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The era in which the distinction between natural processes and human activity was clear has passed. Since at least the 'Great Acceleration' of the mid-20th century, we have entered a new phase where environmental changes, unprecedented in scale, are no longer purely natural. Instead, they stem from the growth of a hybrid aggregate, both natural and artificial. Consequently, things and places can no longer remain unchanged; they do not adhere to our previous conceptions. 'Non-human' entities now respond to our actions, rendering them inherently cultural and anthropogenic. Operating within the present, these entities not only act but also accumulate a form of material memory over time. Even seemingly inert matter is alive, facing the challenges of the Anthropocene: an era characterized by devastation and the destruction of material memory. Thus, the concept of heritage takes on new significance: what does it mean now, and what purpose does it serve? How do we define saving, protecting, or even acknowledging what we continue to call archaeological heritage? The most profound transformations of the Anthropocene are yet to unfold, underscoring the limitations of archaeological practice, which primarily focuses on human creations at a human scale.

This paper presents the origins of French archaeological photography, which is linked in particular to the work of Jean-Baptiste Auguste Verchère de Reffye (1821-1880) within the Committee for the Topography of Gauls and the French Museum of National Antiquities in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Au cours des 30 dernières années, un ensemble de travaux scientifiques a vu le jour pour rendre compte d'une nouvelle forme de politique, connue sous le nom de "cosmopolitique". Bruno Latour en est l'un des représentants avec sa théorie compositionniste, magistralement développée dans Politiques de la nature, qui définit la politique comme une fabrication de la réalité et souligne la capture de la politique par la science depuis les Grecs. Quelques années plus tard, Latour a décidé de revisiter sa théorisation de la cosmopolitique en utilisant la notion de cosmogramme, un type spécifique d'imaginaire, mais d'une manière plutôt idiosyncrasique. Bien qu'il prétende toujours étudier l'interface politique/science, sa seconde théorie de la cosmopolitique semble rompre avec le compositionnisme en dépouillant la science de sa fonction politique unique, et manque de cohérence interne. Pour illustrer et étoffer cette nouvelle théorie, Latour prend le cas de la découverte d'exoplanètes par l'astronomie. Malheureusement, lorsqu'elle est prise dans sa définition stricte et appliquée aux exoplanètes, la notion de cosmogramme fait s'effondrer son argumentation. Si l'on choisit d'étudier la politique en termes d'imaginaire, comme le fait Latour dans sa deuxième théorie de la cosmopolitique, la science-fiction semble avoir plus de poids politique que la science, comme l'illustre le cosmogramme de Star Trek.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have reported inconsistent associations between maternal residential green space and preterm birth (PTB, born

BackgroundRecent studies have reported inconsistent associations between maternal residential green space and preterm birth (PTB, born

To effectively monitor highly heterogeneous urban CO2 emissions using atmospheric observations, there is a need to deploy cost-effective CO2 sensors at multiple locations within the city with sufficient accuracy to capture the concentration gradients in urban environments. These dense measurements could be used as input of an atmospheric inversion system for the quantification of emissions at the sub-city scale or to separate specific sectors. Such quantification would offer valuable insights into the efficacy of local initiatives and could also identify unknown emission hotspots that require attention. Here we present the development and evaluation of a mid-cost CO2 instrument designed for continuous monitoring of atmospheric CO2 concentrations with a target accuracy of 1 ppm for hourly mean measurements. We assess the sensor sensitivity in relation to environmental factors such as humidity, pressure, temperature and CO2 signal, which leads to the development of an effective calibration algorithm. Since July 2020, eight mid-cost instruments have been installed within the city of Paris and its vicinity to provide continuous CO2 measurements, complementing the seven high-precision cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) stations that have been in operation since 2016. A data processing system, called CO2calqual, has been implemented to automatically handle data quality control, calibration and storage, which enables the management of extensive real-time CO2 measurements from the monitoring network. Colocation assessments with the high-precision instrument show that the accuracies of the eight mid-cost instruments are within the range of 1.0 to 2.4 ppm for hourly afternoon (12:00–17:00 UTC) measurements. The long-term stability issues require manual data checks and instrument maintenance. The analyses show that CO2 measurements can provide evidence for underestimations of CO2 emissions in the Paris region and a lack of several emission point sources in the emission inventory. Our study demonstrates promising prospects for integrating mid-cost measurements along with high-precision data into the subsequent atmospheric inverse modeling to improve the accuracy of quantifying the fine-scale CO2 emissions in the Paris metropolitan area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundEpidemiological studies suggest that air pollution is adversely associated with pregnancy outcomes. Such associations may be modified by spatially-varying factors including socio-demographic characteristics, land-use patterns and unaccounted exposures. Yet, few studies have systematically investigated the impact of these factors on spatial variability of the air pollution's effects. This study aimed to examine spatial variability of the effects of air pollution on term birth weight across Census tracts and the influence of tract-level factors on such variability.MethodsWe obtained over 900,000 birth records from 2001 to 2008 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. Air pollution exposure was modeled at individual level for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) using spatiotemporal models. Two-stage Bayesian hierarchical non-linear models were developed to (1) quantify the associations between air pollution exposure and term birth weight within each tract; and (2) examine the socio-demographic, land-use, and exposure-related factors contributing to the between-tract variability of the associations between air pollution and term birth weight.ResultsHigher air pollution exposure was associated with lower term birth weight (average posterior effects: -14.7 (95 % CI: -19.8, -9.7) g per 10 ppb increment in NO2 and -6.9 (95 % CI: -12.9, -0.9) g per 10 ppb increment in NOx). The variation of the association across Census tracts was significantly influenced by the tract-level socio-demographic, exposure-related and land-use factors. Our models captured the complex non-linear relationship between these factors and the associations between air pollution and term birth weight: we observed the thresholds from which the influence of the tract-level factors was markedly exacerbated or attenuated. Exacerbating factors might reflect additional exposure to environmental insults or lower socio-economic status with higher vulnerability, whereas attenuating factors might indicate reduced exposure or higher socioeconomic status with lower vulnerability.ConclusionsOur Bayesian models effectively combined a priori knowledge with training data to infer the posterior association of air pollution with term birth weight and to evaluate the influence of the tract-level factors on spatial variability of such association. This study contributes new findings about non-linear influences of socio-demographic factors, land-use patterns, and unaccounted exposures on spatial variability of the effects of air pollution.

