Search

Microplastic pollution is an emerging environmental concern, and has been found in remote regions, including the high Himalaya mountains. However, the abundance and sources of microplastics in the region are not well documented. This research investigated the abundance, types, and potential sources of microplastics in the Sagarmatha National Park (SNP), a rural and sparsely populated region of Nepal on the southern side of the Himalaya mountains. Water samples were collected from streams and tributaries in SNP in May of 2022. The average microplastic concentration among all samples was 2.0 ± 1.7 pieces/L, similar to that of water samples collected in other high mountain areas and is in the lower range of that found in water samples across the globe. Microplastic abundance is higher in water samples collected near settlements than in streams far from human settlements, indicating the impact of human activities. The presence of microplastics in all samples, including headwaters immediately beneath glaciers, illustrates the widespread distribution of microplastics and suggests the potential for airborne sources. While the concentration of microplastics does not change dramatically from upstream tributaries to downstream rivers, the total load of microplastics increases due to higher discharge downstream. This research demonstrates the anthropogenic and air-borne influences on microplastics contamination on the southern side of the Himalayan range and contributes to filling the data gaps towards a better understanding of the global fate and transport of microplastics.

The European responses to irregularised migrants in the second decade of the twenty-first century have been qualitatively new not so much because of the often-celebrated cultures of hospitality in countries such as Germany and Sweden, but because of acts of solidarity that have challenged the prerogative of nation-states to control access to their territory. I discuss elements of the public response in Germany to the criminalisation of one such act, the search and rescue (SAR) operation of the Sea-Watch 3 in the Central Mediterranean in June 2019, which led to the arrest of the ship’s captain, Carola Rackete, by Italian authorities. I argue that while the response to Rackete’s arrest was unprecedented, it built upon a year-long campaign in support of private SAR missions in the Mediterranean, which drew on the discourse of rights and was therefore not reliant on a short-term outpouring of compassion. Rackete’s supporters have also been energised by alternative visions of Europe, and by the vitriol reserved for her by followers of the populist far right.

In diesem Artikel wird der digitale Wandel an Schulen zum Ausgangspunkt genommen, um die Konsequenzen des Einsatzes von digitalen Lernwerkzeugen für die Interaktionsstrukturen im schulischen Unterricht aus einer praxeologischen Perspektive zu reflektieren. Es wird für die Entwicklung von digitalen Lernwerkzeugen argumentiert, welche Partizipation und Kollaboration im Unterricht fördern und das strukturierende Lehrerhandeln unterstützen. Als Fallbeispiel dient die Web-App TRAVIS GO und ihr Entwicklungsprozess, in welchen Lehrpersonen aus den Sekundarstufen I und II als Co-Researcher eingebunden waren. TRAVIS GO ist eine App zur kollaborativen Re- und Dekonstruktion von audiovisuellen Medienprodukten. Im didaktischen Design von TRAVIS GO wurden die Anforderungen an problemlösendes, forschendes Lernen und kooperatives Arbeiten erfüllt und die Möglichkeit zum strukturierenden Lehrerhandeln gegeben. TRAVIS GO wird mit Fokus auf die programmseitig angebotenen Möglichkeiten zur Partizipation erstmals systematisch beschrieben und mit den Erfahrungen von Lehrpersonen im Unterrichtseinsatz zusammengebracht, welche im Forschungs- und Entwicklungsprojekt im Rahmen einer empirischen Bildungsforschung gewonnen wurden.

Retreating glaciers and snowpack loss threaten high-altitude communities that rely upon seasonal melt for domestic water resources. But the extent to which such communities are vulnerable is not yet understood, largely because melt contribution to water supplies is rarely quantified at the catchment scale. The Khumbu Valley, Nepal is a highly glaciated catchment with elevations ranging from 2,000 to 8,848 m above sea level, where more than 80% of annual precipitation falls during the summer monsoon from June to September. Samples were collected from the rivers, tributaries, springs, and taps along the major trekking route between Lukla and Everest Base Camp in the pre-monsoon seasons of 2016–2017. Sources were chosen based upon their use by the communities for drinking, cooking, bathing, and washing, so the sample suite is representative of the local domestic water supply. In addition, meltwater samples were collected directly from the base of the Khumbu Glacier, and several rain samples were collected throughout the study site. Meltwater contribution was estimated from δ18O isotopic data using a two-component mixing model with the Khumbu glacial melt and pre-monsoon rain as endmembers. Results indicate between 34 and 90% of water comes from melt during the dry, pre-monsoon season, with an average meltwater contribution of 65%. With as much as two-thirds of the dry-season domestic water supply at risk, the communities of the Khumbu Valley are extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change as glaciers retreat and snowpack declines.

