Although the full impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is yet to be realized, New Zealand has suffered comparatively less than other countries, and there were no active cases in the country by June 8, 2020. Building from best practices in emergency management research, several preliminary lessons emerge from the country’s response to the crisis that could be adapted for other settings. In particular, the government acted early and decisively, developed national unity to combat the virus, communicated effectively with the public, and adapted to changing circumstances, especially to address shortcomings in the response. These preliminary lessons provide some guidance in how to effectively respond to the virus through proactive, evidence-based, well-communicated policies.

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Previous research suggests that lesson-drawing news coverage of disasters can create windows of opportunity for policy learning in the observing communities. This is especially important for cities facing similar vulnerabilities to disaster-affected communities, where they can learn from their events to pursue disaster risk reduction policies to mitigate against those risks at home. However, little is known about the conditions under which newspapers in at-risk communities provide the type of news coverage necessary for policy learning. Using logistic regression to analyze an original dataset produced from a content analysis of five newspapers’ coverage of five earthquakes, we demonstrate that the level of development of the disaster-stricken community systematically influences the nature of news coverage in at-risk communities. These results have important implications for the understanding of urban disaster risk reduction, suggesting that the conditions for bottom-up policy learning are more likely to occur following disasters in wealthier countries.

High levels of nitrate leaching losses from potato rotation systems have caused concerns for both drinking water quality and aquatic ecosystem protection in Prince Edward Island (PEI). Paired-field experiments were carried out in commercial fields to evaluate the potential of delayed plowing forages within potato rotation from fall to spring on reducing nitrate leaching at two separate sites in PEI during 2010 and 2013. Monitoring showed that fall plowing resulted in elevated tile-drain nitrate concentrations compared to spring plowing, probably mainly due to crop residue mineralization during fall which was hastened by earlier herbicidal termination of forage (i.e., herbicidal killing) at Site 1. A similar trend was also observed regarding nitrate concentrations of shallow groundwater at Site 2 during the forage phase. The practice of delaying the plowing of forages and/or associated earlier herbicidal termination of forage until spring reduces forage-phase nitrate leaching loss by 20 to 61%, and should therefore be encouraged for nitrate mitigation. The study also demonstrated that only a small fraction (9.6 to 22%) of the fall plow-down forages decayed during the forage phase and a large portion was retained in the soil into the next season. Growers should consider accounting for some of the carried-over N for the subsequent crops regardless implementing fall or spring plowing.

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. 2002. Phosphorus adsorption characteristics of a constructed wetland soil receiving dairy farm wastewater. Can. J. Soil Sci. 82: 97-104. Adsorption to soil has been identified as a key wastewater P removal mechanism in treatment wetlands. Batch incubation experiments were performed to measure the capacity of a constructed dairy farm wetland in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, to remove P from solution. The constructed wetland had been receiving wastewater since 1996. Non-linear regression analysis was performed using the Langmuir adsorption model to describe the P adsorption characteristics for the wetland soil under study. The Langmuir model was adequate in describing the P adsorption characteristics of the system studied. The P adsorption maxima found were approximately 925, 924, and 1600 mg P kg -1 soil, for the deep zone soil, shallow zone soil, and a background soil (not receiving wastewater), respectively. The P adsorption maxima for the deep zone and shallow zone soils were not significantly different (P > 0.05) from one another, but were significantly lower (P < 0.05) than the background soil. These data, together with information on wastewater inflow and P loading, were used to predict a lifespan of 8 yr for this wetland, relative to P removal.Key words: Phosphorus, wetlands, constructed, adsorption, Langmuir, saturation Jamieson, T. S., Stratton, G. W., Gordon, R. et Madani, A. 2002. Adsorption du phosphore par une terre humide artificielle recevant les eaux usées d'une exploitation laitière. Can. J. Soil Sci. 82: 97-104. Un des principaux moyens pour extraire le phosphore (P) des eaux usées dans le traitement des terres humides est l'adsorption par le sol. Les auteurs ont recouru à l'incubation en lot pour jauger la capacité d'une terre humide artificielle à retirer le P dissous. La terre humide en question accueille les eaux usées d'une exploitation laitière du comté de Pictou, en Nouvelle-Écosse, depuis 1996. On a appliqué l'analyse par régression non linéaire au modèle d'adsorption de Langmuir pour préciser les propriétés du sol à l'étude. Le modèle de Langmuir décrit bien le mécanisme d'adsorption du système examiné. La quantité maximale de P adsorbée s'établit respectivement autour de 925, de 924 et de 1 600 mg par kg de sol pour la couche profonde, la couche superficielle et le sol témoin (ne recevant pas les eaux usées). La quantité maximale de P adsorbée ne diffère pas sensiblement (P > 0,05) entre la couche profonde et la couche superficielle, mais elle varie sensiblement de celle relevée dans le sol témoin (P < 0,05). Selon ces résultats et d'après les données sur l'apport d'eaux usées et la charge de P, les chercheurs estiment que la terre humide à l'étude parviendra à saturation au bout de huit ans.

Previous research demonstrates that pandemics, including COVID-19, have disproportionate effects on communities of color, further exacerbating existing healthcare inequities. While increasing evidence points to the greater threat posed by COVID-19 to Latinx communities, less remains known about how identification as Latinx and migration status influence their perception of risk and harm. In this article, we use cross-sectional data from a large national probability sample to demonstrate a large positive association between ethnic identity and migration status and perceptions of harm from COVID-19 in the US. We find that individuals identifying as Hispanic/Latinx and first-generation immigrants report significantly greater risks of becoming infected by COVID-19 in the next three months, and dying from the virus if they do contract it. Further, subgroup analysis reveals that health risks are especially felt by individuals of Mexican descent, who represent the largest share of US Latinxs. Collectively, our results provide evidence about how the pandemic places increased stress on people from Latinx and immigrant communities relative to White non-Hispanic individuals in the US.