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。     

南京栖霞山地质环境的开发和保护

地质环境是自然环境的一部分,是人类赖以生存的客观地质实体。地质环境的开发利用,保护与改造,在现实生活中往往是比较突出的矛盾。著名的佛教胜地,风景旅游区和重要的多金属矿产基地的南京栖霞山,在这方面就存在许多问题。对之应采取护岸工程,治水,治支,治坡,保护和改造地质环境,限制地下水的开采量,保持地下水资源的供需平衡等措施,是根治栖霞山地质环境问题的基本对策。     

大型天然水体的环境效应研究

结合典型实例,论述大型天然水体－－堰塞湖从形成到消亡过程中产生的灾害链和环境效应链,包括堰塞湖的淹没、边岸再造、堰塞沉积物、次生洪水、永久性不良地质环境的灾害和环境效应对人民生命财产的威胁,以及对水利水电、航运、公路和铁路工程的不良影响。     

滨海城市环境工程地质问题的成因系统分析

滨海城市是我国经济最发达的地区,近年来经济与城市建设均得到迅速发展,城市土地开发力度加大,由此引起的环境工程地质问题也日趋严重。本文分析了我国滨海城市环境工程地质问题的主要类型,对环境工程地质问题的成因系统进行了研究。     

论喀斯特环境的脆弱性

占全球陆地面积15%,居住着近10亿人口的喀斯特区域,是一个特殊的自然环境。在环境科学和喀斯特学间的互相渗透和交叉,产生了喀斯特环境学这一边缘分支学科。本文从系统论的观点、人地关系角度简要地论述了喀斯特环境的结构、功能和特性,并以贵州为例,对喀斯特环境脆弱性问题进行了分析,笔者认为:环境生态系统变异敏感度高,环境容量低,灾变承受阈值弹性小,是喀斯特环境脆弱性的最本质特征。     

First international payment for marine ecosystem services: The case of the Banc d’Arguin National Park,Mauritania

This article investigates whether the European Union-Mauritania fisheries agreement, which allocates part of the Europe's financial contribution to the conservation of marine ecosystems located within the Banc d’Arguin National Park, can be regarded as a payment for ecosystem service. A framework for qualification as such payment scheme was established based on an extensive literature review. The criteria identified for the qualification as a payment to ecosystem service pertain to: (1) the definition of the ecosystem service(s) involved; (2) the mechanism involved by the payment; and (3) the nature of the transaction. Interviews with local beneficiaries and subsequent data analysis led to the conclusion that this mechanism could be regarded as a payment to ecosystem service and so, through the European Union-Mauritania Fisheries agreement, the European Union were investing to protect local fish resources that could be exploited by its fishing fleet. This agreement, involving the first International Payment to Ecosystem Service of this kind, marks an important step towards better consideration of marine conservation in international public policy and foreign fishing policy in particular. However, this payment is small when compared to revenues generated through the exploitation of developing countries’ fishing grounds by fishing countries. Nevertheless it opens the door for more detailed applications of payment to ecosystem service schemes to other ecosystems contexts, and can provide a useful alternative source of financing of marine biodiversity conservation.     

Notions of justice held by stakeholders of the Newfoundland fishery

Justice is an important and contested issue in the governance of fish stocks threatened by overexploitation. This study identifies the notions of justice held by stakeholders of the fishery in Newfoundland, Canada, using qualitative interviews, and interprets these notions in light of established justice theories. The interviews are analysed using inductive and deductive coding. A central result is that inshore fishers are seen as the main claim holders, with a claim to participate and be listened to, and the opportunity to make a living from the fishery. Moreover, rules play an important role in the justice notions of the interview partners, and their justice notions are clearly plural. The stakeholder notions of justice in the Newfoundland fishery resonate with the emphasis on recognition, participation and distribution as important aspects of justice within the environmental justice approach [59-61] (Schlosberg 2004, 2007, 2013).     

Personal experience with climate change predicts intentions to act

The public's willingness to engage in mitigation actions has not received as much attention as the level of belief in Global Warming (GW), especially on the international stage. Research in Western nations indicates that people systematically misunderstand GW and the actions required for mitigation. Important factors that influence judgments about mitigation actions include personal experiences, beliefs, knowledge, values, and worldviews. We present results of an international survey (25 samples from 24 countries) measuring general intentions to act and willingness to engage in specific actions. Our analysis reveals that endorsement of specific actions is (a) lower than general endorsement of mitigation, (b) accompanied by higher intra-individual variance, and (c) more strongly related to personal experiences with GW. This pattern can be attributed to the compatibility between the proximal construal of specific actions and the nature of the personal experience. Lastly we provide recommendations on how these findings can be used to encourage mitigation action.     

Medium-term responses of rocky bottoms to sewage discharges from a deepwater outfall in the NE Atlantic

An investigation on the effects of deepwater outfall discharges on the status of rocky reef communities was carried out. The sanitation system was found to be an environmentally suitable option for the protection of those habitats situated in high energy coastal environments. Sediments occurring between the predominating rocky substrates showed low values of the fine fraction (<63microm) and organic matter content. In addition, high average concentrations of Cd, Hg and Zn were found in these sediments, though these values were similar to those registered in non-affected sites, far away from the outfall. On the other hand, those assemblages typical of hard substrates that settled near the outfall showed an increase in total richness and abundance of macroinvertebrates. Moreover, the average number of species of each taxonomic group, a good indicator of the maintenance of the previous trophic structure, only varied considerably over time at the rip-rap protection. In a global context, those changes were not directly related to the discharge disturbances, but to the natural variability or the successional processes occurring within those communities. Only communities dwelling in the rip-rap protection area were affected by the proximity of the discharges.     

Performing environmental governance

This essay reflects on issues of researcher positionality within participant observation and action research, and the specific methodological issues surrounding research on neoliberal governance strategies, using my experience at the US Environmental Protection Agency as case material. Although I was initially concerned about participating with the anti-progressive Bush Administration, I attempted to adopt the interests and subjectivity of an environmental bureaucrat. Doing so proved to be an extremely effective way of exploring the multi-vocality and cross-cutting interests constituting the state, which often appears from the outside to be a policy monolith. Participant research among elites in the neoliberal state is an effective way to observe such complexity. It became apparent that, because mainstream economics tends to adopt a totalizing epistemology, both its casual and dogmatic adherents usually do not conceive of a coherent external critique. This often means that researchers of any theoretical background can be quite frank concerning their purposes, background, and interests, even as participants.