Identifying mechanisms of environmental decision-making: How ideology and geographic proximity influence public support for managing agricultural runoff to curb harmful algal blooms

Influence of climate extremes on long-term changes in cyanobacterial blooms in a eutrophic and shallow lake

Climate change and human activities have crucial effects on the variations in phytoplankton blooms in lakes worldwide. A record-breaking heatwave and drought event was reported in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the summer of 2022, but only little is known about how cyanobacterial blooms in lakes respond to such climate extremes. Here, we utilized MODIS images to generate the area, occurrence, and initial blooming date (IBD) of cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Chaohu from 2000 to 2022. We found that the area and occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms were largely reduced. At the same time, the IBD was delayed in 2022 compared with the previous 20 years. The annual occurrence and mean area of cyanobacterial blooms in 2022 were 17 % and 23.1 km2, respectively, which were the lowest reported levels since the 21st century. The IBD in 2022 was four months late compared with the IBD in 2020. The high wind speed in spring delayed the spring blooms in 2022. The record-breaking heatwaves and drought from June to August reduced the blooms by influencing the growth of cyanobacteria and reducing the flow of nutrients from the watershed into the lake. This study highlights the compound impact of heatwave and drought climate events on reducing cyanobacterial blooms in a long-term period, enhancing additional understanding of the changes in phytoplankton blooms in lakes.

The Excellent Mechanical Performance of Polymer-Coated Ceramsite Particles for Efficient Fracturing: An Explanation from a Surface, Tribological Perspective

Hydraulic fracturing using micro-particles is an effective technology in the petroleum industry since the particles facilitate crack propagation of the shale layer, creating pathways for oil and gas. A new kind of polymer-coated ceramsite particles (PCP) was generated. The friction and wear properties of the particles under different loads and speeds were also studied. The tribological relationship between the newly fabricated polymer-coated ceramsite particles and the fracturing fluid was studied through tribological experiments under the condition of fracturing fluid lubrication. The results show that, in contrast, the wear of the new-generation particles is relatively stable, indicating that it has good adjustable friction properties. In addition, under the lubrication condition of fracturing fluid, the new-generation particles have better hydrophobicity, high-pressure resistance, and low reflux rate, which have an important value as a practical engineering application for improving shale gas production efficiency and production.

Long-Term Examination of Water Chemistry Changes Following Treatment of Cyanobacterial Bloom with Coagulants and Minerals

The abundant growth in cyanobacterial blooms poses severe ecological threats with a high risk to aquatic organisms and global public health. Control of cyanobacterial blooms involves spraying cyanobacteria removal materials, including coagulants. However, little is known about the fate of the coagulated-cyanobacteria-laden water. Here, we examined long-term changes in water quality following treatment with various coagulants and minerals for cyanobacterial removal when the coagulated cyanobacterial cells were not removed from the water. An experiment in a controlled water system tested the effects of six different compounds, one conventional coagulant, two natural inorganic coagulants, and three minerals. All tested coagulants and minerals exhibited >75% of cyanobacterial removal efficiency. However, compared to the control, higher concentrations of nitrogen were observed from some samples treated during the experimental period. After 20 months, the final total phosphorus concentration of the raw water increased 20-fold compared to the initial concentration to 11.82 mg/L, indicating significant nutrient release over time. Moreover, we observed that the decomposition of sedimented cyanobacterial cells caused the release of intracellular contents into the supernatant, increasing phosphorous concentration over time. Therefore, cyanobacterial cells should be removed from water after treatment to prevent eutrophication and maintain water quality.

Monitoring, Managing, and Communicating Risk of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in Recreational Resources across Canada

Globally, harmful algal blooms (HABs) are on the rise, as is evidence of their toxicity. The impacts associated with blooms, however, vary across Nation states, as do the strategies and protocols to assess, monitor, and manage their occurrence. In Canada, water quality guidelines are standardized nationally, but the management strategies for HABs are not. Here, we explore current strategies to understand how to better communicate risks associated with HABs to the public. Our team conducted an environmental scan on provincial and territorial government agency protocols around HABs. Results suggest that there are variations in the monitoring, managing, and communicating of risk to the public: British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Quebec have well-established inter-agency protocols, and most provinces report following federal guidelines for water quality. Notably, 3 northern territories have no HABs monitoring or management protocols in place. More populous provinces use a variety of information venues (websites, social media, on site postings, and radio) to communicate risks associated with HABs, whereas others' communications are limited. To induce more collaboration on HABs monitoring and management and reduce the associated risks, creating a coherent system with consistent messaging and inter-agency communication is suggested.

Potential utilization of waste nitrogen fertilizer from a fertilizer industry using marine microalgae

This study investigated the feasibility of microalgal biomass production using waste nitrogen fertilizers (WNFs) generated by the Qatar Fertiliser Company (QAFCO). From the plant, three types of WNFs (WNF1, WNF2, and WNF3) were collected; WNF1 and WNF2 had high solubility (e.g., 1000 g/L) whereas WNF3 had low solubility (65 g/L). For a lower dosage (i.e., 100 mg N/L) of these WNFs, >98% of nitrogen was soluble in water for WNF1 and WNF2; however, 52 mg N/L was soluble for WNF3. Nitrogen content in these wastes was 44, 43, and 39% for WNF1, WNF2, and WNF3, respectively. As these WNFs were used as the sole nitrogen source to grow Tetraselmis sp., Picochlorum sp., and Synechococcus sp., Tetraselmis sp. could utilize all the three WNFs more efficiently than other two strains. The biomass yield of Tetraselmis sp. in a 100,000 L raceway pond was 0.58 g/L and 0.67 g/L for mixed WNFs (all WNF in equal ratio) and urea, respectively. The metabolite profiles of Tetraselmis sp. biomass grown using mixed WNFs were very similar to the biomass obtained from urea-added culture - suggesting that WNFs produced Tetraselmis sp. biomass could be used as animal feed ingredients. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) was conducted for six potential scenarios, using the data from the outdoor cultivation. The production of Tetraselmis sp. biomass in QAFCO premises using its WNFs, flue gas, and waste heat could not only eliminate the consequences of landfilling WNFs but also would improve the energy, cost, and environmental burdens of microalgal biomass production.

Why does the public support or oppose agricultural nutrient runoff regulations? The effects of political orientation, environmental worldview, and policy specific beliefs

This research examines public acceptability of regulations to reduce agricultural nutrient runoff and curb Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). We tested the effects of two novel policy specific beliefs including support for farmers' autonomy and support for external accountability. We also simultaneously tested the direct and indirect effects of political orientation and environmental worldview through a Direct Effect Model and a Mediation Model using structural equation modelling. Survey data were collected from 729 Ohio residents collected in November 2018. The specific regulatory policy measure we targeted is fines on excessive agricultural runoff. As hypothesized, autonomy beliefs negatively affect, and accountability positively affect support for fines. Both models revealed good fits. the direct effects of environmental worldviews political orientation were not supported. Instead, environmental worldviews indirectly increased support for fines through increased accountability beliefs and diminished autonomy beliefs. From the results, we suggest that when proposing suitable regulations for specific sites, policy makers and interest groups should be aware of differences in public support for farmer autonomy and external accountability, and that such differences are likely rooted in environmental worldviews. The study also suggests a need for coupled ecological and social studies that assess the likelihood of regional agricultural producers voluntarily adopting conservation practices and forecast the effectiveness of potential accountability measures.

Informing Public Engagement Strategies to Motivate the Public to Protect the Great Lakes: Lessons learned from the 2018 Great Lakes Basin Binational Poll

Engaging the public in protecting water resources is a critical yet challenging task. A wealth of social science studies has identified psychological predictors for individual pro-environmental behaviors. These predictors can guide communication in public engagement and inform the allocation of engagement efforts. However, a thorny challenge is to select influential factors among many candidates. This paper addresses this challenge by using social science research to guide the development of strategies to motivate the public to protect the North American Great Lakes. We considered a variable selection technique, the LASSO regression, in the post-hoc analysis of the International Joint Commission's 2018 Binational Great Lakes Binational Poll data. The poll surveyed 4250 Canadian and U.S. residents of the Great Lakes basin. We fit LASSO logistic models to predict respondents' intentions to take three public actions to protect the Great Lakes, including contacting public officials, attending public meetings, and engaging in online forums and groups. The models included 41 predictors encompassing demographic characteristics as well as respondents' awareness, beliefs, and values that are pertinent to Great Lakes policy development and management. Results revealed eight variables that consistently predicted the three public actions, including indigenous status, political ideology, impacts of the specific policy issues of nuclear wastes, policy awareness and interests, and the Great Lakes values for personal benefits and wildlife. Based on these findings, we recommend strategies to motivate the public to take public actions to protect the Great Lakes.