Marine and coastal protected areas in Latin America: A preliminary assessment

Abstract

One approach to the management of coastal and marine areas is the establishment of protected areas (e.g., reserves, parks, sanctuaries). Under the general rubric of “marine reserves,”; this paper examines the Latin American experience with this strategy. A comprehensive table lists most, if not all, national or state declared parks or reserves. The table is organized by country. All Latin American nations have, to a varying extent, declared marine parks and protected areas. The authors review the sources or uses which have been “managed”; by marine reserves, the management approaches, uses, and problem which have been identified in achieving management objectives. The authors conclude with observations about the potential future utility of marine reserves as a management approach for areas and resources of the coastal and littoral zones of Latin America.     

SiMoCo: the viability of a prototype platform for a coastal monitoring system: a case study

Coastal zones are among the most productive areas in the world, offering a wide variety of valuable habitats and ecosystems services. Despite the low population density in the Brazilian coastal zone, their distribution is quite concentrated near some coastal cities and state capitals. This concentration places enormous pressure on coastal resources. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to present an overview on the current status of SiMoCo (Sistema de Monitoramento Costeiro, or Coastal Monitoring System in English) project as a possible early warning system that can be integrated to the Brazilian Coastal Management Information System. This prototype platform provides a real-time access to the composition, organization and simulation of planktonic communities. First, our results demonstrate such a system detecting a target dinoflagellate; second, we apply structural and functional indexes to compare and characterize the ecological networks from two different coastal areas. Conclusions are made about SiMoCo’s feasibility and its possible contribution to the decision-making process within integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) strategies.     

沿海航标管理及维护运行信息化探讨

文中介绍了我国沿海航标管理及维护运行信息化建设的背景,提出了航标信息化建设的设计方案,从设计原则、方法、航标数据库、总体框架等几方面进行论述,从而实现对航标业务及信息数据的规范化、智能化管理。     

Visibility mapping in New York's coastal zone: A case study of alternative methods

Abstract

Most scenery evaluation methodologies incorporate visibility extent. In New York's coastal zone, visibility mapping for planning and project studies is complicated by low topographic relief, and diverse configurations of water edge and upland surface character. A generalized visibility model has been developed, including macrolandscape, observer, and sight‐line recording. Based on a prior shorescape study of New York's coast, the Lake Ontario Port Bay site was selected to test alternative visibility methods. Within the study site, four “landscape control points”; were chosen which provided extensive views of representative land and water forms, and surface types. For each control point, four families of visibility mapping approaches were applied: primary (field observation); secondary (topographic maps and vertical air photo analysis); tertiary (physical topographic model); and quaternary (digital terrain computer model). Major study conclusions are: the methods require different resources; all methods readily produced visibility maps; all methods, except secondary, could be used to produce perspective scenes for subsequent content evaluation; all methods except primary omitted one or more elements of the general visibility model; all methods should incorporate field work due to critical viewer environment conditions; sensitivity analysis in each method produced ambiguous zones; each view map was different, particularly in the background. An integrated, multi‐approach strategy would appear desirable for most planning and project applications.     

Environmental quality within an interorganizational matrix: A case study of the SOHIO project

Abstract

Urban coastal management is now part of a large, complex set of regional, state, and federal interorganizational arrangements. This emerging matrix consists of a loosely linked set of nearly independent decision points. Cities have little capacity within this matrix for independent action. Recent experience in the SOHIO project by the City and Port of Long Beach, California, illustrates the point to which external agencies have taken over decision‐making for use of coastal resources. Public bodies removed from city affairs and politics and with interests in other than coastal affairs have become dominant and have overridden local policy‐making. The public costs to citizens and local governments of the emerging interorganizational matrix are very high and may be excessive. As it is emerging, the matrix is a semi‐autonomous set of bureaucratic decision points which is unhinged from community values and regular political infrastructures.     

