Atmospheric mercury footprints of nations.

The Minamata Convention was established to protect humans and the natural environment from the adverse effects of mercury emissions. A cogent assessment of mercury emissions is required to help implement the Minamata Convention. Here, we use an environmentally extended multi-regional input-output model to calculate atmospheric mercury footprints of nations based on upstream production (meaning direct emissions from the production activities of a nation), downstream production (meaning both direct and indirect emissions caused by the production activities of a nation), and consumption (meaning both direct and indirect emissions caused by final consumption of goods and services in a nation). Results show that nations function differently within global supply chains. Developed nations usually have larger consumption-based emissions than up- and downstream production-based emissions. India, South Korea, and Taiwan have larger downstream production-based emissions than their upstream production- and consumption-based emissions. Developed nations (e.g., United States, Japan, and Germany) are in part responsible for mercury emissions of developing nations (e.g., China, India, and Indonesia). Our findings indicate that global mercury abatement should focus on multiple stages of global supply chains. We propose three initiatives for global mercury abatement, comprising the establishment of mercury control technologies of upstream producers, productivity improvement of downstream producers, and behavior optimization of final consumers

A multidisciplinary Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Mediterranean to support implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

29 páginas, 4 figuras, 2 tablas, 1 apéndice.The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) adopted in 2008 aims to protect the marine environment through the holistic Ecosystem Approach (EA). The MSFD requires Member States to develop and implement cost-effective measures to achieve and/or maintain “Good Environmental Status” (GEnS). To this end, interested parties require a large amount of data and this data should be appropriately managed. This is particularly true for EA applications, where data can come from diverse sources, in diverse formats, and from several disciplines. Preliminary steps for supporting reliable multi-disciplinary analysis include data collection, data management, and the implementation of an interoperable sharing system. In an effort to implement this type of multidisciplinary analysis, a working group from the KnowSeas project (www.knowseas.com) created a Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Mediterranean Sea, designed to define and analyze the GEnS concept across various geographical scales. This article describes the implementation of this SDI, demonstrating how an interoperable system can provide strong support in implementing the MSFD under the EA, and how marine spatial planning can assist policymakers in the decision making process.This work was co-funded by the KnowSeas project (grant number 226675) and the EGIDA project (grant number 265124).Peer reviewe

Model study of global mercury deposition from biomass burning

Mercury emissions from biomass burning are not well characterized and can differ significantly from year to year. This study utilizes three recent biomass burning inventories (FINNv1.0, GFEDv3.1, and GFASv1.0) and the global Hg chemistry model, ECHMERIT, to investigate the annual variation of Hg emissions, and the geographical distribution and magnitude of the resulting Hg deposition fluxes. The roles of the Hg/CO enhancement ratio, the emission plume injection height, the Hg(g)0 oxidation mechanism and lifetime, the inventory chosen, and the uncertainties with each were considered. The greatest uncertainties in the total Hg deposition were found to be associated with the Hg/CO enhancement ratio and the emission inventory employed. Deposition flux distributions proved to be more sensitive to the emission inventory and the oxidation mechanism chosen, than all the other model parametrizations. Over 75% of Hg emitted from biomass burning is deposited to the world’s oceans, with the highest fluxes predicted in the North Atlantic and the highest total deposition in the North Pacific. The net effect of biomass burning is to liberate Hg from lower latitudes and disperse it toward higher latitudes where it is eventually deposited

The GOS4M Knowledge Hub: A web-based effectiveness evaluation platform in support of the Minamata Convention on Mercury

Abstract The Minamata Convention on Mercury was established to reduce the pressure on the environment caused by mercury by significantly reducing its emissions from anthropogenic activities. However, knowledge gaps still exist concerning emission inventories, emission factors and their integration in modelling frameworks. In addition, tools to facilitate communication between decision-makers and research groups providing measurement and modelling data are still scarce. This work presents the GOS4M Knowledge Hub, a public web application that provides an interactive and user friendly experience to access state-of-the-art modelling tools and data available in the literature. The Knowledge Hub currently integrates a Chemical Transport Model emulator, HERMES, coupled with a biogeochemical model, although it has been designed to house and deploy any number of different modelling components. Using the integrated dashboard, non-experts can perturb mercury releases from different anthropogenic emission sectors, simulating, for example, the application of Best Available Technologies, and then visualise in real-time the short- and long-term effects of the consequent reductions within a source-receptor framework. The dashboard also furnishes an estimate of the statistical significance of the changes in the model results. The analysis of a set of anthropogenic Hg emission reduction scenarios shows how an internationally coordinated effort would be necessary to achieve significant policy goals. It is important to note that the GOS4M Knowledge Hub yields the analysis presented here in a matter of seconds, compared to the days or weeks required by traditional modelling tools

The science-policy interfaces of the European network for observing our changing planet : From Earth Observation data to policy-oriented decisions

This paper reports on major outcomes of the ERA-PLANET (The European network for observing our changing planet) project, which was funded under Horizon 2020 ERA-net co-funding scheme. ERA-PLANET strengthened the European Research Area in the domain of Earth Observation (EO) in coherence with the European partici-pation to Group on Earth Observation and the Copernicus European Union's Earth Observation programme. ERA -PLANET was implemented through four projects focused on smart cities and resilient societies (SMURBS), resource efficiency and environmental management (GEOEssential), global changes and environmental treaties (iGOSP) and polar areas and natural resources (iCUPE). These projects developed specific science-policy workflows and interfaces to address selected environmental policy issues and design cost-effective strategies aiming to achieve targeted objectives. Key Enabling Technologies were implemented to enhancing 'data to knowledge' transition for supporting environmental policy making. Data cube technologies, the Virtual Earth Laboratory, Earth Observation ontologies and Knowledge Platforms were developed and used for such applications.SMURBS brought a substantial contribution to resilient cities and human settlements topics that were adopted by GEO as its 4th engagement priority, bringing the urban resilience topic in the GEO agenda on par with climate change, sustainable development and disaster risk reduction linked to environmental policies. GEOEssential is contributing to the development of Essential Variables (EVs) concept, which is encouraging and should allow the EO community to complete the description of the Earth System with EVs in a close future. This will clearly improve our capacity to address intertwined environmental and development policies as a Nexus.iGOSP supports the implementation of the GEO Flagship on Mercury (GOS4M) and the GEO Initiative on POPs (GOS4POPs) by developing a new integrated approach for global real-time monitoring of environmental quality with respect to air, water and human matrices contamination by toxic substances, like mercury and persistent organic pollutants. iGOSP developed end-user-oriented Knowledge Hubs that provide data repository systems integrated with data management consoles and knowledge information systems.The main outcomes from iCUPE are the novel and comprehensive data sets and a modelling activity that contributed to delivering science-based insights for the Arctic region. Applications enable defining and moni-toring of Arctic Essential Variables and sets up processes towards UN2030 SDGs that include health (SDG 3), clean water resources and sanitation (SDGs 6 and 14).Peer reviewe

A multidisciplinary Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Mediterranean to support implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) adopted in 2008 aims to protect the marine environment through the holistic Ecosystem Approach (EA). The MSFD requires Member States to develop and implement cost-effective measures to achieve and/or maintain “Good Environmental Status” (GEnS). To this end, interested parties require a large amount of data and this data should be appropriately managed. This is particularly true for EA applications, where data can come from diverse sources, in diverse formats, and from several disciplines. Preliminary steps for supporting reliable multi-disciplinary analysis include data collection, data management, and the implementation of an interoperable sharing system. In an effort to implement this type of multidisciplinary analysis, a working group from the KnowSeas project (www.knowseas.com) created a Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Mediterranean Sea, designed to define and analyze the GEnS concept across various geographical scales. This article describes the implementation of this SDI, demonstrating how an interoperable system can provide strong support in implementing the MSFD under the EA, and how marine spatial planning can assist policymakers in the decision making process

Detecting critical choke points for achieving Good Environmental Status in European seas

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Steps toward a shared governance response for achieving Good Environmental Status in the Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean region is of fundamental importance to Europe given its strategic position. The responsibility for its overall ecosystem integrity is shared by European Union Member States (EU-MS) and other Mediterranean countries. A juxtaposition of overlapping governance instruments occurred recently in the region, with the implementation of both the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) for EU-MS and the Ecosystem Approach Strategy (ECAP) for all Mediterranean countries, including EU-MS. Both MSFD and ECAP are structured around vision-driven processes to achieve Good Environmental Status and a Healthy Environment, respectively. These processes have clear ecosystem-based, integrated policy objectives to guarantee the preservation and integrity of Mediterranean marine ecosystem goods and services. However, adoption of these instruments, especially those related to the new EUMS directives on marine policy, could result in a governance gap in addition to the well-known economic gap between the EU and the non-EU political blocs. We identify two complementary requirements for effective implementation of both MSFD and ECAP that could work together to reduce this gap, to ensure a better alignment between MSFD and ECAP and better planning for stakeholder engagement. These are key issues for the future success of these instruments in a Mediterranean region where discrepancies between societal and ecological objectives may pose a challenge to these processes

A spatial data infrastructure

Dottorato di Ricerca in Ingegneria dei Sistemi e Informatica, Ciclo XXIV, a.a. 2012Università della Calabri