从《环境研究》看日本学界对当代中国环境问题的研究

日本《环境研究》在2008年149号、150号开设专辑,集中刊登了17篇研究当代中国环境问题的论文,这些研究论文反映出日本学界对当代中国环境问题的关注。日本学者的研究视角主要集中在三个方面,即中国环境法律法规政策的变化特点和环境行政的最新发展动向;中国环境战略如温室气体减排及沙漠化对策ODA(日本对华开发援助)等各种形式的中日环境合作。随着环境问题日益成为全球性话题,有关环境问题的研究与合作正在超越环境问题而扩展到经济、政治领域。在环境问题上的交流与合作,对中日经济合作关系乃至中日友好关系都将产生越来越重要的影响。     

人类与环境——对人类生态问题的思考

本文在人类与地理环境相互作用的前提下对人类生态问题进行了初步探讨,强调了经济技术、环境态度等人类文化因素在研究中的意义和价值。提出了研究方式。     

现代城市环境工程地质研究的关键技术与问题探讨

随着我国社会经济的迅速发展以及城市化进程的不断加快,大量的工程活动加速了对自然地质环境的改造,也出现了很多环境工程地质问题,有关环境工程地质问题的研究,受到了各国的广泛重视。本文主要介绍了现代城市工程建设的基本特点,对现代城市建设所引发的环境工程地质问题进行了分析,并对现代城市环境工程地质研究的关键技术和主要方向进行探讨和研究。     

环境史与历史地理的关系

这篇文章有三个部分。第一部分考察了环境史作为历史学科一个独特子集的出现 ,并讨论了它的发展过程 :首先讨论了它的开始是植根于北美的资源保护和知识史 ,其次讨论了它的伦理演化和基本要点 ,最后讨论了它更具国际主义和跨学科性的关于自然中的人的观点。同时也考察了环境史研究的各种模式(主要是人类学的 )和议程。第二部分考察了主要历史和文化地理学家对环境史所提出的更大的人与自然的争论的贡献。着眼点主要关注四个研究领域 :(1)地球的变化和改变 ,(2 )全球扩展和资本主义经济 ,(3)人在自然界中的位置 ,(4 )栖息地、经济和社会之间的相互关系。第三部分考察了一些争论对于两个学科的意义、共性和挑战。结论是两个学科在“场所故事的叙述”中有许多互相帮助和学习的东西。     

环境政策工具在生态旅游管理中的应用

随着生态旅游的发展,生态旅游虽然促进了经济的腾飞,也带来一系列问题。本文通过探讨环境政策工具在生态旅游发展中的应用以及三种环境政策工具的组合应用,得出生态旅游的良性发展需要合适的环境政策工具。     

“环境史研究高层论坛”综述

环境史是近年来历史学发展最为迅速的分支学科之一。为推动和深化环境史研究,厦门大学人文学院于2012年11月8日至11日在福建省武夷山市举办“环境史研究高层论坛”,来自国内外高校和研究机构的诸多学者出席了本次学术会议。与会学者围绕环境史的理论、方法与史料等问题,展开热烈讨论。谨将会议报告和讨论内容简述如下：     

关于环境问题的伦理学思考

环境问题已经不容忽视：环境污染、环境破坏以及环境公平问题就是其主要表现。这些问题是人们对环境伦理的认识不够,甚至人们的行为违背了环境伦理所导致的。我们必须加快环境伦理学研究、加强环境伦理教育、提高人们的环境伦理意识、正确处理伦理关系,最终实现人与自然的完美和谐。     

20世纪90年代以前美国环境史研究的特点

在20世纪90年代以前,美国环境史研究具有以下三个特点:就研究范围而言,研究的主要问题都属于自然保护和资源保护的范畴,荒野研究成为美国环境史研究最鲜明的特色,而城市及人工环境则未受到应有的重视。其次,从价值取向上说,环境史研究具有显著的环境保护主义的道德和政治诉求。环境保护主义既使环境史受益,使环境史具有鲜明的文化批判意识,同时,它也限制了环境史的未来发展。最后,环境史研究具有比较明显的时空特点:就时间而言,它研究的主要是近现代;就空间而言,美国环境史优先研究的地域首先是西部,其次是东北部,最后是南部。     

