Hurricane impacts on southeastern United States coastal national park visitation

As a major contributor to local economies, the tourism industry has been greatly impacted by natural disasters. This study demonstrates the association between tourism economies and impacts of hurricanes in the southeastern United States containing coastal national parks, known for attracting a large number of tourists and having experienced hurricanes. In keeping with two longitudinal data methods (i.e. panel logit model and autoregressive integrated moving average), this study focused on the relationship between the (1) duration, intensity, and damage of hurricanes; (2) existing climate conditions; and (3) tourism demand on park visitation during hurricane and tourism seasons. As a whole, the impacts of hurricanes and climate conditions (precipitation, temperature) were found to have a negative effect on tourism demands (park visitation). With regard to the response of tourism economies to natural disaster damage, parks that experienced stronger natural disasters may be closed for a longer period in order to reconstruct facilities or natural/cultural resources damaged by storms. In an attempt to improve tourism-based regional economies, overcome the challenge of natural disasters on tourism economies, and increase opportunities for establishing disaster management, it is necessary to make an effort to allay unexpected damage to tourism-based areas through proactive plans for disaster mitigation activities.     

唐五代时期海洋灾害成因探析

海洋灾害是唐五代时期较为严重的自然灾害之一,主要是由历史时期海洋气候、海面波动、海水侵蚀等自然因素引起,同时又与当时特定的社会背景有一定的关联。如唐五代时期沿海人口的增加、濒海城市增多与海洋防灾技术的不成熟,导致受灾损失加剧;沿海政府组织的大规模屯田,破坏了沿海地区固有的生态景观,增加了唐五代时期海洋灾害的发生频率。     

魏晋南北朝时期疫灾时空分布规律研究

魏晋南北朝时期是中国历史上的第一个疫灾高峰期,疫灾频度平均为21.0%,其中西晋时期疫灾最为频繁,疫灾频度高达34.6%。夏季是疫灾流行的最主要的季节,约41%的疫灾发生在夏季。疫灾周期具有波幅越来越小、波长越来越短的趋势。在空间分布上,疫灾范围有逐步扩大的趋势,疫灾重心有由北向南迁移的趋势,都城所在地为疫灾多发区,都城区位的变迁影响着疫灾重心的变迁。三国时期的疫灾重心在河南,西晋时期的疫灾重心在陕西与河南,东晋以后的疫灾重心在江苏。总体来看,经济相对发达、人口相对稠密、战争相对频仍的黄河中下游地区、长江中下游地区以及它们之间的淮河流域是魏晋南北朝时期疫灾的主要流行区域。     

The role of the telescope and microscope in the constitution of the Idea of scientific progress

The invention of optical instruments showed that the extent of human experience is not eternal and natural but contingent – it can change, depending on the availability and performance of optical instruments over time. This knowledge of the temporal variability of empirical knowledge led to changes in the methodology and epistemology of early modern natural philosophy. In this article, I focus mainly on three aspects of this process. Firstly, optical technique has shown that nature cannot be examined by an isolated individual. Natural philosophy must be a collective activity with institutional support. Secondly, use of optical instruments led to an understanding of the relativity of contemporary natural philosophy, no longer understood as the culmination of preceding development. The present state of natural philosophy becomes a transient stage in a longer development. Thirdly, telescopes and microscopes contributed to the formation of an idea of unending progress.     

Protected Areas,Country and Value: The Nature–Culture Tyranny of the IUCN's Protected Area Guidelines for Indigenous Australians

“Protected areas” is the formal definition for the global network of conservation places, including marine and terrestrial reserves, which are overseen by the IUCN through instruments such as the Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories (Guidelines). In the long‐term conservation of nature, the Guidelines embed a nature–culture dualism, upon which the values of each are ascribed and weighted. This binary does not recognise relational values of Indigenous peoples to land or encompass worldviews beyond the restricted choice of the dualism. Through two Australian Aboriginal case studies, I reveal tensions in classifying cultural values for protected areas under the limited Guidelines offerings and provide an alternative engagement, through reassessing the means and scope by which values are assigned, for greater equity to Indigenous peoples.     

