On the evaluation of time-domain Green function

An analytical method has been developed to evaluate the wave part of the time-domain Green function and its derivatives. Based on Taylor series expansion, the Green function is obtained by solving a fourth-order ordinary differential equation. The method accelerates the convergence of the summation of an infinite series in the numerical computation. The accuracy of this method was demonstrated by its comparison with other method and its application to solve the radiation problem of a floating hemisphere using a panel-free method. The computed hydrodynamic coefficients agree well with the analytical solutions.     

超大型浮体水弹性分析的平板格林函数法

采用Eatock Taylor ＆ Ohkusu提出的一种矩形平板的挠度格林函数进行超大型浮式结构物在波浪中的水弹性响应分析，计算结果与试验结果比较，相当吻合，证实此平板挠度格林函数可以用于超大型浮式结构物的水弹性分析。     

Existence of a deep subtidal stock of drifting Ulva in relation to intertidal algal mat developments

Blooms of drifting green algae often develop in shallow coastal zones that receive significant nutrient inputs. Each spring and summer, some fifty bays and coves in Brittany (France) are affected in this way. Until now, in this region, only the algae present in the surf zone or stranded ashore, constituting an intertidal stock, have been taken into account. Another stock of algae, which was subtidal and of the same species (Ulva spp.), was found in the Bay of Douarnenez, one of the ten areas most affected by these algal blooms. This subtidal Ulva stock was located beyond the surf zone, at depths reaching 15 m. It was about the same size as the intertidal stock, viz., a few thousand tons on average. Subtidal Ulva stocks were generally found lying on the sandy bottom in a distribution showing no particular pattern. Biomass ranged from almost zero to 1.547 kg m⁻² of fresh and spun-dried algae. However, at depths from 3 to 7 m they were often arranged in strips a few dm wide, due to the swell's effect. The bottom conditions of temperature, salinity, irradiance and dissolved inorganic nitrogen measured during spring and summer are suitable for the growth of Ulva in the subtidal zone. Both intertidal and subtidal drifting Ulva stocks are mobile and capable of exchanging material. In spring, the intertidal stock's inoculum is likely to come from the subtidal. Later in the season, the subtidal stock could be supplied, at least partially, by the intertidal.     

The Impact of China’s Investment on Economic Growth and Carbon Emission Intensity in the “Belt and Road”

Increasing green investment is one of the important ways to promote sustainable development in the Belt and Road (B&R) region. We predicted the effects of China’s investments on the CO₂ emission patterns in B&R areas under the scenarios of No-Investment (NIS), Business-as-usual Investment (BIS) and the Strengthening Investment Scenario (SIS) based on the improved Solow model and a CO₂ intensity model. The results reveal that the GDP of B&R region will cumulatively increase by 45.16 and 97.02 trillion USD, and the CO₂ will cumulatively decrease by 44.16 and 79.47 Gt by 2100, respectively, under BIS and SIS, compared with NIS. The cumulative decrease of CO₂ emissions, 44.16 and 79.47 Gt, will lead to global CO₂ concentration decrease by approximately 2.41 mL/m³ and 4.33 mL/m³ in 2100, respectively. Regionally, China’s investments have the most obvious role in promoting the economic development and CO₂ emission reductions of Southeast Asia and its surrounding areas. In the short term (2017-2050), China's investment may lead to a small increase in CO₂ emissions in Southeast Asia and its surrounding areas, India and the Central and Eastern Europe, but in the long term (2017-2100), China's investment will promote the reduction of CO₂ emissions in all regions, especially in Southeast Asia and surrounding areas and the Middle East Central Asia region. This shows that China's investment is conducive to promoting the green development of the B&R regions.     

凤凰大理石矿床地质特征及开发建议

凤凰大理石矿床属沉积碳酸盐岩类型,特大型矿床。它赋存于奥陶系中统的牯牛潭组和宝塔组地层中,矿体成层状,由三个矿层组成,分别产出“沱江绿”、“凤凰红”和“龟纹石”三种大理石品种,其物理性能良好,抗压强度为68.65—143.21MPa,抗折强度大于13.73MPa,容重2.73—2.78g/cm_3,吸水率0.20—0.42％,抗冻性能合格,加工性能和装饰性能良好,是一种优质的饰面石材。     

Does funds-based adaptation finance reach the most vulnerable countries?

The evolving architecture of global climate change adaptation finance is shifting towards fund mechanisms with competitive application and allocation principles. At the same time, prioritization of the most vulnerable countries is a key goal within this emerging architecture. The paper analyses whether the Green Climate Fund (GCF), by far the largest climate change fund, has so far delivered on its promise to prioritize the most vulnerable countries. For our analysis, we consider the USD 2.5 billion GCF funding allocated until the end of the first mobilization phase and disaggregate it project-by-project into its mitigation and adaptation related amounts. We then analyze the adaptation flows in terms of the recipient country’s level of vulnerability and institutional capacity. We further analyze whether funds are being accessed through independent national entities or international intermediaries and whether recipient countries have developing country priority status. The results show that funds-based adaptation finance creates an ambiguous picture: On the one hand, the GCF is on track in allocating its funds largely to country groups which its statutes aim to prioritize, particularly LDCs, African countries and SIDS. At the same time, the proposal process results in the fact that many countries with the highest climate vulnerability but weak government institutions and fragile state-bureaucracies have missed out and not been able to access project funding, mostly LDCs in Africa and conflict-ridden countries. Further, most countries have not yet been able to access project funds independently through their national entities, limiting direct access and country ownership – the strengthening of which is a major goal of the fund. The findings suggest that simplified approval tracks need to be strengthened in the emerging climate finance architecture so that populations in countries with the lowest institutional capacity but highest vulnerability are not being left behind in the long-run.     

Proposal for a poverty-adaptation-mitigation window within the Green Climate Fund

The stakes for alleviating poverty and avoiding unbridled climate change are inextricably linked. Climate change impacts will slow down and may even reverse trends in poverty reduction. The pathways consistent with global warming of no more than 2?°C require strategies for poverty alleviation to make allowance for the constraint of low-carbon development. Existing climate funds have failed to target poverty alleviation as a high-priority strategy for adaptation or as a component of low-carbon development. This article proposes a funding window as part of the Green Climate Fund in order to foster synergies targeting greater satisfaction of basic needs, while making allowance for adaptation and mitigation. This financial mechanism is based on indicators of the satisfaction of basic needs and could respond to the claims of the developing countries, which see alleviating poverty as the first priority in climate negotiations. It defines a country continuum, given that there are poor people everywhere; all developing countries are therefore eligible with a mechanism of this sort.

Policy relevance

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) calls for substantial emissions reductions and adaptation strategies over the next decades to reduce the high risks of severe impacts of climate change over the 21st century. Industrialized countries and developing countries alike recognize the need to mitigate climate change and to adapt to it. But they face many challenges that lead to an ‘emissions gap’ between an emissions level consistent with the 2?°C increase limit and the voluntary pledges that they have made thus far in the climate negotiations (United Nations Environment Programme. (2014). The Emissions Gap Report 2014. A UNEP synthesis report). In this arena, many developing countries underline that their first domestic priority is the satisfaction of basic needs. In the run-up to the next climate negotiations at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in Paris, the proposed poverty-adaptation-mitigation funding window could contribute to alleviate the conflict between development and climate goals in developing countries. In this sense, it could spur developing countries to integrate more ambitious emissions limitations pledges into their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions. This could in turn entice industrialized countries to act similarly. In the end, it could pave the way to an ambitious climate agreement in Paris at COP 21.     

Reduction of disparities in access to green spaces: Their geographic insertion and recreational functions matter

Green spaces (GS) have many functions that can moderate the climate change impact and help prevent disease and thus alleviate public health expenses in a context of aging societies. However, several socioeconomic, demographic and geographic processes may render the access to GS challenging. Moreover, it is often critical to know what type of GS service to develop at a specific place. Also, measurements accuracy issues could be critical for planning and decision making. As an example of what could happen in many other cities of different sizes, we modeled and compared the access to GS, including several of their specific functions, in the Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) of Montreal and Quebec City in Canada. We used the Quebec Integrated Chronic Disease Surveillance System (QICDSS) (average of 3 million people per year over 1996–2011) to measure over time, the proximity of each individual to the closest GS boundary using travel costs and spatial interaction models. ANOVA models and their corresponding base regressions were used to evaluate the statistical significance of the relationship of GS distances and surface to density, deprivation, gender and age, including interaction terms. The spatial clustering of the reduction of distances to GS was evaluated on a chronological basis. Unlike the larger CMA of Montreal, Québec City CMA showed greater equity in access to GS, largely due to the specific geographic insertion of linear GS. The CMA of Montreal showed an improvement in the access to GS which benefits the wealthy in the densest areas on the island of Montreal. Everything happens as if a green gentrification process affects the access to GS in Montreal. Our results suggest that for the promotion of GS as an important element of primary prevention in public health, both the quality or functions of GS and the geographic determinants of their access are of higher importance than a simple consideration of total GS surface per capita as often used by decision makers or public health promoters. They also underline the limits of standard measurements of attraction and accessibility and the complexity for large cities to promote environmental justice, given the complexity of their socio-demographic processes.     

A new method to calculate near-field radiation excited by heterogeneous fault rupture

This paper derives from the representation theory the formula for calculating the radiation excited by heterogene- ous fault rupture based on box-like discretization scheme. Preliminary validation indicates that our algorithm has very high computation precision and efficiency; therefore, it is a very practical tool to investigate strong ground motion problems. Additionally, the equations given in this study can also be used to invert the fault rupture proc- ess.     

经验格林函数法和遗传算法在震源谱研究中的应用

发展了传统的经验格林函数方法，将其与遗传算法结合起来用于地震震源谱的研究，以求得较大地震震源谱的高频衰减趋势的斜率。在此基础上先用遗传算法较为精确地搜索出较大地震的拐角频率，再用遗传算法对较大地震的振幅谱因衰减造成的损耗进行补偿，从而确定自震源至地震台传播途径上的介质品质因子Q值，最后给出了利用乌鲁木齐区域遥测数字地震台网资料测定Q值的范例。从计算结果得出乌鲁木齐至北天山一带的乌苏地区地震震源谱的高频衰减趋势满足ω^-2形式，Q值在480左右。