EarthSky

This paper provides one of the first reviews of Nature-inclusive corporate governance models, as implemented in the day-to-day practice of ten identified businesses. Two key drivers of the formation of Nature-inclusive governance are increasingly urgent environmental change and the rise of corporate social responsibility reporting mechanisms and laws, notably the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The research consists of qualitative analysis of interviews with representatives of companies that have given Nature a governance role. These interviews were accompanied by legal research in several European jurisdictions (the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United Kingdom) to identify additional legal options for incorporating Nature in corporate governance. Based on the findings, a framework of innovative Nature-inclusive governance models was developed and is presented in this paper. It consists of four models: Nature as Inspiration, Nature as Advisor, Nature as Director, and Nature as Shareholder. These models and the underlying framework provide essential context for understanding the changing landscape of corporate governance and meaningful tools for academics, legal and financial consultants, and businesses interested in understanding emerging Nature-inclusive corporate governance models.

The tentative detection of ppb levels of phosphine (PH3) in the clouds of Venus was extremely surprising, as this reduced gas was not expected to be a component of Venus’ oxidized atmosphere. Despite potential confirmation in legacy Pioneer Venus mass spectrometry data, the detection remains controversial. Here we review the potential production of phosphine by gas reactions, surface and sub-surface geochemistry, photochemistry, and other nonequilibrium processes. None of these potential phosphine production pathways is sufficient to explain the presence of phosphine in Venus atmosphere at near the observed abundance. The source of atmospheric PH3 could be unknown geo- or photochemistry, which would imply that the consensus on Venus’ chemistry is significantly incomplete. An even more extreme possibility is that a strictly aerial microbial biosphere produces PH3. The detection of phosphine adds to the complexity of chemical processes in the Venusian environment and motivates better quantitation of the gas phase chemistry of phosphorus species and in situ follow-up sampling missions to Venus.

Summary High quality 3D seismic acquisition and processing increases the chance of success for hydrocarbon discoveries in mature basins. SKEO successfully acquired 3D marine seismic survey in operationally very challenging marginal shallow water in offshore Sarawak. Three critical factors are carefully considered for a successful 3D seismic survey in this extremely shallow water: safe and efficient operation, environment, and quality of the data. As bathymetry information is one of the most critical keys to safe operation in shallow water, the bathymetry data was updated via SED (Survey Evaluation and Design) and a multi-beam survey. SED was conducted to choose optimal survey method and corresponding parameters. Triple sources with smaller gun volume and wider streamer separation configuration were utilized for efficient and eco-friendly survey. To ensure higher quality seismic image in processing, Near Field Hydrophone data which can capture water bottom reflections were properly recorded. 8km length streamers were also towed to provide accurate velocity model building using FWI. Via this cost effective and environmentally friendly 3D Seismic Acquisition program, it is expected to unlock new hydrocarbon play potential in the under-explored area, near the shores of Sarawak.

Elemental ratios in biogenic marine calcium carbonates are widely used in geobiology, environmental science, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. It is generally accepted that the elemental abundance of biogenic marine carbonates reflects a combination of the abundance of that ion in seawater, the physical properties of seawater, the mineralogy of the biomineral, and the pathways and mechanisms of biomineralization. Here we report measurements of a suite of nine elemental ratios (Li/Ca, B/Ca, Na/Ca, Mg/Ca, Zn/Ca, Sr/Ca, Cd/Ca, Ba/Ca, and U/Ca) in 18 species of benthic marine invertebrates spanning a range of biogenic carbonate polymorph mineralogies (low-Mg calcite, high-Mg calcite, aragonite, mixed mineralogy) and of phyla (including Mollusca, Echinodermata, Arthropoda, Annelida, Cnidaria, Chlorophyta, and Rhodophyta) cultured at a single temperature (25°C) and a range of pCO2 treatments (ca. 409, 606, 903, and 2856 ppm). This dataset was used to explore various controls over elemental partitioning in biogenic marine carbonates, including species-level and biomineralization-pathway-level controls, the influence of internal pH regulation compared to external pH changes, and biocalcification responses to changes in seawater carbonate chemistry. The dataset also enables exploration of broad scale phylogenetic patterns of elemental partitioning across calcifying species, exhibiting high phylogenetic signals estimated from both uni- and multivariate analyses of the elemental ratio data (univariate: λ = 0-0.889; multivariate: λ = 0.895-0.99). Comparing partial R 2 values returned from non-phylogenetic and phylogenetic regression analyses echo the importance of and show that phylogeny explains the elemental ratio data 1.4-59 times better than mineralogy in five out of nine of the elements analyzed. Therefore, the strong associations between biomineral elemental chemistry and species relatedness suggests mechanistic controls over element incorporation rooted in the evolution of biomineralization mechanisms.

