Hasil untuk "Environmental law"

Robert Viseur, Nicolas Jullien

The rise of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) has led to alarming predictions about its environmental impact. However, these predictions often overlook the fact that the diffusion of innovation is accompanied by the evolution of products and the optimization of their performance, primarily for economic reasons. This can also reduce their environmental impact. By analyzing the GAI ecosystem using the classic A-U innovation diffusion model, we can forecast this industry's structure and how its environmental impact will evolve. While GAI will never be green, its impact may not be as problematic as is sometimes claimed. However, this depends on which business model becomes dominant.

FAN Zhi, ZOU Guangming, ZHANG Jufang et al.

ObjectiveAiming at the problems of poor human-machine interaction and limited stiffness adjustment range of traditional joints, a new type of variable stiffness joint based on composite gear train was designed. By changing the rotation mode of the gear train, “stiffness adjustment” and “constant stiffness output” were realized to improve the environmental adaptability of the joint.MethodsFirstly, the variable stiffness principle, configuration and main structure of the joint were analyzed in detail, and its stiffness adjustment range was calculated. Secondly, kinematics analysis was carried out to explore the motion law of the composite gear train and the mathematical relation of stiffness adjustment. Finally, a prototype was fabricated, and a test platform was built to conduct stiffness measurement tests.ResultsThe results show that the adjustable range of the joint is 0-1.345×10⁶ N·mm/rad. The similarity between the test curve and the theoretical curve is 0.92, which verifies that the designed joint has good variable stiffness characteristics.

Clément Desroches, Martin Chauvin, Louis Ladan et al.

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly Large Language Models (LLMs), has raised concerns regarding its global environmental impact that extends beyond greenhouse gas emissions to include consideration of hardware fabrication and end-of-life processes. The opacity from major providers hinders companies' abilities to evaluate their AI-related environmental impacts and achieve net-zero targets. In this paper, we propose a methodology to estimate the environmental impact of a company's AI portfolio, providing actionable insights without necessitating extensive AI and Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) expertise. Results confirm that large generative AI models consume up to 4600x more energy than traditional models. Our modelling approach, which accounts for increased AI usage, hardware computing efficiency, and changes in electricity mix in line with IPCC scenarios, forecasts AI electricity use up to 2030. Under a high adoption scenario, driven by widespread Generative AI and agents adoption associated to increasingly complex models and frameworks, AI electricity use is projected to rise by a factor of 24.4. Mitigating the environmental impact of Generative AI by 2030 requires coordinated efforts across the AI value chain. Isolated measures in hardware efficiency, model efficiency, or grid improvements alone are insufficient. We advocate for standardized environmental assessment frameworks, greater transparency from the all actors of the value chain and the introduction of a "Return on Environment" metric to align AI development with net-zero goals.

Candy Olivia Mawalim, Haotian Zhang, Shogo Okada

This paper presents our work for the ICASSP 2026 Environmental Sound Deepfake Detection (ESDD) Challenge. The challenge is based on the large-scale EnvSDD dataset that consists of various synthetic environmental sounds. We focus on addressing the complexities of unseen generators and low-resource black-box scenarios by proposing an audio-text cross-attention model. Experiments with individual and combined text-audio models demonstrate competitive EER improvements over the challenge baseline (BEATs+AASIST model).

Xuanzi Guo, Xingxing Long, Jing Li et al.

Abstract Soil plays a critical role in retaining antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs), yet few studies have addressed the production of MGEs and the factors influencing their dissemination. In this study, we compared the occurrence and distribution of ARGs and MGEs in agricultural soils and forest soils to assess the impact of agricultural practices by macro-genome sequencing. Our findings indicate that agricultural activities accelerate the production and spread of both ARGs and MGEs, likely driven by increased antibiotic and heavy metal pollution. Notably, the metal elements manganese (Mn) and chromium (Cr) were found at the highest concentrations, while tetracycline and cephalosporin were the most prevalent antibiotics. Seasonal patterns were evident, with the bacterial order Pseudomonadales predominating in summer and Actinomycetota in winter. Moreover, farmland and forest systems exhibited distinct profiles, with farmland soils showing a significantly higher abundance of MGEs—especially during winter. ARGs related to vancomycin resistance and multidrug resistance were prevalent in both environments, and a strong positive correlation was observed between MGEs, such as transposons, and ARGs, such as vanR. In addition, the concentrations of antibiotics like sulfamethoxazole, sulfadimethoxine, and oxytetracycline were significantly correlated with MGEs, while heavy metals including mercury, antimony, and selenium appeared to exert selective pressure on their dissemination.

