scholarly journals Vehicle emission and atmospheric pollution in China: problems, progress, and prospects

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6932 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Wang ◽  
Qiuxia Wu ◽  
Juan Liu ◽  
Hong Yang ◽  
Meiling Yin ◽  
...  

China has been the largest vehicle market in the world since 2009. The stalemate between the rapid development of the vehicle industry and delayed vehicle emission control has become increasingly prominent. Vehicle emission has become a significant source of air pollution in China’s cities. Understanding the current barriers in the vehicle industry is necessary for the development of effective and sustainable measures and policy to manage vehicle-induced air pollution. This review provides insight into the circumstances and causes of vehicle-induced air pollution and outlines recent progress in policy-makers’ long-term strategies and regulations. The development of an integrated mechanism of social participation, technical revolution, and regulatory innovation in vehicles, fuel, and roads is suggested to break the stalemate between air pollution and the automobile boom in China; the implications of this review extend to other countries facing the similar atmospheric pollution problems.

1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-522
Author(s):  
Brady Coleman ◽  
Robert Beckman

AbstractIntegrated coastal management (ICM) programmes are being planned, formulated and implemented in coastal States all over the world. To date, however, ICM has been seen as more in the realm of policy-makers, managers, scientists, coastal resource economists, and others, rather than in the realm of lawyers. This article reveals how law and lawyers should play an absolutely essential role at all stages of the ICM process. Ideally, ICM legal consultants will have a broad range of knowledge and experience in both international legal treaties as well as in certain fundamental national law principles, so that coastal zone policies will be designed and carried out with a critical understanding of the laws and institutions needed for the long-term success of an integrated coastal management programme.


2002 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 827-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Bredemeier

The focus in this review of long-term effects on forest ecosystems is on human impact. As a classification of this differentiated and complex matter, three domains of long-term effects with different scales in space and time are distinguished: 1- Exploitation and conversion history of forests in areas of extended human settlement 2- Long-range air pollution and acid deposition in industrialized regions 3- Current global loss of forests and soil degradation.There is an evident link between the first and the third point in the list. Cultivation of primary forestland — with its tremendous effects on land cover — took place in Europe many centuries ago and continued for centuries. Deforestation today is a phenomenon predominantly observed in the developing countries, yet it threatens biotic and soil resources on a global scale. Acidification of forest soils caused by long-range air pollution from anthropogenic emission sources is a regional to continental problem in industrialized parts of the world. As a result of emission reduction legislation, atmospheric acid deposition is currently on the retreat in the richer industrialized regions (e.g., Europe, U.S., Japan); however, because many other regions of the world are at present rapidly developing their polluting industries (e.g., China and India), “acid rain” will most probably remain a serious ecological problem on regional scales. It is believed to have caused considerable destabilization of forest ecosystems, adding to the strong structural and biogeochemical impacts resulting from exploitation history.Deforestation and soil degradation cause the most pressing ecological problems for the time being, at least on the global scale. In many of those regions where loss of forests and soils is now high, it may be extremely difficult or impossible to restore forest ecosystems and soil productivity. Moreover, the driving forces, which are predominantly of a demographic and socioeconomic nature, do not yet seem to be lessening in strength. It can only be hoped that a wise policy of international cooperation and shared aims can cope with this problem in the future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Gergely Görcsi ◽  
Gergő Barta ◽  
Zsuzsanna Széles

A vállalatok működése szempontjából a döntéstámogató funkció folyamatos fejlesztése, monitorozása kiemelt jelentőségű, hiszen az vezetést támogató eszközként segíti a menedzsmentfeladatok ellátását. Az üzleti intelligencia (business intelligence, BI) olyan infokommunikációs megoldás, mely a vállalati rendszerekből különböző adatforrásokat felhasználva képes az adatok összekapcsolására és elemzésére. A napi üzletmenet gördülékeny biztosítása céljából alkalmazott tranzakciós rendszerektől eltérően a BI-eszközök beszámolás orientáltak, a fókusz a döntéstámogatásra helyeződik. A kutatás a fogalmak tisztázását követően képet ad a legfrissebb üzleti intelligencia trendekről. A tanulmány szakmai mélyinterjúk elemzésén keresztül betekintést nyújt az üzleti intelligencia megoldások világába. A kutatás eredményeként az olvasó képet kaphat a BI bevezetésétől várt eredményekről, az implementáció és a hosszú távú működtetés sikerkritériumait illetően. --- Gergely GORCSI - Gergo BARTA - Zsuzsanna SZELES Success criteria for the application of business intelligence solutions In the running of any given company, continuous improvement and monitoring of decision support functions is crucial for such activities to serve as tools to support management tasks. Business Intelligence (BI) is an infocommunication tool that connects and analyses data from corporate systems using varied data sources. Unlike transactional systems that are used to ensure the sound operation of day-to-day business, BI tools are report-oriented, and focus on decision support. Reviewing related concepts, this research gives an overview of the latest business intelligence trends. Our study sets out to provide an insight into the world of business intelligence solutions by analysing professional, in-depth interviews. Through our research, one will become familiar with the results expected from the introduction of BI, in relation to the success criteria of its implementation and long-term operation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurshad Ali ◽  
Farjana Islam

The outbreak of COVID-19 has created a serious public health concern worldwide. Although, most of the regions around the globe have been affected by COVID-19 infections; some regions are more badly affected in terms of infections and fatality rates than others. The exact reasons for such variations are not clear yet. This review discussed the possible effects of air pollution on COVID-19 infections and mortality based on some recent evidence. The findings of most studies reviewed here demonstrate that both short-term and long-term exposure to air pollution especially PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) may contribute significantly to higher rates of COVID-19 infections and mortalities with a lesser extent also PM10. A significant correlation has been found between air pollution and COVID-19 infections and mortality in some countries in the world. The available data also indicate that exposure to air pollution may influence COVID-19 transmission. Moreover, exposure to air pollution may increase vulnerability and have harmful effects on the prognosis of patients affected by COVID-19 infections. Further research should be conducted considering some potential confounders such as age and pre-existing medical conditions along with exposure to NO2, PM2.5 and other air pollutants to confirm their detrimental effects on mortalities from COVID-19.


1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. R. Poulton

Maintaining soil fertility and sustaining or increasing crop yield is of worldwide importance. Many factors impact upon the complex biological, chemical and physical processes which govern soil fertility. Changes in fertility caused by acidification, declining levels of organic matter, or P and K status may take many years to appear. These properties can in turn be affected by external influences such as atmospheric pollution, global change, or changes in land management practice. Long-term experiments provide the best practical means of studying changes in soil properties and processes and providing information for farmers, scientists and policy makers. This paper shows how the experiments run at Rothamsted in southeast England continue to provide data which are highly relevant to today's agriculture and wider environmental concerns. Examples are given of how crop yield is affected by soil organic matter, by pests and disease and by P nutrition. The effect of atmospheric pollution on soil acidity and the mobilization of heavy metals are also examined. The need for making better use of existing long-term experiments is stressed. Key words: Soil fertility, sustainability, long-term experiments, global change


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urszula Łopuszańska ◽  
Marta Makara-Studzińska

AbstractIntroduction: In the 21st century there is an increased prevalence of depression in the world. So far the mechanism of developing depression has not been exactly known. Risk factors of depression occurrence are complex and nowadays it has been emphasized that air pollution can affect the intensity of depressive symptoms.Objective: The analysis of the scientific works investigating the correlations between air pollution and depression.Material and method: The material consisted of the studies published between 2007 and 2017. A systematic review of Medline database (using PubMed search engine) was conducted by typing the English phrase (air pollution) and (depression), and 154 results were obtained. Those results which concerned nicotine addiction or dementia diseases were rejected. The inclusion criterion was the number of people tested, n>500 in case of adults, and n>200 in case of children (a small number of publications). All in all, 9 research in the population of adults and 1 research in the group of children were included to the final analysis. In the discussion part of this work some research carried out on animals and related to the subject matter of own analyses were also investigated.Results: As many as 8 out of 10 analyzed research demonstrated statistically significant correlation between long-term exposure to air pollution (mainly to fine particulate matter, PM) and depression. This correlation mainly concerned intensification of depressive symptoms during long exposure to air pollution. The exposure also resulted in changes in the neuro-transfer of serotonin and as well in neurodegenerative changes in children exposed to long-term pollution with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in prenatal life. Testing on animals indicates that air pollution affects the activation of proinflammatory processes in hippocampus, what may incidentally contribute to the formation of depressive and cognitive symptoms.Conclusions: In view of the increase of depression incidence and constantly sustained air pollution in the world, there is a need for further research on the correlation between air pollution and depression, taking into account the genetic, social and psychological factors.