The coating process was conducted using an inline-type plasma deposition system. Thin and thick films containing SnO2 were prepared from the starting material sintered ITO pellets (0–15 wt% SnO2). The thin film (<0.6 μm thick) showed an amorphous-like structure. The thick film (>1 μm thick) showed a well-ordered crystalline structure. The crystalline and electrical properties of the films were dependent on the deposition temperature and were closely related to the SnO2 contents. Films deposited on substrates at temperatures of 50–180°C comprised a mixture of amorphous and polycrystalline phases and had a hazy appearance because of light scattering at the rough surface. That appearance was not observed in films with 0 wt% SnO2 content, but it was observed with increasing SnO2 content and substrate temperature. In films with thickness greater than 0.6 μm, the hazy appearance was more pronounced than in films with thickness of less than 0.6 μm. Polycrystalline ITO films with a clean and transparent appearance, as well as minimum resistivity of 1.7×10−4 Ω cm, were obtained on substrates at 180 °C (4 wt%, 7.5 wt% SnO2). Transparent and uniform ITO films with sheet resistance of 1.7 Ω/□ were obtained at 2.1 μm thickness at a high deposition rate (ca. 0.5 μm/min).

The use of Gauge-Adjusted Radar (GAR) for rainfall measurement is a recent innovation in Urban Hydrology in the United States for measuring rainfall between rain gauges. Gauge Adjusted Radar is the result of calibrating a radar image with ground truth rain gauges. This technology is particularly useful for Rainfall Dependent Infiltration Inflow (RDII) programs in which the relationship between rainfall and RDII is critical to defining sewer basin performance and directing rehabilitation programs. The rainfall and RDII relationship is equally dependent on quality of both flow measurement and rainfall measurement. Users of this technology generally have demonstrated its effectiveness in one of four ways; 1) Comparing the results of hydraulic model prediction and RDII calculations using GAR and conventional rain gauges as input, 2) Determining the accuracy of the image calibration by comparing the closeness of rain gauge accumulation to the accumulation of the radar pixel containing the rain gauge, 3) Comparing the closeness of a “test” rain gauge, which was not used in the calibration process, to the radar pixel containing the test rain gauge and 4) Observing the measurement of localized rain events that would have gone undetected by a rain gauge network. This paper evaluates the technology by investigating two projects performed by the author and reviewing results reported by others. Some users consider it almost self evident that the use of Gauge Adjusted Radar will result in better rainfall measurements and consequently yield better wet weather analyses. However, the magnitudes of improvement from the use of GAR reported by authors have varied from no improvement in hydraulic model prediction to the discovery and elimination of an over-prediction of RDII by over 50%. Key variables contributing to the wide variation of results appear to be to differences in temporal and geographic resolution of GAR system being used. Rainfall measurements can vary as much as 14% between geographic resolution of 1 Km 2 and 4 Km 2 .

In most major cities, air pollution is still a severe problem, and there are frequent exceedances of air quality standards for many primary and secondary pollutants. In particular, the high emissions from vehicles can lead to high concentrations within the urban canopy, where the atmospheric flow and turbulence is disturbed by buildings or other obstacles. The high emissions of vehicle NOx from urban centers serves to lower O3 levels within major cities. Nevertheless, NO2 levels may be extremely high in such urban environments, and questions arise about the role of urban street canyons as “pre-reaction chambers” that may further enhance NO2 formation. To understand the ramifications of proposed emission reduction strategies on the street canyon level, photochemical models for high resolution simulation of urban core air quality are needed. Previous modeling on the urban street canyon scale has either focussed on non-reactive pollutants or has invoked simple approximations for dealing with simplified NO-NO2-O3 chemistry (Yamartino and Wiegand, 1986; Berkowicz et al., 1997). While such simplifications may be appropriate within a single canyon for receptors nearby the emission sources, they are not reasonable for addressing questions associated with the series of canyons or quarters as are found in the urban core. This paper summarizes the development of a full photochemical model for high resolution simulation of urban core air and reports the results of the initial applications of this model, MICRO-CALGRID, to multiple and single street canyons. The model development was funded by the German Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt).