Achieving additional emission reductions under a cap-and-trade scheme

Over the last decade, cap-and-trade emissions schemes have emerged as one of the favoured policy instruments for reducing GHG emissions. An inherent design feature of cap-and-trade schemes is that, once the cap on emissions has been set, no additional reductions beyond this level can be provided by the actions of those individuals, organizations and governments within the covered sectors. Thus, the emissions cap constitutes an emissions floor. This feature has been claimed by some to have undesirable implications, in that it discourages ethically motivated mitigation actions and preempts the possibility that local, state and national governments can take additional mitigation action in the context of weak national or regional targets. These criticisms have become prominent in Australia and the US within the public debate regarding the adoption of an emissions trading scheme (ETS). These criticisms and their potential solutions are reviewed. A set-aside reserve is proposed to automatically retire ETS permits, which would correspond to verified and additional emissions reductions. This minimizes the possibility that ethically motivated mitigation actions are discouraged, allows for additional action by other levels of government, while providing transparency to other market participants on the level of permit retirements.     

Aerosol-Cloud-Precipitation Interactions in a Closed-cell and Non-homogenous MBL Stratocumulus Cloud

A closed-cell marine stratocumulus case during the Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) aircraft field campaign is selected to examine the heterogeneities of cloud and drizzle microphysical properties and the aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions. The spatial and vertical variabilities of cloud and drizzle microphysics are found in two different sets of flight legs: Leg-1 and Leg-2, which are parallel and perpendicular to the cloud propagation, respectively. The cloud along Leg-2 was close to adiabatic, where cloud-droplet effective radius and liquid water content linearly increase from cloud base to cloud top with less drizzle. The cloud along Leg-1 was sub-adiabatic with lower cloud-droplet number concentration and larger cloud-droplet effective, but higher drizzle droplet number concentration, larger drizzle droplet median diameter and drizzle liquid water content. The heavier drizzle frequency and intensity on Leg-1 were enhanced by the collision-coalescence processes within cloud due to strong turbulence. The sub-cloud precipitation rate on Leg-1 was significantly higher than that along Leg-2. As a result, the sub-cloud accumulation mode aerosols and CCN on Leg-1 were depleted, but the coarse model aerosols increased. This further leads to a counter-intuitive phenomenon that the CCN is less than cloud-droplet number concentration for Leg-1. The average CCN loss rates are ?3.89 \begin{document}$\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}\;{\mathrm{h}}^{-1}$\end{document} and ?0.77 \begin{document}$\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}\;{\mathrm{h}}^{-1}$\end{document} on Leg-1 and Leg-2, respectively. The cloud and drizzle heterogeneities inside the same stratocumulus can significantly alter the sub-cloud aerosols and CCN budget. Hence it should be treated with caution in the aircraft assessment of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions.     

等离子体层嘶声对槽区电子的弹跳共振散射效应

等离子体波动与带电粒子的共振相互作用一直是磁层物理学的研究热点.作为一种常见的宽频、右旋极化等离子体波动, 等离子体层嘶声在地球磁层电子的损失过程中起到了重要作用.其中, 嘶声波对电子的回旋共振散射被认为是辐射带槽区形成的主要机制, 而人们对嘶声波与电子的弹跳共振机制的理解却相对匮乏.本文旨在细致研究嘶声波与槽区电子的弹跳共振相互作用, 明确其对槽区电子动态演化过程的影响.研究发现, 嘶声波与电子的弹跳共振可以造成槽区电子在高投掷角(80°~90°)处明显的投掷角扩散.相比于低能(＜~100 keV)电子, 嘶声波引起的高能(＞~100 keV)电子的弹跳共振效应明显更强.槽区电子的弹跳共振投掷角扩散系数对于L-shell、地磁活动条件和共振阶数都有着很强的依赖性.随着L-shell的增大和地磁活动的增强, 嘶声波对电子的弹跳共振散射效应显著增强.对于低能电子, 共振阶数对总散射系数的贡献随阶数的升高而增大; 而对于低L-shell处的高能电子, 共振阶数对总散射系数的贡献随阶数的升高而呈现先增大后减小的趋势.嘶声波与槽区电子的弹跳共振相互作用可以有效地将高投掷角电子散射到较低的投掷角上, 进而在回旋共振机制的协助下将它们散射到损失锥中.因此, 未来在地球槽区电子动力学建模过程中有必要考虑等离子体层嘶声对电子的弹跳共振散射效应.

