Freshwater salinisation: a global challenge with multiple causes and drastic consequences

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles
Keyword(s):  
Health Risks ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Effective Management ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Global Challenge ◽  
Human Health Risks ◽  
The World ◽  
Societal Impacts ◽  
Societal Challenge

<p>Freshwater salinisation (FS) can be defined as the alteration of the salt concentrations and ion ratios in freshwater ecosystems. As evidence of the economic, environmental and societal impacts of FS mounts, the issue is receiving increasing attention from researchers, water managers and policy makers. A general consensus is emerging that FS is a global ecological and societal challenge that urgently requires effective management. However, there are still many unanswered questions that hamper our ability to make progress. In this talk I will tackle some of these questions. For example: Which human activities are contributing the most to FS in different regions of the world? How does FS interacts with other stressors (including climate change)? What is the effect of FS on trophic interactions and ecosystem functioning? Which are the economic costs and human health risks associated with FS? How should we monitor FS? Which technical and nature-based solutions are available to prevent and mitigate FS and to restore salinised ecosystems?</p>

Unveiling the Theoretical Mistakes in the World Bank Formation and its Implication on Survival of Africa Monetary Union

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-124
Author(s):  
Olatunji Abdul Shobande ◽  
Kingsley Chinonso Mark
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Monetary Union ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
World Bank Group ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Bank Group ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Developed Nations

Abstract The quest for urgent solution to resolve the world liquidity problem has continued to generate enthusiastic debates among political economists, policy makers and the academia. The argument has focused on whether the World Bank Group was established to enhance the stability of international financial system or meant to enrich the developed nations. This study argues that the existing political interest of the World Bank Group in Africa may serve as lesson learned to other ambitious African Monetary Union.

M. A. Ayuh. Made in Jamaica: The Development of Manufacturing Sector. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 1981. xxii+128 pp.

1986 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-95
Author(s):  
Najam-us- Saqib
Keyword(s):  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Industrial Base ◽  
Johns Hopkins University ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
The World ◽  
Caribbean Country ◽  
Bauxite Ore ◽  
Made In

Jamaica, known in the world for her rich deposits of bauxite ore, is a small Caribbean country with an area of 10991 square kilometers and a population of just over two million individuals. This beautifu11and, which was described by Columbus as "The fairest isle that eyes have beheld" has developed a remarkably diversified manufacturing sector starting from a modest industrial base. Jamaica's manufacturing industry enjoyed a respectable growth rate of about 6 percent per annum during the good old days of the euphoric '50s and '60s. However, those bright sunny days ''when to live was bliss" were followed by the chilling winter of much subdued progress. The rise and fall of growth have aroused considerable interest among economists and policy• makers. The book under review probes the causes of this behaviour by analysing key characteristics of Jamaican manufacturing sector and tracing its path of evolution.

Dirk J. Wolfson. Public Finance and development Strategy. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 1979. Pp. xiv+264.

1982 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-257
Author(s):  
Zafar Mahmood
Keyword(s):  
Public Finance ◽  
Economic Policy ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Johns Hopkins University ◽  
The World ◽  
Economic Council

The world in its politico-economic aspects is run by policy-makers who have an academic background in law or public administration or other related social disciplines including economics. Only rarely would a majority of the policy-makers be trained in economics. In the making of economic policy, the basic choices before the policy-makers are political and they transcend the narrow concerns of economists regarding optimal use of resources. These considerations in no way downgrade the relevance of economic analysis in economic policy-making and for the training of policy-maker in economics. Policy-makers need economic council to understand fully the implications of alternative policy options. In this book, Wolfson attempts to educate policy-makers in the areas of public finance and development strategy. The analysis avoids technicalities and is kept to a simple level to make it understandable to civil servants, law-makers and members of the executive branch whom Wolfson refers to as policy-makers. Simplicity of analysis is not the only distinguishing mark of this book. Most other books on public finance are usually addressed to traditional public finance issues relating to both the revenue and expenditure sides of the budget and neglect an overall mix of issues dealing with the interaction of fiscal policy with economic development. Wolfson in this book explicitly deals with these issues.

Collaboration platforms in water management

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Hidaka ◽  
H. R. Kolar ◽  
R. P. Williams ◽  
P. G. Hartswick ◽  
S. B. Foong
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Effective Management ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
The World ◽  
Technical Architecture ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Collaboration Platforms

In many parts of the world, management of water resources and infrastructures is fragmented between agencies at multiple levels – state, provincial, and local – and sometimes between functions within individual agencies. Consequently it is often impossible to take a holistic view of the issues at hand to enable effective management of the resource or infrastructure – either because of the overhead of managing the coordination required, and/or because of politics between the different stakeholders. In their work for IBM, the authors created a concept of an information technology (IT)-enabled “collaboration platform” that integrates different water data sources with IT tools to enable multiple entities to maintain and share a “common operating picture.” This greatly assists with coordination and reduces politics to manageable levels. In this paper, the authors describe the collaboration platform and its benefits by reference to examples of such platforms in use, and propose a reference technical architecture for creating collaboration platforms.

Mapping of human health risks arising from soil nickel and mercury contamination

2013 ◽  
Vol 244-245 ◽  
pp. 225-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mojgan Yeganeh ◽  
Majid Afyuni ◽  
Amir-Hosein Khoshgoftarmanesh ◽  
Loghman Khodakarami ◽  
Manouchehr Amini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Mercury Contamination ◽  
Human Health Risks

Can housing rights be applied to modern housing systems?

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Padraic Kenna
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Epistemic Communities ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Housing Rights ◽  
The World ◽  
Effective Translation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to outline and examine the growing corpus of housing rights and assess their relevance and applicability to complex contemporary housing systems across the world.Design/methodology/approachThe paper sets out the principal instruments and commentaries on housing rights developed by the United Nations, regional and other bodies. It assesses their relevance in the context of contemporary analysis of housing systems, organized and directed by networks of legal and other professionals within particular domains.FindingsHousing rights instruments are accepted by all States across the world at the level of international law, national constitutions and laws. The findings suggest that there are significant gaps in the international law conception and framework of housing rights, and indeed, human rights generally, which create major obstacles for the effective implementation of these rights. There is a preoccupation with one element of housing systems, that of subsidized or social housing. However, effective housing rights implementation requires application at meso‐, micro‐ and macro‐levels of modern, dynamic housing systems as a whole. Epistemic communities of professionals develop and shape housing law and policy within these domains. The housing rights paradigm must be further fashioned for effective translation into contemporary housing systems.Research limitations/implicationsThe development of housing rights precedents, both within international and national law, is leading to a wide and diffuse corpus of legislation and case law. More research is needed on specific examples of effective coupling between housing rights and elements of housing systems.Originality/valueThis paper offers housing policy makers and lawyers an avenue into the extensive jurisprudence and writings on housing rights, which will inevitably become part of the lexicon of housing law across the world. It also highlights the limitations of housing rights implementation, but offers some new perspectives on more effective application of these rights.

Private Agricultural R&D: Do the Poor Benefit?

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jock R. Anderson ◽  
Regina Birner ◽  
Latha Najarajan ◽  
Anwar Naseem ◽  
Carl E. Pray
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Agricultural Technologies ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The World ◽  
Agricultural Research And Development ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Private agricultural research and development can foster the growth of agricultural productivity in the diverse farming systems of the developing world comparable to the public sector. We examine the extent to which technologies developed by private entities reach smallholder and resource-poor farmers, and the impact they have on poverty reduction. We critically review cases of successfully deployed improved agricultural technologies delivered by the private sector in both large and small developing countries for instructive lessons for policy makers around the world.

scholarly journals Cyanobacteria, cyanotoxins, and their histopathological effects on fish tissues in Fehérvárcsurgó reservoir, Hungary

2021 ◽  
Vol 193 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Damjana Drobac Backović ◽  
Nada Tokodi ◽  
Zoran Marinović ◽  
Jelena Lujić ◽  
Tamara Dulić ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Fish Tissue ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Abramis Brama ◽  
Histopathological Changes ◽  
Fish Tissues ◽  
The World ◽  
Encoding Gene ◽  
Microcystis Wesenbergii ◽  
Histopathological Effects

AbstractCyanobacteria are important members of lake plankton, but they have the ability to form blooms and produce cyanotoxins and thus cause a number of adverse effects. Freshwater ecosystems around the world have been investigated for the distribution of cyanobacteria and their toxins and the effects they have on the ecosystems. Similar research was performed on the Fehérvárcsurgó reservoir in Hungary during 2018. Cyanobacteria were present and blooming, and the highest abundance was recorded in July (2,822,000 cells/mL). The species present were Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, Microcystis flos-aquae, Microcystis wesenbergii, Cuspidothrix issatschenkoi, Dolichospermum flos-aquae, and Snowella litoralis. In July and September, the microcystin encoding gene mcyE and the saxitoxin encoding gene sxtG were amplified in the biomass samples. While a low concentration of microcystin-RR was found in one water sample from July, analyses of Abramis brama and Carassius gibelio caught from the reservoir did not show the presence of the investigated microcystins in the fish tissue. However, several histopathological changes, predominantly in gills and kidneys, were observed in the fish, and the damage was more severe during May and especially July, which coincides with the increase in cyanobacterial biomass during the summer months. Cyanobacteria may thus have adverse effects in this ecosystem.

scholarly journals One size does not fit all: Constructing complementary digital reskilling strategies using online labour market data

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 205395172110031
Author(s):  
Fabian Stephany
Keyword(s):  
Social Transformation ◽  
Grand Challenge ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
National Education ◽  
Global Challenge ◽  
Cognitive Work ◽  
National Education Systems ◽  
Skill Requirements ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Value Of Learning

Digital technologies are radically transforming our work environments and demand for skills, with certain jobs being automated away and others demanding mastery of new digital techniques. This global challenge of rapidly changing skill requirements due to task automation overwhelms workers. The digital skill gap widens further as technological and social transformation outpaces national education systems and precise skill requirements for mastering emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, remain opaque. Online labour platforms could help us to understand this grand challenge of reskilling en masse. Online labour platforms build a globally integrated market that mediates between millions of buyers and sellers of remotely deliverable cognitive work. This commentary argues that, over the last decade, online labour platforms have become the ‘laboratories’ of skill rebundling; the combination of skills from different occupational domains. Online labour platform data allows us to establish a new taxonomy on the individual complementarity of skills. For policy makers, education providers and recruiters, a continuous analysis of complementary reskilling trajectories enables automated, individual and far-sighted suggestions on the value of learning a new skill in a future of technological disruption.

scholarly journals Groundwater Quality and Potential Human Health Risk Assessment for Drinking and Irrigation Purposes: A Case Study in the Semiarid Region of North China

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 783
Author(s):  
Feifei Chen ◽  
Leihua Yao ◽  
Gang Mei ◽  
Yinsheng Shang ◽  
Fansheng Xiong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
North China ◽  
Shanxi Province ◽  
Hydrochemical Characteristics ◽  
Human Health Risks ◽  
Drinking And Irrigation ◽  
Hydrochemical Types ◽  
Potential Human Health

Groundwater is a valuable water source for drinking and irrigation purposes in semiarid regions. Groundwater pollution may affect human health if it is not pretreated and provided for human use. This study investigated the hydrochemical characteristics driving groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation purposes and potential human health risks in the Xinzhou Basin, Shanxi Province, North China. More specifically, we first investigated hydrochemical characteristics using a descriptive statistical analysis method. We then classified the hydrochemical types and analyzed the evolution mechanisms of groundwater using Piper and Gibbs diagrams. Finally, we appraised the groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation purposes using the entropy water quality index (EWQI). We assessed the associated human health risks for different age and sex groups through drinking intake and dermal contact pathways. Overall, we found that (1) Ca-HCO3 and Ca·Mg-HCO3 were the dominant hydrochemical types and were mainly governed by rock weathering and water–rock interactions. (2) Based on the EWQI classifications, 67.74% of the groundwater samples were classified as medium quality and acceptable for drinking purpose. According to the values of sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate (RSC) and soluble sodium percentage (%Na), 90.32% of the samples were suitable for irrigation, while the remaining samples were unfit for irrigation because of the high salinity in the groundwater. (3) Some contaminants in the groundwater, such as NO3−, NO2− and F−, exceeded the standard limits and may cause potential risks to human health. Our work presented in this paper could establish reasonable management strategies for sustainable groundwater quality protection to protect public health.

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