Author(s):  
Makworo Edwin Obwoge ◽  
Okemwa Stela Kwamboka

<div><p><em>Education systems in the world today are undergoing major shifts in their delivery systems to be able to accommodate shifting demands in the lifestyles of people. ICT has greatly influenced the way institutions operate in reaching and providing services to their clients. Many educational institutions have adapted their situations to meet the work demands and changing trends in education by adopting e-learning as a mechanism to reach the students who may have no time to sit in class due to their nature of work. TVET systems in Africa are slowly and steadily also starting to move towards implementing e-learning in their teaching learning process. This paper gives insight into the potential and situation of e-learning in TVET institutions in developing countries in Africa and points out major recommendations on how to improve in order to inform policy makers and other stakeholders in the TVET sector.</em></p></div>


Author(s):  
OLGA G. BORISOVA ◽  
◽  
LYUDMILA YU. KOSTINA ◽  

The article examines cognitive mechanisms of Kuban region set expressions origin, which include animalistic vocabulary and which represent a significant part of dialect picture of the world. The material for the research was taken from regional printed and handwritten lexicographical sources on a subject of Kuban sub-dialects, as well data was collected during long-term dialect expeditions. The results demonstrate the variety of these mechanisms, which are based on actual observations by the sub-dialect speakers on behavior, peculiar appearance, voice, smell of animals and human actions in regard thereto. The amount and variety of selected tokens prove the significance of zoomorphic code in the Kuban region inhabitants’ world view. Ethnocultural conjoinings of set expressions were found, which provide insight into the unique nature of the villager’s world view. The analysis of discursive sources of origin of phraseological units with a zoonym component enabled to trace the birth of a new cognitive structure as a result of conceptualisation of human knowledge. It was demonstrated, that meanings of Kuban phraseological units, being the product of cognitive and discursive activity of sub-dialect speakers, unite the results of sensuous impressions and pragmatist perception of the world around us.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (15) ◽  
pp. 8-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Modise Wiston

Background. Air pollution is an important issue in developed and industrialized countries. The most common sources of air pollution are anthropogenic activities such as construction dust, vehicular emissions and mining. For low- and middle-income countries, biomass burning and indoor heating are the leading sources of air pollution. As more of the world undergoes development and human populations increase, industrialization is also increasing, along with the potential for air pollution. Objectives. This article reviews the status of air pollution to raise awareness of air quality and human health in Botswana. Discussion. Since independence, Botswana has experienced one of the highest economic development growth rates in the world. These changes have occurred as a result of economic growth and resource utilization associated with increased industrialization. However, there is growing worldwide concern about the effect and impact of pollution due to industrial growth. Botswana is ranked amongst the most polluted countries with serious air pollution, despite a population of just over 2 million. Conclusions. Rapid development and increased urbanization have had a major environmental impact around the world. This increased growth has the potential to lead to air quality degradation. Significant health threats are posed by industrial and vehicular emissions, especially in urban and peri-urban areas where the population is most concentrated. It is important that the linkage between air pollution and health effects is fully examined across all scales of life, especially in developing countries. In addition, programs should be devised to educate the public about the pollution impacts on health. Competing Interests: The authors declare no financial competing interests.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (A29B) ◽  
pp. 222-222
Author(s):  
Andrew Howell

AbstractWe present results from the LCOGT Supernova Key Project, a three year program to obtain lightcurves and spectra of 600 supernovae. The Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network is a network of eleven robotic 1m and 2m telescopes located at 5 sites around the world. With this facility long term monitoring of transient phenomena is possible, as are nearly instantaneous observations. We report on both core-collapse and thermonuclear supernovae observed within days of explosion, allowing insight into their progenitor stars.


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