Compensación dentro de la Evaluación Ambiental en la Secretaría Técnica Nacional Ambiental (SETENA), Costa Rica

Introducción: La ley Orgánica del Ambiente 7554, señala a la Secretaría Técnica Nacional Ambiental (SETENA) como la institución encargada de evaluar y dar seguimiento a las medidas de compensación ambiental en Costa Rica. Objetivo: Exponer el marco jurídico y legislación que rige y aplica la SETENA en el tema de compensación ambiental. Métodos: Se describe brevemente un caso de estudio sobre como la compensación ha sido implementada en el país. Resultados: SETENA interpreta la compensación ambiental como un conjunto de medidas y acciones generadoras de beneficios ambientales que: 1) son proporcionales a impactos o perjuicios ambientales causados por el desarrollo de los proyectos siempre que no se puedan adoptar medidas de prevención, corrección o mitigación; y 2) constituyen una herramienta a utilizar durante la etapa de gestión ambiental, en la fase constructiva u operativa, cuando se evidencien incumplimientos a los compromisos ambientales adquiridos, faltas a la normativa ambiental, o daños ambientales identificados después de obtener la licencia ambiental para el proyecto. Conclusión: SETENA define los Planes de Compensación Ambiental como un procedimiento que sirve de guía para establecer la toma de acciones. Las medidas de compensación se establecen de acuerdo con el tipo de proyecto y hallazgos encontrados durante el monitoreo, por lo que no hay una estandarización para estos planes de compensación.

Introduction: The Organic Law of the Environment No. 7554 designates the National Environmental Technical Secretary (Spanish Acronym - SETENA) as the institution in charge of evaluating and following up on environmental compensation measures in Costa Rica. Objective: To expose the legal framework and legislation that governs and applies SETENA about environmental compensation in this country. Methods: A case study on how compensation has been implemented in the country is briefly described. Results: SETENA interprets environmental compensation as a set of measures and actions that generate environmental benefits that: 1) are proportional to the environmental impacts or damages caused by the development projects, provided that prevention, correction, or mitigation measures cannot be adopted; and 2) is a tool to be used during the environmental management stage, in the construction or operational phase, when there is evidence of non-compliance with the acquired environmental commitments, lack of environmental regulations, or environmental damage identified after reaching environmental approval for the project. Conclusion: SETENA defines the Environmental Compensation Plan as a procedure that serves as a guide to establish the actions to take. The compensation measures are dictated concerning the type of project and the findings encountered during its monitoring, which is why there is no standardization of these compensation plans.

Refurbishment of Environmental Damage and Socio-Economic Consciousness Relate to Improvement of Climate Change

Demand for energy, water, food and shelter for raising the standard of lifestyle of country people is the driving force of democracy in modern days but that cause the environmental damages through Green House Gas, micro-particles emission from combustion of fossil fuels like coal, oil as well as fuel gases and incessant emissions of hydrocarbons from automobiles, oil fields, oil refineries besides industrial activities in the globe along with horizontal land encroachment decreasing greeneries in the planet earth with the decrease of oxygen/nitrogen ratio. The emissions are the main causes for increase in environmental pollution and responsible for climate change in contrast to the idea expressed by various researchers about the impact of climate change on environment. Mechanisms on interaction of solar/electro- magnetic radiation with PM1-2.5 and hydrocarbons in air play a role on degradation of stratospheric ozone as well as accumulation of ozone in troposphere which manifests in various episodes and global warming. Increasing population, increasing urbanization with growing carbon footprint, deceasing greeneries in the planet, the carbon-dioxide: oxygen: Nitrogen ratios in the atmosphere suffered for the last 1000 years or more. The initiatives that are needed to promote the environmental capacity through replacement of fossil fuel energy by green energy establishments, socital up-liftment through intercontinental sweet relations instead of power supremacy depriving 80% global population to refurbish the health of environment with improvement of climate. The fruit of green energy to reach all classes of people in this earth is the immediate need of the globe. The flaws of environmental laws are to be tightened and socio-environmental economic culture is to be inculcated among citizens of states for environmental health improvement vis-a-vis control on climate change to save the planet from extinction of dominant human lives.

Bibliometric Analysis of Research Hotspots Related to Marine Oil Spill Accidents in the Environmental Field Based on Web of Science / 法医学杂志

Objective To conduct bibliometric analysis of the relevant literature in the environmental field published from 1982 to 2018 collected by the Web of Science citation database and further explore the frontier research dynamics and hotspots in the environmental field. Methods The word "oil spill*" was used as the subject term for retrieval. A knowledge map of hotspots in oil spill research was built through software VOSviewer and the clustering relations between them were explored. The frequency and relevance of the keywords in the corresponding literature were obtained by the matrix of keywords built through the Thomson Data Analyzer （TDA） software. Results The four main research hotspots of marine oil spill pollution were oil spill numerical simulation and model prediction, oil spill exposure toxicity and risk assessment, oil spill component and source analysis and oil spill pollution characteristics and treatment. Conclusion The study analyzes the main content of the four research hotspots and the current research progress and provides scientific basis for further understanding of the mechanism of marine oil spill occurrence, migration and transformation, implementation of oil spill treatment and repair as well as more accurate assessment of eco-environment damage.