Policy considerations for wetland wastewater treatment in the coastal zone: A case study for Louisiana

Two major environmental problems currently affecting the Louisiana coastal zone are a high rate of wetland loss and high levels of surface water pollution. The application of secondarily treated wastewater to wetlands can be a means of dealing with both of these problems. The benefits of wetland wastewater treatment include improved surface water quality, increased accretion rates to balance a high relative water level rise due mainly to subsidence, improved plant productivity and habitat quality, and decreased capital outlays for conventional engineering treatment systems. Wetland treatment systems can, therefore, be designed and operated to restore deteriorating wetlands. Hydrologically altered wetlands, which are common in the Louisiana coastal zone, are appropriate for receiving municipal and some types of industrial effluent. While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined wetland wastewater treatment is effective in treating municipal effluent, it has discouraged the use of natural wetlands for this purpose. At the same time, funds are being used for the construction of artificial wetlands to treat municipal effluent. In the Louisiana coastal zone, however, wetlands are deteriorating and disappearing due to hydrological alteration and a high rate of relative sea level rise. If no action is taken, these trends will continue. Effluent discharge to existing wetlands should be incorporated into a comprehensive management plan designed to increase sediment and nutrient input into subsiding wetlands in the Louisiana coastal zone, improve water quality, and result in more economical waste‐water treatment. The authors believe that the Louisiana example serves as a model for other coastal areas especially in light of projections of accelerated sea level rise.     

沿海66m运石船吊臂结构强度有限元分析和稳定性校核

摘 要：利用MSC/Nastran软件对吊臂结构在4种工况下进行了强度有限元分析,并对其稳定性进行了校核。文中介绍了载荷的计算方法和约束条件的施加方法。通过有限元分析得到的结论对同类型吊臂结构的设计和强度分析有一定的参考价值。计算结果表明该吊臂结构强度和稳定性符合规范要求。     

天津近海沿岸雾的分析

通过多年的水文气象资料分析，找出天津近海沿岸雾发生时间及特点，为分析预报海雾提供参考依据，更好地为海上作业服务。     

Inland transportation system planning by life cycle impact assessment: a case study

The comparison of land and inland water transportation from economical and ecological points of view is discussed. Required freight rates for trucks and ships are calculated and compared to find which has economic superiority. From the environmental impacts of these two transportation types, the comparative environmental destruction indices for two different time-durations are estimated. All these investigations were conducted for the Yokohama–Fukuoka route in Japan. Life cycle impact assessment, a very useful tool for quantitatively evaluating the environmental influence of a product, was used to compare the environmental burden imposed by these types of transportation. Finally, the way that these results can be used for inland transportation system planning is discussed. Received: January 21, 2000 / Accepted: June 27, 2000     

Protecting Rhode Island's coastal salt ponds: An economic assessment of downzoning

Abstract

In southern Rhode Island, there is growing concern that housing and recreational demands will soon overwhelm the capacity of the coastal salt ponds to absorb wastes, produce seafood, and maintain scenic qualities. As a result, coastal towns have been studying the feasibility of using land controls such as downzoning to protect these coastal amenities. The paper presents an economic analysis of the downzoning program proposed in the town of South Kingstown. Hedonic price and contingent valuation methods are used to value coastal amenities. The estimated net present value of “swimmable” water is shown to be $3.1 million.     

Environmental assessment in the Prc: Third phase of the Qinhuangdao coal port

Abstract

The use of environmental impact assessment (EIA) is relatively recent in the People's Republic of China (PRC). China is committed to a reversal of the environmental degradation resulting from its industrialization and the central government has initiated a requirement for environmental planning and assessment for large development projects. Today large scale harbor developments are subject to the requirements of the National Environmental Protection Law (1979) and the Marine Environmental Law (1982). Because the third phase expansion of the coal port of Qinhuangdao would increase the ports’ capacity to handle coal by 30 to 50 million tons, an EIA was required.

Since 1981, the Environment and Policy Institute of the East‐West Center (EWC), Honolulu, has had a program of research focusing on the environmental impacts of coal transportation. On the basis of workshops in China that centered on the problems associated with planning coal transportation projects, the Ministry of Communications of the PRC invited the EWC to participate in the environmental assessment for the third phase coal port expansion at Qinhuangdao. A 10‐member team with specialities in environmental assessment and port environmental problems from five countries representing the EWC worked with a 25‐member team from four different agencies of the PRC Ministry of Communications.

This article describes the environmental regulations in the PRC that affect this harbor expansion, discusses the process by which the EWC assisted the PRC in the preparation of the environmental assessment and evaluates the assessment product against PRC regulations and U.S. standards. The most important contribution of the EWC was the provision of guidelines adapted from the EIA experience in several countries which will assist the PRC in the environmental evaluation of future pon expansion projects.     

