied consequences of sanitation and ‘water compensation’ practices and how patterns of criminality are tied to the experience of water inequality. An FPE framework helps illuminate water inequalities forged on the body and within particular urban spaces, such as households, communities, streets, open spaces and places of work. Applying FPE approaches to the study of urban water is particularly useful in analyzing inequalities associated with processes of social differentiation and their consequences for everyday life and rights in the city. An examination of the ways in which water practices are productive of particular urban subjectivities and spaces complicates approaches that find differences in distribution and access to be the primary lens for viewing how water is tied to power and inequality.     

What have natural and human changes wrought on the foraminifera of San Francisco Bay late Quaternary estuaries?

In this study we compare the foraminifera of modern South San Francisco Bay with fossils from sediments of a previous estuary at 125 ka to provide a basis for interpreting the impact of natural and human change on the benthic ecosystem. All the species found in the Pleistocene sediments of this study are estuarine and/or shallow-water species occurring commonly in San Francisco Bay today, except for the introduced foraminifer Trochammina hadai, a native of Japan that was not found in samples taken in San Francisco Bay before 1983. The biodiversity and species composition of the fossil and modern assemblages before the introduction of T. hadai are nearly identical, suggesting that the environmental and physical changes in the 125,000-year-old and modern estuaries have not had a significant effect on the meiofauna of the Bay. In contrast, modern anthropogenic change in the form of species introductions has impacted the modern foraminiferal assemblage: T. hadai began to dominate the modern assemblage a decade after its introduction. Similar to the recorded impacts of introductions of marine metazoan invertebrate species, the dominance of T. hadai changed species proportions in the post-1980s foraminiferal assemblage, however no known extinctions in the native foraminiferal fauna occurred.     

Regional Oceanic Impact on Circulation and Direct Radiative Effect of Aerosol over East Asia

The Regional Integrated Environmental Model System(RIEMS 2.0) coupled with a chemistry-aerosol model and the Princeton Ocean Model(POM) is employed to simulate regional oceanic impact on atmospheric circulation and the direct radiative effect(DRE) of aerosol over East Asia.The aerosols considered in this study include both major anthropogenic aerosols(e.g.,sulfate,black carbon,and organic carbon) and natural aerosols(e.g.,soil dust and sea salt) .The RIEMS 2.0 is driven by NCEP/NCAR reanalysis II,and the simulated period is from 1 January to 31 December 2006.The results show the following:(1) The simulated annual mean sea-level pressure by RIEMS 2.0 with POM is lower than without POM over the mainland and higher without POM over the ocean.(2) In summer,the subtropical high simulated by RIEMS 2.0 with POM is stronger and extends further westward,and the continental low is stronger than without POM in summer.(3) The aerosol optical depth(AOD) simulated by RIEMS 2.0 with POM is larger in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River than without POM.(4) The direct radiative effect with POM is stronger than that without POM in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and parts of southern China. Therefore,the authors should take account of the impact of the regional ocean model on studying the direct climate effect of aerosols in long term simulation.     

Application of 3D hydrodynamic and particle tracking models for better environmental management of finfish culture

Hydrographic conditions, and particularly current speeds, have a strong influence on the management of fish cage culture. These hydrodynamic conditions can be used to predict particle movement within the water column and the results used to optimise environmental conditions for effective site selection, setting of environmental quality standards, waste dispersion, and potential disease transfer. To this end, a 3D hydrodynamic model, MOHID, has been coupled to a particle tracking model to study the effects of mean current speed, quiescent water periods and bulk water circulation in Mulroy Bay, Co. Donegal Ireland, an Irish fjard (shallow fjordic system) important to the aquaculture industry. A Lagangrian method simulated the instantaneous release of “particles” emulating discharge from finfish cages to show the behaviour of waste in terms of water circulation and water exchange. The 3D spatial models were used to identify areas of mixed and stratified water using a version of the Simpson-Hunter criteria, and to use this in conjunction with models of current flow for appropriate site selection for salmon aquaculture.The modelled outcomes for stratification were in good agreement with the direct measurements of water column stratification based on observed density profiles. Calculations of the Simpson-Hunter tidal parameter indicated that most of Mulroy Bay was potentially stratified with a well mixed region over the shallow channels where the water is faster flowing. The fjard was characterised by areas of both very low and high mean current speeds, with some areas having long periods of quiescent water. The residual current and the particle tracking animations created through the models revealed an anticlockwise eddy that may influence waste dispersion and potential for disease transfer, among salmon cages and which ensures that the retention time of waste substances from cages is extended.The hydrodynamic model results were incorporated into the ArcView^TM GIS system for visualisation and interrogation of results and to allow effective holistic environmental management and site selection for fish cage aquaculture.     

Late Quaternary dietary shifts of the Cape grysbok (Raphicerus melanotis) in southern Africa

The Cape grysbok is endemic to southern Africa's Cape Floral Region where it selectively browses various species of dicotyledonous vegetation. Fossil evidence indicates that the grysbok persisted under glacial and interglacial conditions throughout the late Quaternary and inhabited a range of environments. This study employs mesowear analysis to reconstruct grysbok diets over time and in response to changing environments at Nelson Bay Cave, Die Kelders Cave 1, Klasies River Mouth, and Swartklip 1. Results indicate that the amount of grasses (monocots) versus leafy vegetation (dicots) included in the diet fluctuated over time and largely in agreement with changes in faunal community structure. The case for dietary flexibility is particularly clear at Nelson Bay Cave, where there is a significant trend from mixed feeding towards increased browsing from the late Pleistocene (~ 18,500 ¹⁴C yr BP) through the Holocene. Dietary shifts at Nelson Bay Cave are consistent with the hypothesis that declining grassland productivity is responsible for the terminal Pleistocene extinction of several large ungulates in southern Africa. Furthermore, the short-term dietary shifts demonstrated here (100s to 1000s of years) provide an important caution against relying on taxonomic uniformitarianism when reconstructing the dietary preferences of fossil ungulates, both extant and extinct.     

