SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN MINERAL ECONOMIES: THE EXAMPLE OF BOTSWANA

Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Climate Regulation as if the Planet Matters: The Earth Jurisprudence approach to Climate Change

It is now beyond doubt that humans are having an enormously detrimental impact on the natural world. In the face of the incredible environmental challenges we face, new and radical ideas have emerged about how we should regulate human behavior. This paper briefly focuses on the failure of current legal regimes to address climate change, and considers how climate governance would look under the Earth Jurisprudence approach: setting our laws within the context of fundamental principles of ecology and planetary boundaries. Consideration is given to how existing legal concepts could be used to achieve this vision. The paper concludes that a reframing of climate governance according to the Earth Jurisprudence approach is possible by changing the underlying principles and place of governance; expanding our conception of rights to cover natural systems; re-localizing governance; and lessening our reliance on markets, instead using the law to respect, rather than commodify, nature

A foundation of ecology rediscovered: 100 years of succession on the William S. Cooper plots in Glacier Bay, Alaska

Understanding plant community succession is one of the original pursuits of ecology, forming some of the earliest theoretical frameworks in the field. Much of this was built on the long-term research of William S. Cooper, who established a permanent plot network in Glacier Bay, Alaska, in 1916. This study now represents the longest-running primary succession plot network in the world. Permanent plots are useful for their ability to follow mechanistic change through time without assumptions inherent in space-for-time (chronosequence) designs. After 100-yr, these plots show surprising variety in species composition, soil characteristics (carbon, nitrogen, depth), and percent cover, attributable to variation in initial vegetation establishment first noted by Cooper in the 1916–1923 time period, partially driven by dispersal limitations. There has been almost a complete community composition replacement over the century and general species richness increase, but the effective number of species has declined significantly due to dominance of Salix species which established 100-yr prior (the only remaining species from the original cohort). Where Salix dominates, there is no establishment of “later” successional species like Picea. Plots nearer the entrance to Glacier Bay, and thus closer to potential seed sources after the most recent glaciation, have had consistently higher species richness for 100 yr. Age of plots is the best predictor of soil N content and C:N ratio, though plots still dominated by Salix had lower overall N; soil accumulation was more associated with dominant species. This highlights the importance of contingency and dispersal in community development. The 100-yr record of these plots, including species composition, spatial relationships, cover, and observed interactions between species provides a powerful view of long-term primary succession.Ye

Virtual aids to navigation

There are many examples of master, bridge crew and pilot errors in navigation causing grounding under adverse circumstances that were known and published in official notices and records. Also dangerous are hazards to navigation resulting from dynamic changes within the marine environment, inadequate surveys and charts. This research attempts to reduce grounding and allision incidents and increase safety of navigation by expanding mariner situational awareness at and below the waterline using new technology and developing methods for the creation, implementation and display of Virtual Aids to Navigation (AtoN) and related navigation information. This approach has widespread significance beyond commonly encountered navigation situations. Increased vessel navigation activity in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions engenders risk due, in part, to the inability to place navigational aids and buoys in constantly changing ice conditions. Similar conditions exist in tropical regions where sinker placement to moor buoys in sensitive environmental areas with coral reefs is problematic. Underdeveloped regions also lack assets and infrastructure needed to provide adequate navigation services, and infrastructure can also rapidly perish in developed regions during times of war and natural disaster. This research exploits rapidly developing advances in environmental sensing technology, evolving capabilities and improved methods for reporting real time environmental data that can substantially expand electronic navigation aid availability and improve knowledge of undersea terrain and imminent hazards to navigation that may adversely affect ship operations. This is most needed in areas where physical aids to navigation are scarce or non-existent as well as in areas where vessel traffic is congested. Research to expand related vessel capabilities is accomplished to overcome limitations in existing and planned electronic aids, expanding global capabilities and resources at relatively low-cost. New methods for sensor fusion are also explored to vi reduce overall complexity and improve integration with other navigation systems with the goal of simplifying navigation tasks. An additional goal is to supplement training program content by expanding technical resources and capabilities within the confines of existing International Convention on Standards for Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) requirements, while improving safety by providing new techniques to enhance situational awareness

Final Project Report: Hydraulic Model Study Connors Creek Sanitary Pumping Station

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154166/1/39015099114939.pd

Hidden in Plain Sight: The Militia and Defence Headquarters Personnel File Series, 1903 to 1938

In the late 1940s, the Department of National Defence enthusiastically embraced microfilming technology, undertaking a massive project to microfilm several million files covering the period 1885 to 1948. This article describes the authors’ research to trace one particular microfilm job covering Military Personnel Files managed by the Department of Militia and Defence. The authors have unearthed a large cache of unexplored records, comprising tens of thousands of military personnel files, the majority of which deal with military service during the Great War

New Sensor Technology Integration for safe and efficient e-Navigation

This paper discusses the relation of new sensor technology on bridge resource management as pertaining to the integration of new information sources and types for ship navigation in a future e-Navigation environment. An overview of several new technologies will be provided showing how systems and devices currently available in the commercial marketplace are being adapted and used to aid ship navigation planning and decision making. Examples include live Doppler radar useful for coastal navigation available from land-based sources through broadband Internet connections, imagery from unmanned aerial vehicles to aid in ice-navigation in, and forward-looking sonar for navigating in poorly charted, uncharted and other world regions where aids to navigation are not readily available. The use of such innovative methods are not yet covered in IMO Guidelines, as e.g., for Voyage Planning, the Procedures Manual of a ship’s Safety Management System or any other document to illustrate the adoption of such technology, but needs to be considered and investigated. However, the implications of introducing such new information sources in terms of bridge watchstander (Officer of the Watch - OOW) workload and training are discussed with respect to existing guidelines and regulations. Further illustration is provided in the context of how such new information sources may be integrated with existing resources to enhance overall navigation situational awareness. This includes the information itself as well as the means and methods used to interact with the OOW in terms of bridge displays, monitors and alarms. Selected specific details of research efforts currently underway will be provided in terms of forward-looking sonar integration into the bridge environment and navigation processes. This will include results obtained from experimental studies in the laboratory as well as on a suitably equipped research vessel test bed. A description of achievements accomplished to date will be provided in terms of tasks performed; the processes and procedures employed to acquire, manage and evaluate these tasks; preliminary results and outcomes achieved; and metrics used to measure these outcomes in terms of determining whether the research goals are achievable. Comparisons between expectations and actual results will be discussed, along with an analysis of risks encountered. Lessons learned are documented regarding errors in input, process, product and/or metrics