Fugitive methane (CH 4) emissions occur in the whole chain of oil and gas production, including from extraction, transportation, storage, and distribution. Such emissions are usually detected and quantified by conducting surveys as close as possible to the source location. However, these surveys are labour-intensive, are costly, and fail to not provide continuous emissions monitoring. The deployment of permanent sensor networks in the vicinity of industrial CH 4 emitting facilities would overcome the limitations of surveys by providing accurate emission estimates, thanks to continuous sampling of emission plumes. Yet high-precision instruments are too costly to deploy in such networks. Low-cost sensors using a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) are presented as a cheap alternative for such deployments due to their compact dimensions and to their sensitivity to CH 4. In this study, we demonstrate the ability of two types of MOS sensors (TGS 2611-C00 and TGS 2611-E00) manufactured by Figaro® to reconstruct a CH 4 signal, as measured by a high-precision reference gas analyser, during a 7 d controlled release campaign conducted by TotalEnergies® in autumn 2019 near Pau, France. We propose a baseline voltage correction linked to atmospheric CH 4 background variations per instrument based on an iterative comparison of neighbouring observations, i.e. data points. Two CH 4 mole fraction reconstruction models were compared: multilayer perceptron (MLP) and second-degree polynomial. Emission estimates were then computed using an inversion approach based on the adjoint of a Gaussian dispersion model. Despite obtaining emission estimates comparable with those obtained using high-precision instruments (average emission rate error of 25 % and average location error of 9.5 m), the application of these emission estimates is limited to adequate environmental conditions. Emission estimates are also influenced by model errors in the inversion process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greenhouse gases monitoring is important to ensure climate goals are being achieved. This study unveils the potential of using atmospheric tall towers in direct flux measurements, bridging the gap between atmospheric and ecosystem monitoring networks. The ICOS Cities (PAUL) project aims to monitor CO2 emissions in urban areas, where concentrated emissions make them key targets for climate change mitigation. This study explores synergy between ICOS atmospheric and ecosystem networks by utilizing slow-response analysers (~2 sec) on tall atmospheric towers for ecosystem studies using the Eddy Covariance method. A standard setup with an ultrasonic anemometer and an infrared (IR) fast-response CO2 analyser was installed and compared with measurements from an existing cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) analyser measuring CO2, CO, and CH4. Deployed on the 100 m Saclay tower near Paris, covering a 43.9 km² 80 % footprint with heavy traffic roads, a nearby heating plant, and a forest, the setup addressed technical challenges and height-induced complexities. Corrections for flux attenuation by high frequency losses were limited to <20 % on average for all stabilities, around 11 % for unstable conditions. Wavelet-based eddy covariance allowed 18–34 % more data exploitation than standard EC enabling the analysis of non-stationary fluxes, particularly from a point source such was the case of a heating plant. The estimated storage term produced by atmospheric profiling measurements reported an expected increase at night, destocking during the first half of the day. Storage term represented at times more than half of the surface flux. Elevated mean fluxes for CO2 (10 μmolm−2s−1) and CH4 (200 nmolm−2s−1) were observed from the heating plant wind direction during December and January. Conversely, the forest direction exhibited the strongest sink among all wind directions, with −4 μmolm−2s−1 during July and August. These results demonstrate the feasibility and versatility of utilizing atmospheric towers for urban emission monitoring, offering valuable insights for emission monitoring strategies worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundPreterm birth (PTB) has been associated with exposure to air pollution, but it is unclear whether effects might vary among air pollution sources and components.ObjectivesWe studied the relationships between PTB and exposure to different components of air pollution, including gases and particulate matter (PM) by size fraction, chemical composition, and sources.MethodsFine and ultrafine PM (respectively, PM2.5 and PM0.1) by source and composition were modeled across California over 2000-2008. Measured PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone concentrations were spatially interpolated using empirical Bayesian kriging. Primary traffic emissions at fine scale were modeled using CALINE4 and traffic indices. Data on maternal characteristics, pregnancies, and birth outcomes were obtained from birth certificates. Associations between PTB (n = 442,314) and air pollution exposures defined according to the maternal residence at birth were examined using a nested matched case-control approach. Analyses were adjusted for maternal age, race/ethnicity, education and neighborhood income.ResultsAdjusted odds ratios for PTB in association with interquartile range (IQR) increases in average exposure during pregnancy were 1.133 (95% CI: 1.118, 1.148) for total PM2.5, 1.096 (95% CI: 1.085, 1.108) for ozone, and 1.079 (95% CI: 1.065, 1.093) for nitrogen dioxide. For primary PM, the strongest associations per IQR by source were estimated for onroad gasoline (9-11% increase), followed by onroad diesel (6-8%) and commercial meat cooking (4-7%). For PM2.5 composition, the strongest positive associations per IQR were estimated for nitrate, ammonium, and secondary organic aerosols (11-14%), followed by elemental and organic carbon (2-4%). Associations with local traffic emissions were positive only when analyses were restricted to births with residences geocoded at the tax parcel level.ConclusionsIn our statewide nested case-control study population, exposures to both primary and secondary pollutants were associated with an increase in PTB.CitationLaurent O, Hu J, Li L, Kleeman MJ, Bartell SM, Cockburn M, Escobedo L, Wu J. 2016. A statewide nested case-control study of preterm birth and air pollution by source and composition: California, 2001-2008. Environ Health Perspect 124:1479-1486; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510133.

