Hyperalkaline groundwaters and tectonism in the Philippines: Significance to natural carbon capture and sequestration

AbstractThe potential of using ophiolites for CCS has been pointed out before, but no case study has been conducted for the Philippines. Here, the potential for CCS in both ophiolites in general and ophiolites in the Philippines in particular is examined and discussed. Specific drawbacks of using ophiolites as a CO2 sink are presented for the first time, using information from natural analogue studies in the Philippines and Jordan

CAMCAT: an oil spill forecasting system for the Catalan-Balearic Sea based on the MFS products

International audienceThe Prestige oil spill crisis (2002?2003), one of the worst oil spills that affected the Atlantic Spanish coastal line, pointed out that some management tools are needed in the form of laws, regulations and technical procedures. In particular, the issues are contingency planning and prevention against marine pollution and prediction for a proper response. In that background, the Catalan local government approved the CAMCAT (2004), a Regional contingency plan against marine pollution, to be framed within the (Spanish) National Contingency Plan. The CAMCAT contemplated the implementation of a Regional Forecasting System for the North-Western Mediterranean area, intended to help Catalan Authorities during any pollution emergency. The Laboratory of Maritime Engineering (LIM/UPC) has been responsible for the implementation of this Regional CAMCAT Forecasting System that is based (nested) on existing larger Forecasting Systems/Products, and it integrates several coastal observational data. The present paper is aiming to make an overview of the several scientific and technical activities related to the implementation and validation of the CAMCAT System

The economic value of drought information for water management under climate change: a case study in the Ebro basin

Drought events in the Mediterranean are likely to increase in frequency, duration and intensity due to climate change, thereby affecting crop production. Information about drought is valuable for river basin authorities and the farmers affected by their decisions. The economic value of this information and the resulting decisions are of interest to these two stakeholder groups and to the information providers. Understanding the dynamics of extreme events, including droughts, in future climate scenarios for the Mediterranean is being improved continuously. This paper analyses the economic value of information on drought events taking into account the risk aversion of water managers. We consider the effects of drought management plans on rice production in the Ebro river basin. This enables us to compute the willingness to compensate the river basin authority for more accurate information allowing for better decision-making. If runoff is reduced, river basin planners can consider the reduction of water allocation for irrigation in order to eliminate the risk of water scarcity. Alternately, river basin planners may decide to maintain water allocation and accept a reduction of water supply reliability, leaving farmers exposed to drought events. These two alternatives offer different risk levels for crop production and farmers' incomes which determine the value of this information to the river basin authority. The information is relevant for the revision of River Basin Management Plans of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) within the context of climate change

NDEC: A NEA platform for nuclear data testing, verification and benchmarking

The selection, testing, verification and benchmarking of evaluated nuclear data consists, in practice, in putting an evaluated file through a number of checking steps where different computational codes verify that the file and the data it contains complies with different requirements. These requirements range from format compliance to good performance in application cases, while at the same time physical constraints and the agreement with experimental data are verified. At NEA, the NDEC (Nuclear Data Evaluation Cycle) platform aims at providing, in a user friendly interface, a thorough diagnose of the quality of a submitted evaluated nuclear data file. Such diagnose is based on the results of different computational codes and routines which carry out the mentioned verifications, tests and checks. NDEC also searches synergies with other existing NEA tools and databases, such as JANIS, DICE or NDaST, including them into its working scheme. Hence, this paper presents NDEC, its current development status and its usage in the JEFF nuclear data project

Covariance Evaluation Methodology for Neutron Cross Sections

We present the NNDC-BNL methodology for estimating neutron cross section covariances in thermal, resolved resonance, unresolved resonance and fast neutron regions. The three key elements of the methodology are Atlas of Neutron Resonances, nuclear reaction code EMPIRE, and the Bayesian code implementing Kalman filter concept. The covariance data processing, visualization and distribution capabilities are integral components of the NNDC methodology. We illustrate its application on examples including relatively detailed evaluation of covariances for two individual nuclei and massive production of simple covariance estimates for 307 materials. Certain peculiarities regarding evaluation of covariances for resolved resonances and the consistency between resonance parameter uncertainties and thermal cross section uncertainties are also discussed

The State-Moro Armed Conflict in the Philippines: Unresolved national question or question of governance?