论环境问题和城市环境艺术设计

近三十多年的社会发展进程中,改革开放力度的不断深入使得我国城市化建设速度和规模空前膨胀,我国城市环境艺术建设在当代城市化建设及经济发展的浪潮中出现了飞速发展,也促使城市有传统的行政中心朝着当前文化、经济、商贸、教育等全面功能转换,并逐步取得了巨大发展成就。但是与此同时,在城市化经济飞速发展的同时也出现了诸多环境问题与缺陷。本文就环境问题含义和成因进行了探讨,并以此为基础探索了城市环境艺术设计要点,以供同行工作参考。     

从耦合到演化：环境经济地理研究范式的转变

随着人类活动对自然环境影响与改造的日益加深,人文与经济地理学者把经济地理学研究范式与环境要素相结合,形成环境经济地理学研究方向,并随着经济地理学研究范式的转变其研究主题和研究视角也随之变化。通过对1970—2020年经济—环境相关文献的计量分析和总结归纳,发现环境经济地理相关研究不断融入新内容和新思路,研究主题逐步多元;在研究范式上,区别于传统耦合研究过度注重经济—环境交互作用的结果,环境经济地理研究逐渐出现关注经济—环境互动的社会、制度要素的制度转向,关注经济—环境互动中主体的关联和网络构建的关系转向,和关注经济—环境互动的动态过程和调和机制的演化转向。集成现有的理论基础,综合多元的研究范式,环境经济地理研究仍有较大的深化空间。     

Environmental influences on skilled worker migration from Bangladesh to Canada

We conducted focus groups in Toronto with 44 recent skilled worker immigrants from Bangladesh to explore whether their decisions to migrate to Canada may have been influenced by environmental problems. Previous research has documented how floods, cyclones, droughts, and seasonal precipitation variations affect rural‐urban migration patterns within Bangladesh, and to its neighbours. Most participants had not experienced such environmental hazards, having lived in Dhaka prior to migrating. However, Dhaka's ongoing problems with air and water pollution, sanitation, lack of green space, and food adulteration were cited by 70% as being relevant considerations for the decision to migrate. The degree of influence varied considerably among participants. Roughly 16% said pollution was their primary motivation for leaving, household members having suffered from illnesses traceable to air pollution or poor sanitation. Another 54% stated that Dhaka's environmental problems were part of a wider range of quality‐of‐life concerns that had some influence on their decision. The findings suggest that current migration to Canada is not connected with environmental migration that takes place within Bangladesh, but that urban environmental problems combined with other social, economic, and political factors can help drive migration.     

"Silently Farting in the Face of the Empire." Review of Paul and the Imperial Roman Order

Abstract

As the Roman Catholic Church's hierarchy ventures more frequently into the sphere of environmental ethics and makes pronouncements on large-scale environmental problems, its effectiveness will consistently be undercut by its commitment to what is traditionally called "Catholic act analysis," which when used to evaluate a host of commonplace actions leads Catholics to believe that they are morally unproblematic. Yet when these same actions are performed day after day and year after year, they contribute to many large-scale environmental problems that are unquestionably harmful—and are often viewed negatively by the Catholic hierarchy. At some point, this pattern of approving morally of certain actions the cumulative, corporate side effects of which cause pernicious environmental problems will strain the Catholic Church's credibility on environmental matters—and until the hierarchy reexamines its commitment to Catholic act analysis, this dilemma will be unavoidable.     

IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MEASURES ON THE U.S. ECONOMY

A rapid deterioration in the quality of the environment in the United States has compelled the Government to take a series of actions, including the enactment of remedial legislation. However, the environmental protection measures taken have begun to markedly influence the country's economy, resulting in redistribution of some industries, e.g., the coal mining industry, and in a reduction in the output of some products, for example, a decline in lead production due to the use of nonleaded gasoline. The problems of environmental protection are not purely natural-scientific or technological, but also socio-economic and, hence, class problems. In a capitalist society, environmental protection measures have to be implemented under conditions of sharp conflict between a public value, such as the environment, and private ownership of the means of production, which pollute that environment. (The paper is based largely on materials gathered by the author during a stay of nearly six months in 1974–75 at the University of Illinois. The translation is by R. Bruce Wood, University of Illinois, Urbana.)     

