A formal test of the long-term environmental effects of road pricing in Milan

2020 ◽  
pp. 100951
Author(s):  
Marco Percoco
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Road Pricing ◽  
Formal Test

Soil phosphorous accumulation in long-term P fertilization paddy field and its environmental effects

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 393
Author(s):  
Xiao YAN ◽  
De-Jian WANG ◽  
Gang ZHANG ◽  
Lu-Ji BO ◽  
Xiao-Lan PENG
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Paddy Field ◽  
P Fertilization ◽  
Soil Phosphorous

scholarly journals The discontinuity of environmental effects monitoring in the Lower Athabasca region of Alberta, Canada: institutional challenges to long-term monitoring and cumulative effects management

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua G. Cronmiller ◽  
Bram F. Noble
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Environmental Monitoring ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Institutional Arrangements ◽  
Cumulative Effects ◽  
Regulatory Decision ◽  
Monitoring Programs

Long-term regional environmental monitoring, coupled with shorter-term and more localized monitoring carried out under regulatory permitting processes, is foundational to identifying, understanding, and effectively managing cumulative environmental effects. However, monitoring programs that emerge to support cumulative effects science are often short-lived initiatives or disconnected from land use planning and regulatory decision making. This paper examines the history and evolution of environmental monitoring in the Lower Athabasca region of Alberta, Canada, and the enabling and constraining influences of institutional arrangements. Methods involved a review of regional-scale monitoring programs based on an analysis of monitoring agency mandates, performance reports, and external program reviews, supplemented by discussions with monitoring program or agency key informants to triangulate results. Results show that monitoring to support cumulative effects understanding in the Lower Athabasca has advanced considerably, especially since the mid-1990s, but its relevance to, and impact on, cumulative effects management and decision making has been stifled by institutional arrangements. Monitoring has been episodic, reflecting shifting priorities and competing mandates; criticized by stakeholders based on concerns about transparency, credibility, influence over decision making; and characterized by short-lived commitments by the agencies involved. This has generated significant uncertainty about the stability of institutional arrangements to support long-term environmental monitoring, and tensions between the need for scientific autonomy for credible science whilst ensuring the pursuit of monitoring questions that are relevant to the day-to-day needs of regulatory decision makers. Regional monitoring programs require, at a minimum, clear vision and agreed-upon monitoring questions that are of scientific and management value, meaningful and balanced stakeholder engagement, and a clear governance process to ensure credibility and influence of monitoring results on decision making.

scholarly journals Variance component analysis of body mass in a wild population of deer (Odocoileus virginianus): results from two decades of research

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
pp. 588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen L. Webb ◽  
Kenneth L. Gee ◽  
Randy W. DeYoung ◽  
Seth M. Harju
Keyword(s):  
Odocoileus Virginianus ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Phenotypic Variance ◽  
Components Of Variance ◽  
Habitat Improvement ◽  
Capture Recapture ◽  
Sources Of Variation

Context Long-term studies of large, vertebrate mammals using capture–recapture data are scarce, even though long-term ecological studies are requisite to understanding quantitative genetics and evolutionary processes that can be applied as part of management programs. Aims Objectives were to (1) partition components of variation in body mass to understand the differential effects of environmental variation on the sexes during ontogeny, to better prescribe habitat-improvement projects, and (2) estimate repeatability to assess potential for selection on body mass. Methods We used a 23-year dataset (1983–2005) of capture–recapture records of wild white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to estimate components of variance and repeatability of body mass. We used an animal-model approach that employed the use of general linear mixed models and restricted maximum likelihood to adjust for the effects of age (i.e. fixed effect), and to partition the total phenotypic variance into among-individual (i.e. the deer), permanent environmental (i.e. year of birth) and temporary environmental (i.e. year of measurement and residual) effects (all modelled as random effects). Key results We found that body mass increased with age in both sexes, repeatability of body mass was 0.595 for females and 0.716 for males, and among-individual variation was more influential on body mass than were permanent and temporary environmental effects combined. Year of birth was more important in males than females, but changed during the course of ontogeny for both sexes. Year of measurement did not influence post-rut body mass in males, but did contribute to variation in body mass of females. Conclusions These long-term data offer insights into the sources of variation that influence body mass of deer, which can be used to understand how environmental sources of variation influence phenotypic traits, and for developing management plans and making selection decisions. Implications Knowledge of repeatability (as an upper limit to heritability) can be used to make management decisions related to selection, culling and breeding, whereas understanding environmental effects can lead to better management recommendations (e.g. habitat-improvement projects).

