Environmental quality

The photochemical behavior of oxyfluorfen [2-chloro-1-(3-etoxy-4-nitrophenoxy)-4-(trifluoromethyl) benzene] on two Greek soils was investigated. Soils were sampled from Nea Malgara and Preveza regions, characterized by a different organic matter content. Soils were spiked with the diphenyl-ether herbicide and irradiation experiments were performed either in the laboratory with a solar simulator (xenon lamp) or outside, under natural sunlight irradiation; other soil samples were kept in the dark to control the retention reaction. Kinetic parameters of both retention and photochemical reactions were calculated using zero-, first- and second- (Langmuir-Hinshelwood) order equations, and best fit was checked through statistical analysis. The soil behaviors were qualitatively similar but quantitatively different, with the soil sampled from the Nea Malgara region much more sorbent as compared with Preveza soil. All studied reactions followed second-order kinetics and photochemical reaction...

Switchgrass ( L.) has been promoted as a potential feedstock for cellulosic biofuel in the United States. Switchgrass is known to respond to N fertilizer, but optimal rates remain unclear. Given the potential nonlinear response of nitrous oxide (NO) emissions to N inputs, N additions to switchgrass above optimal levels could have large impacts on the greenhouse gas balance of switchgrass-based biofuel. Additionally, N additions are likely to have large impacts on switchgrass production costs. Yield, N removal, and net returns were measured in switchgrass receiving 0 to 200 kg N ha in Manhattan, KS, from 2012 to 2014. Emissions of NO were measured in the 0- to 150-kg N ha treatments. Total emissions of NO increased from 0.2 to 3.0 kg NO-N ha as N inputs increased from 0 to 150 kg N ha. The 3-yr averages of fertilizer-induced emission factors were 0.7, 2.1, and 2.6% at 50, 100, and 150 kg N ha, respectively. Removal of N at harvest increased linearly with increasing N rate. Switchgras...

By adopting nature conservation practices, farmers can enhance the environmental quality and biodiversity of their land. In this exploratory study, a behavioral intervention that focused on improving Dutch farmers’ nature conservation practices was developed and tested. This intervention was based on insights derived from social psychology and combined tailored information and public commitment. Participating farmers were divided in three groups: one group received tailored information only, one group received both tailored information and a public commitment manipulation, and one group served as a control. A questionnaire measuring relevant aspects of conservation was completed before and after the intervention. Results show that tailored information combined with public commitment making resulted in a stronger desire to engage in conservation, an increase in surface area of non-subsidized natural habitat, and an increase in time farmers spent on conservation. The intervention affected both subsidized and non-subsidized conservation, but the effects were stronger for non-subsidized conservation.

Ensuring acceptance of dedicated biomass feedstocks by landowners, agricultural communities, environmental and public interest groups, requires that the environmental benefits, concerns, and risks associated with their production be quantified. Establishment and management measures to benefit soil and water quality are being identified by ongoing research. Field studies are showing that nutrients are retained within the rooting zone of dedicated feedstocks, subsurface herbicide transport does not occur, and off-site chemical transport is minimal compared with traditional agricultural crops. The amounts and timing of fertilizer application were critical to minimizing off- site transport of nutrients. Maintaining soil cover decreased runoff, sediment losses, and nutrient transport compared with traditional agricultural crops. Conversion of traditional croplands to biomass and no-till crop production improved soil quality and soil carbon storage. Subsurface nutrient losses were less fr...

The quality of urban life is the social, physical, spatial, and economic conditions of the urban environment, which indicates the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of citizens with the urban environment. This concept has been developed from the 60s and 70s, with a view to refining the concept of development, from a purely quantitative and economical development to sustainable urban development. Today, in cities, the old and worn-out texture is among the urban areas that have caused unsustainable urban development and reduced citizens' satisfaction from urban environments. The core of the ancient city of Amol, which is the origin of the city, has been exhausted due to passing of time, which has caused the situation to cause problems for citizens. In this regard, the purpose of this study was to measure the quality of life index in the worn out tissue and also in Amol city and compare these results with each other and to analyze the impact of socioeconomic factors on the quality of life of Amol citizens. For this purpose, 350 questionnaires were distributed among households in Amol city and the same number of questionnaires distributed in Amol city. To test the hypotheses, T-test and correlation were used in SPSS software. The results of these tests indicate that the city's quality of life component in the medium to high and the urban texture in this index is below the average and average of the city and there is a significant difference between the overall mean of quality of life between the two situations. Independent T-test results also show that the mean difference in the social and physical component is significant in both the position of the worn texture and Amol area, in contrast to the difference between the mean of economic quality.

The recent revitalization of concern for environmental quality has generated many questions about the interaction between trade and the environment. Most of these questions have to do with the impact of environmental regulation on trade patterns and gains from trade. If a tradeoff is perceived, it is often argued that some intervention becomes appropriate: either a specific trade policy or the establishment of an international environmental standard. Present GATT policy then becomes an issue of debate. Should GATT revise its rules to accommodate the specific trade measures suggested? How can GATT ensure that the environmental objective is not a disguise for a trade barrier? Should GATT establish some international environmental standard with procedures to ensure compliance? The importance given to trade liberalization and exchange rate policy reform as part of adjustment for development has raised another set of questions: Is there a direct link between the removal of trade barriers...

