The emergence of global environmental awareness

An effective plan for global ecosystem management must be developed in the next 10 or 20 years. Awareness of the need has recently emerged, but still no integrated resource management system is universally accepted. A fragmented management approach has not been effective. Any successful course of action must be based on three assumptions: (1) that science can determine how ecosystems function, (2) once this is known, the social/political system will be able to protect ecosystems to the extent needed for the survival of human society, and (3) reality will take precedence over political expediency because Mother Nature cannot be fooled. This discussion focuses on the transition from awareness to taking effective action.

Environmental awareness and the contemporary society of China——an analysis and an understanding

This paper presents an understanding of the relationship between the environmental awareness(EA) and contemporary society of China. The EA of three of the major groups of Chinas society, namely intellectuals, government officials, and urban societies are characterized one by one. A number of factors of affecting the EA were investigated in details, the keys among which are the personal level of knowledge and morality, the social and economic development level, environmental codes, environment\|related professional and public regulations, different professional performances. Some policy proposals are finally provided for enhancing the EA of Chinas society.

A Geopolitical and Geovisualization Challenge: Increasing the Awareness of Global Environmental Change through Postage Stamp Issues

Global environmental change is one of the major distinguishing features associated with the contemporary world political map. It is significant not only because it illustrates the intersections between geopolitics and environmental change, but also because identifying the major environmental features and solving existing and future problems are primarily political in nature. Key features of global environmental change include global warming impacts on the poleward shifts in biodiversity and agricultural patterns, rising sea levels and human adjustments, changing coastal habitats, and promoting increased environmental awareness especially in urban clusters, where most people live. In the contemporary geopolitical and environmental world, visualization is a key feature not only used to inform both planetary inhabitants, environmental organizations and governments, but also serves as an effective policy, that is, to “show” or demonstrate effective changes and the need for action. States are key institutions in this thinking as they can both inform and address the impacts of global environmental change through various images: maps, earth-based photographs, satellite coverage, websites and educational venues including curriculum content and stamps. Visual geopolitics is already recognized as being an important source influencing public opinion, as evidenced in the attractive visible layouts, graphics, colors, often “seductive” designing of official websites. Postage stamps is an additional important and “informing” visible way that states inform both insiders and outsiders about how they “see” their place in the world. They also provide a view into how a state sees its “own” place in the world of environmental change and how it sees “the world beyond its own borders”. I introduce the concept of “visual geopolitics” and use recent postage stamp issues about global environmental change from a number of countries to illustrate how they are informing views of their own and the world about pressing environmental issues.

Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) for Regional Mapping and Environmental Awareness

Giant Hogweed is a poisonous invasive weed in Latvia that poses significant threat to biodiversity and human health. Local residents are afraid and have very special concerns about the safety of their children because the plant causes phytophotodermatitis (severe burns), painful blistering, permanent scarring and blindness when the sap of the plant comes in contact with the human body and is exposed to sunlight. This study utilizes public participation GIS (PPGIS) involving Latvian high school students as data collectors to monitor the geographic distribution of Giant Hogweed in Northeast Latvia. This paper also explores challenges with implementing such a public program, how to maximize participation, and how participation impacts environmental awareness of participants. In this study we also assessed the accuracy of PPGIS-collected data and how the utilization of such data impacts mapping and monitoring of Giant Hogweed in the study area. Results indicate that this PPGIS program is effective in facilitating data collection for monitoring Giant Hogweed in Latvia. Tested methods of increasing participation have proven largely unsuccessful to date. Statistical analyses of survey responses indicate participation had a marked effect on sensitivity towards environmental issues. Accuracy assessments indicate that quality of point data collected by participants is sufficient for mapping and for use as ground verification.