Formation and Development of Environmental Forensics System in China / 法医学杂志

With the growing attention on ecological environment problems and gradual realization of ecological environment value, environmental damage has jumped from administrative penalty to a new stage, judicial penalty, and environmental damage appraisal has provided a legal weapon to safeguard ecological security. As a new forensic category of China with high comprehensiveness and technical difficulty, environmental damage appraisal involves diversified and complex subjects, fields and appraisal objects, and is still in an early stage in terms of theory and practice. This study aims to provide an important reference for the improvement of the Chinese environmental damage appraisal system of environmental damage by summarizing advanced international experience in areas such as laws and regulations, working mechanism and technical system, and putting forward targeted countermeasures and suggestions based on the problems existing in the development and practice of environmental damage appraisal in China.

CONSERVACIONISMO EN ERAS DE ESPECIEÍSMO / CONSERVATION IN SPECIESISM AGES

Los alcances acumulativos de la acción humana, aunados al poderío tecno-científico, llevan hoy a que nuestra especie no solo se cuestione los límites de la capacidad que tiene la Tierra para asimilar y reciclar luego los desechos de la actividad humana, sino también los límites de nuestro especieísmo en la trama de la existencia. No ha sido la excepción, sino más bien la regla, que en una constante nuestra especie haya aumentado en población, sobreutilizando el entorno y malogrando un desarrollo que deteriora el medio ambiente cada vez más. El ser humano ha escrito la historia de la humanidad de forma especieísta, ensalzando su rol histórico que ha hecho obra contra el ser ecológico. Sin embargo, aisladas y frágiles treguas entre animales humanos y no humanos posibilitan cuestionarnos el sentido y significado filosófico del conservacionismo en eras del más crudo especieísmo.

The cumulative scope of human action, combined with the techno-scientific power nowadays take our species not only to question the limits of the Earth capacity to assimilate and recycle the waste products of human activities, but also the limits of speciesism within the weave of existence. It has not been the exception but rather the rule, that our species has constantly increased its population, overusing the environment and ruining a development that deteriorates the environment increasingly. Human beings have written the history of humanity in a speciesist form, extolling their historic role which has made work against the ecological being. However, isolated and fragile truces between human and nonhuman animals allow questioning the meaning and philosophical significance of conservationism in an age of the crudest speciesism.

Bebidas lácteas com soro de queijo e frutas / Dairy beverage containing cheese whey and fruit

O soro do leite é um subproduto de relevância da indústria de queijos por ser produzido em grande volume e conter aproximadamente 55% dos nutrientes do leite. O seu aproveitamento industrial em produtos da alimentação humana ainda é considerado baixo, visto que a alta concentração de minerais proporciona uma baixa aceitação sensorial dos alimentos que o contém. Dessa forma, têm-se desenvolvido bebidas, principalmente as fermentadas, que apresentam novos sabores e aromas, com o objetivo de recuperar essa importante fonte de nutrientes para a cadeia alimentar humana. Observa-se, portanto, que a utilização do soro de queijo enriquece os produtos que os contém e evita o descarte diretamente no solo, na rede pública de esgoto, rios e lagos, minimizando o impacto negativo, conforme abordado nesta revisão.

The whey is a relevant by-product in the cheese industry for being produced in large volume and for containing approximately 55% of its nutrients from milk. Its industry performance upon human nutrition products is still considered low, because the high concentration of minerals provides a low sensorial acceptation of food. Thus, beverages have been developed, mainly the fermented ones that display new flavors and aromas, aiming at recovering such important source of nutrients for the human food chain. It is observed, therefore, that the use of cheese whey enriches the products that contain them and avoid the culling directly in the soil, in the sewage system, rivers, and lakes, minimizing the negative impact, as discussed in this review.