Determinism and Indeterminism in Foreign Geography. Part II

The controversy between the environmentalists and the possibilists and the schools of cultural determinism, social determinism and indeterminism in West European and American geography are reviewed. The shift away from geographical determinism is viewed as not being necessarily a positive development in geography because it has led to a gradual strengthening of indeterminist tendencies with their associated disregard for physical geographical factors. When viewed in the historical context, geographical determinism is found to have shifted significantly from the extreme views of Ellen Semple and Ellsworth Huntington to a more pragmatically oriented view of the environmental impact on problems of economic development, i.e. from historical-sociological explanations to problems in applied geography. Even if the modern determinists tend to exaggerate the significance of the physical environment in some cases, this is still viewed as the lesser evil compared with an underestimation of environmental factors.     

Social and Political Dimensions of Environmental Protection in Central America

This study takes a critical look at mainstream efforts to protect and rehabilitate the environment in Central America. Despite some notable successes, many forest protection and tree planting schemes have not been effectively implemented and have even contributed to further environmental degradation, social inequality and impoverishment. It is argued that the trade-off between environmental protection and human welfare which characterizes many schemes to protect forests and promote tree planting undermines not only local livelihoods but also the possibility of achieving basic environmental objectives, given the nature of local responses and their effects on project implementation. There is a need for a more integrative and socially-aware approach to environmental planning which addresses two fundamental problems: the failure to locate environmental protection initiatives within a broader development framework and the failure to integrate concerns for environmental protection with the needs and rights of local people. Addressing these two problems of ‘macro-’ and ‘micro-coherency’ in environmental planning requires not only dealing with the many technical, administrative and financial constraints which typically characterize environmental programmes and projects, but also changes in the balance of social forces.     

Early agriculture in Scandinavia: Research problems related to pollen‐analytical studies

As a background for a discussion on errors and potentials of the palaeo‐botanical methods in the documentation of early prehistoric agriculture in Scandinavia, some methodological problems in pollen analysis are treated. Multidisciplinary research for understanding environmental changes is emphasized. Definition of long‐term changes in the cultural landscape is discussed. Different research strategies in Scandinavia are outlined. A survey of the introduction and expansion of agriculture in Scandinavia is presented. Finally, some palaeoecological interpretation problems related to the early agriculture landscape are listed.     

Environmental attitudes,environmental problems and party choice. A large-N comparative study

This study investigates the relationship between environmental attitudes and the ‘greenness’ of party choice, moderated by exposure to environmental problems such as the incidence of natural disasters and poor air quality. The ‘greenness’ of party choice is operationalised as the share of environmental policy in the parties' election manifestos. Voting for greener parties is especially important for environmental protection because greener votes are the keys to national, and eventually, global action mitigating the effects of environmental degradation. The analysis relies on the European Social Survey, the World Values Survey, the Manifesto Project Dataset, the EM-DAT dataset, as well as World Bank data, and covers 139 surveys in 38 countries between 1995 and 2016. Multilevel linear models reveal that voters with greener attitudes chose greener parties, as expected. At the same time, exposure to country-level environmental problems decreases the effect of these attitudes by significantly increasing the green vote cast by citizens not particularly concerned with the environment. It seems that non-environmental attitudes are substituted by environmental problems in increasing the ‘greenness’ of the vote. When people meet bad environmental conditions, they are more willing to take environmental action irrespective of their prior attitudes towards environment protection. This foreshadows an increasing overall emphasis on environmental issues in national party politics as more and more countries are facing the dire consequences of a degrading environment.     

Strategic Environmental Planning and Uncertainty: A Cross-National Comparison of Green Plans in Industrialized Countries

Uncertainty is a distinct feature of environmental policy and environmental issues. This article explores the potential of strategic and comprehensive environmental planning for dealing with these uncertainties. First, four types of uncertainty and their specific impacts on environmental policy are distinguished. Strategic environmental planning could be a promising approach for dealing with these uncertainties. Based on an empirical analysis of national environmental policy plans and sustainability strategies in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, this article comes to the conclusion that although only few of the existing green plans fully explore the theoretical potential of this new approach to environmental policymaking, it has proven an effective mechanism to deal with and reduce at least some of the uncertainties with which environmental policymakers are confronted. The greatest potential of strategic planning lies in increasing the political system's capacity to deal with those problems of long-term environmental degradation, which in spite of the past successes of environmental protection remain largely unsolved.     

建设项目环境影响评价中存在的问题与对策探讨

对建设项目进行环境影响评价分析,对国民经济的健度稳定发展和保护生态自然环境均有重要的作用。但在具体实施过程中,仍然存在不少问题,如工程分析粗糙、报告书质量不高、评价缺乏针对性和实用性等。本文对此进行了分析,并提出相应对策。