In situ measurements of atmospheric O2 and CO2 reveal an unexpected O2 signal over the tropical Atlantic Ocean

We present the first meridional transects of atmospheric O2 and CO2 over the Atlantic Ocean. We combine these measurements into the tracer atmospheric potential oxygen (APO), which is a measure of the oceanic contribution to atmospheric O2 variations. Our new in situ measurement system, deployed on board a commercial container ship during 2015, performs as well as or better than existing similar measurement systems. The data show small short-term variability (hours to days), a step-change corresponding to the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), and seasonal cycles that vary with latitude. In contrast to data from the Pacific Ocean and to previous modeling studies, our Atlantic Ocean APO data show no significant bulge in the tropics. This difference cannot be accounted for by interannual variability in the position of the ITCZ or the Atlantic Meridional Mode Index and appears to be a persistent feature of the Atlantic Ocean system. Modeled APO using the TM3 atmospheric transport model does exhibit a significant bulge over the Atlantic and overestimates the interhemispheric gradient in APO over the Atlantic Ocean. These results indicate that either there are inaccuracies in the oceanic flux data products in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean region, or that there are atmospheric transport inaccuracies in the model, or a combination of both. Our shipboard O2 and CO2 measurements are ongoing and will reveal the long-term nature of equatorial APO outgassing over the Atlantic as more data become available

15th Annual Environmental Law Institute

Materials from the 15th Annual Environmental Law Institute held by UK/CLE in March 1999

Method for Non-Intrusively Identifying a Contained Material Utilizing Uncollided Nuclear Transmission Measurements

An improved nuclear diagnostic method identifies a contained target material by measuring on-axis, mono-energetic uncollided particle radiation transmitted through a target material for two penetrating radiation beam energies, and applying specially developed algorithms to estimate a ratio of macroscopic neutron cross-sections for the uncollided particle radiation at the two energies, where the penetrating radiation is a neutron beam, or a ratio of linear attenuation coefficients for the uncollided particle radiation at the two energies, where the penetrating radiation is a gamma-ray beam. Alternatively, the measurements are used to derive a minimization formula based on the macroscopic neutron cross-sections for the uncollided particle radiation at the two neutron beam energies, or the linear attenuation coefficients for the uncollided particle radiation at the two gamma-ray beam energies. A candidate target material database, including known macroscopic neutron cross-sections or linear attenuation coefficients for target materials at the selected neutron or gamma-ray beam energies, is used to approximate the estimated ratio or to solve the minimization formula, such that the identity of the contained target material is discovered

Suprime-Krise, strukturierte Finanzierung und die Förderung der Mikrokreditvergabe

Während Subprime-Kredite in der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung Auswüchse des Finanzmarkts symbolisieren, stehen Mikrokredite für das Soziale in der Finanzwelt. Dabei wird übersehen, dass nicht nur Mikrokredite in Entwicklungsländern, sondern auch Hypothekarkredite in den USA gefördert wurden, um breiteren Bevölkerungsschichten den Zugang zu Kredit zu eröffnen. Für beide Kredittypen ist die strukturierte Finanzierung ein Instrument, um den Kapitalmarkt verstärkt zur Refinanzierung zu nutzen und so den Zugang zu Kredit auszuweiten. Zentrale Unterschiede bestehen jedoch darin, wie die Attraktivität der Anlage in verbrieften Hypothekarkrediten einerseits und in Mikrokrediten andererseits gefördert wird. In den USA boten implizite staatliche Garantien eine quasi unlimitierte Förderquelle, die zur Erhöhung systemischer Risiken beitrug. In der Mikrofinanzierung dagegen werden mit Fördermitteln nachrangig zu bedienende Tranchen von verbrieften Mikrofinanzinvestitionen erworben, um privates Kapital für die Anlage in den sichereren Tranchen zu gewinnen. So lassen sich die Vorteile der Refinanzierung über den Kapitalmarkt für die Mikrofinanzierung erschließen, ohne die Gefahr einer unkontrollierten Ausweitung von Risiken einzugehen. Abstract In the public opinion, micro credits and securitized sub prime loans represent quite contrasting types of financial products. While the former stand for socially responsible finance the latter are regarded as toxic waste. This ignores that structured mortgage securities, like micro credit, had their origin in the public mission to create access to finance for the financially excluded. Before and after the sub prime crisis, structured securitization is a viable way to attract private capital and, thereby, deepen financial outreach to lower income customers. Not structured finance in itself, but the way it is publicly supported seems to be the key to enhancing financial access without boosting the burden of systemic risk. In the U.S. implicit government guarantees were the quasi unlimited source to attract more private capital to the mortgage market while increasing the burden of public risk. Quite differently, microfinance is supported by investing scarce donor funds into the junior tranches of microfinance investment vehicles. This attracts the investment of private capital into the senior tranches while the risk carried by donors and the support for microfinance is transparent and clearly limited. JEL Classifications: G01, G21, G38, O1