IntroductionIntrauterine growth restriction has been associated with exposure to air pollution, but there is a need to clarify which sources and components are most likely responsible. This study investigated the associations between low birth weight (LBW,

BackgroundThe incidence of both gestational diabetes mellitus and preeclampsia is on the rise; however, these pregnancy complications may not be systematically reported. This study aimed to examine differences in reporting of preeclampsia and gestational diabetes between hospital records and birth certificate data, and to determine if such differences vary by maternal socioeconomic status indicators.MethodsWe obtained over 70,000 birth records from 2001 to 2006 from the perinatal research database of the Memorial Care system, a network of four hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California. Memorial birth records were matched to corresponding state birth certificate records and analyzed to determine differential rates of reporting of preeclampsia and diabetes. Additionally, the influence of maternal socioeconomic factors on the reported incidence of such adverse pregnancy outcomes was analyzed. Socioeconomic factors of interest included maternal education levels, race, and type of health insurance (private or public).ResultsIt was found that the birth certificate data significantly underreported the incidence of both preeclampsia (1.38% vs. 3.13%) and diabetes (1.97% vs. 5.56%) when compared to Memorial data. For both outcomes of interest, the degree of underreporting was significantly higher among women with lower education levels, among Hispanic women compared to Non-Hispanic White women, and among women with public health insurance.ConclusionThe Memorial Care database is a more reliable source of information than birth certificate data for analyzing the incidence of preeclampsia and diabetes among women in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, especially for subpopulations of lower socioeconomic status.

