Purpose: When the Deepwater Horizon oilrig in the Gulf of Mexico faced disaster in late April 2010, news coverage immediately began of the disaster that would unfold. BP took the blame and its financial resources were strained as it struggled with stopping the oil leak, cleanup work as well as its PR image. While the US took many blows of the consequences to ecosystem and tourism, financial consequences swept across the world, mainly Britain, where BP had its headquarters.The event gives an excellent chance at comparing the media coverage from both the US and Britain. By studying The Daily Telegraph and The New York Times, we want to see both similarities and differences in the themes they focused on as well as seeing trends in the themes over time. Theories: The theory chapter is heavily based around the Agenda-setting theory in the media communication field. Methodology: A quantitative content analysis (QCA) of some 500 news articles in The Daily Telegraph and The New York Times from April 22 to July 15. The QCA was made to find the main theme of articles to give us data on how many articles of each theme, as well as their distribution over time. The collected data was ultimately made into diagrams. Conclusion: The two newspapers have a clear difference in that the New York Times have a more than twice the articles published compared to The Daily Telegraph. They do however both share some trends in the themes with some exceptions. Looking at the distribution of these themes within each newspaper, it’s clear that the British newspaper focused more heavily on BP while the American was focusing more heavily on consequences.

Ecosystem services constitute a precondition for human welfare and survival. This concept has also become increasingly popular among both scientists and policymakers. Several initiatives have been taken to identify and value ecosystem services. Several services are threatened, and it has been concluded that in order to better manage ecosystem services they need to be further investigated and valued. By measuring them using a common metric—monetary value—they can be more easily compared and included in decision-making tools. This thesis contributes to this goal by presenting values for several ecosystem services and also including them in decision-making tools. Starting with a discussion of the concept of ecosystem services, this thesis aims to present values for certain ecosystem services and to illustrate the use of these values in systems-analysis tools such as cost-benefit analyses (CBA) and a weighting set. Links between ecology, economics and policy are discussed within a broader framework of ecosystem services. Five papers are included, in which two contingent valuation studies (CV) have been used to find values for different ecosystem services. One valuation study is focused on the effects from tributyltin (TBT) in Swedish marine waters. In addition, a quantitative assessment framework has been developed in order to simplify analysis of environmental status, progress in environmental surveillance and the relevance of different measures. It is suggested that the framework should also be used when assessing the impacts of other substances affecting the environment. The second valuation study investigates the risk of an oil spill in northern Norway. The results have been included in two CBAs and a weighting set. The first CBA compares costs for remediation of polluted sediments, caused by TBT, with the benefits of reducing TBT levels. The second CBA compares costs and benefits for reducing the probability of an oil spill. The weighting set includes monetary values on a number of impact categories where marine toxicity is based on the valuation study on TBT.  One study also examines the inclusion of environmental costs in life cycle costing (LCC) in different sectors in Sweden. Results show that respondents consider ecosystem values to be important. The values of Swedish marine waters and coastal areas outside Lofoten-Vesterålen in Norway have been identified and quantified in terms of biodiversity, habitat, recreation and scenery. In the Norwegian case, an ongoing debate on the issue of oil and gas exploration has had an impact on the number of protest bids found in the study. Based on the cost and benefits of limiting impacts on ecosystem services derived from the valuation studies, CBAs show that the suggested measures are most likely beneficial for society, and the results contribute to policy recommendations. A weighting set has been updated with new values through value transfer. The weighting set is compatible with LCA. The final study shows that companies and public organisations use environmental costs (internal and external) in a limited manner. In this thesis the ecosystem service concept is used both as an introduction and a guiding thread for the reader, as a way to frame the studies undertaken. The concept of ecosystem services can be useful, as it emphasises the importance of the services to humans. By finding and presenting values of ecosystem services, such services are more easily incorporated into decision-making. / <p>QC 20141121</p>

