Degang Yang

Impact of agricultural development on variation in surface runoff in arid regions: a case of the Aksu River Basin

Located in the south of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the Tarim River is the longest inland river in China. Agricultural development, excessive exploitation and low surface water use efficiency in the headstream regions have led to a marked decrease in the water supply to the mainstream. This, in turn, has resulted in the drying-up of the watercourse in the lower reaches of the Tarim River and serious deterioration of the eco-environment. The Aksu River Basin, the most important headstream of the Tarim River, was selected as the research area in this study. Taking elastic coefficient, water demand coefficient and water utilization intensity as the indices, we studied the impact of agricultural development on decreasing surface runoff since the 1950s. The re- sults indicated that (1) the increasing rate of consumption of surface runoff outstripped the rate of increase meas- ured in the natural catchment discharge, resulting in ever diminishing stream discharge into the Tarim River. Agri- cultural irrigation and seepage loss in irrigation canal systems were the major sources for runoff consumption, tak- ing 63.72% of the overall runoff consumption. Whats more, agricultural water consumption took up more than 97% of the water used for long-term production; (2) the expansion of cultivated land, change of planting structure and comparatively low agricultural irrigation efficiency all contributed to the decrease in surface runoff of the Aksu River. The elasticity coefficient of surface runoff reduction corresponding to the increase in planted area was 0.34 in the 1950s, while in the 2000s it had increased to 7.87. This reflected a more sensitive response of runoff decrease to cultivated land expansion. The increase in cotton and fruit production, without widely-used scientific irrigation methods and water-saving technology, led to considerable waste of the water resources. Meanwhile, the irrigation efficiency was still quite low, characterized by the waste of water resources, and the decrease of surface runoff; (3) in different stages, cultivated land area, planting structure and agricultural water use efficiency exerted different effects on runoff decrease. In the early stage, agricultural development showed no obvious effect on runoff de- crease. Since the 1960s, the expansion in cultivated land resulted in large consumption of surface runoff; since the 1990s, not only expansion in cultivated land expansion, but also planting structure exerted significant impact on the consumption of surface runoff. Recently, though agricultural water use efficiency has improved in some regions to reduce the consumption of runoff to a certain extent, overall agricultural water use efficiency is still quite low; (4) during the investigation period, water consumption by agricultural development reflected the unbalanced relation- ship between human activities and water resources.

Changes in agricultural carbon emissions and factors that influence agricultural carbon emissions based on different stages in Xinjiang, China

Xinjiang’s agricultural carbon emissions showed three stages of change, i.e., continued to rise, declined and continued to rise, during 1991–2014. The agriculture belonged to the “low emissions and high efficiency” agriculture category, with a lower agricultural carbon emission intensity. By using the logarithmic mean divisia index decomposition method, agricultural carbon emissions were decomposed into an efficiency factor, a structure factor, an economy factor, and a labour factor. We divided the study period into five stages based on the changes in efficiency factor and economy factor. Xinjiang showed different agricultural carbon emission characteristics at different stages. The degree of impact on agricultural carbon emissions at these stages depended on the combined effect of planting-animal husbandry carbon intensity and agricultural labour productivity. The economy factor was the critical factor to promote the increase in agricultural carbon emissions, while the main inhibiting factor for agricultural carbon emissions was the efficiency factor. The labour factor became more and more obvious in increasing agricultural carbon emissions. Finally, we discuss policy recommendations in terms of the main factors, including the development of agricultural science and technology (S&T), the establishment of three major mechanisms and transfer of rural labour in ethnic areas.

Reshaping China's nuclear energy policy.

Reshaping China’s Nuclear Energy Policy Qiang Wang,* Xi Chen, Degang Yang, Changjian Wang, Fuqiang Xia, and Xinlin Zhang State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumchi, 830011, P.R. China, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumchi, 830011, P.R. China, Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China, 10049

The relationship between energy consumption and economic growth and the development strategy of a low-carbon economy in Kazakhstan

Fossil energy is the material basis of human survival, economic development and social progress. The relationship between energy consumption and economic growth is becoming increasingly close. However, energy consumption is the major source of greenhouse gases, which can significantly affect the balance of the global ecosystem. It has become the common goal of countries worldwide to address climate change, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and implement sustainable development strategies. In this study, we applied an approximate relationship analysis, a decoupling relationship analysis, and a trend analysis to explore the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth using data from Kazakhstan for the period of 1993–2010. The results demonstrated: (1) the total energy consumption and GDP in Kazakhstan showed a ”U”-type curve from 1993 to 2010. This curve was observed because 1993–1999 was a period during which Kazakhstan transitioned from a republic to an independent country and experienced a difficult transition from a planned to a market economy. Then, the economic system became more stable and the industrial production increased rapidly because of the effective financial, monetary and industrial policy support from 2000 to 2010. (2) The relationships between energy consumption and carbon emissions, economic growth and energy exports were linked; the carbon emissions were mainly derived from energy consumption, and the dependence of economic growth on energy exports gradually increased from 1993 to 2010. Before 2000, the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth was in a recessional decoupling state because of the economic recession. After 2000, this relationship was in strong and weak decoupling states because the international crude oil prices rose and energy exports increased greatly year by year. (3) It is forecasted that Kazakhstan cannot achieve its goal of energy consumption by 2020. Therefore, a low-carbon economy is the best strategic choice to address climate change from a global perspective in Kazakhstan. Thus, we proposed strategies including the improvement of the energy consumption structure, the development of new energy and renewable energy, the use of cleaner production technologies, the adjustment and optimization of the industrial structure, and the expansion of forest areas.

