The worlds of tea and coffee: Patterns of consumption

Coffee and tea are both drunk in most countries, but typically one predominates. Coffee is the preferred drink in Europe and the Americas, tea elsewhere. Until the early eighteenth century coffee production and consumption was confined to the Islamic world, tea production to East Asia. European traders altered this pattern dramatically. The present pattern of coffee consumption is influenced by income per capita, that of tea is not. Religious influences played some part in the early development of both tea and coffee but have little relevance at the present. National factors have influenced wider patterns. British preference for tea was taken to all their colonies. In recent years fears about health have had some influence on coffee consumption. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Global impact of a climate treaty if the Human Development Index replaces GDP as a welfare proxy

This study explores the implications of shifting the narrative of climate policy evaluation from one of costs/benefits or economic growth to a message of improving social welfare. Focusing on the costs of mitigation and the associated impacts on gross domestic product (GDP) may translate into a widespread concern that a climate agreement will be very costly. This article considers the well-known Human Development Index (HDI) as an alternative criterion for judging the welfare effects of climate policy. We estimate what the maximum possible annual average increase in HDI welfare per tons of CO₂ would be within the carbon budget associated with limiting warming to 2°C over the period 2015–2050. Emission pathways are determined by a policy that allows the HDI of poor countries and their emissions to increase under a business-as-usual development path, while countries with a high HDI value (>0.8) have to restrain their emissions to ensure that the global temperature rise does not exceed 2°C. For comparison, the well-known multi-regional RICE model is used to assess GDP growth under the same climate change policy goals.

Policy relevance

This is the first study that shifts the narrative of climate policy evaluation from one of GDP growth to a message of improving social welfare, as captured by the HDI. This could make it easier for political leaders and climate negotiators to publicly commit themselves to ambitious carbon emission reduction goals, such as limiting global warming to 2°C, as in the (non-binding) agreement made at COP 21 in Paris in 2015. We find that if impacts are framed in terms of growth in HDI per t CO₂ emission per capita instead of in GDP, the HDI of poor countries and their emissions are allowed to increase under a business-as-usual development path, whereas countries with a high HDI (>0.8) must control emissions so that global temperature rise remains within 2°C. Importantly, a climate agreement is more attractive for rich countries under the HDI than the GDP frame. This is good news, as these countries have to make the major contribution to emissions reductions.     

基于分形的中国地均农畜产品虚拟水规模分布的时空演变研究

虚拟水是当今水科学的研究热点,被认为是解决粮食与水资源安全的重要策略。在测算中国各地区农畜产品虚拟水总量的基础上,计算出1996~2006年中国农畜产品虚拟水与耕地资源的基尼系数,表明二者地区差异不大且在逐年减小。运用位序-规模法则,探讨差异背后的分形特征。研究表明:中国地均农畜产品虚拟水体系不具有首位分布的特征;双对数回归方程拟合度较高,符合位序-规模分布;分维值D大于1,且逐年升高,地均农畜产品虚拟水规模分布整体差距在缩小,均衡程度在增强;规模分布呈双分形结构,体现出地均农畜产品虚拟水大规模省市发展较慢且辐射带动作用较弱,中小规模的省市比较发育且发展较快。本文旨在揭示地均农畜产品虚拟水的空间分异特征规律,为制定不同区域类型的农业发展决策提供相应的理论参考。     

1991-2010年中国大陆化石能源消费的CO2排放研究（英文）

本文采用IPCC推荐的表观消费量法计算了中国大陆30省区1991到2010年化石能源消费产生的CO2排放,发现:(1)排放总量由 2293.01Mt 增长到 7467.77Mt;(2)煤炭消费的排放比重最高达到79.98%;(3)人均排放量由 1.98t 增长至 5.57t;(4)CO2排放强度显著降低,由6.66 kg USD-1降至1.07kg USD-1,近年来趋于稳定;(5)区域发展不平衡始终存在,根据省际数据,在一些落后地区经济增长过度依赖于化石能源消费。关于CO2高排放,中国已经做出承诺并采取了行动。基于对可持续发展和全球气候变化不确定性的综合考虑,健康的产业结构、化石能源集约利用,以及区域发展平衡应更加受到重视。     

沈阳市资源环境与GDP增长的脱钩态势分析

基于资源环境压力与经济发展的相互耦合关系视角,基于脱钩理论构建了资源环境与经济增长的脱钩状态评价指标体系,引入生态足迹法并结合改进的弹性脱钩分析方法,探讨了沈阳市2002～2009年资源环境与经济发展的脱钩程度、时序演变及其综合脱钩程度等.研究结果表明：2002 ～ 2005年研究区经济增长导致资源环境压力逐渐增大,2005～2009年资源环境压力趋缓;整个时段内研究区资源环境与经济发展脱钩状态以相对脱钩为主,呈“相对脱钩4—强耦合—相对脱钩4—相对脱钩1”的演变趋势.     