O processo de integração regional busca implementar o atendimento de questões gerais que os Estados Nacionais, pela sua limitação de recursos, não conseguem enfrentar isoladamente. O exemplo mais tangível destes processos no sistema internacional é a integração europeia. Na América do Sul, embora exista um número significativo de instituições com o objetivo de fomentar a integração regional, ela não tem evoluído. As disputas políticas e fiscais têm embaçado a visão dos principais atores que poderiam estimular essa nova ordem regional. Contudo algumas áreas, sobretudo aquelas que possuem um baixo nível de controvérsias, podem incentivar ou até mesmo incrementar o processo de integração regional. No continente sul americano, o setor elétrico, pela a abundância de recursos de fontes primárias para geração, poderá ser o elemento catalizador desse novo sistema de cooperação. Assim, esse trabalho analisou como a Comunidade Europeia para o Carvão e o Aço (ECSC/CECA) impulsionou a integração europeia, com o objetivo de verificar o potencial sinérgico para a cooperação que uma eventual instituição supranacional de energia elétrica teria para estimular a integração da América do Sul. A experiência europeia foi utilizada, portanto, como um caso de controle e comparação, para verificar se as condições de integração ocorridas naquele continente podem se assemelhar com aquelas do processo sul-americano. Nesse sentido, utilizando o referencial teórico Neo-funcionalista de Ernst Haas e sua micro-teoria do spill-over ou desborde, o estudo pretendeu observar se esse tipo de fenômeno pode ser repetido no caso de uma possível constituição de um sistema elétrico integrado na América do Sul. Para isso, verificam-se os elementos contextuais, a forma e o conteúdo dos discursos sobre a integração realizados no interior dos principais blocos da região, bem como se interrelacionam os grupos políticos, os grupos de interesse e os governos nacionais a respeito da questão. O trabalho utiliza pesquisas do Latinobarômetro, documentos das principais intituições para integração na região e um trabalho realizado pelo NUPRI/USP sobre integração sul americana. Ainda que os aspectos sociais, econômicos e políticos sejam diferentes da experiência europeia, o trabalho colheu evidências convergentes e satisfatórias para a formação do spill-over, a partir da eventual integração do setor energético na América do Sul, apontando assim, para a possibilidade de construção de um processo de integração regional que pode ser explicado e inspirado pela teoria Neofuncionalista. / The regional integration process seeks to implement the care of general issues that the National States, for its limited resources, can not cope alone. The most tangible example of these processes in the international system is European integration. In South America, although there are a significant number of institutions in order to foster regional integration, it has not evolved. Policies and tax disputes have blurry vision of the key players that could stimulate this new regional order. However some areas, especially those with a low level of disputes, can encourage or even enhance the process of regional integration. In the South American continent, the electric sector by the abundance of resources for primary generation sources may be the catalyst element of this new system of cooperation. Thus, this study examined how the European Community for Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) boosted European integration, with the aim of verifying the synergistic potential for cooperation that any supranational institution of electricity would have to stimulate the integration of South America. The European experience was therefore used as a case-control comparison and to verify that the conditions of integration occurring in that continent may be similar to those of the South American process. Accordingly, using the theoretical framework Neo-functionalism of Ernst Haas and his micro-theory of spillover or overflowing, the study aimed to observe whether this type of phenomenon can be repeated in case of a possible establishment of an integrated electric system in America South. For this, there are contextual elements, the form and content of the discourse on integration performed inside the main blocks in the region, as well as interrelate political groups, interest groups and national governments on the issue. The work uses surveys of Latinbarometer, documents the main institutions for integration in the region and work done by NUPRI / USP on South American integration. While the social, economic and political aspects are different from the European experience, work reaped satisfactory convergent and for the formation of the spill-over from the eventual integration of the energy sector in South American evidence, thus pointing to the possibility of construction of a regional integration process that can be explained and inspired by the Neo-functionalist theory.