Marta E. Ulaski, Jonathan W. Moore, Deborah Carlson et al.

The cumulative effects of climate change and human activities pose major challenges for environmental management, a problem exemplified by Pacific salmon ecosystems. We offer an integrative treatment of both the science and policy levers of cumulative effects and reveal the sheer complexity of effective governance of salmon ecosystems in British Columbia, Canada. We then present and examine a hypothetical conceptualization of cumulative effects and their governance in salmon ecosystems to highlight several barriers and opportunities. We find that the progressive degradation of many salmon habitats appears to be enabled by the current policy approach through scarce monitoring, ineffective assessment, lack of legal limits, and isolated decision-making. At the same time, climate change magnifies the urgency of effective management as human activities act cumulatively with climate change impacts. However, our synthesis also highlights opportunities with existing but underused policy levers within Crown and Indigenous governance, as well as local co-governance arrangements, that could improve salmon ecosystem management. Although positive steps have been made toward managing several stressors, the current challenges facing Pacific salmon underscore the need for a fundamental shift in the treatment of cumulative effects.

Fayaz Hussain Tunio, Agha Amad Nabi, Rafique Ur Rehman Memon et al.

Environmental sustainability remains a critical challenge in the face of global economic development. This study explored the complex interactions among renewable energy consumption, urbanization, trade openness, and economic development, focusing on their effects on environmental quality in 34 high-income European and Asian economies from 1970 to 2022. Using linear Bayesian regression and the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), the analysis examined short- and long-term impacts to uncover nuanced relationships. Results demonstrated that economic development contributed to environmental degradation over the long term while mitigating it in the short term. Renewable energy consumption supported economic growth but showed limited efficacy in reducing ecological footprints across different time frames. Urbanization and trade openness emerged as significant drivers of long-term environmental degradation, emphasizing the need for targeted policy interventions. This study examined the link among economic progress and environmental sustainability, and identified key areas for improvement in urban planning, renewable energy, and trade policies. The findings provide a framework for policymakers to balance development with environmental preservation.

Alexandre Branco Gaudêncio, José Noronha Rodrigues, Dora Cristina Ribeiro Cabete

Local authorities in Portugal have played an important role in the development and dynamization of the territories. Since its constitution, through the strengthening of its powers with the revolution of April 25, 1974, to more recent times, local power has managed to adapt to the realities of the times, greatly influenced by constant popular pressure, as a result of the proximity that they have with the people. It is in this context that this study intends to develop the role of local authorities and their impact, with current legislation, particularly regarding the powers attributed at the level of local and regional finances, emphasising the need to reconcile constitutional autonomy with the financial constraints imposed by European Union economic governance. The impact of the European Union's economic governance on the fiscal responsibility of local authorities is also addressed, demanding greater budgetary rigour and compliance with EU criteria. The paper argues that strengthening legal and financial instruments for municipalities is essential to achieving a balanced multilevel governance framework in Portugal. The importance of effective coordination between levels of government is emphasised, promoting a balance between local autonomy and the financial discipline imposed by the European legal framework.