     

三角褐指藻及其藻际细菌对不同无机氮源的响应

海洋生态系统中,浮游植物和细菌之间的相互作用是影响营养盐供应和再生、海洋初级生产力和生物地球化学循环的基本生态关系.为研究营养盐、浮游植物和细菌之间的关系,在实验室内培养条件下,通过改变氮源的形态(硝态氮和铵态氮)和浓度,研究海洋浮游植物三角褐指藻(Phaeodactylum tricornutum)的藻际细菌在不同营...     

Growth of Black Holes and Their Host Spheroids in （Sub）mm-loud High-Redshift QSOs

We study the growth of black holes and stellar population in spheroids at high redshift using several （sub）mm-loud QSO samples. Applying the same criteria established in an earlier work, we find that, similar to IR QSOs at low redshift, the far-infrared emission of these （sub）mm-loud QSOs mainly originates from dust heated by starbursts. By combining low-z IR QSOs and high-z （sub）mm-loud QSOs, we find a trend that the star formation rate （M＊） increases with the accretion rate （Mace）. We compare the values of M＊/Macc for submm emitting galaxies （SMGs）, far-infrared ultraluminous/hypeduminous QSOs and typical QSOs, and construct a likely evolution scenario for these objects. The （sub）mm-loud QSO transition phase has both high Macc and M＊ and hence is important for establishing the correlation between the masses of black holes and spheroids.     

Galvanic interactions between galena–sphalerite and their reactivity

The galvanic effect between the main associated mineralogical phases in a mineral sphalerite concentrate was evaluated using an alternative methodology. Comparative voltammetric studies were performed between high purity galena mineral (94.65%) and sphalerite concentrate (content of 78.11% sphalerite, ZnS; 13.64% galena, PbS; 0.57% chalcopyrite, CuFeS₂; 0.41% cadmium sulfide, CdS; and 0.11% arsenopyrite, FeAsS) using carbon paste electrodes (CPE) in order to identify galvanic interactions that affect their reactivity. The electrolyte was an aqueous solution of 0.1 M NaNO₃ (pH 6.5). The results showed that, in sphalerite concentrate, the electrochemical reactivity of the galena was diminished and displaced to more positive potentials with respect to the high purity galena mineral response. This behavior can be attributed to the galvanic protection offered by the sphalerite on the galena, thereby avoiding its free oxidation. On the other hand, sphalerite oxidation was diminished by the formation of a passive products film that is dissolved to more positive potentials which provokes oxidation of other minerals like CuFeS₂, (Zn,Cd)S and FeAsS present in a minor proportion in the sphalerite concentrate.     

Natural expansion and experimental manipulation of seagrass (Zostera spp.) abundance and the response of infaunal invertebrates

A study of an expanding seagrass bed on the south-west coast of British Columbia, Canada involved documentation and explanation of the pattern of expansion of the vegetation as well as documentation and experimental investigation of the accompanying changes in the distribution of infaunal invertebrates. Expansion followed a major environmental change, improved water clarity initiated in 1969 when a causeway blocked access to the site for silty Fraser River water. The original eelgrass (Zostera marina) bed expanded landward over 30 m year⁻¹, probably causing more and more water to be retained in the bed at low tide and thus improving its own habitat. More rapid expansion occurred from 1979–1983 after Z.japonica colonized at the landward edge of the eelgrass bed and in a separate intertidal area. Expansion ceased around 1983 coincident with, but probably independent of, further construction.Burrowing shrimp (Callianassa californiensis) decreased in abundance between 1977 and 1984 in areas where the two seagrasses colonized. Short-term experiment over one summer and fall showed that removal of all shoots allowed adult shrimp and tube worms to colonize the sediment while addition of shoots of Z. japonica by transplanting caused temporary decreases in shrimp abundance. After a few weeks an established shrimp population destroyed the transplants. Among reasonable alternate hypotheses for the decline in Callianassa, the effect of sediment texture can be eliminated, but either direct negative effects of seagrass, i.e. inhibition of the burrowing of adult shrimp or of settlement of juveniles, or indirect effects, i.e. the harboring of more predators of shrimp in seagrass beds, deserve further study.