Contribution of CBET and environmental/eco-awareness to eco-civilization in China

The concept of eco-civilization in China now is a hot issue.It has drawn sufficient attention from all walks of life,both in industry and academia.Not only Chinese domestic researcher focus on this area,but also many Western contributors shed light on this concept.For example,Arran E.Gare(1995),whose work aims to search for the roots of the global ecological crisis,and the cultural conditions to overcome it,and he reveals that environmental awareness has undoubtedly grown over the last two decades.The purpose of this research is to explore the core tenets and criteria of Community-based Ecotourism(CBET),environmental/eco-awareness and examine its contribution to Chinese eco-civilization,to voice Chinese's contribution to the Western world as ecological civilization represents the most advanced and sustainable mode of civilization in human history,and how to use ecological civilization philosophy to guide the develop of CBET in China,and in return,how to integrate concepts of CBET,environmental/eco-awareness with the process of Chinese eco-civilization nowadays.

Mitigating the Environmental Effects of Oil and Gas Exploitation: Issues of Compliance, Cost of Production, and Community Awareness

This study assessed the effectiveness of mitigation measures adopted to address the environmental effects of oil and gas industries from the perspective of compliance, cost of production, and community awareness. The research applied a case study through multi-method-qualitative and quantitative approaches. The target population of 547,368 people involved people in Takoradi, Shama and Newtown communities. A sample size of 150 was selected and categorised under 36% for Shama, 30% for Newtown and 34% for Takoradi. A combination of probability (simple random) and non-probability (cluster and convenience) sampling frames were used to access the respondents for the study. Data collection tools were limited to questionnaires and interview sessions. The descriptive statistics, Relative Importance Index (RII) and significance testing using a one-sample t-test module guided the analysis. Interview sessions were compiled into transcripts and later categorized into themes that directly reflected the patterns of the questions on the questionnaire. The conclusion rated major decisions in mitigating oil and gas impacts on the environment as first for conscious effort to package fuel and other chemicals in safe storages, followed by the use of best road systems to reduce the risk of accidents, then application of strict rules and regulations to curb impacts and lastly capacity building for participants in the oil and gas production industry. While significant measures have been adopted to mitigate the effects of oil and gas exploration, there remain challenges with effectiveness as a result of weakness in community involvement efforts, lack of motivation, weak laws and regulations and loss of respect. For effectiveness in reducing the challenges to mitigate the environmental impacts of the oil and gas production activity, policymakers, as well as the practitioners in the oil production industry, are advised to motivate people into buying into their policy to reduce such impacts.

History of the Human and Nature Relationship,Discovery of Green­house Effect and Awareness of the Environmental Problem

The evolution of man and nature relationship during human history has allowed human beings to be sheltered from the threats of their natural environments and has permitted them to exercise their powers there but has against part the breakdown of this relationship because of the excessive exploitation of natural resources,discharges and waste that cause nature pollution.This rupture caused climate change due to the evolution of the production model from the primitive model to the capi­talist model.The objective of this paper is to shed light on the evolution of the relationship between human beings and their natural environment and the awareness of the climate change problem.This research allows appreciating and comparing the effectiveness of the resolutions that can help researchers understanding the climate change context,serve as a springboard for empirical studies,and represent a decision tool for pol­icymakers.To this end,we use a knowledge synthesis methodology to make an inventory of our research problem.

An Immunity-Based IOT Environment Security Situation Awareness Model

To effectively perceive network security situation under IOT environment, an Immunity-based IOT Environment Security Situation Awareness (IIESSA) model is proposed. In IIESSA, some formal definitions for self, non-self, antigen and detector are given. According to the relationship between the antibody-concentration of memory detectors and the intensity of network attack activities, the security situation evaluation method under IOT environment based on artificial immune system is presented. And then according to the situation time series obtained by the mentioned evaluation method, the security situation prediction method based on grey prediction theory is presented for forecasting the intensity and security situation of network attack activities that the IOT environment will be suffered in next step. The experimental results show that IIESSA provides a novel and effective model for perceiving security situation of IOT environment.

Awareness Concerning Volunteerism,Philanthropy,and Environment-A Comparative Study Between Mati and Skyros

On a global level,there is a tendency to conduct bibliographic studies about the creation of resilient communities in disaster areas.Community resilience has a significant role when residents are called upon to recover from a natural disaster(Molavi,2018;Moreno,2018).Based on previous research in the existing literature and after the catastrophe in Mati,and even more specifically in continuation to the research of Vallianou et al.’s,2020,the present study goes a step further comparing for two populations the dimensions of volunteerism,philanthropy tendencies,and environmental awareness.A quantitative research was conducted through questionnaires via phone interviews and in person,one year after the wildfire,in Mati,Greece.The sample consisted of participants from Mati and Skyros Island.The findings of the study revealed that natural disasters are interconnected to volunteerism,philanthropy,and environmental awareness.In our research residents of Mati seem to score higher in environmental awareness in comparison to Skyros’residents who seem to have a stronger tendency on philanthropy.To conclude,the age groups which seem to be more environmentally aware are the one of 46-55 and the one of 65 and above.

Study on Environmental Behavior of Urban Residents in Ningshan County

With the advance in urbanization,environmental problems become increasingly prominent,and environmental crisis has become a global issue. In this context,the ecological civilization has been put on the agenda. Taking Ningshan County in Shaanxi Province as an example,through questionnaire,this paper interviewed and studied environmental behavior of local urban residents. It carried out analysis on the environmental knowledge,environmental awareness,community environmental norms,environmental laws and regulations,and environmental behavior. In conclusion,with changes in environmental behavior,urban residents of Ningshan County should further strengthen their environmental awareness,and government should further improve the environmental improvement policies,make reasonable planning of communities,so as to promote improvement in the overall environmental awareness and changes in environment behavior.

Closed-loop supply chain network equilibrium strategy model with environmental protection objectives

With the increasing popularity of ecological civilization and sustainable development,enterprises should consider environmental protection measures in their operations in addition to pursue their economic interests.This paper establsihes a closed-loop supply chain network model composed of multiple suppliers,manufacturers,retailers,recyclers,and demand markets—regarding their dual goals of the profit maximization and the minimization of carbon emissions.The conditions necessary for establishing overall equilibrium and an equilibrium model of the entire closed-loop supply chain network are determined by applying variational inequality and dual theory.A modified projection contraction algorithm is used to design a model-solving program.Finally,using numerical examples,the paper conducts a comparative static analysis on important parameters such as the weight coefficients of environmental protection objectives and consumers'awareness of low-carbon environmental protection and attains some beneficial enlightenment on management.The results indicate that when the environmental protection objectives of a certain type of enterprise increases,both the economic benefits and environmental protection performance will improve;when the environmental protection objectives of all enterprises increases simultaneously,environmental protection performance improves significantly,but the changes in economic benefits of different enterprises are inconsistent and profit coordination is more complex.Although consumers’awareness of low-carbon preference could improve environmental performance,it reduces the overall profits of network members and the entire closed-loop supply chain network as a whole.The above conclusions can be used as a reference for the government in designing low-carbon environmental protection policy and in closed-loop supply chain research.

Modelling Environmental Attitudes of the Users of Kilombero Valley Wetlands, Tanzania

Development policies have for a long time made it more profitable for people to degrade than to conserve environment. The adoption of these economic wide policies by Africa especially during colonial time and after independence has resulted into erosion of its communities’ conservation behaviour and attitude. Although many studies assess environmental attitudes, those focussing on African regions or countries using New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) scale are very limited. Such studies in the African context using NEP scale are very important, simply because many people depend on the environment for their livelihood, and in the process they destroy the world’s valued ecosystems including wetlands. This study is meant to fill in the gap using Kilombero valley wetlands in Tanzania as a case. The study used Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to predict the behaviour of the users based on attitudes, environmental knowledge and awareness. The findings indicate that users of the Kilombero wetlands have a generally positive attitude towards the environment, despite a great degree of variability among the study participants. The study shows also that a certain level of environmental awareness is needed in order to increase people’s knowledge about environmental issues and change their environmental attitudes. The NEP scale does not fully fit into the Tanzanian context, thus suggesting that further research into the adaptation of the scale is needed.

