Environment

Tourism golf scenarios: The Algarve case

by Antónia Correia

Occupazione, disoccupazione e ambiente

by marcucci edoardo

Human–Soil Relations are Changing Rapidly: Proposals from SSSA’s Cross-Divisional Soil Change Working Group

by Megan Mobley

Co-authored with PhD advisor Dan Richter and others, published in 2011

A number of scientists have named our age the Anthropocene because humanity is globally affecting Earth systems,... more A number of scientists have named our age the Anthropocene because humanity is globally affecting Earth systems, including the soil. Global soil change raises important questions about the future of soil, the environment, and human society. Although many soil scientists strive to understand human forcings as integral to soil genesis, there remains an explicit need for a science of anthropedology to detail how humanity is a fully fledged soil-forming factor and to understand how soil change affects human well being. The development and maturation of anthropedology is critical to achieving land-use sustainability and needs to be nurtured by all soil disciplines, with inputs from allied sciences and the humanities,. The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) has recently approved a cross-divisional Working Group on Soil Change, which aims to advance the basic and applied science of anthropedology, to facilitate networks of scientists, long-term soil field studies, and regional databases and modeling, and to engage in new modes of communications about human–soil relations. We challenge all interested parties, especially young scientists and students, to contribute to these activities and help grow soil science in the Anthropocene.

Urban Governance and the Environment: An Irish Case Study

by G. Honor Fagan

Waste Management and its Contestation in the Republic of Ireland

by G. Honor Fagan

A Bayesian mixture modeling approach for assessing the effects of correlated exposures in case-control studies

by Frank de Vocht

Frank de Vocht, Nicola Cherry, jon Wakefield

Predisposition to a disease is usually caused by cumulative effects of a multitude of exposures and lifestyle factors... more Predisposition to a disease is usually caused by cumulative effects of a multitude of exposures and lifestyle factors in combination with individual susceptibility. Failure to include all relevant variables may result in biased risk estimates and decreased power, whereas inclusion of all variables may lead to computational difficulties, especially when variables are correlated. We describe a Bayesian Mixture Model (BMM) incorporating a variable-selection prior and compared its performance with logistic multiple regression model (LM) in simulated case–control data with up to twenty exposures with varying prevalences and correlations. In addition, as a practical example we re analyzed data on male infertility and occupational exposures (Chaps-UK). BMM mean-squared errors (MSE) were smaller than of the LM, and were independent of the number of model parameters. BMM type I errors were minimal (less than or equal to1), whereas for the LM this increased with the number of parameters and correlation between exposures. The numbers of type II errors were comparable. Re analysis of Chaps-UK data demonstrated more convincingly than by using a LM that occupational exposure to glycol ethers and VOCs are likely risk factors for male infertility. This BMM proves an appealing alternative to standard logistic regression when dealing with the analysis of (correlated) exposures in case–control studies.

Drainage network detection and assessment of network storage capacity in agrarian landscape

by Paolo Tarolli

Published in Hydrological Processes, 2012. Co-authored with Federico Cazorzi, Giancarlo Dalla Fontana, Alberto De Luca, Giulia Sofia

Drainage networks in agrarian landscape within floodplains constitute surface's discontinuities that are expected to... more Drainage networks in agrarian landscape within floodplains constitute surface's discontinuities that are expected to affect hydrological response during floods. Drainage network recognition and quantification of water storage capacity within channels are, therefore, crucial for watershed planning and management. These evaluations require accurate spatial information for the area of interest and in most cases, when studying large catchments, broad datasets of ditches locations and descriptions are not available. In order to characterize drainage networks for large areas, the availability of high resolution topography derived by airborne laser scanner (LiDAR) represents a new and effective tool. Nowadays LiDAR DTMs covering large areas are readily available for public authorities, and there is a greater and more widespread interest in the application of such information for the development of automated methods aimed at solving geomorphological and hydrological problems. While LiDAR DTMs reliability in steep landscape has been proven by several recent studies, only few researches have been conducted to take into account the effectiveness of these data in agrarian low relief landscapes. The goal of this research is to propose a semi-automatic approach based on a LiDAR DTM to (1) detect drainage networks in agrarian/floodplain contexts, and (2) to estimate some of the network summary statistics (network length, width, drainage density and storage capacity). The procedure is applied in two typical alluvial-plain areas in the North East of Italy, and tested comparing automatically derived network with surveyed ones. The results underline the capability of high resolution DTMs for drainage network detection and characterization in the context of agrarian landscapes within floodplains, opening at the same time new challenges to evaluate some hydrological processes in these areas

Mapping indigenous Siberia: Spatial changes and ethnic realities, 1900–2010

by Ivan Sablin

co-authored with Maria Savelyeva, published in Settler Colonial Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2011, pp. 77–110.