Remaking the International Atomic Energy Agency.

T Fukushima nuclear accident highlights the necessary of reforming the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Established in 1957, IAEA is the paramount instrument of global governance in nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear security, and nuclear safety. The cornerstone of IAEA is the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which is targeted to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament. In addition, in light of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the IAEA expanded its safety program to include nonbinding nuclear energy safety standards and safety peer reviews carried out when states ask for them. The IAEA’s performance in Fukushima accident shows that this agency is not proactor, but reactor of nuclear safety. The Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC) was set by the 1986 convention. The member of IAEA should report certain details of any nuclear accidents to the IEC. Naturally, the IAEA was in touch with Japanese nuclear regulators within hours of the earthquake and tsunami that triggered the shutdown of several reactors at Fukushima on 11 March. But IAEA officials did not hold a press conference until 14 March, and its technical experts did not begin on-the-ground assessments for a full week. Even after regular IAEA briefings began, they simply repeated official statements from Japanese government authorities on its Web site. Even worse, the IAEA sometimes created confusion. For example, the Fukushima accident was initially ranked at level 5, but a month after the event, it was raised to 7, the highest on the scale. The sudden change created confusion and anxiety for the public. If atomic energy continues as a significant part of the solution to cut greenhouse gas emissions and meet energy demand, genuine efforts are needed to fix the IAEA to ensure nuclear energy safety. Fixing the IAEA requires increasing its budget and human resource. The budget of IAEA is

Ecological migration effects on the Tianchi Scenic Area in Xinjiang: from the perspective of migrant farmer families

0.5 billion/year (of which the budget of safety and security is

Analyses of the changing process and influencing factors of water resource utilization in megalopolis of arid area

42 million/year), whereas the budget of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is

Feasibility analysis and policy recommendations for the development of the coal based SNG industry in Xinjiang

4.5 billion/year and

Preparing for Myanmar's environment-friendly reform☆

1 billion/year, respectively. The IAEA has a workforce of approximately 2300 people, whereas the employment of WHO and FAO has about 9000 and 3600 staff, respectively. Although IEAE has been faced critical compliance challenge from global nuclear energy safety after the Fukushima accident, there is no evidence to show that its member state would increase its funding, The IAEA still does not have adequate resources to fund a comprehensive research plan for global nuclear energy safety, after the eight months of the Fukushima accident. Fixing the IAEA also means redefining its roles. Indeed, even before the Fukushima accident, it was proposed to redefine the IAEA’s roles, because it has multiple and seemingly contradictory roles. On one hand, the IAEA is targeted with stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and providing technical assistance to support the nuclear disarmament process. On the other hand, the IAEA also is responsible to promote the peaceful use nuclear power and ensuring nuclear safety. The increase in the number of actors and reactors have added new pressures on this double role of IAEA. The energy demand and carbon emission reduction have brought out a possible nuclear power industry revival or nuclear renaissance since about 2001. Currently, 65 new nuclear plants are under construction in 14 countries. The expansion of the nuclear industry and the spread of fuel-cycle capabilities exacerbate the pressure on direct proliferation threats. However, the current statute defines the IAEAs mandatory role in nuclear nonproliferation, whereas nuclear safety measures are only applied voluntarily by each individual country. The IAEA has no authority to send technical experts to a country, whether there is a safety problem or not. The IAEA can only send experts when they are invited by the host country. The communications protocol associated with the incident reporting system (IRS) is premised on the information provided by the host country, there are no provisions for independent fact gathering by the IAEA. Because the IAEA actively probes the nuclear endeavors of members, its members are reluctant to give it too much authority. North Korea and Iran bring these problems to light. The risks of nuclear energy

Analysis of influencing factors of CO2 emissions in Xinjiang under the context of different policies

As an important approach for relieving conflicts between ecosystems and human activities in the Tianchi Scenic Area, Xinjiang of China, an ecological migration policy was implemented, aiming to improve the regional ecological environment. The case of resettlement was closely related to the smooth implementation of the migration project. Based on the questionnaires and farmer family interviews, both changes in the ecological envi- ronment and the living conditions of migrant farmer families in the Tianchi Scenic Area were investigated in this study. The objectives were to assess the benefits of the ecological migration policy and to analyze the effects of ecological migration on migrant farmer families. The results showed that (1) awareness of the need for ecological environmental protection and the types of migrant families had a great influence on the willingness to migration; (2) since the implementation of the ecological migration project, the ecological environment in the Tianchi Scenic Area had improved significantly, particularly in terms of returning farmland to forestry, while pressures on grassland had also been relieved to some extent; (3) the major income sources and occupations of the migrant farmer families changed, the range of their income sources declined, and their per capita incomes decreased at different degrees; and (4) nearly half of the farmer families were not satisfied with the living environment of new settlements and the decline in the quality of life had significant influences on the attitudes of migrants. In order to ensure the successful implementation of an ecological migration project, it is essential to enhance farmer awareness of needs for eco- logical environmental protection, and to solve resettlement problems properly.