In arid-zone agriculture where available irrigation water is saline, desalination is becoming an attractive method for increasing yields and reducing negative environmental consequences. However, irrigation with desalinated water can be problematic if essential nutrients, including Ca, Mg, and S, removed during reverse osmosis, are not reintroduced. We evaluated two strategies for supplying these nutrients — direct fertilization and blending of

A social-psychological model is developed to examine the proposition that environmentalism represents a new way of thinking. It presumes that action in support of environmental quality may derive from any of three value orientations: egoistic, social-altruistic, or biospheric, and that gender may be implicated in the relation between these orientations and behavior. Behavioral intentions are modeled as the sum across values of the strength of a value times the strength of beliefs about the consequences of environmental conditions for valued objects. Evidence from a survey of 349 college students shows that beliefs about consequences for each type of valued object independently predict willingness to take political action, but only beliefs about consequences for self reliably predict willingness to pay through taxes. This result is consistent with other recent findings from contingent valuation surveys. Women have stronger beliefs than men about consequences for self, others, and the...

The suitability of using helminth communities as bioindicators of environmental quality of the Yucatan coastal lagoons status was tested on the checkered puffer (Spheroides testudineus) in four coastal lagoons along the Yucatan coast. The concentration of chemical pollutants in sediments, water quality parameters, helminth infracommunity characteristics, as well as fish physiological biomarkers, including EROD (7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase) and catalase activities, were measured. Results from sediment analyses demonstrated the presence of hydrocarbons, organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls at varying concentrations, some of which exceeded the Probability Effect Level (PEL). Significant negative associations among organochlorine pesticides, infracommunity characteristics and fish physiological responses were observed in most of the lagoons. Results suggest that EROD activity and parasite infracommunity characteristics could be useful tools to evaluate the effects of chemical pollutants on the fish host and in the environment. Importantly, certain parasites appear to influence biomarker measurements, indicating that parasites should be considered in ecotoxicological studies.

A dynamic general equilibrium model of a small open economy specialized in producing tourism services is presented. The tourism package is a bundle of attributes provided by firms, the government and the natural environment. Investment in accommodation increases the number of visitors but also congests public goods and reduces environmental quality. The model is used to determine the conditions for the existence of a long-term double dividend. These conditions depend on both the initial level of environmental quality and the responsiveness of the tourism price to marginal changes in environmental and accommodation quality and congestion of public goods.

Human life quality and preservation of ecosystems are two major topics that depend on environmental quality. In this paper particular attention is dedicated to water conductivity assessment in estuarine zones. Estuarine zones are generally surrounded by people concentration, that use those places as residential zones, and also by industrial plants that take advantage of water availability to generally cool, and sometimes warm (e.g., liquid natural gas plants), their industrial equipments. At the same time boats, particularly those that transport hydrocarbons, represent also a danger that can affect water quality. This paper includes the design and implementation of a low-cost conductivity sensor, its metrological characterization and a detailed description of the calibration techniques used to compensate errors caused by temperature variation.

The study compared IAQ, thermal quality, and lighting quality between 5 different office types in LEED-certified buildings in relation to employees' environmental satisfaction and their job performance. This was to provide workplaces where workers in each specific office environment could be provided with appropriate office settings regarding these IEQ criteria when organizations comply with LEED standards. The five types of office included private enclosed, private shared, open-plan with high cubicle over 5′, open-plan with low cubicle lower than 5′, and open-plan with no partitions (bullpen) offices. The study found IAQ enhanced workers' job performance in enclosed private offices more than both high cubicles and low cubicles. All four office types had higher satisfaction with the amount of light and visual comfort of light as well as more enhancement with job performance due to lighting quality than high cubicles. There was no difference in thermal quality between the five office types. IAQ and lighting quality were not different between enclosed private, enclosed shared, and bullpen office types, either. The study findings suggest a careful workplace design considering the height of partitions in LEED-certified buildings to improve employee's environmental satisfaction and job performance.

The objective of the present work is to analyze the role of landscape for environmental security in the Yantra River Basin, exploring its relationships with river-water quality and flood hazard. The relationship between landscape and river-water quality is analyzed on the basis of landscape indicators and assessment tools like Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment (AGWA) and Analytical Tools Interface for Landscape Assessment (ATtILA). The relationship between landscape and flood hazard is explored using set of floodhazard indicators and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The results from ATtILA implementation show that the main sources of nitrogen loading are the agricultural landscapes and the urban areas in the river basin. The SWAT simulation is done for three scenarios in which land cover (forest lands) changes are related to flood hazard. For the most unfavorable scenario, decreasing forest lands, a significant increase of the river discharge is predicted. The degr...