Econometric analysis to differentiate effects of various ship safety inspections

This article provides a refined technique to measure and interpret variables associated with the quality of an inspection—be it port state control or vetting inspections towards the probability of a very serious, serious or less serious casualty. It concentrates on filtering out the effect of variables such as detention, the port state control regime that inspected the vessel, time in-between inspections, deficiencies found during an inspection and the effect of vetting inspections. The consensus amongst policy makers in the shipping industry is that data cannot be combined to target vessels. While this article does demonstrate that the decrease in the probability of casualty is stronger for the South American Region, the Indian Ocean Region and Australia versus North Europe, North America or the Caribbean, it also demonstrates that the data can be combined to target vessels for inspections. Since the time in-between inspections and detention is mostly not significant towards decreasing the probability of casualty, these results reflect the lack of coordination amongst port state control regimes and industry inspections. Due to this lack of coordination and trust, a ship might be inspected in several regimes during a relative short time period where the benefit of an inspection can be easily saturated. Our recommendation on direct policy implication is to promote the harmonization of inspection databases across port state control regimes, preferably with the coordination of the development of the Global Integrated Ship Information System (GISIS) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), to review the policy of a release of a vessel from detention and to increase cooperation amongst regimes with respect to the follow up of the rectification of deficiencies.     

基于夜间灯光和土地利用数据的云南沿边地区GDP空间差异性分析

云南沿边地区包括8个地州,共56个县,其中有25个县市与老挝、缅甸和越南直接毗邻,具有重要的地缘位置。本研究利用土地利用数据和夜间灯光数据在实现云南沿边地区GDP空间化的基础上,对GDP的空间分布格局进行深入探讨,这对缩小区域经济差异及促进地区共同发展具有一定的指导意义。采用土地利用数据对国内生产总值（Gross Domestic Product, GDP）数据的第一产业进行空间化拟合,采用DMSP/OLS夜间灯光数据对GDP的第二、三产业进行拟合,将第一产业和第二、三产业空间化拟合的结果相加,实现云南沿边地区1992-2013年的GDP的空间化拟合。在此基础上对云南沿边地区GDP空间分布差异进行分析。结果表明：① 土地利用数据对第一产业建模的效果较好,拟合的多期数据的相对误差均低于1.12%,采用夜间灯光数据,基于“分类回归”方法对第二、三产业拟合相对误差最大仅为6.404%,最终二者之和拟合的GDP拟合精度都较好,相对误差最大仅为4.241%;② 22期GDP数据在空间分布上均呈现正的相关性,且均为显著集聚;③ GDP空间分布局部集聚的高值-高值区域集中在开远、蒙自等县域,低值-低值地区集中在绿春、西蒙等地区;④ 云南沿边地区县域之间的经济差异在1992-1996年逐渐增强,1996年之后,经济差异波动缩小,空间关联效应呈现波动式的增强和减弱;⑤ 云南沿边地区的三维插值结果均呈现出西北至东南一线的“洼地-丘陵-平地-高峰”地势变化格局,沿边地区的东南角地区即红河州的建水、个旧和开远等县市的GDP最高,“丘陵”地势主要集中在腾冲、保山市以及最南部的景洪地区,“洼地-平地”地势主要分布在沿边地区西北角的贡山和福贡等县域、西南角的西蒙和孟连等县及中部区域的绿春和江城县等地区。     

Estimating time-based instantaneous total mortality rate based on the age-structured abundance index

The instantaneous total mortality rate(Z) of a fish population is one of the important parameters in fisheries stock assessment. The estimation of Z is crucial to fish population dynamics analysis,abundance and catch forecast,and fisheries management. A catch curve-based method for estimating time-based Z and its change trend from catch per unit effort(CPUE) data of multiple cohorts is developed. Unlike the traditional catch-curve method,the method developed here does not need the assumption of constant Z throughout the time,but the Z values in n continuous years are assumed constant,and then the Z values in different n continuous years are estimated using the age-based CPUE data within these years. The results of the simulation analyses show that the trends of the estimated time-based Z are consistent with the trends of the true Z,and the estimated rates of change from this approach are close to the true change rates(the relative differences between the change rates of the estimated Z and the true Z are smaller than 10%). Variations of both Z and recruitment can affect the estimates of Z value and the trend of Z. The most appropriate value of n can be different given the effects of different factors. Therefore,the appropriate value of n for different fisheries should be determined through a simulation analysis as we demonstrated in this study. Further analyses suggested that selectivity and age estimation are also two factors that can affect the estimated Z values if there is error in either of them,but the estimated change rates of Z are still close to the true change rates. We also applied this approach to the Atlantic cod(G adus morhua) fishery of eastern Newfoundland and Labrador from 1983 to 1997,and obtained reasonable estimates of time-based Z.     

CHINA: A COUNTRY OF THE THIRD WORLD OR THE THIRD GREAT POWER?

l.TheRapidEcono1ulcDevelopmentofCho1aSinceeconoAncreformandopen-doorpolicy,Cltinahasgrownrapidly.GDPinl993is3.4tilllesasmuChasti1atinl978.Annualgrowtlrateis9.2percent.li1ti1isresped,itisworthwniletostudyWhereChinaislocatedinti1eecononticltistoryoftheworld,andwhatthetrendofcurrentdeveoPmentwillChangeinto.Indevelopedcountriesofh1eWest,whentherateofecononhcdevelopmotwasthelligheSt,itwasnotltigherti1anthatofCltina'seconol11icdevelopmentafterreforl11andopen-doorpolicy.U.K.,forexample,Whichh…