A Mythic Labyrinth Inside Your Vehicle Prevents Gasoline Leakage

It is hard to believe that our vehicles can contaminate the environment even when they are not running. This is a consequence of evaporated gasoline leaking from a vehicle’s fuel tank into the atmosphere. To avoid this leakage, evaporated gasoline is vented to a canister packed with charcoal particles called activated carbon. There are deep, channel-like spaces inside activated carbon where gasoline molecules are adsorbed. Adsorption is a process in which molecules of gas or liquid stick to the surface of something solid. Through adsorption it is possible to remove various pollutants from air and water. To understand how adsorption by activated carbon works, picture activated carbon as a maze that traps the gasoline particles and does not let them escape. Finally, we describe current efforts to develop new adsorbing materials from the waste product of another industry, to improve upon the activated carbon currently used in vehicles.

Stabilization of the Lower Jamuna River in Bangladesh—Hydraulic and Morphological Assessment

This paper presents a hydraulic and morphological analysis of the Lower Jamuna in Bangladesh with a focus on two key bifurcations that are important for stabilization of the Lower Jamuna reach. We used ground measurements, historical data, multispectral satellite images from various sources as well as numerical models. We carried out hydraulic analyses of the changes and their peculiarities, such as flow distributions at the bifurcation and hysteresis of the stage–discharge relationships. We supplemented our analysis by using numerical models to simulate discharge distribution at the bifurcations under various flow and riverbed conditions. We developed an advanced and automated satellite image processing application for the Lower Jamuna, referred to as Morphology Monitor (MoMo), using the Google Earth Engine. MoMo was found to be an effective tool for a rapid assessment and analysis of the changes in deep-channel and sandbar areas. It is also useful for monitoring and assessing riverbank and char erosion and accretion, which is important not only for morphological but also ecological impact assessment. The application can be adapted as an operational tool as well. Furthermore, we assessed the evolution of deep channels at the bifurcations based on regularly and extensively measured bathymetry data. The analysis was carried out in complement with morphological modeling, particularly for short-term prediction. In this paper we present the major findings of the analysis and discuss their implications for adaptive river management.

Mosquito Larval Abundance in Connected and Isolated Pools Beside a Stormwater Management Pond

ABSTRACT Twelve experimental pools (30 cm width × 30 cm depth) around a large stormwater management pond (SWMP) were used to test the hypothesis that small puddles of water similar to animal hoofprints or other irregularities support more abundant and diverse mosquito populations due to having fewer insect predators. Six of the 12 pools were connected to the SWMP by a deep channel (7 cm wide × 10 cm depth × 50 cm length). Mosquito larvae and potential predators were sampled weekly over 16 wk in the summer. More mosquito larvae were found in the isolated pools than in connected pools or in the pond itself (U = 5.5, z = 2.002, P = 0.045). The observed differences between isolated and connected pools are presented and results discussed in terms of SWMP design.

The 2020 elephant die-off in Botswana

The cause of deaths of 350 elephants in 2020 in a relatively small unprotected area of northern Botswana is unknown, and may never be known. Media speculations about it ignore ecological realities. Worse, they make conjectures that can be detrimental to wildlife and sometimes discredit conservation incentives. A broader understanding of the ecological and conservation issues speaks to elephant management across the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area that extends across Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Our communication addresses these. Malicious poisoning and poaching are unlikely to have played a role. Other species were unaffected, and elephant carcases had their tusks intact. Restriction of freshwater supplies that force elephants to use pans as a water source possibly polluted by blue-green algae blooms is a possible cause, but as yet not supported by evidence. No other species were involved. A contagious disease is the more probable one. Fences and a deep channel of water confine these elephants’ dispersal. These factors explain the elephants’ relatively high population growth rate despite a spell of increased poaching during 2014–2018. While the deaths represent only ~2% of the area’s elephants, the additive effects of poaching and stress induced by people protecting their crops cause alarm. Confinement and relatively high densities probably explain why the die-off occurred only here. It suggests a re-alignment or removal of fences that restrict elephant movements and limits year-round access to freshwater.

Transfer Mechanism and Change Process of Matter Content in Jiaozhou Bay

Based on the survey data of Jiaozhou Bay in 1992, the changes of Pb content in the surface and bottom waters affected by the ocean current in the process of transportation in Jiaozhou Bay were studied, and the sedimentation process and mechanism of Pb content in the surface and bottom waters were determined. The time change process of sedimentation shows that: from May to October, 1) the Pb content transported by the ocean current from the main sea decided the Pb content change in the bottom water; 2) in August, under the carrying of a large number of plankton and suspended particulate matter, the Pb content transported by the ocean current and that in the surface and bottom water reached the maximum value in a year. According to the spatial change process of subsidence, the results show that in August and October, the inlet of the “Cangkou Channel”, the outlet of the “Former Reef Channel” and the deep channel of the strait on the side of Xuejia Island all revealed narrower channel, accelerated current, and deep erosion, forming a deep channel. In such waters, a large amount of Pb content was deposited. On the basis of the sedimentation process in the center of the bay, the outer sea current carried a high content of Pb to surround the nearshore waters in the bay. In May, the main sea current did not affect the surface water in the center of Jiaozhou Bay, nor did it affect the bottom water in the center of Jiaozhou Bay. From May to October, the ocean current didn’t affect the surface water in the center of Jiaozhou Bay, either, but it has brought a huge impact on the bottom water in the center of Jiaozhou Bay. In the transfer process of Pb content in the water body in the center of the bay, the authors put forward the transfer mechanism of the matter content in Jiaozhou Bay, and establish the block diagram of the modelwhich demonstrates the mechanism and the change process of the matter content transfer.

Dynamic changes in the lower Gállego River (Ebro Basin, NE Spain) and their relationship with anthropic activities and the quaternary substrate

The lower Gállego River has been strongly degraded since the 1960s due to human activity (gravel mining, dump accumulation, channeling works), which has produced a deep channel incision. Although these human-driven processes are usually reported in fluvial bibliography, in this case, more complex results are observable. For instance, regarding the depth and incision rates, we observed no relationship between the most anthropically impacted areas and the sections with the deepest incisions; moreover, the deepening process continues 40 years after the human interventions ceased. The reason for this maladjustment is the role played by the exhumation of the underlying Pleistocene substrate, affected by the synsedimentary processes of karstification. The appearance of paleodolines filled with fine sediments on the incision bottom and sides is the main factor conditioning the continuity and magnitude of the process. Besides, these paleodepressions direct the river dynamics and course, thus favoring its widening when they appear and causing the development of a new riverbed (Qt13) while the 1960s floodplain (Qt12) is becoming an old terrace located between 5 and 11 m above the new alluvial bottom. There are no previous records about this kind of consequences in the regional fluvial dynamics.