The Perfect Spill: Solutions for Averting the Next Deepwater Horizon

In this article the authors comment on the oil spill incident from the Deepwater Horizon, particularly on its economic and ecological damages. The authors highlighted the disaster as an event wherein much is needed to be learned so that future oil spills can be avoided. One lesson refers to the valuability of natural capital assets and other public entities that are at risks due to private interests and that better regulations and incentives are needed to protect these assets against risks

Artificial Modifications of the Coast In Response to the \u3ci\u3eDeepwater Horizon\u3c/i\u3e Oil Spill: Quick Solutions or Long-Term Liabilities?

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill threatened many coastal ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico during the spring and summer of 2010. Mitigation strategies included the construction of barrier sand berms, the restriction or blocking of inlets, and the diversion of freshwater from rivers to the coastal marshes and into the ocean, in order to flush away the oil, on the premise that these measures could reduce the quantity of oil reaching sensitive coastal environments such as wetlands or estuaries. These projects result in changes to the ecosystems that they were intended to protect. Long-term effects include alterations of the hydrological and ecological characteristics of estuaries, changes in sediment transport along the coastal barrier islands, the loss of sand resources, and adverse impacts to benthic and pelagic organisms. Although there are no easy solutions for minimizing the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on coastal ecosystems, we recommend that federal, state, and local agencies return to the strategic use of long-term restoration plans for this region

Divulgação do risco de crédito antes e após a crise financeira de 2008: o caso das empresas do setor bancário do PSI-20

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Contabilidade e FinançasA crise financeira de 2008 evidenciou a necessidade da qualidade da informação divulgada sobre os riscos, assim como a falta de transparência nos relatórios das empresas. Para colmatar este deficit de transparência, as empresas do setor bancário estão sujeitas ao cumprimento das normas emitidas pela Comissão de Mercado e Valores Mobiliários (CMVM), pelo International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), bem como da legislação que resulta dos Acordos de Basileia. O presente estudo procura analisar as práticas de divulgação de informação sobre o risco de crédito antes e “após” a mais recente crise financeira em quatro empresas do setor bancário português cotadas na Euronext Lisboa e incluídas no Portuguese Stock Index (PSI) 20. Para o efeito foi utilizado o método qualitativo e o método da análise de conteúdo. Os dados foram extraídos dos relatórios e contas de 2006 e 2012 das empresas da amostra. Verifica-se que, em geral, as empresas cumpriam os requisitos previstos no normativo contabilístico, regras, regulamentos e outra legislação aplicável.); e que a informação mais divulgada referia-se aos objetivos e políticas de gestão do risco de crédito. Verifica-se, ainda, que a informação divulgada em 2012 melhorou significativamente face a 2006; e houve um grande envolvimento por parte dos órgãos reguladores na adequação das normas e legislações às novas realidades proporcionadas pelo sistema financeiro.Abstract:The financial crisis of 2008 has highlighted the need for the quality of information disclosed about the risks, as well as the lack of transparency in corporate reporting. To overcome this deficit of transparency, companies in the banking sector are subject to compliance with the rules issued by the Comissão de Mercado e Valores Mobiliários (CMVM), by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), as well as by the legislation that has derived from the Basel Accords. The present study seeks to analyse the information disclosure practices on credit risk before and "after" the latest financial crisis in four Portuguese banking companies listed on Euronext Lisbon and included in the Portuguese Stock Index (PSI) 20. For this purpose we used the qualitative method and the method of content analysis. The data were extracted from the 2006 and 2012 Annual Accounts of the companies included in the sample. It turns out that, in general, the companies met the requirements set out in accounting standards, rules, regulations, and other applicable law.); and that the information disclosed was referring to the goals and policies of credit risk management. It, also, turns out that the information disclosed in 2012 has significantly improved compared to 2006; and there was a great involvement on the part of regulators on the appropriateness of standards and legislation to the new realities offered by the financial system

Ba/Ca of stylasterid coral skeletons records dissolved seawater barium concentrations

The concentration of dissolved barium in seawater ([Ba]SW) is influenced by both primary productivity and ocean circulation patterns. Reconstructing past subsurface [Ba]SW can therefore provide important information on processes which regulate global climate. Previous Ba/Ca measurements of scleractinian and bamboo deep-sea coral skeletons exhibit linear relationships with [Ba]SW, acting as archives for past Ba cycling. However, skeletal Ba/Ca ratios of the Stylasteridae – a group of widely distributed, azooxanthellate, hydrozoan coral – have not been previously studied. Here, we present Ba/Ca ratios of modern stylasterid (aragonitic, calcitic and mixed mineralogy) and azooxanthellate scleractinian skeletons, paired with published proximal hydrographic data. We find that [Ba]SW and sample mineralogy are the primary controls on stylasterid Ba/Ca, while seawater temperature exerts a weak secondary control. [Ba]SW also exerts a strong control on azooxanthellate scleractinian Ba/Ca. However, Ba-incorporation into scleractinian skeletons varies between locations and across depth gradients, and we find a more sensitive relationship between scleractinian Ba/Ca and [Ba]SW than previously reported. Paired Sr/Ca measurements suggest that this variability in scleractinian Ba/Ca may result from the influence of varying degrees of Rayleigh fractionation during calcification. We find that these processes exert a smaller influence on Ba-incorporation into stylasterid coral skeletons, a result consistent with other aspects of their skeletal geochemistry. Stylasterid Ba/Ca ratios are therefore a powerful, novel archive of past changes in [Ba]SW, particularly when measured in combination with temperature sensitive tracers such as Li/Mg or Sr/Ca. Indeed, with robust [Ba]SW and temperature proxies now established, stylasterids have the potential to be an important new archive for palaeoceanographic studies

The Perfect Spill: Solutions for Averting the Next Deepwater Horizon

In this article the authors comment on the oil spill incident from the Deepwater Horizon, particularly on its economic and ecological damages. The authors highlighted the disaster as an event wherein much is needed to be learned so that future oil spills can be avoided. One lesson refers to the valuability of natural capital assets and other public entities that are at risks due to private interests and that better regulations and incentives are needed to protect these assets against risks

Evaluation of Sample Preparation Methods for the Analysis of Reef-Building Corals Using ¹H-NMR-Based Metabolomics

The field of metabolomics generally lacks standardized methods for the preparation of samples prior to analysis. This is especially true for metabolomics of reef-building corals, where the handful of studies that were published employ a range of sample preparation protocols. The utilization of metabolomics may prove essential in understanding coral biology in the face of increasing environmental threats, and an optimized method for preparing coral samples for metabolomics analysis would aid this cause. The current study evaluates three important steps during sample processing of stony corals: (i) metabolite extraction, (ii) metabolism preservation, and (iii) subsampling. Results indicate that a modified Bligh and Dyer extraction is more reproducible across multiple coral species compared to methyl tert-butyl ether and methanol extractions, while a methanol extraction is superior for feature detection. Additionally, few differences were detected between spectra from frozen or lyophilized coral samples. Finally, extraction of entire coral nubbins increased feature detection, but decreased throughput and was more susceptible to subsampling error compared to a novel tissue powder subsampling method. Overall, we recommend the use of a modified Bligh and Dyer extraction, lyophilized samples, and the analysis of brushed tissue powder for the preparation of reef-building coral samples for 1H NMR metabolomics

Artificial modifications of the coast in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Quick solutions or long-term liabilities?

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill threatened many coastal ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico during the spring and summer of 2010. Mitigation strategies included the construction of barrier sand berms, the restriction or blocking of inlets, and the diversio

Mercury Stable Isotopes in Seabird Eggs Reflect a Gradient from Terrestrial Geogenic to Oceanic Mercury Reservoirs

Elevated mercury concentrations ([Hg]) were found in Alaskan murre (<i>Uria</i> spp.) eggs from the coastal embayment of Norton Sound relative to insular colonies in the northern Bering Sea-Bering Strait region. Stable isotopes of Hg, carbon, and nitrogen were measured in the eggs to investigate the source of this enrichment. Lower δ¹³C values in Norton Sound eggs (−23.3‰ to −20.0‰) relative to eggs from more oceanic colonies (−20.9‰ to −18.7‰) indicated that a significant terrestrial carbon source was associated with the elevated [Hg] in Norton Sound, implicating the Yukon River and smaller Seward Peninsula watersheds as the likely Hg source. The increasing [Hg] gradient extending inshore was accompanied by strong decreasing gradients of δ²⁰²Hg and Δ¹⁹⁹Hg in eggs, indicating lower degrees of mass-dependent (MDF) and mass-independent Hg fractionation (MIF) (respectively) in the Norton Sound food web. Negative or zero MDF and MIF signatures are typical of geological Hg sources, which suggests murres in Norton Sound integrated Hg from a more recent geological origin that has experienced a relatively limited extent of aquatic fractionation relative to more oceanic colonies. The association of low δ²⁰²Hg and Δ¹⁹⁹Hg with elevated [Hg] and terrestrial δ¹³C values suggested that Hg stable isotopes in murre eggs effectively differentiated terrestrial/geogenic Hg sources from oceanic reservoirs