Greenhouse gas emission mitigation plan for the State of Israel: strategies,incentives and reporting

In the context of the negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its accompanying Kyoto Protocol, participating nations have recognized the need for formulating Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs). These NAMAs allow countries to take into account their national circumstances and to construct measures to mitigate GHG emissions across economic sectors. Israel has declared to the UN that it would strive to reduce its GHG emissions by 20% in the year 2020 relative to a ‘business as usual' scenario. With its growing population and an expanding economy, the national GHG mitigation plan was developed to draw a course for steering the Israeli economy into a low-carbon future while accommodating continued economic growth. The article describes relevant policy measures, designed to aid in the implementation of the plan and compares them with measures being undertaken by different countries. Emphasis is placed on analysing the progress to date, opportunities and barriers to attaining the ultimate GHG emissions reduction goals. The objective of this article is to contribute to the knowledge base of effective approaches for GHG emissions reduction. We emphasize the integrated approach of planning and implementation that could be especially useful for developing countries or countries with economies in transition, as well as for developed countries. Yet, in the article we argue that NAMAs’ success hinges on structured tracking of progress according to emerging global consensus standards such as the GHG Protocol Mitigation Goals Standard.

Policy relevance:

The study is consistent with the NAMA concept, enabling a country to adopt a ‘climate action plan’ that contributes to its sustainable development, while enabled by technology and being fiscally sound.

The analysis shows that although NAMAs have been framed in terms of projects, policies, and goals, current methodologies allow only the calculation of emission reductions that can be attributed to distinct projects. Currently, no international guidance exists for quantifying emissions reduction from policy-based NAMAs, making it difficult to track and validate progress. This gap could be addressed by an assessment framework that we have tested, as part of a World Resources Institute pilot study for an emerging voluntary global standard.     

Going green or going away: Environmental regulation,economic geography and firms’ strategies in China’s pollution-intensive industries

The high-growth, resource- and pollution-intensive industrialization model that China has pursued has caused severe environmental pollution and deterioration, particularly in a number of clusters in the coastal regions of East and Southeast China, where the Reform and Opening-up policies first started. The lack of uptake of environmental norms/values, deficit of regulatory enforcement of environmental policies, and insufficient institutional capacity have been compounding factors. As environmental standards were raised by China’s central government, the enforcement of environmental regulation has been compromised more in inland China than in coastal regions, due to China’s “decentralized governance structure” and regional disparity in terms of both economic development and environmental pollution. This paper therefore argues that rising environmental regulations, as well as firm characteristics, regional hub effect and political environment, have all been particularly important in forcing China’s pollution-intensive enterprises to restructure their production, through innovation, upgrading, geographical relocation, outsourcing and plant closure, especially in China’s coastal regions. It contributes to recent studies by developing a heuristic analytical framework that aims to be sensitive to the impacts of environmental regulation, political environment and regional hub effect over firm restructuring, but which does so by stressing these impacts are simultaneously inflected by the nature and attributes of firms. The empirical analysis suggests a roughly inverted “U”-shaped relationship between firm relocation tendency and firm size (or firm capability), resulting from complex interactions between political environment, regional hub effect and environmental regulation.     

城市商业中心特色综合体研究——朝阳天马集团卫生学校地块商住综合体设计

从商业策划的角度介绍了朝阳天马集团卫生学校地块商住综合体设计的总体构思和特点,该项目欲在朝阳最重要的朝阳大街上建造地产的新标志,使之成为城市的重要节点。     

河南\

随机抽查统计了大气科学类18种核心期刊和15种省级刊物中的50期共计605篇论文,发现38%左右的关键词或摘要撰写存在欠规范的问题。为了提高学术论文的撰写质量,对大气科学类学术论文中关键词标引和摘要撰写存在的问题及解决方法进行了探讨。研究表明：关键词主要存在选用通用词、漏选关键词、标引深度不合适、排列顺序混乱等不足,摘要比较常见的问题则表现在基本要素残缺、嵌入不当信息、结果（结论）笼统空泛。该研究指出：关键词的选取以《汉语主题词表》中的叙词为主,可适当搭配新型交叉学科、新理论、新技术中出现的科技术语和专有名词,忌选通用词;应遵循“选准、选全”的原则,从题名、摘要、层次标题、结论乃至正文中提取能完整表达论文主题、具有检索价值的主题词,以4~5个为宜;其排序应遵循一定的逻辑规则。摘要应包含目的、方法、结果、结论四要素;避免使用第一人称、嵌入背景知识、自我见解和主观评价;结果（结论）部分要逻辑清晰、言之有物、定量直观,让读者能透过研究结果窥见论文的核心价值。该文还提出了提炼摘要四要素的四个步骤及大气科学类摘要的三种常见写作格式。