The continuing struggle of the Moro secessionist movement in the Philippines is one of Southeast Asia’s longest armed conflicts. The tenacity of the conflict lies in two competing concerns: the assertion of self-determination rights of the Moro separatist movement; and the affirmation of the Philippines’ sovereign right to territorial integrity. However, beneath these rights are crucial issues that remain unanswered both by the contending forces—problems where internecine violence and conflict emanate from. This article argues that self-determination rights can be adequately exercised by people who have clearly defined their national identity and concept of a nation. Unfortunately, the Moro multi-ethnic national identity has yet to be crystallised while the idea of a Bangsamoro (Bangsa Nation) remains weak. On the other hand, the state has yet to address the Moros’ legitimate demands of political autonomy, socio-economic development, and social justice and discrimination. Without underestimating the ethnic component of secessionism, the article concludes that poor governance has prolonged, complicated, and further justified the Moros’ quest to secede from the Republic

Sources and sinks of nutrients and pollutants in Cullera Bay

[EN] Water quality plays a very important role in the ecological balance and economic development of coastal and estuarine areas. However, these areas have been progressively degraded in recent decades due to different factors, including an increase in nutrient and pollutant loads introduced into the system, which may cause eutrophication problems. This paper analyzes the water quality of one such area, Cullera Bay, located on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. This study focuses on the main sources and sinks of pollutant substances and the relationship between the distribution of these substances within the bay and local meteorological and oceanographic conditions. Two main sources of nutrients and pollutants were identified: the discharges of the Júcar River and the marine outfall, although other secondary sources are also present. The river discharge varies greatly depending on the season. The freshwater it carries is very rich in nutrients due to the presence of fertilizers and pesticides from its agricultural use. The domestic wastewater discharged through the marine outfall is occasionally untreated, particularly in the summer, when the tourist population increases and the capacity of the water treatment plant is exceeded. This study is based on data recorded during nine field campaigns carried out in the area in 2002 and 2003 and numerical simulations of hydrodynamics and pollutant dispersion. By analyzing the field data and the numerical simulation results, wind is identified as the main driving factor in the bay because the other possible driving factors either have negligible effects (tide), affect only a very localized area (waves, usual river discharges) or are infrequent (storm surges, river floods).The European Community funded this study as a part of the ECOSUD ‘‘Estuaries and Coastal Areas. Basis and Tools for a More Sustainable Development’’ (reference no. ICA4-CT-2001-10027) and AQUAS ‘‘Water quality and sustainable aquaculture. Links and implications’’ (reference no. INCOCT-2005-015105) projects. It was also funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology, through the project ‘‘Desarrollo y optimizacio´n de te´cnicas para gestionar los vertidos de aguas residuales de emisarios submarinos (ARTEMISA)’’(Reference no. REN2003-07585-C02-01/MAR).Sierra, J.; Mösso, C.; González Del Rio Rams, J.; Mestres, M.; Cupul, L.; Sánchez-Arcilla, A.; Rodilla Alamá, M.... (2007). Sources and sinks of nutrients and pollutants in Cullera Bay. Journal of Coastal Research. SI47:31-39. doi:10.2112/1551-5036-47.sp1.31S3139SI4

Correction to: Global costs of protecting against sea-level rise at 1.5 to 4.0 °C

The original article has been corrected: Legends in Fig. 7 in the article and legends in Figs. 9 and 10 of Supplementary Material 1 as well as contents in columns H and J of Supplementary Material 2 have been amended to the valid results

Carriage of Blastocystis spp. in travellers - A prospective longitudinal study

Introduction: A lack of prospective and longitudinal data on pre- and post-travel carriage of Blastocystis spp. complicates interpretation of a positive test post-travel. Therefore we studied dynamics of Blastocystis carriage in a cohort of Dutch travellers. Methods: From the prospective, multicentre COMBAT study among 2001 Dutch travellers, a subset of 491 travellers was selected based on travel destination to 7 subregions (70 or 71 travellers each). Faecal samples taken directly before and after travel were screened for Blastocystis with qPCR, followed, when positive, by sequence analysis to determine subtypes. Results: After exclusion of 12 samples with missing samples or inhibited qPCR-reactions, stool samples of 479 travellers were analysed. Before travel, 174 of them (36.3%) carried Blastocystis and in most of these, the same subtype was persistently carried. However, in 48/174 of those travellers (27.6%; CI95 20.8–36.6%) no Blastocystis or a different subtype was detected in the post-travel sample, indicating loss of Blastocystis during travel. Only 26 (5.4%; CI95 3.7%–8.0%) of all travellers acquired Blastocystis, including two individuals that were already positive for Blastocystis before travel but acquired a different subtype during travel. Discussion: This study shows that Blastocystis carriage in travellers is highly dynamic. The observed acquisition and loss of Blastocystis could either be travel-related or reflect the natural course of Blastocystis carriage. We demonstrate that the majority of Blastocystis detected in post-travel samples were already carried before travel