This article discusses spatial changes in the ethnic territories of Native Siberians from the late nineteenth century... more This article discusses spatial changes in the ethnic territories of Native Siberians from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was developed to model and observe these changes. The GIS also features resource-oriented economic activities, major waterways and railroads. Analysis of the model, textual sources and statistical data made it possible to determine what factors constituted Siberia’s ethnographical pattern of the early twentieth century and led to its changes in the ensuing decades and what impact on the indigenous peoples these changes had. Four special maps showing Siberia in the 1900s–10s, 1930s–40s, 1970s–80s and 2000s–10s were produced from the GIS and are included in the article. The current legal status of the indigenous peoples’ territories was also examined. This article presents an interdisciplinary macroscale case study.

‘Review of F. Gale and M. Haward, 2011. Global Commodity Governance: State Responses to Sustainable Forest and Fisheries Certification. Palgrave.’

by Paul Foley

published in Global Environmental Politics, 2012, Vol. 12 (2): 120-22.

Turbulent Structure functions in Geophysical Flows

by Jose M. Redondo

TURBULENT STRUCTURE FUNCTIONS IN GEOPHYSICAL FLOWS
O. Ben Mahjoub*, J. M. Redondo and R. Alami
Dept. Fisica Aplicada, (*Estadistica) Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Campus Nord B5, 08034 Barcelona, Spain

In geophysical flows, there are many instances, where turbulence is originated locally. such as in surface wave... more In geophysical flows, there are many instances, where turbulence is originated locally. such as in surface wave breaking at the surfzone or
by internai wave breaking in the lee of a mountain. The use of velocity structure functions and their moments may give an indication of
the spatial and time delay from the source of turbulence. The variation of the structure functions and the scaling exponents in decaying
non-homogeneous turbulence flows produced by a grid is investigated by means of sonic velocimeter SONTEK3-D. In the analysis we
invoke the concept of the Extended Self Similarity (ESS) and find that there are changes in the structure functions related to the
intermittency.
Keywords:JTurbulence

Preliminary Morphometric Analysis of Aethalops aequalis. 2012

by M.T. Abdullah, PhD

Read Vijaya et al. (2012)

Aethalops aequalis was previously recorded as a subspecies of A. alecto in Borneo. They are difficult to distinguish... more Aethalops aequalis was previously recorded as a subspecies of A. alecto in Borneo. They are difficult to distinguish by external morphology as Malaysian Aethalops species are similar in size. The objective of this study was to characterize the morphological differences within the Malaysian A. aequalis populations based upon the evaluation of seven selected populations in Borneo. To this end, 11 skull and 11 dental characters were examined and analyzed using SPSS software. Six of these characters were found to be polymorphic across populations, with CM1 being the strongest character in most of the extracted functions followed by IM1, both of which are dental characters that relate to the lower jaw length. Character CM1 was generally shorter in most of the Southwest Sarawak populations compared to the Northeast Sarawak and Sabah populations. Aethalops aequalis from Sabah and Sarawak possessed a single skull morphotype and mountain isolation is, or has not yet been a sufficient barrier to lead to morphological divergence. The body and skull sizes were not affected by altitude or elevations, with A. aequalis possessing a single morphotype in Malaysian Borneo. In conclusion, little morphological variation was detected within and among the different geographical populations of A. aequalis in Sabah and Sarawak. The few differences found are likely to have arisen via natural selection driven adaptation to the new environment.

A Predictive Model to Differentiate the Fruit Bats Cynopterus brachyotis and C. cf. brachyotis Forest (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) from Malaysia Using Multivariate Analysis. 2012

by M.T. Abdullah, PhD

Read also Abdullah (2003)

Field discrimination of Cynopterus brachyotis and C. cf. brachyotis Forest (as designated by Francis 2008) in southern... more Field discrimination of Cynopterus brachyotis and C. cf. brachyotis Forest (as designated by Francis 2008) in southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, and Borneo is problematic. These 2 forms are sympatric in this region but are confined to different habitat types: C. brachyotis inhabits open habitats, orchards, and agricultural areas, while C. cf. brachyotis Forest is confined to primary and old secondary forests. In this study, we attempted to develop prediction models to identify both C. brachyotis and C. cf. brachyotis Forest in this region based on multivariate statistics. Two predictive models were generated using a canonical discriminant function, and it was found that 5 characters can be used to accurately identify museum vouchers of C. brachyotis and C. cf. brachyotis Forest. Four characters are needed for field identification of these 2 forms of Cynopterus in southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, and Borneo. A review of the current taxonomy and classification indicated that there is a need to describe the 6 existing forms of the C. brachyotis complex in the Indo-Malayan region. This will aid conservationists, field ecologists, and taxonomists in taxonomic- and conservation-related decisions about this species complex.

Understanding Biodiversity with Socio-Cultural & Environmental Aspects. 30 April 2011

by M.T. Abdullah, PhD

This paper discusses on some concepts and new ideas related to the high biological diversity in Malaysia. This may be... more This paper discusses on some concepts and new ideas related to the high biological diversity in Malaysia. This may be known as integrative biological diversity.

Ectoparasites of small mammals in Malaysia. 2010

by M.T. Abdullah, PhD

Ixodes granulatus and Leptotrombidium deliense are of known medical importance.

http://www.tm.mahidol.ac.th/seameo/2011-42-4/06-4984.pdf

A total of 16 animals comprising 5 species of hosts were caught and examined for ectoparasites. The hosts examined... more A total of 16 animals comprising 5 species of hosts were caught and examined for ectoparasites. The hosts examined were Maxomys rajah, Maxomys whiteheadi, Leopoldamys sabanus, Lariscus insignis and Tupaia glis. Of these hosts, 9 genera, consisting of 14 species of ectoparasites were extracted. Three species of ticks (Ixodidae), 7 species of mesostigmatid mites (Laelaptidae), 3 species of chiggers (Trombiculidae) and 1 species of listrophorid mites (Listrophoriidae) were identified. The infestation rate of ectoparasites observed ranged from 12.5% to 62.5%. Among the ectoparasites found, Ixodes granulatus and Leptotrombidium deliense are of known medical importance.

Keywords: ectoparasites, small mammals, wildlife reserves, Peninsular Malaysia.

A Madinah, A Fatimah, A Mariana and MT Abdullah

Kalogiannakis, M., & Rekoumi, Ch. (2010). The contribution of Geoenvironmental knowledge for creating, environmental conscience, Natural World, 41, 18-32.

by Michail Kalogiannakis

In our days the modern man receives a huge amount of information that many times is misleading about the environment.... more In our days the modern man receives a huge amount of information that many times is misleading about the environment. The reason for the seasonality of these issues is the various environmental problems that are constantly being extended, diminish the quality of life and create worries about the future. The education of the young people about the geo-environment is the most essential way for awareness as the new generation is the one that has to live for longer time with the new climatological and hydrological conditions and their consequences, while it is easier to convert entrenched habits. The set of the above elements as well as the special scientific interest that the study of the historical evolution of the earth system led us in a search, in which, the search for the provided Geological knowledge in the contemporary Greek school is being attempted with emphasis on the use of this knowledge in the terms of the environmental education. The results of the research arise from the analysis of the contents of the school books of the second grade education that contain elements of Geology based on a control list that has been created as well as the analysis of the suggested catalogue of the Pedagogical Institute with the thematology of the environmental education.
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Καλογιαννάκης, Μ., & Ρεκούμη, Χ. (2010). Η συμβολή της Γεωπεριβαλλοντικής γνώσης στη διαμόρφωση περιβαλλοντικής συνείδησης, Φυσικός Κόσμος, 41, 18-32.

Στις μέρες μας ο σύγχρονος άνθρωπος δέχεται ένα καταιγισμό πληροφοριών, παραπλανητικών πολλές φορές, που αφορούν στο περιβάλλον. Αφορμή για την επικαιρότητα αυτών των θεμάτων είναι τα ποικίλα περιβαλλοντικά προβλήματα που συνεχώς εντείνονται, υποβαθμίζουν την ποιότητα ζωής και δημιουργούν ανησυχίες για το μέλλον. Η εκπαίδευση των νέων ανθρώπων σε θέματα του γεωπεριβάλλοντος, είναι ο πιο ουσιαστικός τρόπος ευαισθητοποίησης, καθώς η νέα γενιά είναι αυτή που καλείται να ζήσει περισσότερο με τις νέες κλιματολογικές και υδρολογικές συνθήκες καθώς και τις συνέπειές τους, ενώ είναι ευκολότερο να αλλάξει παγιωμένες συνήθειες. Το σύνολο των παραπάνω στοιχείων καθώς και το ιδιαίτερο επιστημονικό ενδιαφέρον που παρουσιάζει η μελέτη της ιστορικής εξελίξεως του γήινου συστήματος μας οδήγησαν σε μια έρευνα στην οποία επιχειρείται η ανίχνευση της παρεχόμενης Γεωλογικής γνώσης στο σύγχρονο ελληνικό σχολείο με έμφαση στη χρήση της γνώσης αυτής στα πλαίσια της Περιβαλλοντικής Εκπαίδευσης. Τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας προκύπτουν από την ανάλυση περιεχομένου των σχολικών εγχειριδίων της δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης που περιέχουν στοιχεία γεωλογίας με βάση μια λίστα ελέγχου που δημιουργήθηκε καθώς και από την ανάλυση του προτεινόμενου καταλόγου από το Παιδαγωγικό Ινστιτούτο με τη θεματολογία της Περιβαλλοντικής Εκπαίδευσης.

Kalogiannakis, M., Rekoumi, Ch., & Chatzipapas C. (2011). Preschool education and geology in the framework of environmental education: a didactic proposal, In K. Plakitsi (ed.) Sociocognitive and Sociocultural Approaches to Science in Early Childhood, 224-235, Athens: Patakis (in Greek).

by Michail Kalogiannakis

Greece is a country with a wide variety of geological formations that make up the rich geodiversity and determine the... more Greece is a country with a wide variety of geological formations that make up the rich geodiversity and determine the value of its geological heritage. The environmental education raises as a result of retraining courses dealing with objects of various sciences. Scientific knowledge is used globally for the holistic approach to environmental problems. As part of this research by studying the literature of this field we present a proposal for the use of geology, by teaching through respective myths in kindergarten under the scope of environmental education. In Greek mythology there is a strong presence of geological phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanoes, hot springs, whose interpretation was given in a supernatural way. The interpretations of geological phenomena were enriched with social elements of that era and became myths, where dominated the primitive belief that the nature is governed by spontaneous and capricious deities that caν use them.
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Καλογιαννάκης, Μ., Ρεκούμη, Χ., & Χατζηπαπάς, Κ. (2011). Προσχολική εκπαίδευση και Γεωλογία στα πλαίσια της περιβαλλοντικής εκπαίδευσης: μια διδακτική πρόταση, στο Κ. Πλακίτση (επιμ.) Κοινωνιογνωστικές και κοινωνικοπολιτισμικές προσεγγίσεις στη διδακτική των φυσικών επιστημών στην προσχολική και πρώτη σχολική ηλικία, 224-235, Αθήνα: Πατάκης.