This study investigated the bacteriological characteristics and physical parameters of drinking water sources in Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal. The park is located in the southeastern part of the Nepali Himalaya and includes the southern slopes of Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). During the 2016 premonsoon dry season, we sampled 29 community drinking water sources and 5 surface-water sources. The physical properties of the samples ranged as follows: temperature 3–17°C, pH 5.41–7.81, conductivity 33.6–175.5 µS, and total dissolved solids 17.3–94.3 ppm. All of the samples tested met World Health Organization drinking water standards for physical parameters. In terms of fecal contamination, 8 samples contained no CFUs (colony-forming units), conforming to the World Health Organization and Nepali national standards; the remaining 26 samples contained between 1 and 100 CFUs, and this range is rated a low to moderate risk by the World Health Organization but fails to meet the Nepali standards. The data show a positive correlation between bacteria content and temperature, and a weak negative correlation between bacteria content and elevation. Samples from the more populated, lowerelevation (

The search for historical justice has become one of the defining features of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. So has the consensus about the need to remember the violence of past injustices and its victims. The search for justice is closely related to a focus on remembrance: the striving for justice relies on memories of injustices, and the public remembering of past wrongs is increasingly considered one crucial means of redressing such wrongs. This focus section brings together authors from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds in the humanities and social sciences, ranging from anthropology to law, and from cultural studies to political science. Focusing on post-conflict societies in Africa (Morocco, Rwanda), Asia (Nepal), Latin America (Argentina, Peru, Uruguay) and the Pacific (Solomon Islands), the papers explore aspects of the work of memory in attempts to redress past wrongs and make the present inhabitable. This introduction also extends some of the themes that connect the seven individual papers.

Between 1962 and 1973, thousands of refugees crossed from the Indonesian-controlled western half of the island of New Guinea into the Australian-controlled eastern half. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) refrained from becoming involved in the issue, and from publicly criticizing the Australian government over its response to West Papuan asylum seekers. In return, the Australian government committed itself to keeping the High Commissioner informed about developments in New Guinea on the understanding that it would provide information on a strictly confidential basis. The article explores the High Commissioner’s possible motives for effectively condoning Australia’s refugee policies in Papua and New Guinea. It demonstrates the relevance of this historical case study for our understanding of current Australian policies and for evaluating the relationship between the UNHCR and governments.

Das Ende des Privaten? Web Cam-Angebote und deren Rezeption - eine Fallstudie In der Abhandlung werden Ergebnisse einer empirischen Untersuchung zum Umgang mit Web Cam-Technik und -Angeboten durch junge Erwachsene im Rahmen privater, nicht kommerzieller Nutzung referiert. Die Studie kombiniert Technik-, Produkt- und Rezeptionsanalysen. Im Zentrum des Interesses steht die Praxis der Produzenten und Rezipienten: Wie gehen sie mit Web Cam-Technik und -Kommunikation um? Welche Formen der Selbstpräsentation werden gewählt, welches Ausmaß an Zugang zur Privatsphäre wird dem medialen Gegenüber ermöglicht? Die Ergebnisse zeigen, daß die Web Cam-Technik die begonnene Entgrenzung von Öffentlichkeit und Privatheit fortschreibt, die Nutzer jedoch auch spezifische Handlungspraktiken entwickeln, in der Präsentation und Rezeption von Privatem auf ihre individuell gesetzten Grenzen von Intimität zu achten: Eine Art von kontrolliertem "kleinen Grenzverkehr" entsteht. Die gewonnen Erkenntnisse geben Einblick in die faktischen Prozesse der Indienstnahme von neuen Kommunikationstechniken durch ihre Nutzer. Die Studie schreibt die Tradition einer kulturtheoretisch orientierten Medien- und Kommunikationsforschung fort, wie sie durch die im angelsächsischen Raum entstandenen Cultural Studies entwickelt und auch von der jüngeren Diskussion in der deutschsprachigen Medien- und Kommunikationssoziologie sowie der aktuellen Ethnographie- und Gesprächsforschung beeinflußt worden ist.