Resíduos químicos produzidos em equipamentos de análises hematológicas: conhecimento e práticas nos laboratórios / Chemical waste produced by hematological analysis equipment: awareness and practices in laboratories

INTRODUÇÃO: O aumento de tecnologia e equipamentos automatizados em laboratórios de análises clínicas permitiu ampliar significativamente a capacidade de análises e processamento de informações. Entretanto, aumentou também na mesma proporção a utilização de reagentes químicos nas análises, gerando resíduos que, se descartados de forma incorreta, causam sérios danos ao meio ambiente. OBJETIVO: avaliar a informação e a conscientização dos profissionais de laboratórios de análises clínicas em relação a possíveis danos ambientais causados pelos resíduos químicos produzidos, forma de descarte adotada e interesse em receber informações relacionadas. MATERIAL E MÉTODOS: Foram realizadas entrevistas, estruturadas em questionário, para obter a quantidade de análises hematológicas realizadas na cidade de Curitiba/PR, o modo de descarte dos resíduos gerados pelos equipamentos automatizados e, também, para inferir sobre o conhecimento dos profissionais quanto à formulação das soluções, à forma recomendada de descarte e ao potencial para causar danos ao meio ambiente. RESULTADOS E CONCLUSÃO: A maioria (80 por cento) dos profissionais de laboratórios de análises clínicas acredita ser responsável pelo resíduo produzido, no entanto não possui conhecimento sobre a questão. Esse desconhecimento propicia práticas inadequadas em 47 por cento dos laboratórios pesquisados, que descartam o resíduo diretamente na rede coletora de esgotos. Para evitar a contaminação biológica, 20 por cento dos laboratórios tratam os resíduos com hipoclorito antes de descartá-los na rede coletora de esgoto, e apenas 12 por cento deles possuem tratamento para efluentes, porém esse tipo de procedimento realizado é desconhecido.

INTRODUCTION: The widespread use of technology and automated equipment in clinical laboratories has allowed to expand analysis capacity and information processing significantly. However, it has also augmented the use of chemical reagents in analyses, generating waste that, if improperly disposed, may cause serious environmental damage. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the knowledge and awareness of clinical laboratory professionals as to the potential environmental damage caused by chemical waste, adopted forms of disposal, and interest in receiving related information. METHODS: Interviews were conducted in a structured questionnaire in order to assess the total number of blood tests performed in the city of Curitiba and the forms of waste disposal generated by automated equipment. They were also developed to infer professionals' knowledge regarding solution development, recommended ways of disposal, and potential environmental hazard. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The vast majority (80 percent) of professionals in clinical laboratories believes to be responsible for the produced waste, but has no knowledge on the issue. This unawareness generates inadequate practices in 47 percent of surveyed laboratories, which discard waste directly into the sewer system. In order to avoid biological contamination, 20 percent of the laboratories treat their waste with sodium hypochlorite before disposal into the sewer system, and only 12 percent have sewage treatment, though its type is unknown.

Ichthyofauna of the Diamante stream, Caiuá Ecological Station (Diamante do Norte, Paraná State): monitoring its composition and structure - DOI: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v31i2.3907 / Ictiofauna do ribeirão Diamante, Estação Ecológica do Caiuá (Diamante do Norte, Estado do Paraná): monitoramento de sua composição e estrutura - DOI: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v31i2.3907

The aim of this study was to assess of composition and structure of ichthyofauna over two distinct periods: three and eleven years after the establishment of the protected area. The results of composition and structure of the ichthyofauna of the Diamante River, sampled quarterly from November 2005 to August 2006, were compared to results obtained by Abilhoa and Bastos (2005) in studies conducted between August 1997 and December 1998. The 2.4 to 16 cm-mesh gillnets were exposed for 24 hours and checked every 8 hours. In order to characterize the ichthyofauna, patterns of species richness, diversity, evenness and frequency of occurrence of species were analyzed. A total of 673 individuals, distributed among 36 species, 13 families and four orders were sampled. Significant changes were found in ichthyofauna composition, with a reduction in diversity and evenness as compared to the previous study. The high representativeness of alien species indicates instability in the studied area, through changes in diversity, species replacement, predominance of opportunistic species, and physical changes such as silting and degradation of the body of water.

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi investigar as assembleias de peixes do ribeirão Diamante (Estação Ecológica do Caiuá), visando avaliar sua composição e estrutura, ao longo de dois períodos distintos: três e 11 anos após sua criação. Para tanto, foram comparados os resultados obtidos nas amostragens realizadas trimestralmente no presente estudo, entre novembro de 2005 e agosto de 2006, com os resultados apresentados por Abilhoa e Bastos (2005) para o período de agosto de 1997 a dezembro de 1998. Neste estudo, os aparelhos de pesca foram constituídos de redes de espera simples com malhas de 2,4 a 16 cm (entre nós opostos), expostas por 24h, com revistas a cada 8h. Para a caracterização da ictiofauna, foram analisados padrões de riqueza específica, diversidade, equitabilidade e frequência de ocorrência das espécies. Foram capturados 673 indivíduos, distribuídos em 36 espécies, 13 famílias e quatro ordens. Verificou-se significativa alteração na composição da ictiofauna do ribeirão, com redução na diversidade e equitabilidade em relação ao trabalho anterior. Observou-se alta representatividade de espécies exóticas, o que indica instabilidade na área de estudo pelas alterações na diversidade, substituição de espécies, predomínio de oportunistas e alterações físicas como assoreamento e degradação do corpo de água.