The Influence of Sound Awareness on the Level of Sound Generated during Nursing Activity in a Pseudo-Ward

Sound generated in a ward can be classified into 1) generated by medical staff, 2) generated by patients and their visitors, and 3) others, such as from in-hospital broadcasting microphones and nurse calls. Among these sounds, the incidence from medical staff, in particular, is reportedly high. The study objective is to investigate whether sound awareness is effective in regulating the sound environment even in a busy situation, such as in a real clinical setting, and to examine the extent to which sound awareness affects sound level. Nursing students were asked to perform a series of nursing activities in a pseudo-ward, and the changes in the sound level generated during the nursing activities with or without time and sound awareness were examined. Under varying experimental conditions, the sound and time levels associated with the nursing activities were measured in the following order: condition 1, without sound or time awareness;condition 2, with time awareness but without sound awareness;and condition 3, with both sound and time awareness. The time to perform nursing activities was longer with sound awareness. However, when aware of time only, the sound level from nursing activities rose by 2.3 dB, whereas when aware of both time and sound, the sound level dropped by 3.0 dB. With both time and sound awareness, there is a distinct drop in the sound level from nursing activities, such as wagon handling, handling of items (trays, bowls), working at the sink, and opening and closing the microwave oven door. These results suggest that even in a pseudo-clinical setting it is possible to regulate the environmental sound through the environmental sound awareness of the medical staff, resulting in a drop in the sound level generated while performing nursing activities.

Current status and prospects of research on safety situation awareness of high speed railway operation environment

Purpose–The safety of high-speed rail operation environments is an important guarantee for the safe operation of high-speed rail.The operating environment of the high-speed rail is complex,and the main factors affecting the safety of high-speed rail operating environment include meteorological disasters,perimeter intrusion and external environmental hazards.The purpose of the paper is to elaborate on the current research status and team research progress on the perception of safety situation in high-speed rail operation environment and to propose directions for further research in the future.Design/methodology/approach–In terms of the mechanism and spatio-temporal evolution law of the main influencing factors on the safety of high-speed rail operation environments,the research status is elaborated,and the latest research progress and achievements of the team are introduced.This paper elaborates on the research status and introduces the latest research progress and achievements of the team in terms of meteorological,perimeter and external environmental situation perception methods for high-speed rail operation.Findings–Based on the technical route of“situational awareness evaluation warning active control,”a technical system for monitoring the safety of high-speed train operation environments has been formed.Relevant theoretical and technical research and application have been carried out around the impact of meteorological disasters,perimeter intrusion and the external environment on high-speed rail safety.These works strongly support the improvement of China’s railway environmental safety guarantee technology.Originality/value–With the operation of CR450 high-speed trains with a speed of 400 kmper hour and the application of high-speed train autonomous driving technology in the future,new and higher requirements have been put forward for the safety of high-speed rail operation environments.The following five aspects of work are urgently needed:(1)Research the single factor disaster mechanism of wind,rain,snow,lightning,etc.for high-speed railways with a speed of 400 kms per hour,and based on this,study the evolution characteristics of multiple safety factors and the correlation between the high-speed driving safety environment,revealing the coupling disastermechanism ofmultiple influencing factors;(2)Research covers multi-source data fusion methods and associated features such as disaster monitoring data,meteorological information,route characteristics and terrain and landforms,studying the spatio-temporal evolution laws of meteorological disasters,perimeter intrusions and external environmental hazards;(3)In terms of meteorological disaster situation awareness,research high-precision prediction methods for meteorological information time series along high-speed rail lines and study the realization of small-scale real-time dynamic and accurate prediction of meteorological disasters along high-speed rail lines;(4)In terms of perimeter intrusion,research amulti-modal fusion perception method for typical scenarios of high-speed rail operation in all time,all weather and all coverage and combine artificial intelligence technology to achieve comprehensive and accurate perception of perimeter security risks along the high-speed rail line and(5)In terms of external environment,based on the existing general network framework for change detection,we will carry out research on change detection and algorithms in the surrounding environment of highspeed rail.