Does leadership promote cooperation in climate change mitigation policy?

In the run-up to the Copenhagen negotiations, commentators, politicians and the public had great expectations of some state taking the lead towards a new global climate deal. Is there something in such a call for leadership? In two steps, this article provides an empirically informed answer to that question. The first part develops a theoretical account of the relation between leadership and cooperation in international climate change mitigation policy (ICCMP). Starting from a five-dimensional leadership account and a simple game-theoretical analysis of the impediments to cooperation, it is predicted that (1) increased leadership facilitates cooperation in ICCMP and (2) different leadership modes contribute to cooperation in varying degrees. The second part tests these hypotheses: a new leadership index measures the extent to which the EU exhibited leadership at the negotiations of the Conference of the Parties (COP) between 1995 and 2008. This positively correlates with the level of cooperation arrived at. The result also holds for four out of five leadership modes.     

COMMENTS ON “SPATIAL VARIATION OF HILLSLOPE PROFILES IN THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU,KENTUCKY” BY EDMUND B. WOOOS

Book Reviewed in this article:

Main Street: Northeastern Oregon: The Founding and Development of Small Towns. Barbara Ruth Bailey.

Food Politics: The Regional Conflict. David N. Balaam and Michael J. Carey, eds.

The International Economy and Industrial Development: Trade and Investment in the Third World. R. Ballance, J. Ansari and H. Singer.

Neighborhoods in Urban America. Ronald H. Bayor, ed.

The English Heartland. By Robert Beckinsale and Monica Beckinsale.

Regional Dimensions of Industrial Policy. Michael E. Bell and Paul S. Lande, eds.

Tension Areas of the World. D. Gordon Bennett, ed.

Latin America: an Introductory Survey. B. W. Blouet and O. M. Blouet, eds.

Integration and Division: Geographical Perspectives on the Northern Ireland Problem. Frederick W. Boal and J. Neville H. Douglas, eds.

Energy and Land Use. Robert W. Burchell and David Listokin, eds.

Slopes and Weathering. Michael Clarke and John Small.

Alaska's Rural Development. Peter G. Cornwall and Gerald McBeath, eds.

The Politics of Park Design: A History of Urban Parks in America. Galen Cranz.

World Congress on Land Policy, 1980, Proceedings. Matthew Cullen and Sharon Woolery, eds.

Oregon Divided: A Regional Geography. Samuel N. Dicken and Emily F. Dicken.

Urban Food Marketing and Third World Rural Development. T. Scarlett Epstein.

South Africa: Spatial Frameworks for Development. T. J. D. Fair.

Institutions and Geographical Patterns. Robin Flowerdew, ed.

Industrialization of U.S. Agriculture, An Interpretive Atlas. Howard F. Gregor.

Planning Theory: Prospects for the 1980s. Patsy Healy, Glen McDougall and Michael J. Thomas, eds.

Neighborhood Mobilization: Redevelopment and Response. Jeffrey R. Henig.

The American Urban System: A Geographical Perspective. R. J. Johnston.

Climate, History and the Modern World. Hubert H. Lamb.

Climate and History: Studies in Past Climates and Their Impact on Man. T. M. L. Wigley, M. J. Ingram and G. Farmer.

China: Railways and Agricultural Development, 1875–1935. Ernest P. Liang.

A Desirable Energy Future—A National Perspective. Robert S. Livingston, T. D. Anderson, T. M. Besmann, M. Olszewski, A. M. Perry, and C. D. West.

Topothesia: Essays Presented to T. S. Ó Máille. B. S. Mac Aodha, ed.

Transportation for the Poor: Research in Rural Mobility. Hal S. Maggied.

Land Uses in American Cities. Harold M. Mayer and Charles R. Haves.

Industrial Organisation and Location. Philip McDermott and Michael Taylor.

Human Adaptability: an Introduction to Ecological Anthropology. Emilio F. Moran.

Regional Analysis and the New International Division of Labor. Frank Moulaert and Patricia W. Salinas, eds.

The Nuclear War Atlas. Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada:

Urbanization and Environmental Quality. Isao Orishimo.

The Garden of Eden: The Botanic Garden and the Re-Creation of Paradise. John Prest.