The Environmental Effects of Blood Sports in Lowland England since 1750

Rural History ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERIC L. JONES
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
National Economy ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Birds Of Prey ◽  
Environmental Costs ◽  
Historical Interpretation ◽  
Riverine Habitats ◽  
Individual Sports ◽  
Elite Sports

AbstractThis paper considers the effects of blood sports on the landscape, wildlife and farming, and assesses the implications of the topic for some matters of historical interpretation. Histories of individual sports written by practitioners are rarely candid about the environmental costs and even descriptions by professional historians tend to neglect the dynamic ecological consequences. Ritualised foxhunting supplanted more effective control and encouraged pests. Any benign consequences were incidental. Thanks to commercial money, shooting intensities held up well even during agricultural depressions. Game preservation, notably of pheasants, meant heavy pressure on birds of prey and other wild species; planting woodland was the main benign effect, although this simultaneously fostered so-called pests. Killing species that competed with game eliminated some wildlife but often proved self-defeating in the long term. Angling had mixed implications for waterside wildlife, although riverine habitats were lastingly modified when sport-fishing replaced fishing for food. Hunting and shooting meant some withdrawal of land from farming and interference with rotations: these activities reduced productivity. That the national economy could ‘afford’ to divert so many resources to elite sports contradicts the dominant view that England came up against a resources barrier.

Steam sterilisation’s energy and water footprint

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Forbes McGain ◽  
Graham Moore ◽  
Jim Black
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Input Data ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Environmental Footprint ◽  
Hospital Equipment ◽  
Load Mass

Objective The aim of the present study was to quantify hospital steam steriliser resource consumption to provide baseline environmental data and identify possible efficiency gains. We sought to find the amount of steriliser electricity and water used for active cycles and for idling (standby), and the relationship between the electricity and water consumption and the mass and type of items sterilised. Methods We logged a hospital steam steriliser’s electricity and water meters every 5 min for up to 1 year. We obtained details of all active cycles (standard 134°C and accessory or ‘test’ cycles), recording item masses and types. Relationships were investigated for both the weight and type of items sterilised with electricity and water consumption. Results Over 304 days there were 2173 active cycles, including 1343 standard 134°C cycles that had an average load mass of 21.2 kg, with 32% of cycles <15 kg. Electricity used for active cycles was 32 652 kWh (60% of total), whereas the water used was 1 243 495 L (79%). Standby used 21 457 kWh (40%) electricity and 329 200 L (21%) water. Total electricity and water consumption per mass sterilised was 1.9 kWh kg–1 and 58 L kg–1, respectively. The linear regression model predicting electricity use was: kWh = 15.7+ 0.14 × mass (in kg; R2 = 0.58, P < 0.01). Models for water and item type were poor. Electricity and water use fell from 3 kWh kg–1 and 200 L kg–1, respectively, for 5-kg loads to 0.5 kWh kg–1 and 20 L kg–1, respectively, for 40-kg loads. Conclusions Considerable electricity and water use occurred during standby, load mass was only moderately predictive of electricity consumption and light loads were common yet inefficient. The findings of the present study are a baseline for steam sterilisation’s environmental footprint and identify areas to improve efficiencies. What is known about the topic? There is increasing interest in the environmental effects of healthcare. Life cycle assessment (‘cradle to grave’) provides a scientific method of analysing environmental effects. Although data of the effects of steam sterilisation are integral to the life cycles of reusable items and procedures using such items, there are few data available. Further, there is scant information regarding the efficiency of the long-term in-hospital use of sterilisers. What does this paper add? We quantified, for the first time, long-term electricity and water use of a hospital steam steriliser. We provide useful input data for future life cycle assessments of all reusable, steam-sterilised equipment. Further, we identified opportunities for improved steriliser efficiencies, including rotating off idle sterilisers and reducing the number of light steriliser loads. Finally, others could use our methods to examine steam sterilisers and many other energy-intensive items of hospital equipment. What are the implications for practitioners? We provide useful input data for all researchers examining the environmental footprint of reusable hospital equipment and procedures using such equipment. As a result of the present study, staff in the hospital sterile supply department have reduced steam steriliser electricity and water use considerably without impeding sterilisation throughput (and reduced time inefficiencies). Many other hospitals could benefit from similar methods to improve steam steriliser and other hospital equipment efficiencies.

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