2002年天津沿海地区春季首场大雾分析

春季大雾是影响天津沿海地区海上航运、港口作业的一个重要因素，本文利用常规气象资料分析了本场平流雾产生的环流背景、低空风场、地面形势及塘沽站、上游站天气要素等特点，认为高空玮向环流平直、低空有暖平流、地面风向风速适宜、气流上游水气条件较好是形成此次大雾的主要原因。     

Impact of offshore oil and gas development on the coastal zone: Reforming the impact assessment process

In an otherwise complex regulatory system, the federal Environmental Impact Statement process affords local decision makers and coastal zone residents a rare opportunity to analyze the comprehensive range of land‐use and environmental issues that may arise from Offshore Continental Shelf (OCS) hydrocarbon development, while there is still time to formulate effective management strategies. As exemplified by the lease sale 40 statements, present onshore impact assessment procedures are sufficiently flawed to seriously compromise this goal. Critical deficiencies include failure to emphasize onshore impacts; insensitivity to spatial variations of impact; neglect of available data; rigid, unsupported assumptions; and preoccupation with short‐trm effects to the exclusion of more significant and dependent long‐term consequences. Suggested reforms include preparation of separate exploration and development impact statements; establishment of special Council on Environmental Quality review procedures; modification of the judicial review process; and provision of additional support to local onshore OCS impact areas.     

Impacts of energy development on coastal recreation: The case of New Jersey

Abstract

This paper presents the methodology and results of a study commissioned by the Division of Coastal Resources of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The objective of the study was to assess the economic and social impacts of potential energy activities on New Jersey's shorefront recreational resources for the purpose of formulating policies concerning the location of energy facilities on the coast. The Coastal Tourism Response Model developed as part of the project is briefly described and suggestions are offered for model application. The paper reviews the literature assessing the impacts of environmental changes on human attitudes and behavior and further discusses energy facilities and tourists in particular. It concludes that energy facilities, if carefully planned, can coexist with tourism activities, and stresses the role of regional differences and local attitudes toward development and preservation as key factors in determining the state policy.     

Safety in Greek coastal shipping: The role and risk of human factor revisited

The comprehensive analysis presented in this paper investigates the links and comparative assets between human factor and other factors that are important determinants of maritime transport risk. In this outline, the identification of factors, such as age and ship size, that can be statistically linked (i.e. statistical significance) to whether an accident in a passenger vessel can be attributed to human factor or other causes is addressed accordingly. This way, the role of human factor in relation to safety of Greek coastal shipping is revealed and the spotlight is able to focus on the various aspects and points that manifest the importance of human element in the maritime industry. The risk assessment of the transportation with Greek passenger ships is being used in order for the safety level of Greek coastal shipping to be adequately estimated. Moreover, the comparison between the values of risk for accidents caused by human factor and those attributed to other causes is an established way to bring to the fore the unbroken relationship between the human factor and marine accidents’ consequences. The paper is concluded with interesting insights and comments drafted through the aforementioned tasks.     

高桩码头叉桩最不利受力工况分析

高桩码头结构的复杂性以及桩体与土相互作用的非线性,使得桩体受力相当复杂。文章分析了影响高桩码头叉桩受力的各种因素,通过建立ANSYS有限元模型计算各种工况下叉桩桩顶受力情况,得到了叉桩的破损机理,并结合各外力因素对叉桩不利受力进行敏感度分析,得到了叉桩受力的最不利工况组合和最敏感外力因素,对认识高桩码头叉桩破损的原因具有参考价值。     

风险评估方法在ISM中的应用

简单介绍ISM规则,并对风险评估的定义、方法及程序进行说明,最后以单船风险评估为例,对ISM规则实施过程中的风险评估方法进行探讨。     

风险评估指数法在舰船装备故障风险分析中的应用

文章使用风险评估指数法对舰船装备故障的风险进行了分析,给出了风险评估指数矩阵,划分了舰船装备故障的高、中、低风险区;探讨了基于风险评估指数法进行的舰船装备故障风险分析在维修管理工作中的几点应用.     

Inland transportation system planning by life-cycle impact assessment: a case study. 2nd report: single comparison index

A model to estimate and compare the ecological impact and economic feasibility of a land transportation system (trucks) and a marine transportation system (cargo ships) was developed and presented in a previous report.¹ Three different comparison indices—environmental, economic, and customer service—were used to evaluate and compare their ecological impacts and determine their economic superiority. In this article, a single comparison index is proposed and assessed for the two transportation systems. The estimates were made for nine different routes in Japan. A simple mathematical model of the whole methodology is given. The sensitivity of the weighting factors used in the comparison method was analyzed. The social cost saving in monetary terms through a modal shift is also presented. Received: February 15, 2001 / Accepted: September 19, 2001