Η Ελλάδα είναι μια χώρα με μεγάλη ποικιλία γεωλογικών σχηματισμών, οι οποίοι συνθέτουν την πλούσια γεωποικιλότητά της και προσδιορίζουν την αξία της γεωλογικής κληρονομιάς της. Η περιβαλλοντική εκπαίδευση προβάλλει ως το αποτέλεσμα του επαναπροσανατολισμού των μαθημάτων που ασχολούνται με αντικείμενα διαφόρων επιστημών. Η επιστημονική γνώση χρησιμοποιείται συνολικά για τη σφαιρική προσέγγιση των περιβαλλοντικών προβλημάτων. Στην παρούσα έρευνα, μέσα από τη μελέτη της σχετικής βιβλιογραφίας του πεδίου, παρουσιάζουμε μια διδακτική πρόταση για τη χρήση της γεωλογίας, μέσω της διδασκαλίας των αντίστοιχων μύθων, στο νηπιαγωγείο στο πλαίσιο της περιβαλλοντικής εκπαίδευσης. Στην ελληνική μυθολογία είναι έντονη η παρουσία γεωλογικών φαινομένων όπως οι σεισμοί, τα ηφαίστεια, οι θερμές πηγές, των οποίων η ερμηνεία δινόταν με υπερφυσικό τρόπο. Οι ερμηνείες αυτές εμπλουτισμένες με κοινωνικά στοιχεία της εποχής αποτέλεσαν τους μύθους, μέσα στους οποίους κυριαρχεί η πρωτόγονη πεποίθηση ότι τη φύση κυβερνούν αυθόρμητες και ιδιότροπες θεότητες που προκαλούν τα διάφορα γεωλογικά φαινόμενα.

Fear of the fire. The uneasy connection between Environmental Culture and Society in Waste Management in Italy

by Giuseppe Tipaldo

accepted @ ESA 2011 Conferenze - 7-10 September 2011
Panel Environmental Attitudes, Values and Awarness

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Market-Based Remedies for International Human Rights Violations?

by Eric Engle

Interview with Leila Nadir and Cary Peppermint of Ecoarttech

by Leila C. Nadir

Furtherfield.org Interview with Sophia Kosmaoglou - 20/04/2012

Refusing to regard technology merely as a tool, Ecoarttech expand the uses of mobile technology and digital networks... more Refusing to regard technology merely as a tool, Ecoarttech expand the uses of mobile technology and digital networks revealing them to be fundamental components of the way we experience our environment. Their most recent work Indeterminate Hikes + (IH +) is a phone app that maps a series of trails through the city. IH + can be accessed globally, or wherever users have access to Google Maps on their mobile phones. After identifying the users’ location, IH + generates a route along random “Scenic Vistas" within urban spaces. Users are directed to perform a series of tasks along the trail and provide feedback in the form of snapshots generating an ongoing, open-ended dialogue. But the experience of their work is primarily an encounter with technology. Since 2005, Leila Nadir and Cary Peppermint of Ecoarttech have been engaged in an artistic exploration of environmental sustainability and convergent media. By drawing our attention to the increasing replacement or mediation of physical experiences by technology, Ecoarttech challenge the widely reproduced distinction between nature and culture. They present their work in the form of videos, digital networks, blogs, performance and installations. Their early video-based work (Wilderness Trouble and Frontier Mythology) plays out a performative and ironic encounter with the natural environment as a historically constructed concept. In the summer of 2005 Ecoarttech made A Series of Practical Performances in the Wilderness (2005) a database networked performance in QuickTime (DVD and Podcast).

Dissipated energy: Indian electric power and the politics of blame

by Liz Chatterjee

Updated draft published in Contemporary South Asia, 2012

This article presents the Indian electricity sector as a case study of the evasion of responsibility in public policy.... more This article presents the Indian electricity sector as a case study of the evasion of responsibility in public policy. India’s electricity policy repeatedly fails to meet its own targets, and is universally lambasted as inadequate. The state appears aware of many of the reasons for these failures, yet policies have consistently failed to make effective corrections. Part of the explanation for this institutional and policy stasis lies in the pervasive shirking of responsibility by actors throughout the electricity sector. The sector is analyzed to explore the mechanisms through which responsibility is displaced, deflected, or dissipated. These mechanisms include ‘agency’, ‘presentational’, and ‘policy’ strategies, which are both pre-emptively and reactively deployed. Using these strategies, responsibility is shifted through (1) institutional architecture which formally delegates power to other actors, especially exploiting the ambiguity in federalism, sectoralism, privatization, and decentralization; (2) rhetorical displacement of blame onto other actors or ‘exogenous’ factors; and (3) everyday policy procedures and bureaucratic practices designed to distance officials from decision-making. By negating the requirement for institutional and analytical responsiveness, these evasions of responsibility perpetuate systemic failures and undermine the credibility of the Indian state.