O processo de integração regional busca implementar o atendimento de questões gerais que os Estados Nacionais, pela sua limitação de recursos, não conseguem enfrentar isoladamente. O exemplo mais tangível destes processos no sistema internacional é a integração europeia. Na América do Sul, embora exista um número significativo de instituições com o objetivo de fomentar a integração regional, ela não tem evoluído. As disputas políticas e fiscais têm embaçado a visão dos principais atores que poderiam estimular essa nova ordem regional. Contudo algumas áreas, sobretudo aquelas que possuem um baixo nível de controvérsias, podem incentivar ou até mesmo incrementar o processo de integração regional. No continente sul americano, o setor elétrico, pela a abundância de recursos de fontes primárias para geração, poderá ser o elemento catalizador desse novo sistema de cooperação. Assim, esse trabalho analisou como a Comunidade Europeia para o Carvão e o Aço (ECSC/CECA) impulsionou a integração europeia, com o objetivo de verificar o potencial sinérgico para a cooperação que uma eventual instituição supranacional de energia elétrica teria para estimular a integração da América do Sul. A experiência europeia foi utilizada, portanto, como um caso de controle e comparação, para verificar se as condições de integração ocorridas naquele continente podem se assemelhar com aquelas do processo sul-americano. Nesse sentido, utilizando o referencial teórico Neo-funcionalista de Ernst Haas e sua micro-teoria do spill-over ou desborde, o estudo pretendeu observar se esse tipo de fenômeno pode ser repetido no caso de uma possível constituição de um sistema elétrico integrado na América do Sul. Para isso, verificam-se os elementos contextuais, a forma e o conteúdo dos discursos sobre a integração realizados no interior dos principais blocos da região, bem como se interrelacionam os grupos políticos, os grupos de interesse e os governos nacionais a respeito da questão. O trabalho utiliza pesquisas do Latinobarômetro, documentos das principais intituições para integração na região e um trabalho realizado pelo NUPRI/USP sobre integração sul americana. Ainda que os aspectos sociais, econômicos e políticos sejam diferentes da experiência europeia, o trabalho colheu evidências convergentes e satisfatórias para a formação do spill-over, a partir da eventual integração do setor energético na América do Sul, apontando assim, para a possibilidade de construção de um processo de integração regional que pode ser explicado e inspirado pela teoria Neofuncionalista. / The regional integration process seeks to implement the care of general issues that the National States, for its limited resources, can not cope alone. The most tangible example of these processes in the international system is European integration. In South America, although there are a significant number of institutions in order to foster regional integration, it has not evolved. Policies and tax disputes have blurry vision of the key players that could stimulate this new regional order. However some areas, especially those with a low level of disputes, can encourage or even enhance the process of regional integration. In the South American continent, the electric sector by the abundance of resources for primary generation sources may be the catalyst element of this new system of cooperation. Thus, this study examined how the European Community for Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) boosted European integration, with the aim of verifying the synergistic potential for cooperation that any supranational institution of electricity would have to stimulate the integration of South America. The European experience was therefore used as a case-control comparison and to verify that the conditions of integration occurring in that continent may be similar to those of the South American process. Accordingly, using the theoretical framework Neo-functionalism of Ernst Haas and his micro-theory of spillover or overflowing, the study aimed to observe whether this type of phenomenon can be repeated in case of a possible establishment of an integrated electric system in America South. For this, there are contextual elements, the form and content of the discourse on integration performed inside the main blocks in the region, as well as interrelate political groups, interest groups and national governments on the issue. The work uses surveys of Latinbarometer, documents the main institutions for integration in the region and work done by NUPRI / USP on South American integration. While the social, economic and political aspects are different from the European experience, work reaped satisfactory convergent and for the formation of the spill-over from the eventual integration of the energy sector in South American evidence, thus pointing to the possibility of construction of a regional integration process that can be explained and inspired by the Neo-functionalist theory.

