This book examines the relationship between globalisation and regionalism through a detailed analysis of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) project. It analyses how the interaction between ...globalisation and domestic politics shaped the evolution of AFTA over the past 10 years, arguing that although AFTA was triggered primarily by the pressures of globalisation, it was a tussle between the imperatives of growth and domestic distribution that shaped the way economic cooperation unfolded and the forms it took.
Social Policy in East and South East Asia provides the first systematic comparison of the policy sectors of income maintenance, health, housing and education in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and ...Taiwan. It focuses particularly on the provision and financing arrangements of these four Asian newly industrialized economies and their outcomes in terms of adequacy, efficiency and equity, drawing on extensive primary research carried out by the author.Locating the importance of Asian social policies in the wake of the recent financial crisis in the region, this work provides a comprehensive analysis of the different types of welfare state in contemporary Asia.
This review provides focused insights into the contamination status, sources, and ecological risks associated with multiple classes of antibiotics in surface water from the East and Southeast Asia ...based on publications over the period 2007 to 2020. Antibiotics are ubiquitous in surface water of these countries with concentrations ranging from <1 ng/L to hundreds μg/L and median values from 10 to 100 ng/L. Wider ranges and higher maximum concentrations of certain antibiotics were found in surface water of the East Asian countries like China and South Korea than in the Southeast Asian nations. Environmental behavior and fate of antibiotics in surface water is discussed. The reviewed occurrence of antibiotics in their sources suggests that effluent from wastewater treatment plants, wastewater from aquaculture and livestock production activities, and untreated urban sewage are principal sources of antibiotics in surface water. Ecological risks associated with antibiotic residues were estimated for aquatic organisms and the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotic-resistant bacteria were reviewed. Such findings underline the need for synergistic efforts from scientists, engineers, policy makers, government managers, entrepreneurs, and communities to manage and reduce the burden of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance in water bodies of East and Southeast Asian countries.
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•Antibiotic contamination status in East/Southeast Asia's surface water is reviewed.•Antibiotics are ubiquitous in surface water, especially in aquaculture and urban areas.•Antibiotic levels varied greatly from few ng/L to hundreds μg/L in surface water.•Ecological risks and prevalence of antibiotic resistance were widely observed.•Regional monitoring studies and environmental guidelines for antibiotics are needed.
While following the probes of foreign individuals into various obscure parts of Southeast Asia over the centuries is a diverting and entertaining pastime, the purpose of this volume is to investigate ...this past with the mind, to question and postulate upon the historical patterns that have developed from earlier study of the area, and to bring concepts from other areas and disciplines to bear on the existing information. The product of this effort, as it is encompassed in this volume, is not an attempt at the definitive study of any of the topics. It is rather a series of speculations on the directions feasible for the further study of the Southeast Asian past. As such, the answers proposed in these essays are really questions. Are the ideas presented here true within the specific historical contexts for which they have been developed? If so, can we use these ideas, or variations of them, to interpret the history of other parts of Southeast Asia? If not, what other ideas may be brought to bear on these situations in order to understand them? The ultimate aim of this volume is thus a challenge to the profession at large not only to criticize what we have done, but also to go beyond our postulations and create new ones. xi
Eutrophication, or excessive nutrient enrichment, threatens water resources across the globe. We show that climate change–induced precipitation changes alone will substantially increase (19 ± 14%) ...riverine total nitrogen loading within the continental United States by the end of the century for the “business-as-usual” scenario. The impacts, driven by projected increases in both total and extreme precipitation, will be especially strong for the Northeast and the corn belt of the United States. Offsetting this increase would require a 33 ± 24% reduction in nitrogen inputs, representing a massive management challenge. Globally, changes in precipitation are especially likely to also exacerbate eutrophication in India, China, and Southeast Asia. It is therefore imperative that water quality management strategies account for the impact of projected future changes in precipitation on nitrogen loading.
Global Declines in Human-Driven Mangrove Loss Goldberg, Liza Arianne; Lagomasino, David; Thomas, Nathan ...
Global change biology,
October 2020, Letnik:
26, Številka:
10
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Global mangrove loss has been attributed primarily to human activity. Anthropogenic loss hotspots across Southeast Asia and around the world have characterized the ecosystem as highly threatened, ...though natural processes such as erosion can also play a significant role in forest vulnerability. However, the extent of human and natural threats has not been fully quantified at the global scale. Here, using a Random Forest-based analysis of over one million Landsat images, we present the first 30-meter resolution global maps of the drivers of mangrove loss from 2000-2016, capturing both human-driven and natural stressors. We estimate that 62% of global losses between 2000-2016 resulted from land-use change, primarily through conversion to aquaculture and agriculture. Up to 80% of these human-driven losses occurred within six Southeast Asian nations, reflecting the regional emphasis on enhancing aquaculture for export to support economic development. Both anthropogenic and natural losses declined between 2000-2016, though slower declines in natural loss caused an increase in their relative contribution to total global loss area. We attribute the decline in anthropogenic losses to the regionally-dependent combination of increased emphasis on conservation efforts and a lack of remaining mangroves viable for conversion. While efforts to restore and protect mangroves appear to be effective over decadal time scales, the emergence of natural drivers of loss presents an immediate challenge for coastal adaptation. We anticipate that our results will inform decision making within conservation and restoration initiatives by providing a locally-relevant understanding of the causes of mangrove loss.