Communities and archaeology under the Soufrière Hills Volcano on Montserrat,West Indies

Abstract

The volcanically devastated landscape of Montserrat and its social fabric comprise what Maria calls a “traumascape”—a site of tragedy and catastrophe that is also a place of coping and resilience. How Montserratians engage with trauma is evident in how they remember their recent and historical pasts, and in how they are reinventing aspects of their heritage in order to sustain a distinctly Montserratian identity for the future. Such a process of coping presents challenges for conducting archaeology in collaboration with the community. In this article, we describe the experiences of a recently established project on the island (Survey and Landscape Archaeology on Montserrat) and discuss the potential for, and the obstacles involved in, developing longer-term, sustainable forms of collaboration between archaeologists and local Montserratian communities when facing the unusual circumstances of volcanic disaster and hazard.     

Leibniz,Locke, and the Early Modern Controversy over Legal Maxims

This article investigates the context of a side line in Leibniz's critique of Locke on maxims. In an enigmatic and little-explored remark, Leibniz objects that Locke has overlooked some legal maxims that fulfil the function of ‘constituting the law’. I propose to read this remark against the background of the divergence between conceptions of legal maxims in the common law tradition and conceptions of legal maxims in the Roman law tradition. In a few remarks, Locke seems to echo the common law emphasis on customs and conventions expressed by legal maxims. According to such a conception, reason would mainly fulfil the function of subsuming particular norms under more general conventional norms. By contrast, Leibniz uses the Roman law idea that some ‘rules of law’ express demands of natural reason and, thereby, express principles constitutive of natural law. This is why he proposes to reform vague and confused ‘brocards’ used by jurists in order to identify sound maxims that provide a natural-law foundation for legal institutions.     

The Impact of Energy,Transport, and Trade on Air Pollution in China

A team of U.S.- and China-based geographers examines the relationship between China's economic development and its environment by modeling the effects of energy, transport, and trade on local air pollution emissions (sulfur dioxide and soot particulates) using the Environmental Kuznets model. Specifically, the latter model is investigated using spatial econometrics that take into account potential regional spillover effects from high-polluting neighbors. The analysis finds an inverted-U relationship for sulfur dioxide but a U-shaped curve for soot particulates. This suggests that soot particulates such as black carbon may pose a more serious environmental problem in China than sulfur dioxide. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: C50, F10, Q43, R40. 4 figures, 3 tables, 47 references.     

Geochemistry and origin of natural gases dissolved in brines from gas fields in southwest Japan

Previous geochemical studies indicated that most natural gases dissolved in brines in Japan are of microbial origin, consisting of methane produced via carbonate reduction. However, some of those from gas fields in southwest Japan contain methane relatively enriched in ¹³C, whose origin remains to be clarified. To address this issue, chemical and isotopic analyses were performed on natural gases and brines from the gas fields in Miyazaki and Shizuoka prefectures, southwest Japan. Methane isotopic signatures (δ¹³C ≈ ?68‰ to ?34‰ VPDB; δ²H ≈ ?183‰ to ?149‰ VSMOW) suggest that these gases are of microbial (formed via carbonate reduction) or of mixed microbial and thermogenic origin. The relatively high δ²H‐CH₄ values and their relationship with the δ²H‐H₂O values argue against the possibility of their formation via acetate fermentation. The δ¹³C‐CO₂ values (≈?5‰), together with the slope of the correlation between δ²H‐CH₄ and δ¹³C‐CH₄ (Δδ²H‐CH₄/Δδ¹³C‐CH₄ ≈ 1), contradict the possibility of their formation via carbonate reduction followed by partial oxidation by methanotrophs. The ³He/⁴He ratios of the gases from Miyazaki (≈0.11–1.3 Ra) and their low correlation with δ¹³C‐CH₄ values do not support an abiogenic origin. It is inferred therefore that the high δ¹³C‐CH₄ values of natural gases dissolved in brines from gas fields in southwest Japan are indications of the contribution of thermogenic hydrocarbons, although whether abiogenic hydrocarbons contribute significantly to the gases from Shizuoka requires further investigation. This study has clarified that, for the future exploration of natural gases in southwest Japan, we should adopt the strategies for conventional thermogenic gas accumulations, such as checking the content, type and maturity of organic matter in the underlying sedimentary rocks.