Derramamentos de petróleo geraram o aumento da atenção de órgãos governamentais e civis quanto a estudos e técnicas para minimizar os danos aos recursos ambientais e socioeconômicos causados por este tipo de acidente. O desenvolvimento de técnicas e os estudos relacionados à prevenção e resposta aos acidentes busca maior eficiência na resposta à contingência e à diminuição dos danos ambientais e socioeconômicos causados na área atingida. A Carta de Sensibilidade Ambiental ao Derramamento de Óleo (Carta SAO) é uma importante ferramenta para a diminuição de danos causados ao ambiente, para o planejamento ambiental na prevenção e na reposta a acidentes em locais de armazenamento e transporte de hidrocarbonetos, tais como dutos, ferrovias, rodovias, etc. Na Carta SAO, para áreas de exposição de sedimentos e rochas sedimentares, procura-se quantificar e qualificar uma determinada área que apresente vulnerabilidade e sensibilidade ao óleo, ou seja, estipular a área e as características intrínsecas do terreno que apresenta alguma probabilidade de ser atingido por óleo, considerando também atividades de resposta. As características dos sedimentos existentes em áreas vulneráveis permitem a determinação de sua sensibilidade, assim buscou-se estudar os parâmetros sedimentares mais influentes na determinação da sensibilidade ambiental do terreno, como a granulometria e seleção, os quais influenciam a porosidade e permeabilidade do terreno, e o cruzamento dessas informações com a declividade do terreno. A fim de testar a eficiência desses parâmetros, o estudo foi aplicado na Bacia do Ribeirão Tamanduá, na região de Cravinhos (SP), por ser interceptada pelo Duto OSBRA e a área de exposição dos arenitos da Formação Botucatu. / Oil spills have resulted in increased awareness among government and private agencies regarding studies and techniques to minimize damages caused by this type of accident to environmental and socio-economic resources. The development of techniques and the studies for prevention and response to accidents is intended to achieve greater effectiveness in dealing with this type of contingency and to decrease the environmental and socio-economic damage to the areas affected by oil spills. The Environmental Sensitivity Index Map for Oil Spills (ESI Map) is an important tool that helps to decrease the damage caused to the environment. It is also useful in planning prevention and responding to accidents in storage areas and in transporting hydrocarbons, in ducts, by rail, road, etc. The purpose of the ESI Map is to quantify and qualify certain areas of exposed sediments and sedimentary rocks that are vulnerable or present sensitivity to oil. In other words, stipulate the area and the intrinsic characteristics of the ground that may receive an oil spill, and considering the response actions. The characteristics of existing sediments in vulnerable areas allow the determination of the area\'s sensitivity. As a result, the study focused on the sedimentary parameters with greatest influence in determining the area\'s environmental sensitivity, such as granulometry and grain selection, which have an influence in the ground\'s porosity and permeability, and cross-referencing this information with the declivity of the ground. In order to test the efficiency of these parameters, the study was implemented in the Bacia do Ribeirão do Tamanduá, in the Cravinhos (SP) region, because it intercepts the OSBRA oil pipeline and an area with exposed sandstone from the Botucatu Formation.

O processo de integração regional busca implementar o atendimento de questões gerais que os Estados Nacionais, pela sua limitação de recursos, não conseguem enfrentar isoladamente. O exemplo mais tangível destes processos no sistema internacional é a integração europeia. Na América do Sul, embora exista um número significativo de instituições com o objetivo de fomentar a integração regional, ela não tem evoluído. As disputas políticas e fiscais têm embaçado a visão dos principais atores que poderiam estimular essa nova ordem regional. Contudo algumas áreas, sobretudo aquelas que possuem um baixo nível de controvérsias, podem incentivar ou até mesmo incrementar o processo de integração regional. No continente sul americano, o setor elétrico, pela a abundância de recursos de fontes primárias para geração, poderá ser o elemento catalizador desse novo sistema de cooperação. Assim, esse trabalho analisou como a Comunidade Europeia para o Carvão e o Aço (ECSC/CECA) impulsionou a integração europeia, com o objetivo de verificar o potencial sinérgico para a cooperação que uma eventual instituição supranacional de energia elétrica teria para estimular a integração da América do Sul. A experiência europeia foi utilizada, portanto, como um caso de controle e comparação, para verificar se as condições de integração ocorridas naquele continente podem se assemelhar com aquelas do processo sul-americano. Nesse sentido, utilizando o referencial teórico Neo-funcionalista de Ernst Haas e sua micro-teoria do spill-over ou desborde, o estudo pretendeu observar se esse tipo de fenômeno pode ser repetido no caso de uma possível constituição de um sistema elétrico integrado na América do Sul. Para isso, verificam-se os elementos contextuais, a forma e o conteúdo dos discursos sobre a integração realizados no interior dos principais blocos da região, bem como se interrelacionam os grupos políticos, os grupos de interesse e os governos nacionais a respeito da questão. O trabalho utiliza pesquisas do Latinobarômetro, documentos das principais intituições para integração na região e um trabalho realizado pelo NUPRI/USP sobre integração sul americana. Ainda que os aspectos sociais, econômicos e políticos sejam diferentes da experiência europeia, o trabalho colheu evidências convergentes e satisfatórias para a formação do spill-over, a partir da eventual integração do setor energético na América do Sul, apontando assim, para a possibilidade de construção de um processo de integração regional que pode ser explicado e inspirado pela teoria Neofuncionalista. / The regional integration process seeks to implement the care of general issues that the National States, for its limited resources, can not cope alone. The most tangible example of these processes in the international system is European integration. In South America, although there are a significant number of institutions in order to foster regional integration, it has not evolved. Policies and tax disputes have blurry vision of the key players that could stimulate this new regional order. However some areas, especially those with a low level of disputes, can encourage or even enhance the process of regional integration. In the South American continent, the electric sector by the abundance of resources for primary generation sources may be the catalyst element of this new system of cooperation. Thus, this study examined how the European Community for Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) boosted European integration, with the aim of verifying the synergistic potential for cooperation that any supranational institution of electricity would have to stimulate the integration of South America. The European experience was therefore used as a case-control comparison and to verify that the conditions of integration occurring in that continent may be similar to those of the South American process. Accordingly, using the theoretical framework Neo-functionalism of Ernst Haas and his micro-theory of spillover or overflowing, the study aimed to observe whether this type of phenomenon can be repeated in case of a possible establishment of an integrated electric system in America South. For this, there are contextual elements, the form and content of the discourse on integration performed inside the main blocks in the region, as well as interrelate political groups, interest groups and national governments on the issue. The work uses surveys of Latinbarometer, documents the main institutions for integration in the region and work done by NUPRI / USP on South American integration. While the social, economic and political aspects are different from the European experience, work reaped satisfactory convergent and for the formation of the spill-over from the eventual integration of the energy sector in South American evidence, thus pointing to the possibility of construction of a regional integration process that can be explained and inspired by the Neo-functionalist theory.