The value of mangroves has been widely acknowledged, but mangrove forests continue to decline due to numerous anthropogenic stressors. The impact of plastic waste is however poorly known, even though ...the amount of plastic litter is the largest in the region where mangroves are declining the fastest: South East Asia. In this study, we examine the extent of the plastic waste problem in mangroves along the north coast of Java, Indonesia. First, we investigate how much of the forest floor is covered by plastic in the field (in number of items per m2 and in percentage of the forest floor covered by plastic), and if plastic is also buried in the upper layers of the sediment. We then experimentally investigate the effects of a range of plastic cover percentages (0%, 50% and 100%) on root growth, stress response of the tree and tree survival over a period of six weeks. Field monitoring showed that plastic was abundant, with 27 plastic items per m2 on average, covering up to 50% of the forest floor at multiple locations. Moreover, core data revealed that plastic was frequently buried in the upper layers of the sediment where it becomes immobile and can create prolonged anoxic conditions. Our experiment subsequently revealed that prolonged suffocation by plastic caused immediate pneumatophore growth and potential leaf loss. However, trees in the 50%-plastic cover treatment proved surprisingly resilient and were able to maintain their canopy over the course of the experiment, whereas trees in the 100%-plastic cover treatment had a significantly decreased leaf area index and survival by the end of the experiment. Our findings demonstrate that mangrove trees are relatively resilient to partial burial by plastic waste. However, mangrove stands are likely to deteriorate eventually if plastic continues to accumulate.
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•Plastic is accumulating in mangrove forests worldwide, but impacts remain unclear.•We studied the abundance and the effect of plastic on mangrove growth and survival.•Plastic waste was frequently observed to cover 50% of the forest floor.•Partial plastic cover of mangrove root zones induces extreme aerial root growth.•Complete plastic cover of root zones causes tree death.
Since its first appearance in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019, the new coronavirus (COVID-19) has evolved a global pandemic within three months, with more than 4.3 million confirmed cases worldwide ...until mid-May 2020. As many countries around the world, Malaysia and other southeast Asian (SEA) countries have also enforced lockdown at different degrees to contain the spread of the disease, which has brought some positive effects on natural environment. Therefore, evaluating the reduction in anthropogenic emissions due to COVID-19 and the related governmental measures to restrict its expansion is crucial to assess its impacts on air pollution and economic growth. In this study, we used aerosol optical depth (AOD) observations from Himawari-8 satellite, along with tropospheric NO2 column density from Aura-OMI over SEA, and ground-based pollution measurements at several stations across Malaysia, in order to quantify the changes in aerosol and air pollutants associated with the general shutdown of anthropogenic and industrial activities due to COVID-19. The lockdown has led to a notable decrease in AOD over SEA and in the pollution outflow over the oceanic regions, while a significant decrease (27% - 30%) in tropospheric NO2 was observed over areas not affected by seasonal biomass burning. Especially in Malaysia, PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, and CO concentrations have been decreased by 26–31%, 23–32%, 63–64%, 9–20%, and 25–31%, respectively, in the urban areas during the lockdown phase, compared to the same periods in 2018 and 2019. Notable reductions are also seen at industrial, suburban and rural sites across the country. Quantifying the reductions in major and health harmful air pollutants is crucial for health-related research and for air-quality and climate-change studies.
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•Impact of lockdown due to COVID-19 on aerosols and pollutants over Southeast Asia•Reduction in Himawari-8 AOD at urban areas is not affected by seasonal biomass burning•Large reductions (~27% - 34%) of tropospheric NO2 over urban agglomerations•Reductions in PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, and CO are 26-31%, 23-32%, 63-64%, 9-20%, and 25-31%, respectively, in Malaysia (urban)
The current epidemic of artemisinin resistant Plasmodium falciparum in Southeast Asia is the result of a soft selective sweep involving at least 20 independent kelch13 mutations. In a large global ...survey, we find that kelch13 mutations which cause resistance in Southeast Asia are present at low frequency in Africa. We show that African kelch13 mutations have originated locally, and that kelch13 shows a normal variation pattern relative to other genes in Africa, whereas in Southeast Asia there is a great excess of non-synonymous mutations, many of which cause radical amino-acid changes. Thus, kelch13 is not currently undergoing strong selection in Africa, despite a deep reservoir of variations that could potentially allow resistance to emerge rapidly. The practical implications are that public health surveillance for artemisinin resistance should not rely on kelch13 data alone, and interventions to prevent resistance must account for local evolutionary conditions, shown by genomic epidemiology to differ greatly between geographical regions.
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