Lai LIU, Shibin ZHANG, Zhichao QU

ObjectiveIn the ecologically fragile Qinghai−Xizang Plateau region, long-distance pipelines are preferred for transporting oil and gas considering their advantages of high capacity and minimal ecological impact. Despite the enactment of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Ecological Conservation on the Qinghai−Xizang Plateau to mitigate ecological risks, the project costs for oil and gas pipelines remain significantly constrained by the region’s unique geographical and climatic challenges, posing an urgent issue that requires resolution.MethodsThe geographical and climatic characteristics of the Qinghai−Xizang Plateau—such as the high altitude, cold and oxygen-deficient conditions, mountainous and water-rich terrain, fragile ecology, and complex permafrost—were analyzed from the perspective of linear engineering for long-distance oil and gas pipelines. The pricing basis for project cost calculation in this special plateau region, as outlined in the Quota of Construction and Installation Engineering Costs for Petroleum Projects (2022 Edition), along with the adjustment coefficient for altitude-induced efficiency reduction specified in the Quota for Construction Engineering Costs in the Xizang Autonomous Region (2016 Edition), were examined in detail. The effects of these geographical and climatic factors on construction and installation engineering costs, equipment procurement costs, other project construction expenses, and contingency fees were systematically evaluated. By referencing approaches adopted by the power industry for similar conditions in long-distance power transmission projects in the Qinghai−Xizang Plateau region, a pricing strategy for oil and gas pipeline cost components in this region was developed. ResultsThe adjustment coefficient for altitude-induced efficiency reduction in the quota for the Xizang Autonomous Region was more precise than that for petroleum projects. The adjustment coefficient for altitude-induced efficiency reduction for construction projects in the petroleum industry could not be determined according to the Quota of Construction and Installation Engineering Costs for Petroleum Projects (2022 Edition). Improved designs of stations and valve chambers along the pipeline have increased the proportion of monitoring and skid-mounted integrated equipment, raising equipment procurement costs. Strict environmental impact assessments and high land acquisition and compensation expenses in protected areas of the Qinghai−Xizang Plateau region have further elevated project costs. Additionally, the high risk of permafrost and natural disasters has increased contingency reserves. ConclusionWhen constructing long-distance oil and gas pipelines in the Qinghai−Xizang Plateau region, the petroleum industry should develop and regularly update supplementary budget quotas specific to the region. The pricing strategy should incorporate a quantified adjustment coefficient for altitude-induced efficiency reduction, account for plateau-specific equipment and material costs, and consider additional expenses related to ecological protection and regional characteristics.

Rob Trangucci, Jesse Contreras, Jon Zelner et al.

Measuring the impact of an environmental point source exposure on the risk of disease, like cancer or childhood asthma, is well-developed. Modeling how an environmental health hazard that is extensive in space, like a wastewater canal, impacts disease risk is not. We propose a novel Bayesian generative semiparametric model for characterizing the cumulative spatial exposure to an environmental health hazard that is not well-represented by a single point in space. The model couples a dose-response model with a log-Gaussian Cox process integrated against a distance kernel with an unknown length-scale. We show that this model is a well-defined Bayesian inverse model, namely that the posterior exists under a Gaussian process prior for the log-intensity of exposure, and that a simple integral approximation adequately controls the computational error. We quantify the finite-sample properties and the computational tractability of the discretization scheme in a simulation study. Finally, we apply the model to survey data on household risk of childhood diarrheal illness from exposure to a system of wastewater canals in Mezquital Valley, Mexico.

Reza Hafezi, David A. Wood, Firouzeh Rosa Taghikhah

Climate change and environmental concerns represent a global crisis accompanied by significant economic challenges. Regular international conferences held to address these issues, such as in the UK (2021) and Egypt (2022), spark debate about the effectiveness and practicality of international commitments. This study examines international treaties from a different perspective, emphasizing the need to understand the power dynamics and stakeholder interests that delay logical actions to mitigate anthropogenic contributions to climate change and their impacts. Environmental and social concerns tend to increase within nations as their economies develop, where they fight to keep acceptable standards of living while reducing emissions volume. So, nations play disproportionate roles in global decision-making based on the size of their economies. Addressing climate change requires a paradigm shift to emphasize acknowledging and adhering to global commitments through civil pressure, rather than relying on traditional yet biased systems of international political diplomacy. Here, climate-friendly actions are evaluated and ideas to promote such activities are proposed. We introduce a "transition regime" as a solution to this metastasis challenge which gradually infects all nations.

