Highest Impacts Research Articles

Integrating expert knowledge at regional and national scales improves impact assessments of non-native species

Knowledge of the impacts of invasive species is important for their management, prioritisation of control efforts and policy decisions. We investigated how British and Irish botanical experts assessed impacts at smaller scales in areas where they were familiar with the flora. Experts were asked to select the 10 plants that they considered were having the largest impacts in their areas. They also scored the local impacts of 10 plant species that had been previously scored to have the highest impacts at the scale of Great Britain. Impacts were scored using the modified classification scheme of the EICAT framework (Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa). A total of 782 species/score combinations were received, of which 123 were non-native plants in 86 recording areas. Impatiens glandulifera, Reynoutria japonica and Rhododendron ponticum were the three species considered to have the highest impacts across all regions. Four of the species included in the list of the 10 highest impact species in Great Britain were also in the top 10 of species reported in our study. Species in the higher impact categories had, on average, a wider distribution than species with impacts categorised at lower levels. The main habitat types affected were woodlands, followed by linear/boundary features and freshwater habitats. Thirty-nine native plant species were reported to be negatively affected. In comparison to the overall non-native flora of Britain and Ireland, the lifeform spectrum of the species reported was significantly different, with higher percentages of aquatic plants and trees, but a lower proportion of annuals. The study demonstrates the value of local knowledge and expertise in identifying invasive species with negative impacts on the environment. Local knowledge is useful to both confirm national assessments and to identify species and impacts on native species and habitats that may not have gained national attention.

Disparities in self-reported extreme weather impacts by race, ethnicity, and income in the United States

Extreme weather events are expected to increase in frequency and severity due to climate change. However, we lack an understanding of how recent extreme weather events have impacted the U.S. population. We surveyed a representative sample of the U.S. public (n = 1071) in September 2021 about self-reported impacts they experienced from six types of extreme weather events within the past three years. We find that an overwhelming majority (86%) of the U.S. public reported being at least slightly impacted by an extreme weather event, and one-third (34%) reported being either very or extremely impacted by one or more types of extreme weather events. We clustered respondents into four impact groups, representing a composite of self-reported impacts from multiple types of extreme weather events. Respondents in the highest extreme weather impact group are more than 2.5 times as likely to identify as Black or Hispanic and 1.89 times more likely to live in a household with income levels below the Federal poverty level. We also observe reports of higher extreme weather impacts from respondents who are female, do not have a bachelor’s degree and live in a rural area. Our results indicate that extreme weather impacts are being felt by a broad cross-section of the U.S. public, with the highest impacts being disproportionately reported by populations that have previously been found to be more vulnerable to natural disasters and other extreme events.

Response of supercritical round jets to various excitation modes

Abstract

Relationship mapping of consumer buying behavior antecedents of secondhand clothing with fuzzy DEMATEL

ABSTRACT This paper aims to identify the antecedents of buying behavior for secondhand clothing among millennials, as well as to determine their underlying causal relationships. Upon a comprehensive literature search, a total of 18 antecedents were found, and these are categorized into three motives, namely, economic, hedonic and recreational, and critical. As a case study in the Philippines, a focus group discussion among experts who are active millennial secondhand clothing users and buyers were tasked to identify the antecedents they have experienced and further confirm those extracted from the literature. To establish the causal relationships of these antecedents, categorize them into net causes or net effects, and address the vagueness associated with the decision-making process, a fuzzy DEMATEL method is used. Results reveal that avoidance of conventional channels proves to be the antecedent providing the highest impact among all other antecedents. Uniqueness, high quality, and fashion trend found to be the antecedents with the highest impacts received, making them the major net effects. Findings from this work hope to provide a framework among practitioners that would lead to a better understanding of millennials’ buying behavior for secondhand clothing.

Factors with the Highest Impact on Road Traffic Deaths in Iran; an Ecological Study.

The largest proportion of road traffic deaths (RTDs)happen in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). The efforts for decreasing RTDscan besuccessful ifthere isprecise information about its related risk factors. This studyaimedto determine economic, population, road, and vehicle factors with the highest impacts on RTDs in Iran. This is an ecological study, whichhas been doneusing covariatesincluding:the population density, economic growth, urbanization, distance traveled (km) in 100 thousand people, the length of urban roads, the length of rural roads and the Vehicle per 1000 population for each province of Iran in 2015. The covariates considered had been gathered from different sources and to determine which one of the covariates has an effect on RTDs, the Negative Binomial (NB) regression model was used. The mean number of RTDs per 100000 population was 474 ± 70.59 in 2015. The highest and lowest rates of deathbelongedto Fars and Qom provinces, respectively. The results of the univariate model showed the population density as the only covariate of RTDs (p=0.001). Also, among other covariates, GDP was the only variable with a p-value equal to 0.2. In the multivariate NB model, it was seen that the population density (p=0.001), and GDP (p=0.02) significantly correlated with RTDs. For a unit (Million Rial) increase in the GDP of the province, the number of deaths decreased by as much as 0.0014. In addition, for a unit increase in population density, the number of deaths went up by as much as 30. Population density and GDP had positive and negative effects on the number of fatal road traffic injuries, respectively. By considering these factors in presentational and controlling programs on road traffic injuries, it is possible to decrease the RTDs.

Life cycle assessment of bottled water: A case study of Green2O products

This study conducted a full life cycle analysis of bottled water on four types of bottles: ENSO, PLA (corn based), recycled PET, and regular (petroleum based) PET, to discern which bottle material is more beneficial to use in terms of environmental impacts. PET bottles are the conventional bottles used that are not biodegradable and accumulate in landfills. PLA corn based bottles are derived from an organic substance and are degradable under certain environmental conditions. Recycled PET bottles are purified PET bottles that were disposed of and are used in a closed loop system. An ENSO bottle contains a special additive which is designed to help the plastic bottle degrade after disposed of in a landfill. The results showed that of all fourteen impact categories examined, the recycled PET and ENSO bottles were generally better than the PLA and regular PET bottles; however, the ENSO had the highest impacts in the categories of global warming and respiratory organics, and the recycled PET had the highest impact in the eutrophication category. The life cycle stages that were found to have the highest environmental impacts were the bottle manufacturing stage and the bottled water distribution to storage stage. Analysis of the mixed bottle material based on recycled PET resin and regular PET resin was discussed as well, in which key impact categories were identified. The PLA bottle contained extremely low impacts in the carcinogens, respiratory organics and global warming categories, yet it still contained the highest impacts in seven of the fourteen categories. Overall, the results demonstrate that the usage of more sustainable bottles, such as biodegradable ENSO bottles and recycled PET bottles, appears to be a viable option for decreasing impacts of the bottled water industry on the environment.

The environmental impacts of iron and steel industry: a life cycle assessment study

This study conducts a life cycle assessment for iron and steel production in Turkey using SimaPro software and IMPACT 2002+ impact assessment method with the purpose of comparing the impacts of processes (coke making, sintering, iron making, steel making) and final products (billet, slab, hot rolled wire rod, hot rolled coil), concurrently. System boundary was set as cradle-to-gate and functional unit was selected as 1 ton of final steel product. Among the processes, steel making process exhibited the highest total environmental impact, which was followed by sintering. The highest impacts were in the categories of human health and climate change. Coke production process showed the highest impact on depletion of non-renewable energy sources while it was with a negative contribution in the climate change category because of the avoided external energy consumption due to the production of coke oven gas within the facility. The comparison of the impacts for different final products revealed that hot rolled coil causes the highest total environmental impact followed by hot rolled wire rod, billet and slab. In an attempt to evaluate the effect of having different production scenarios implemented in the facility, three different scenarios representing three different production ratios of semi-finished (billet and slab) and finished (wire rod and coil) products were considered and it was found that the highest impact would come out if all the products were the finished ones and the hot rolling of casting products covers approximately 24% of the total environmental impacts of the full production cycle of one ton of product. Based on the assessment results, suggestions for sustainable production were made.

Environmental impact of water supply and water use in a Mediterranean water stressed region

Abstract In this paper, the comprehensive approach provided by the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in water management is shown. It includes the LCA of the diverse water supply alternatives within a region but also the LCA of further water uses. The case study is the Segura Basin, a dry area in the southeast of Spain with important water demands. Thus, external alternatives like water transfers and desalination are required to partly balance the reduced natural water availability. The paper firstly shows the environmental impacts of water supply alternatives, depending on its contribution to the water balance in the watershed. Secondly, the LCA of water use in that water stressed area is also analysed, in order to compare both impacts. The target is to analyse if alternatives reduce the global impact of water supply and to compare that damage with that derived from water use. Both LCA approaches are integrated by using the Eco-Indicator 99 method. Results show that seawater desalination has the highest impact, but external solutions as the Tajo-Segura water transfer are also impacting solutions when low water volumes are delivered. The lowest impacts are found for local natural resources. Regarding the freshwater use, highest impacts are due to agriculture, since water consumed exceeded its natural resources. It has been demonstrated that diversification of water supply alternatives considerably increases the environmental impact of the use of water in scarce areas. Consequently, water users and policy makers should be aware of hidden costs to guarantee the water supply in these regions.

Environmental and energy analysis of biodiesel production in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Brazil’s mandatory blending of 5.0 % biodiesel with diesel calls for an assessment of the environmental impacts of the biodiesel production process chain. Life-cycle Assessment (LCA) and energy efficiency analysis methodologies were used to assess biodiesel production from soybeans in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. The study used a “Cradle to Gate” boundary and two levels in the energy analysis. The main results of the LCA were given in terms of environmental impact categories and indicated that phosphorus-rich fertilizers along with herbicides were responsible for major environmental impacts in the agricultural sector, whereas diesel accounted for greater damage in the soybean oil extraction sector. The influence of material flows in the refining of soybean oil varied according to the impact. The highest impacts were obtained using firewood to generate steam and phosphoric acid using sodium hydroxide for oil neutralization. Sodium methoxide and methanol more significantly influenced the transesterification step. Diesel affects all of the industrial sectors, mainly in relation to respiratory organics, the ozone layer, and fossil fuels, contributing no less than 50 % of the impact. Comparing the individual process sectors, the agricultural sector had the highest environmental impact. In terms of energy gain, biodiesel production presented a net energy gain of 3.08 units of useful energy when glycerin and soy meal are considered. Without these co-products, the process was very close to be unfavorable (1.04).

Life cycle impact assessment of various waste conversion technologies

Advanced thermal treatment technologies utilizing pyrolysis or gasification, as well as a combined approach, are introduced as sustainable methods to treat wastes in Singapore. Eight different technologies are evaluated: pyrolysis-gasification of MSW; pyrolysis of MSW; thermal cracking gasification of granulated MSW; combined pyrolysis, gasification and oxidation of MSW; steam gasification of wood; circulating fluidized bed (CFB) gasification of organic wastes; gasification of RDF; and the gasification of tyres. Life cycle assessment is carried out to determine the environmental impacts of the various waste conversion systems including global warming potential, acidification potential, terrestrial eutrophication and ozone photochemical formation. The normalization and weighting results, calculated according to Singapore national emission inventories, showed that the two highest impacts are from thermal cracking gasification of granulated MSW and the gasification of RDF; and the least are from the steam gasification of wood and the pyrolysis-gasification of MSW. A simplified life cycle cost comparison showed that the two most costs-effective waste conversion systems are the CFB gasification of organic waste and the combined pyrolysis, gasification and oxidation of MSW. The least favorable - highest environmental impact as well as highest costs - are the thermal cracking gasification of granulated MSW and the gasification of tyres.

Petroleum industry environmental performance

This study conducts a life cycle assessment for iron and steel production in Turkey using SimaPro software and IMPACT 2002+ impact assessment method with the purpose of comparing the impacts of processes (coke making, sintering, iron making, steel making) and final products (billet, slab, hot rolled wire rod, hot rolled coil), concurrently. System boundary was set as cradle-to-gate and functional unit was selected as 1 ton of final steel product. Among the processes, steel making process exhibited the highest total environmental impact, which was followed by sintering. The highest impacts were in the categories of human health and climate change. Coke production process showed the highest impact on depletion of non-renewable energy sources while it was with a negative contribution in the climate change category because of the avoided external energy consumption due to the production of coke oven gas within the facility. The comparison of the impacts for different final products revealed that hot rolled coil causes the highest total environmental impact followed by hot rolled wire rod, billet and slab. In an attempt to evaluate the effect of having different production scenarios implemented in the facility, three different scenarios representing three different production ratios of semi-finished (billet and slab) and finished (wire rod and coil) products were considered and it was found that the highest impact would come out if all the products were the finished ones and the hot rolling of casting products covers approximately 24% of the total environmental impacts of the full production cycle of one ton of product. Based on the assessment results, suggestions for sustainable production were made.