Earthfire, The Eruption of Mount St. Helens. Charles Rosenfeld and Robert Cooke.

Contest for the South China Sea. Marwyn S. Samuels.

The Future of the Wetlands: Assessing Visual-Cultural Values. Richard C. Smardon, ed.

Tucson: the Life and Times of An American City. C. L. Sonnichsen.

The Geography of Multinationals. Michael Taylor and Nigel Thrift, eds.

Impact of Marine Pollution on Society. Virginia Tippie and Dana Kester.

Reviving the Industrial City: the Politics of Urban Renewal in Lyon and Birmingham. Jerry A. Webman.

Andean Reflections: Letters from Carl O. Sauer While on a South American Trip under a Grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, 1942. Robert C. West, ed.

Cartographic Drawing with Computers. P. Yoeli.     

THE PATTERN OF PROPERTY-TAX EXEMPTIONS IN A METROPOLITAN FISCAL SETTING

The fiscal-disparities approach to understanding the fiscal problems of many older American central cities neglects the role of property-tax exemptions. This paper, grounded in the metropolitan fiscal setting of Onondaga County and Syracuse, New York, outlines an argument that emphasizes the link between property-tax exemptions, city age, and regional centrality. Central cities are seen as suffering from fiscal burdens imposed partly by their growth as regional centers. It is concluded that, when the financial problems of central cities are being examined, these cities should not be treated as fiscal equivalents to other metropolitan political units but that due regard should be given to their particular historical development.     

The discovery of a new family Sunopteridae fam.nov.(Insecta: Protorthoptera) from Shaanxi Province,China

The fossil specimens discussed in this paper were collected from the grayish green mudstone and shale in the upper part of Lower Member of Middle Triassic Tongchuan Formation (T2t) in Shaanxi Province, China. Venationary feature correlation with old families and taxonomic discussion show that, among them, one specimen can be assigned to a new family - Sunopteridae fam. nov., which includes a new genus and species and can be referred to Order Protorthoptera Handlirsch, 1906 in taxonomic position, thus belonging to a new member of the Tongchuan Entomoassemblage of Shaanxi Entomofauna (belonging to Shaanxi Biota). The discovery of the new family and its new genus and species has certain reference values as follows: ① The discovery of the new family and its new genus and species fills firstly the vacancy in the protorthopterous field of China; ② In the meantime, it fills also the gaps of the valuable Middle Triassic protorthopterous fossil specimens between Late Carboniferous and Late Triassic Epochs in the world; ③ Judging from venationary features and taxonomic position, especially in the course of the formation of the merged vein of M and Cu, it formed a new unique and particular style of merged vein M+Cu. It not only is unique and simple, but also can be distinguished from the above mentioned 10 old families, thus providing important taxonomic evidence.     

Balkas – a new look at a common landform of the East European Plain,from a Quaternary perspective

Balkas (large Quaternary gullies) of the south‐western part of the East European Plain (and their analogues in Central and Western Europe) are considered in terms of their geomorphology, lithology, sedimentology, modern surface processes, stratigraphy and palaeogeography. Features attributed to balkas in comparison with regular gullies and small river valleys are described. Balkas are widespread elements of the modern landscape with the same characteristic gentle‐concave bottom as regular gullies, and with or without weakly incised river channels. Buried gully incisions of different ages (post‐Gelasian) with the same shape are also revealed below modern Balkas. They are infilled by characteristic balka alluvial, slope and even lacustrine‐bog deposits, in places representing compound sequences of fluvial‐aeolian sedimentation. The fluvial part reflects multiple series of ephemeral episodes of increased water and sediment supply within temporary streams. Two conspicuous series supposedly fall within the final stages of the Dnieper (late Middle Pleistocene) and Valdai (Late Pleistocene) glaciations. Different ideas concerning the increase of surface runoff and erodibility of soils that might favour active balkas under conditions of land‐ice decay and permafrost, including its degradation, are discussed. The development of balkas included relatively short phases of incision and accumulation interrupted by much longer periods of inactivity, when they were subjected to surface processes in a subaerial environment or left as a relic. However, during active phases they served as important and powerful depositories and arteries of rill–gully–balka sedimentation systems, collecting and transmitting eroded material to the river valleys. These phases are related to climatic oscillations and were to some degree independent of fluvial processes affecting the permanent streams. Most of the Middle‐Late Pleistocene balkas retained their primary features, having subsequently been incorporated into the erosional network. In contrast, some of them were totally infilled and disappeared from the landscape. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Discrimination of the phenotypic sardine Sardina pilchardus stocks off the Moroccan Atlantic coast using a morphometric analysis