Donato Riccio, Fabrizio Maturo, Elvira Romano

Functional data analysis (FDA) and ensemble learning can be powerful tools for analyzing complex environmental time series. Recent literature has highlighted the key role of diversity in enhancing accuracy and reducing variance in ensemble methods.This paper introduces Randomized Spline Trees (RST), a novel algorithm that bridges these two approaches by incorporating randomized functional representations into the Random Forest framework. RST generates diverse functional representations of input data using randomized B-spline parameters, creating an ensemble of decision trees trained on these varied representations. We provide a theoretical analysis of how this functional diversity contributes to reducing generalization error and present empirical evaluations on six environmental time series classification tasks from the UCR Time Series Archive. Results show that RST variants outperform standard Random Forests and Gradient Boosting on most datasets, improving classification accuracy by up to 14\%. The success of RST demonstrates the potential of adaptive functional representations in capturing complex temporal patterns in environmental data. This work contributes to the growing field of machine learning techniques focused on functional data and opens new avenues for research in environmental time series analysis.

Jason Kayembe, Iness Ben Guirat, Jan Tobias Muehlberg

This paper explores the intersection of privacy, cybersecurity, and environmental impacts, specifically energy consumption and carbon emissions, in cloud-based office solutions. We hypothesise that solutions that emphasise privacy and security are typically "greener" than solutions that are financed through data collection and advertising. To test our hypothesis, we first investigate how the underlying architectures and business models of these services, e.g., monetisation through (personalised) advertising, contribute to the services' environmental impact. We then explore commonly used methodologies and identify tools that facilitate environmental assessments of software systems. By combining these tools, we develop an approach to systematically assess the environmental footprint of the user-side of online services, which we apply to investigate and compare the influence of service design and ad-blocking technology on the emissions of common web-mail services. Our measurements of a limited selection of such services does not yet conclusively support or falsify our hypothesis regarding primary impacts. However, we are already able to identify the greener web-mail services on the user-side and continue the investigation towards conclusive assessment strategies for online office solutions.

Robert Law

Europa's surface exhibits many regions of complex topography termed 'chaos terrains'. One set of hypotheses for chaos terrain formation requires upward migration of liquid water from perched water bodies within the icy shell formed by convection and tidal heating. However, consideration of the behavior of terrestrial ice sheets suggests the upwards movement of water from englacial water bodies is uncommon. Instead, rapid downwards hydrofracture from supraglacial lakes - unbounded given a sufficient volume of water - can occur in relatively low tensile stress states given a sufficiently deep initial fracture due to the negative relative buoyancy of water. I suggest that downwards, not upwards, fracture may be more reasonable for perched water bodies but show that full hydrofracture is unlikely if the perched water body is located beneath a mechanically strong icy lid. However, full hydrofracture is possible in the event of lid break up over a perched water body and likely in the event of a meteor impact that generates sufficient meltwater and a tensile shock. This provides a possible mechanism for the transfer of biologically important nutrients to the subsurface ocean and the formation of chaos terrains.

Xue-ting Qi, Fanliang Bu

Abstract Based on the system dynamics theory, this paper establishes an environmental mass event evolution model and explores the evolution law of mass events caused by environmental problems. From a methodological point of view, the mixed-strategy evolutionary game principle and dynamic punishment measures are combined, and simulation analysis is carried out by Anylogic software, and the results show that there is no stable evolutionary equilibrium solution for the two sides of the game in the traditional asymmetric mixed-strategy game model, and after adjusting the game payoff matrix and incorporating the dynamic punishment strategy, stable evolutionary equilibrium solutions appear in the evolutionary game model, and the system begins to tend to be stabilized. The process and conclusions of the simulation experiment provide methodological reference and theoretical support for the analysis of the evolution of environmental mass events.