Brazil is a country with enormous social differences and, alongside the advancements of the industrialdevelopment and the creation of a modern society, a large part of the Brazilian population lives under fairly poor conditions, providing their subsistence by the practice of traditional knowledge; employing primitive tools and methods. One example is the sector of artisanal fishery, which at present accounts for about half of the active fishermen in Brazil (Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego, 2005). Even though these so called artisanal populations are not part of the industrialisation, they commonly suffer the consequences of the intense exploitation and unsustainable use of natural resources caused by the industrial development. The purpose of this report is to describe how the sustainability of the local artisanal fishermen population in Baía de Guanabara was affected by the oil spill at the Duque deCaxias refinery (REDUC) in January 2000. A further objective of the report is to answer how asustainable development of this population can be promoted in the future. In order to fulfil these objectives a field study was conducted in Baía de Guanabara, which included local fishermen fromfour different colonies and associations in the bay and key informants representing other stakeholders involved in the oil spill. In the report the impact of the accident on the artisanal fishermen population of Baía de Guanabara is described and several measures are discussed, which might be valuable inorder to promote a sustainable development of artisanal fishermen communities in the future. / www.ima.kth.se

In 2010, the largest oil spill in U.S history occurred off the coast of Louisiana from April 20th to September 19th, when the well was declared officially sealed by the U.S Coast Guard, after releasing more than 4.4 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) (McNutt et al., 2012). This spill was unique because it occurred in deep water approximately 1500 m below the ocean surface. Virtually nothing is known about the effects of oil spills on marine life in the deep sea, and there are limited data on mesopelagic and bathypelagic animals in the GOM before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWHOS). The study presented here focuses on one of the most abundant and diverse groups of pelagic decapod crustaceans in the GOM – the family Oplophoridae and also includes one species from the family Pandalidae. Past studies on pelagic decapod crustaceans have been limited on both spatial and temporal scales. This study is unique because 1) it covers a large temporal range with data collected in 2011 and from 2015-2017, allowing for a more in-depth look at crustacean assemblage patterns, 2) it allows analysis of seasonality in reproduction, about which little is known for any deep-sea species, and 3) it assesses the potential effects of the Loop Current on species distribution and abundances, about which little is known. This information is important in understanding how the DWHOS may have affected the GOM ecosystem because pelagic decapod crustacean are intermediate components of the food web, and are in turn preyed upon by higher trophic levels. Unfortunately, there were little data on the mesopelagic ecosystem from this region before the spill, with the exception of a site in the eastern GOM (Standard Station, Hopkins et al., 1989; Hopkins et al., 1994). Therefore, these data, which incorporate samples taken one, five, six and seven years after the DWHOS, were analyzed with respect to year and season to determine if any trends were present. Results indicate that both biomass and abundance were significantly higher in 2011, than in subsequent years, indicating that the ecosystem has been declining since 2011. These two parameters were also lower in Loop Current water when compared to Common Water at all depths up to 1200 m, indicating that the Loop Current does have effects on deeper waters. The information obtained from this thesis will also act as a reference state for future studies in the GOM to monitor changes, or lack thereof, in the assemblage of deep-sea oplophorid and pandalid crustaceans.

No description available.

No description available.