Climate Change in Environmental Attitudes? An Analysis of the ISSP 2000s

In dem Beitrag werden verschiedene Hypothesen zur Erklärung der Unterschiede und der Entwicklung des Umweltbewusstseins im internationalen Vergleich diskutiert und einem empirischen Test unterzogen. Wir diskutieren die Wohlstandshypothese, die These vom postmaterialistischen Wertewandel, die Globalisierungsthese und die Annahmen zum so genannten "Issue-Attention Cycle". Diese Hypothesen werden mit Hilfe einer Mehrebenenanalyse an den Daten des International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) 2000 überprüft. Die Ergebnisse stützen vor allem die Wohlstandshypothese. Es zeigt sich, dass das Umweltbewusstsein sowohl vom individuellen Einkommen als auch vom nationalen Wohlstandsniveau abhängt. Zusätzlich weisen auch postmaterialistische Werthaltungen der Befragten neben weiteren soziodemographischen Merkmalen einen engen Zusammenhang zum Umweltbewusstsein auf. Insgesamt ist das Umweltbewusstsein in den meisten Teilnehmerländern des ISSP 2000 im Vergleich zu 1993 leicht gesunken. Staaten, in denen die Bevölkerung über ein hohes Niveau an Umweltbewusstsein verfügt, weisen darüber hinaus eine höhere Ökoeffizienz hinsichtlich ihrer CO2-Emissionen auf als solche mit niedrigem Umweltbewusstsein.In this article we discuss diverse hypotheses concerning international differences and developments in regard to environmental attitudes and submit them to an empirical test. In particular, we discuss the affluence hypothesis, Inglehart's theory of postmaterialism, Dunlap's globalization explanation, and Downs' issue-attention-cycle. We test these hypotheses by applying multilevel analysis to the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) data of 2000. The results support, above all, the affluence hypothesis. Individuals with higher income show higher levels of environmental concern within countries; and, in addition, the averages in wealthier countries are higher than those in poorer states. Furthermore, the results show that postmaterialistic attitudes are also closely associated with environmental concern, as are various other socio-demographic variables. Comparing the environmental concern measured in the ISSP 1993 with that of 2000 shows that environmental concern has slightly decreased. Our analysis also suggests that environmental concern matters: Countries with higher levels show more ecological efficiency with respect to CO2-emissions

Forward K+ production in subthreshold pA collisions at 1.0 GeV

K+ meson production in pA (A = C, Cu, Au) collisions has been studied using the ANKE spectrometer at an internal target position of the COSY-Juelich accelerator. The complete momentum spectrum of kaons emitted at forward angles, theta < 12 degrees, has been measured for a beam energy of T(p)=1.0 GeV, far below the free NN threshold of 1.58 GeV. The spectrum does not follow a thermal distribution at low kaon momenta and the larger momenta reflect a high degree of collectivity in the target nucleus.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

First LIGO search for gravitational wave bursts from cosmic (super)strings

We report on a matched-filter search for gravitational wave bursts from cosmic string cusps using LIGO data from the fourth science run (S4) which took place in February and March 2005. No gravitational waves were detected in 14.9 days of data from times when all three LIGO detectors were operating. We interpret the result in terms of a frequentist upper limit on the rate of gravitational wave bursts and use the limits on the rate to constrain the parameter space (string tension, reconnection probability, and loop sizes) of cosmic string models.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Replaced with version submitted to PR

Stacked Search for Gravitational Waves from the 2006 SGR 1900+14 Storm

We present the results of a LIGO search for short-duration gravitational waves (GWs) associated with the 2006 March 29 SGR 1900+14 storm. A new search method is used, "stacking'' the GW data around the times of individual soft-gamma bursts in the storm to enhance sensitivity for models in which multiple bursts are accompanied by GW emission. We assume that variation in the time difference between burst electromagnetic emission and potential burst GW emission is small relative to the GW signal duration, and we time-align GW excess power time-frequency tilings containing individual burst triggers to their corresponding electromagnetic emissions. We use two GW emission models in our search: a fluence-weighted model and a flat (unweighted) model for the most electromagnetically energetic bursts. We find no evidence of GWs associated with either model. Model-dependent GW strain, isotropic GW emission energy E_GW, and \gamma = E_GW / E_EM upper limits are estimated using a variety of assumed waveforms. The stacking method allows us to set the most stringent model-dependent limits on transient GW strain published to date. We find E_GW upper limit estimates (at a nominal distance of 10 kpc) of between 2x10^45 erg and 6x10^50 erg depending on waveform type. These limits are an order of magnitude lower than upper limits published previously for this storm and overlap with the range of electromagnetic energies emitted in SGR giant flares.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Palaeoenvironmental control on distribution of crinoids in the Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) of England and France