Ronny Adrie Maramis, Theodorus H.W Lumunon

The implementation of green building policies has not shown problems of effectiveness and legal level and has not gained a good momentum socially as a social movement. The introduction of policies and program implementation through the involvement of various sectors and stakeholders is necessary. General understanding of green building and its policies and enforcement is still low, but in related sectors such as civil engineering and architecture professionals as well as planning consultants have adequate knowledge. This article aims to reveal the complexity of the problems and implementation of green building in Indonesia. This study uses a normative juridical method, with a conceptual approach and field data as support. The results show that an effective way to promote, implement and monitor green building policies is to utilize a self-regulatory mechanism, a system that delegates green building regulatory to professional groups in the fields of civil engineering, architecture and contractor associations.

Stacey Law, Yuji Okitani

In this note, we prove some new stability results for plethysm coefficients. As special cases, we verify a conjecture of Wildon, and show the stability of sequences recently predicted by Bessenrodt, Bowman and Paget to be weakly increasing.

Hien Ohnaka, Shinnosuke Takamichi, Keisuke Imoto et al.

We propose a method for synthesizing environmental sounds from visually represented onomatopoeias and sound sources. An onomatopoeia is a word that imitates a sound structure, i.e., the text representation of sound. From this perspective, onoma-to-wave has been proposed to synthesize environmental sounds from the desired onomatopoeia texts. Onomatopoeias have another representation: visual-text representations of sounds in comics, advertisements, and virtual reality. A visual onomatopoeia (visual text of onomatopoeia) contains rich information that is not present in the text, such as a long-short duration of the image, so the use of this representation is expected to synthesize diverse sounds. Therefore, we propose visual onoma-to-wave for environmental sound synthesis from visual onomatopoeia. The method can transfer visual concepts of the visual text and sound-source image to the synthesized sound. We also propose a data augmentation method focusing on the repetition of onomatopoeias to enhance the performance of our method. An experimental evaluation shows that the methods can synthesize diverse environmental sounds from visual text and sound-source images.

Victoria Edwards, Thales C. Silva, M. Ani Hsieh

We seek methods to model, control, and analyze robot teams performing environmental monitoring tasks. During environmental monitoring, the goal is to have teams of robots collect various data throughout a fixed region for extended periods of time. Standard bottom-up task assignment methods do not scale as the number of robots and task locations increases and require computationally expensive replanning. Alternatively, top-down methods have been used to combat computational complexity, but most have been limited to the analysis of methods which focus on transition times between tasks. In this work, we study a class of nonlinear macroscopic models which we use to control a time-varying distribution of robots performing different tasks throughout an environment. Our proposed ensemble model and control maintains desired time-varying populations of robots by leveraging naturally occurring interactions between robots performing tasks. We validate our approach at multiple fidelity levels including experimental results, suggesting the effectiveness of our approach to perform environmental monitoring.

Zhaoqi Zhang, Hui Song, Xianglin Meng et al.

Abstract Temperature is an important environmental factor during the operation of gas‐insulated switchgear (GIS), affecting the evaluation results of the GIS equipment to increase the risk of the power system. However, the influence of temperature on the partial discharge detection signal of GIS is still unclear. Aimed at the common void defects in GIS, the law of change on the number of ultrahigh‐frequency (UHF) pulses, the UHF amplitude, the characteristic value of the UHF map, and the maximum apparent charge of a single pulse with temperature are obtained using the UHF method and IEC60270, and corresponding theoretical analysis is carried out. The results show that an increase in temperature leads to a decrease in the void discharge delay time, causing an increase in UHF pulses and a decrease in the apparent charge of a single discharge pulse in the experiment. The increase of temperature makes the void discharge current rise quickly so that the induced UHF amplitude increases. In the range of 40–70°C, the maximum pulse amplitude increases by approximately 30% for every 10°C increase, and the average pulse amplitude increases by approximately 12%. The result of UHF signals affected by temperature obtained in this study has research significance for the realisation of a comprehensive evaluation of the insulation state of GIS equipment considering temperature.