     

Droughts and famines: The underlying factors and the causal links among agro-pastoral households in semi-arid Makueni district, Kenya

Famines are often linked to drought in semi-arid areas of Sub-Saharan Africa where not only pastoralists, but also increasingly agro-pastoralists are affected. This study addresses the interplay between drought and famine in the rural semi-arid areas of Makueni district, Kenya, by examining whether, and how crop production conditions and agro-pastoral strategies predispose smallholder households to drought-triggered food insecurity. If this hypothesis holds, then approaches to deal with drought and famine have to target factors causing household food insecurity during non-drought periods. Data from a longitudinal survey of 127 households, interviews, workshops, and daily rainfall records (1961–2003) were analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. This integrated approach confirms the above hypothesis and reveals that factors other than rainfall, like asset and labour constraints, inadequate policy enforcement, as well as the poverty-driven inability to adopt risk-averse production systems play a key role. When linking these factors to the high rainfall variability, farmer-relevant definitions and forecasts of drought have to be applied.     

环渤海地区海(咸)水入侵特征与防治对策

本文中阐述了环渤海沿海地区海（成）水入侵的主要方式、发展进程、影响因素等基本特征,提出海（成）水入侵的综合防治对策。研究区海（成）水入侵主要有面状、带状、脉状或树枝状和越流等4种入侵方式。气候、地形地貌、地质与水文地质是发生海（成）水入侵的基础条件,地下水超采等人类不合理工程经济活动是诱发海（成）水入侵的主要原因。通过调整产业结构、建立节水型社会体系,合理规划利用水土资源,建造阻成蓄淡工程,跨流域引水,以及建立健全监测预警系统等综合措施,防止海（成）水入侵的发展。     

从东江调水后契爷石水库的水质和浮游植物群落结构特征

本文比较了太湖梅梁湾敞水区2004年秋季渔汛期刀鲚(Coilia ectenes)和间下鱵(Hyporhamphus intermedius)的食性,同时对不同食物的重要性、选择性以及两种鱼类食物的重叠进行了分析.结果表明,秋季刀鲚、间下鱵的食物主要由浮游甲壳动物、鱼和昆虫等组成.镖水蚤中的指状许水蚤(Schmackeria inopinus)是刀鲚最重要的食物,而间下鱵最重要的食物是裸腹溞(Moina sp.),而且摄食鱼和昆虫的比例远高于刀鲚.刀鲚和间下鱵对个体较大的指状许水蚤的选择性都比较高,对个体较小、而在太湖密度很高的象鼻溞(Bosmina spp.)都表现出主动回避.刀鲚与间下鱵的食物重叠系数较高,表明对竞争比较激烈,但要完全了解这两种鱼类的竞争关系,还要对它们在太湖的分布,不同发育阶段和不同季节的摄食情况进行详细的调查研究.     

Evaluation of Sludge Digester Effluent as Feeding Solution for the Enrichment of Anammox Bacteria

The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of sludge digester effluent as feeding solution to enrich anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacteria. The performance of the two parallel pilot scale‐upflow packed bed anammox reactors (UPBAn1 and UPBAn2) are examined in terms of the enrichment of anammox bacteria. The control experiment is set up conducting synthetic wastewater as feeding solution in the UPBAn1 reactor whereas, the sludge digester effluent is fed to the nitritation reactor and then the partially nitrated digester effluent to the UPBAn2 reactor. Anammox activities are evaluated by mass balances based on ammonium (NH₄⁺), nitrite (NO₂^?), and nitrate (NO₃^?) analysis and NRR. Microbial community of anammox bacteria is analyzed using real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results demonstrate that UPBAn 1 and UPBAn2 reactors are successfully enriched on days 64 and 40 with NRRs of 19.54 and 19.43 g N m^?3 per day, respectively. This study reveals that both synthetic wastewater and digester effluent are suitable for the enrichment of anammox bacteria; however, digester effluent as feeding solution for enrichment of anammox bacteria based on the ease of process control and process stability is more advisable.