Positive Ion Contained in Tamarix Cone Sedimentary Veins and Climatic and Environmental Change in Southern Region of Taklimakan Desert

Based on the research on Tamarix cone sedimentary veins in three different places which are Andier Ancient City, Andier Meadow, and Damagou Township in the southern region of the Taklimakan Desert, the relationship between the characteristics of the positive ion content in Tamarix fallen leaves and climatic change during the past 400 years is systematically analyzed. The results show: the order of four kinds of positive ion content’s change range in three sampling sites is Ca²⁺> K⁺> Mg²⁺> Na⁺. The correlation coefficient between Ca²⁺ content and the total positive ion content is higher, which indicates that Ca²⁺ content or the total positive ion content can reflect the change trends. There is an inverse correlation between positive ion content in Tamarix fallen leaves and the local temperature. According to the change of positive ion content, the climate in the southern region of the Taklimakan Desert can be divided into cold and warm periods during the past 400 years, among which the period of 1590-1691 is warm period, of 1692-1896 is cold period (warm fluctuations are 1799-1808,1825-1829,1878-1881,1887-1891), of 1897-2010 is warm period (cold fluctuations are 1939-1941,1992-1998); Precipitation has a poor correlation with the positive ion content; There is a better correspondence between the changes of positive ion content and the regional flood events. This research provides a kind of research method for the environmental evolution in the southern region of the Taklimakan Desert,and it is of great help to environmental change research of the arid desert regions. It has further perfected the feasibility of using positive ion content in Tamarix cone sedimentary veins to reveal the environmental change, and fills up the blank of high resolution climatic change during the past 400 years in the southern region of the Taklimakan Desert.     

Pumping-rate control for contaminated groundwater with VOCs by using fuzzy inference model

In this paper, a new method is proposed for the remediation of contaminated groundwater. The method is based on fuzzy inference and risk evaluation. The effectiveness of the presented method is assessed in numerical simulations. The main results of the study are as follows: 1) A pump-and-treat control algorithm was proposed by using the fuzzy inference and the human health risk calculation model, 2) It was found that applying the proposed algorithm was likely to reduce the pumped quantity, and 3) It was found that the proposed model can be used to notify residents of the human health risk; the model is based on the ASTM RBCA model for residents. A new fuzzy control system for contaminated groundwater can be used as a useful model for characterising the effects of contaminants on human health and providing helpful information on the human risk assessment of the contaminated groundwater site.     

Cost-benefit analysis in the context of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive: The case of Germany

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires EU member states (MS) to develop and implement marine strategies containing programs of measures to protect and preserve the marine environment. Prior to their implementation, impact assessments, including Cost-Benefit-Analyses (CBA), need to be carried out. While the costs of introducing such measures are often relatively easy to determine, the economic valuation of the benefits derived from environmental improvements is much more challenging, particularly in the marine context. Still, it remains an important prerequisite for conducting CBA. The aim of this paper is to evaluate to what extent benefits can be quantified for use in CBA focusing on the German marine waters. The results indicate that there are still considerable gaps in the scientific knowledge about many of the pressures mentioned in the MSFD. Moreover, few economic studies exist that evaluate the benefits of marine protection measures, and many of them are not applicable in the German context. In addition, there is the risk that some benefits accruing from marine protection measures are systematically omitted in CBA. This raises the question to what extent comprehensive CBAs as required by the MSFD are possible in Germany, but also in other EU MS.     

EU marine strategy framework directive (MSFD) and marine spatial planning (MSP): Which is the more dominant and practicable contributor to maritime policy in the UK?

This paper is a comparative analysis of the contribution to UK marine governance of two recent EU initiatives: the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). MSFD imposed a duty on Member States to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) in four regional seas, while MSP required Member States to replace their fragmented, sector-based system of maritime decision making with an integrated approach. This paper explains MSFD and MSP, examines their relationship, and compares their practicability, concluding that MSP is both the more dominant and the more practicable instrument, reflecting the UK's preference for sustainable development over conservationism in marine policy. A recent proposal by the European Commission to make MSP and integrated coastal management a Directive reinforces the UK position.     

Developing self-guided scuba dive routes in the Algarve (Portugal) and analysing visitors' perceptions

Scuba diving allows for underwater visitation of cultural and natural resources. Underwater routes can be used as a tool for guided and supervised underwater visits. Two scuba diving routes were implemented in the Algarve (South of Portugal), the “B24” and “Poço” diving sites. The perceptions of scuba divers regarding several aspects of the routes and the existing support infrastructures were studied following a survey carried out through face-to-face interviews from 2008 to 2012. Divers profile and their perceptions were analysed using 246 valid questionnaires. Divers were mainly Portuguese, over 30 years old and with more than 12 years of formal education. Some of the support infrastructures did not achieve a “good” or “acceptable” grade. This should be carefully considered by diving operators and managers, because perceptions tend to circulate throughout the diving tourists. All features of interpretative slates were graded as highly satisfactory. Overall, diver satisfaction increased slightly after route implementation, with an average ranking of “good”. These findings support the implementation of underwater routes as a way to promote diving activity, and to increase divers' environmental education and awareness.