Green benches: What can the People's Republic of China learn from environment courts of other countries?

The rapid economic growth of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the last 30 years has generated many environmental problems and a concomitant rise in the number of environmental disputes. Until 1989, legal cases arising from these disputes were usually heard in the people’s courts of general jurisdiction. In that year, however, the development of the environment court system accelerated, leading to the creation of 11 such courts for pilot cases, a sign of the high priority the PRC has given to environmental protection over the past two decades. This paper examines the effectiveness of environment courts in the PRC and elsewhere, so that the lessons learned can be applied in the PRC and in other developing countries. It also recommends ways to promote environmental justice in the PRC, given that the 11 environment courts are no longer enough to handle the rapidly increasing caseload throughout the country

Development of a novel sea surface temperature proxy based on bacterial 3-hydroxy fatty acids

Gram-negative bacterial 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OH-FAs) have received recent attention for their potential as palaeoclimate proxies. A novel temperature proxy, the ratio of anteiso to normal C13 3-OH-FA (RAN13), has been proposed for sea surface temperature (SST) reconstruction in the North Pacific Ocean. However, whether this newly proposed temperature proxy is applicable to marginal seas with significant terrigenous input or tropical oligotrophic seas requires further investigation. Here, we analyzed the composition and distribution of 3-OH-FAs and evaluated the possible impact of various environmental parameters (SST, water depth, dissolved oxygen, salinity and nutrient concentration) on their distribution in marine surface sediments from the Bohai Sea (BS) and the South China Sea (SCS). In the BS, the potential source proxy, fractional abundance of anteiso 3-OH-FAs (average 17%), indicates 3-OH-FA geochemical signature are not greatly overprinted by terrigenous inputs. The relative abundance of long-chain 3-OH-FAs (C15-C18) are higher in the SCS (average 41%) compared to those in other seas (average 33% for all marine samples). Massive inputs of terrigenous organic matter to the BS likely result in overestimation of SSTs based on the RAN13 proxy, and limited abundance of anteiso and normal C13 3-OH-FAs in the oligotrophic SCS may increase the uncertainty of the RAN13 estimated SSTs. More importantly, we find that most short-chain 3-OH-FAs are temperature dependent, especially the fractional abundance of i-C12, a-C13, i-C14 and n-C14 with a high determination coefficient (R2 > 0.60). Based on these newly found correlations, we propose a novel proxy: RANs. The RANs index shows a strong linear relationship with SST (R2 = 0.92, p13, especially in tropical samples. Furthermore, the RANs proxy is significantly correlated with TEX86, and RANs-based SSTs are approximate to LDI derived temperature in the SCS, which support the reliability of RANs as a temperature proxy. These findings further suggest 3-OH-FA based proxies have potential for paleo-SST reconstruction, especially at higher and lower ends of the ocean temperature spectrum and even in cases where marginal inputs of terrestrial organic matter and nutrients are high.</p

Comparison of free lipid compositions between roots and leaves of plants in the Dajiuhu Peatland, central China

The main aim of this study was to assess the free lipid composition of plant community in a Chinese peatland. Twelve plant species from the Dajiuhu Peatland were analyzed for the compositions of n-alkanes, n-fatty alcohols and sterols in leaves and roots. The lipid compositions are significantly different between root and leaf for most plants. In some cases, the roots yield more long chain n-alkanes and n-alkanols than the leaves of the corresponding plant. The long chain n- alkanes of the roots in half of the plant species are characterized by a higher Cmax (homologue with the maximum concentration) relative to the leaves. The root-derived sterols and steroidal ketones may be important sources for corresponding compounds within the peat. Because of the different lipid compositions of roots and leaves, more attention should be paid to root-derived lipids for investigations of the lipid composition and their source assessment in soils and terrestrial sediments, where root-derived organic matter can be an important source. The contribution of root-derived lipids may be especially important in peatlands, where acidic and/or anoxic conditions in the subsoil limit the degradation of organic matter and the contribution of leaf litter

Antarctic link with East Asian summer monsoon variability during the Heinrich Stadial-Bolling interstadial transition

Previous research has shown a strong persistence for direct teleconnections between the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and high northern latitude climate variability during the last glacial and deglaciation, in particular between monsoon weakening and a reduced Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). However, less attention has been paid to EASM strengthening as the AMOC was reinvigorated following peak Northern Hemisphere (NH) cooling. Moreover, climate model simulations have suggested a strong role for Antarctic meltwater discharge in modulating northward heat transport and hence NH warming, yet the degree to which Southern Hemisphere (SH) climate anomalies impacted the Asian monsoon region is still unclear