Bulk sampling of a number of different marine and marginal marine lithofacies in the British Bathonian has allowed us to assess the palaeoenvironmental distribution of crinoids for the first time. Although remains are largely fragmentary, many species have been identified by comparison with articulated specimens from elsewhere, whilst the large and unbiased sample sizes allowed assessment of relative proportions of different taxa. Results indicate that distribution of crinoids well corresponds to particular facies. Ossicles of Chariocrinus and Balanocrinus dominate in deeper-water and lower-energy facies,with the former extending further into shallower-water facies than the latter. Isocrinus dominates in shallower water carbonate facies, accompanied by rarer comatulids, and was also present in the more marine parts of lagoons. Pentacrinites remains are abundant in very high-energy oolite shoal lithofacies. The presence of millericrinids within one, partly allochthonous lithofacies suggests the presence of an otherwise unknown hard substrate from which they have been transported. These results are compared to crinoid assemblages from other Mesozoic localities, and it is evident that the same morphological ad-aptations are present within crinoids from similar lithofacies throughout the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous

Zum Zusammenhang von Geschlechterungleichheiten in Bildung, Beruf und Karriere : ein Ausblick

Ziel der folgenden Ausführungen im abschliessenden Teil dieses Sammelbands zur Entwicklung und Genese von geschlechtsspezifischen Bildungsungleichheiten ist es, den Blick zu öffnen in Richtung Berufsleben. Wie sind die verbesserten Bildungsmöglichkeiten von Frauen zu interpretieren? Ist es in den letzten Jahrzehnten gelungen, eines der grundlegendsten gesellschaftlichen Ungleichheitsverhältnisse zu beseitigen? Oder beginnt sich dieses sogar zu verkehren in eine gesellschaftliche Benachteiligung der Männer? Wir gehen bei unseren Überlegungen von der These aus, dass ein Abbau von Benachteiligungen der Frauen im Bildungssystem für sich genommen noch wenig aussagekräftig ist, wenn wir uns mit der klassischen soziologischen Frage der Persistenz bzw. des Wandels von gesellschaftlichen Ungleichheiten befassen wollen. Erst wenn die ganze Verknüpfung von Bildung und gesellschaftlicher Ungleichheit in den Blick genommen wird und sich dabei zeigt, dass Frauen ihre Bildungsgewinne auch in entsprechende Chancen im Beschäftigungssystem umsetzen können, sind ihre verbesserten Bildungschancen ein Gewinn für die Individuen und ein Fortschritt für die Gesellschaft – und erst dann könnten mögliche Bildungsvorteile von Frauen, wie sie in den vorliegenden Aufsätzen z.T. diagnostiziert werden, gar als neue gesellschaftliche Benachteiligungen von Männern skandalisiert werden

Are the affluent prepared to pay for the planet? Explaining willingness to pay for public and quasi-private environmental goods in Switzerland

A large number of ‘environmental justice’ studies show that wealthier people are less affected by environmental burdens and also consume more resources than poorer people. Given this double inequity, we ask, to what extent are affluent people prepared to pay to protect the environment? The analyses are couched within the compensation/affluence hypothesis, which states that wealthier persons are able to spend more for environmental protection than their poorer counterparts. Further, we take into account various competing economic, psychological and sociological determinants of individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP) for both public environmental goods (e.g., general environmental protection) and quasi-private environmental goods (e.g., CO2-neutral cars). Such a comprehensive approach contrasts with most other studies in this field that focus on a limited number of determinants and goods. Multivariate analyses are based on a general population survey in Switzerland (N = 3,369). Although income has a positive and significant effect on WTP supporting the compensation hypothesis, determinants such as generalized interpersonal trust that is assumed to be positively associated with civic engagement and environmental concern prove to be equally important. Moreover, we demonstrate for the first time that time preferences can considerably influence survey-based WTP for environmental goods; since investments in the environment typically pay off in the distant future, persons with a high subjective discount rate are less likely to commit

The Crab Nebula and Pulsar between 500 GeV and 80 TeV: Observations with the HEGRA stereoscopic air Cherenkov telescopes

The Crab supernova remnant has been observed regularly with the stereoscopic system of 5 imaging air Cherenkov telescopes that was part of the High Energy Gamma Ray Astronomy (HEGRA) experiment. In total, close to 400 hours of useful data have been collected from 1997 until 2002. The spectrum extends up to energies of 80 TeV and is well matched by model calculations in the framework of inverse Compton scattering of various seed photons in the nebula including for the first time a recently detected compact emission region at mm-wavelengths. The observed indications for a gradual steepening of the energy spectrum in data is expected in the inverse Compton emission model.The average magnetic field in the emitting volume is determined to be $(161.6\pm0.8mathrm{stat}\pm18_\mathrm{sys}) \mu$G. The presence of protons in the nebula is not required to explain the observed flux and upper limits on the injected power of protons are calculated being as low as 20 % of the total spin down luminosity for bulk Lorentz factors of the wind in the range of $10^4-10^6$.The position and size of the emission region have been studied over a wide range of energies. The position is shifted by 13\arcsec to the west of the pulsar with a systematic uncertainty of 25\arcsec. No significant shift in the position with energy is observed. The size of the emission region is constrained to be less than 2\arcmin at energies between 1 and 10 TeV. Above 30 TeV the size is constrained to be less than 3\arcmin.No indications for pulsed emission has been found and upper limits in differential bins of energy have been calculated reaching typically 1-3 % of the unpulsed component.Comment: 53 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa