From Practice to Policy in Environmental Education

This paper briefly describes an experimental environmental education course introduced into the school curriculum in a mountainous, rural area of Uttaranchal state in Northern India. The rationale for this experiment was the perceived need to try alternative approaches to environmental education to those mandated by existing government policy.The course is a joint venture between a local NGO and the central and state government departments of education. Following a 15-year development and testing phase, the course is being incorporated into the curriculum of all government schools in the state since 2002.The implications of the results of this experiment for future environmental education policy are discussed. In essence, the experiment has been a collaborative learning experiment among policy makers, educational administrators, curriculum planners, textbook writers, teachers, children and parents. New ways of thinking and doing have emerged and are owned by all participants. The process involves questioning all our existing assumptions about education, science, history and, in general, the contemporary global cultural model.The paper concludes that at present environmental education policy could most usefully focus on fostering a variety of such experiments with the expectation that they will lead to more effective policies and practices in the long run

Think Piece. Learning to think differently

If I have correctly interpreted the intentions of the organisers, the concern of the 2007 World Environmental Education Congress is not learning for accommodation to the dominant direction of change in the world today. It is rather a concern for learning to challenge the direction of this change, for learning how to visualise an entirely different trajectory, and for learning the skills and developing the courage needed to pursue such a vision effectively. By the term ‘dominant direction of change’ I refer, of course, to the cumulative and ever-accelerating effects of economic globalisation, social disintegration and ecological destruction that go by the names of ‘development’, ‘modernisation’ and ‘trade liberalisation’. Education in support of this dominant direction of change aims at producing a standardised, technically-competent and pliant individual for global business and a mass of enthusiastic consumers. Most educational scholars today participate in parts of the existing educational system that promotes this agenda, be it school or university. We are all products of this system and we work within it. Hence our thinking is often circumscribed by the assumptions underlying that agenda. Addressing the 2007 World Environmental Education Congress theme ‘Learning in a Changing World’ more thoughtfully (as was the invitation for submission of these ‘Think Pieces’ for the Southern African Journal of Environmental Education), however, signals our intention to question these assumptions. In effect, environmental educators have been questioning the assumptions of mainstream contemporary global culture for the past three decades. We broadly agree among ourselves that environmental education and education for sustainable development are, above all, about ‘learning to think differently about the world and ourselves’. But what exactly does this phrase mean? What is involved in learning to think differently? In my opinion, we have not yet really come to grips with these questions

Towards an Authentic Indian Environmentalism

Despite elaborate policies and programmes to deal with them, environmental problems in India are generally worsening. In this paper it is argued that we are not adequately diagnosing these problems. There is a tendency to focus on effects, i.e. on technical definitions and solutions, rather than on causes – which are predominantly social, economic and political. In this we have followed the lead of Western environmentalism. We must first of all, therefore, question this Western perspective. Then we must attempt to articulate an authentic Indian environmentalism. To do this we must take into account the perceptions of all those people in our society who are being marginalised by ‘development’ and globalisation and their many creative responses to the environmental problems they face. This paper describes some of these responses and reflects upon them

Assessing the fitness-for-purpose of satellite multi-mission ocean color climate data records: A protocol applied to OC-CCI chlorophyll- a data

In this work, trend estimates are used as indicators to compare the multi-annual variability of different satellite chlorophyll-a (Chla) data and to assess the fitness-for-purpose of multi-mission Chla products as climate data records (CDR). Under the assumption that single-mission products are free from spurious temporal artifacts and can be used as benchmark time series, multi-mission CDRs should reproduce the main trend patterns observed by single-mission series when computed over their respective periods. This study introduces and applies quantitative metrics to compare trend distributions from different data records. First, contingency matrices compare the trend diagnostics associated with two satellite products when expressed in binary categories such as existence, significance and signs of trends. Contingency matrices can be further summarized by metrics such as Cohen's κ index that rates the overall agreement between the two distributions of diagnostics. A more quantitative measure of the discrepancies between trends is provided by the distributions of differences between trend slopes. Thirdly, maps of the level of significance P of a t-test quantifying the degree to which two trend estimates differ provide a statistical, spatially-resolved, evaluation. The proposed methodology is applied to the multi-mission Ocean Colour-Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI) Chla data. The agreement between trend distributions associated with OC-CCI data and single-mission products usually appears as good as when single-mission products are compared. As the period of analysis is extended beyond 2012 to 2015, the level of agreement tends to be degraded, which might be at least partly due to the aging of the MODIS sensor on-board Aqua. On the other hand, the trends displayed by the OC-CCI series over the short period 2012–2015 are very consistent with those observed with VIIRS. These results overall suggest that the OC-CCI Chla data can be used for multi-annual time series analysis (including trend detection), but with some caution required if recent years are included, particularly in the central tropical Pacific. The study also recalls the challenges associated with creating a multi-mission ocean color data record suitable for climate research

Design Principles for Plasmonic Nanoparticle Devices

For all applications of plasmonics to technology it is required to tailor the resonance to the optical system in question. This chapter gives an understanding of the design considerations for nanoparticles needed to tune the resonance. First the basic concepts of plasmonics are reviewed with a focus on the physics of nanoparticles. An introduction to the finite element method is given with emphasis on the suitability of the method to nanoplasmonic device simulation. The effects of nanoparticle shape on the spectral position and lineshape of the plasmonic resonance are discussed including retardation and surface curvature effects. The most technologically important plasmonic materials are assessed for device applicability and the importance of substrates in light scattering is explained. Finally the application of plasmonic nanoparticles to photovoltaic devices is discussed.Comment: 29 pages, 15 figures, part of an edited book: "Linear and Non-Linear Nanoplasmonics

Changes in microphytobenthos fluorescence over a tidal cycle: implications for sampling designs

Intertidal microphytobenthos (MPB) are important primary producers and provide food for herbivores in soft sediments and on rocky shores. Methods of measuring MPB biomass that do not depend on the time of collection relative to the time of day or tidal conditions are important in any studies that need to compare temporal or spatial variation, effects of abiotic factors or activity of grazers. Pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry is often used to estimate biomass of MPB because it is a rapid, non-destructive method, but it is not known how measures of fluorescence are altered by changing conditions during a period of low tide. We investigated this experimentally using in situ changes in minimal fluorescence (F) on a rocky shore and on an estuarine mudflat around Sydney (Australia), during low tides. On rocky shores, the time when samples are taken during low tide had little direct influence on measures of fluorescence as long as the substratum is dry. Wetness from wave-splash, seepage from rock pools, run-off, rainfall, etc., had large consequences for any comparisons. On soft sediments, fluorescence was decreased if the sediment dried out, as happens during low-spring tides on particularly hot and dry days. Surface water affected the response of PAM and therefore measurements used to estimate MPB, emphasising the need for care to ensure that representative sampling is done during low tide

Extreme enriched and heterogeneous ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios recorded in magmatic plagioclase from the Samoan hotspot

We report the major-element, trace-element, and 87Sr/86Sr compositions of six plagioclase crystals from two Samoan lavas with extreme EM2 isotopic compositions (ALIA-115-18 with whole-rock 87Sr/86Sr of 0.718592, and ALIA-115-21 with whole-rock 87Sr/86Sr of 0.720469). We employed laser-ablation split-stream mass spectrometry (LASS) to simultaneously measure 87Sr/86Sr ratios, major-element concentrations, and trace-element concentrations in the same plagioclase crystal volume. We find that two plagioclase crystals have extreme 87Sr/86Sr heterogeneity in excess of 5000 ppm (where ppm of 87Sr/Sr variability86=106⋅[Sr/8687Srmax−87Sr/86Srmin]/87Sr/86Sravg). In two of the plagioclase crystals, we identify the highest 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7224) ever measured in any fresh, mantle-derived ocean island basalt (OIB) or OIB-hosted mineral phase.We find that in 87Sr/86Sr-versus-Sr concentration space, the six plagioclase crystals overlap in a “common component” region with higher 87Sr/86Sr than has been previously identified in whole-rock Samoan lavas or mineral separates. We use the occurrence of olivine mineral inclusions (Fo=74.5±0.8, 2 SD) in the high-87Sr/86Sr zone of one plagioclase crystal to infer the bulk composition (Mg#=46.8±0.8, 2 SD) of the extreme EM2 magma from which the olivine and high-87Sr/86Sr plagioclase crystallized. We argue that a relatively evolved EM2 endmember magma mixed with at least one lower-87Sr/86Sr melt to generate the observed intra-crystal plagioclase isotopic heterogeneity.By inferring that subducted terrigenous sediment gives rise to EM2 signatures in Samoan lavas, we estimate that the quantity of sediment necessary to generate the most-elevated 87Sr/86Sr ratios observed in the Samoan plagioclase is ∼7% of the mantle source. We also estimate that sediment subduction into the mantle over geologic time has generated a sediment domain that constitutes 0.02% of the mass of the mantle, a much lower proportion than required in the EM2 mantle source. Even if subducted sediment is concentrated in large low-shear-velocity provinces (LLSVPs) at the base of the mantle (which constitute up to 7.7% of the mantle's mass), then only 0.25% of the LLSVPs are composed of sediment. This requires that the distribution of subducted sediment in the mantle is heterogeneous, and the high relative abundance of sediment in the Samoan EM2 mantle is an anomalous relic of ancient subduction that has survived convective attenuation

The sign problem across the QCD phase transition

The average phase factor of the QCD fermion determinant signals the strength of the QCD sign problem. We compute the average phase factor as a function of temperature and baryon chemical potential using a two-flavor NJL model. This allows us to study the strength of the sign problem at and above the chiral transition. It is discussed how the $U_A(1)$ anomaly affects the sign problem. Finally, we study the interplay between the sign problem and the endpoint of the chiral transition.Comment: 9 pages and 9 fig