Morphometric variation can be very useful for discriminating ‘phenotypic stocks’ as groups with similar life-history traits. Such groups are of great importance for accurate population-dynamics modelling for purposes of fishery stock assessment and management, independent of their genetic differences or similarities. This study is a contribution to the stock identification of the sardine Sardina pilchardus off the Moroccan Atlantic coast. The objectives were to (i) assess whether specimens from stocks defined by the FAO correspond to different morphotypes, and (ii) compare the obtained results with those recently published on the genetic variability of the studied populations. Morphometric analyses, using truss variables and landmarks data from sardine sampled from four widely spaced ports of landing along the Moroccan Atlantic coast (from north to south: Larache, Safi, Tantan and Dakhla), were carried out using multivariate and geometric approaches. Principal components analysis of truss variables and cluster analysis of the average shape of the sardine revealed the existence of three distinct morphotypes: ‘Larache,’ ‘Safi–Tantan’ and ‘Dakhla.’ These correspond well with the FAO’s stock subdivision. The morphometric variation might be related to the mesoscale hydrodynamic characteristics of the study area. However, these morphometric results do not fully accord with recently published data on genetic variability of the species. Those data indicated the genetic singularity of the Safi population, which could have led to the historical collapse of that sardine stock in the 1970s. Additional work is needed to validate the obtained results by taking into account seasonal variations and transitional areas between stocks.     

平和长远、散中见聚:欧华文学的历史进程和现状

欧华文学分布于欧洲19个国家,有着一种文化中和的历史特质,既全身心融入世界文化海洋,又较自然地沟通于民族文化传统,表现出平和长远的文化建设的姿态。对异质文化的互补观照,对中西"第三元"文化的自觉探寻,对"灵魂的语言"和"工具的语言"的沟通,都使得欧华文学达到了很高的文学境界。     

The geo-politics of Brexit,the euro and the City of London

In this review, we call for more engagement with the geo-political dimension of the finance economy that epitomises the 21st-century capitalist order within the European Union. Using the example of financial clearing and settlement, key processes in global trade and finance mechanisms in which London leads the world, we discuss the entangled political and economic dimensions in the shadow of Brexit to come, and its potential impact on the City’s complex financial ecosystem. The aim here is not to consult the crystal ball and predict London’s future as a financial centre. Yet, euro clearing is of geo-political relevance: if the UK leaves the EU, euro clearing would be taking place outside of the ECB’s regulatory space of intervention. This can become highly problematic, as the nominal euro sums involved in a major crisis are immense. We believe that these processes illustrate the pressing need to engage with finance’s geo-economics and geo-politics in more depth, both empirically and conceptually.     

Stir bar sorptive extraction-thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry: An effective tool for determining persistent organic pollutants and nonylphenol in coastal waters in compliance with existing Directives

A multi-residual method based on stir bar sorptive extraction coupled with thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SBSE-TD-GC-MS) has been developed to measure 49 organic pollutants (organochlorine pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and nonylphenol) in seawater. Using 100 ml of water, the method exhibited good linearity, with recoveries between 86% and 118% and relative standard deviation between 2% and 24% for almost all compounds. The method was applied to determine target contaminants in Catalonian seawater, including coastal areas, ports and desalination plant feed water. Overall individual compound levels oscillated between 0.16 and 597 ng l⁻¹; PAHs and nonylpenol were the compounds found at the highest concentrations. The method provided LODs between 0.011 and 2.5 ng l⁻¹, lower than the Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) fixed by Directive 2008/105/EC. In compliance with the directive, this method can be used as a tool to survey target compounds and is aimed at protecting coastal ecosystems from chemical pollution.