Introduction:There is growing epidemiologic evidence of associationsbetween maternal exposure to ambient airpollution and adverse birth outcomes, such aspreterm birth (PTB). Recently, a few studies havealso reported that exposure to ambient air pollutionmay also increase the risk of some commonpregnancy complications, such as preeclampsiaand gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Researchfindings, however, have been mixed. These inconsistentresults could reflect genuine differences inthe study populations, the study locations, the specificpollutants considered, the designs of the study,its methods of analysis, or random variation.Dr. Jun Wu of the University of California–Irvine, a recipient of HEI’s Walter A. RosenblithNew Investigator Award, and colleagues haveexamined the association between air pollutionand adverse birth and pregnancy outcomes inCalifornia women. In addition, they examined theeffect modification by socioeconomic status (SES)and other factors. Approach:A retrospective nested case–control study wasconducted using birth certificate data from about4.4 million birth records in California from 2001 to2008. Wu and colleagues analyzed data on lowbirth weight (LBW) at term (infants born between37 and 43 weeks of gestation and weighing lessthan 2500 g), PTB (infants born before 37 weeks ofgestation), and preeclampsia (including eclampsia)of the mother during the pregnancy. In addition,they obtained data on GDM for the years 2006–2008. In the analyses, all outcomes were includedas binary variables.Maternal residential addresses at the time ofdelivery were geocoded, and a large suite of airpollution exposure metrics was considered, suchas (1) regulatory monitoring data on concentrationsof criteria pollutants NO2, PM2.5 (particulatematter ≤ 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter), andozone (O3) estimated by empirical Bayesian kriging;(2) concentrations of primary and secondaryPM2.5 and PM0.1 components and sources estimatedby the University of California–DavisChemical Transport Model; (3) traffic-related ultrafineparticles and concentrations of carbonmonoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) estimatedby a modified CALINE4 air pollution dispersionmodel; and (4) proximity to busy roads, roadlength, and traffic density calculated for differentbuffer sizes using geographic information systemtools. In total, 50 different exposure metrics wereavailable for the analyses. The exposure of primaryinterest was the mean of the entire pregnancyperiod for each mother.For the health analyses, controls were randomlyselected from the source population. PTB controlswere matched on conception year. Term LBW, preeclampsia,and GDM were analyzed using generalizedadditive mixed models with inclusion of arandom effect per hospital. PTB analyses were conductedusing conditional logistic regression, withno adjustment for hospital. The main results—adjusted for race and education as categorical variablesand adjusted for maternal age and medianhousehold income at the census-block level—werederived from single-pollutant models. Main results and interpretation:In its independent review of the study, the HEIHealth Review Committee concluded that Wu andcolleagues had conducted a comprehensive nestedcase–control study of air pollution and adversebirth and pregnancy outcomes. The very large dataset and the extensive exposure assessment werestrengths of the study.The study documented associations betweenincreases in various air pollution metrics andincreased risks of PTB, whereas the evidence wasweaker overall for term LBW; in addition, decreasesin many air pollution metrics were associated withan increased risk of preeclampsia and GDM, anunexpected result.The investigators suggested that underreportingin the registry data, especially in lower-SESgroups, might have caused the many negative associationsfound for preeclampsia and GDM. In addition,poor geocoding was listed as a potentialexplanation, affecting in particular the results thatwere based on measures of proximity to busy roadsand traffic density in the smallest buffer size (50m). However, those issues were not fully explored.In general, the Committee thought that the analysisof road traffic indicators in the 50 m buffer washampered by the lack of contrast and that theresults are therefore difficult to interpret.Some other issues with the analytical approachesshould be considered when interpreting the results.Only a subset of controls was used, to reduce computationaldemands. Hence, some models did notconverge, especially in the subgroup analyses.Most of the results in the report were based onanalyses using single-pollutant models, which is areasonable approach but ignores that people areexposed to complex mixtures of pollutants. TheCommittee believed that the few two-pollutantmodels that were run provided important insights:these models showed the strongest association forPM2.5 mass, whereas components and source-specificpositive associations largely disappearedafter adjusting for PM2.5 mass. This study adds tothe ongoing debate about whether some particlecomponents and sources are of greater publichealth concern than others.

This text is devoted to the reassessment of two articles written almost twenty years ago, one on the state of archaeological theory, the other on the recycling of propaganda images of the National Revolution carried out by Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front. It provides an opportunity to measure the transformations—some of them spectacular—of archaeological practice as a social production, as well as to assess the progress of the “dediabolization” of the racist Far Right’s theses in France.

BackgroundLow birth weight (LBW,

Precise estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sinks are critical for understanding the carbon cycle and identifying key factors in the human-induced climate change feedback. Recent efforts were focused on reconciling bottom-up and top-down GHG emissions estimates, in particular on the city scale, using both space-based and ground-based atmospheric composition measurements that still show serious discrepancies. In this study, we explore the variability of the CO and CO2 emissions from the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) from long-term time-resolved total column measurements using solar absorption Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Measurements were performed at three stations, two of them located in the urban area at two opposite sides of Mexico City center and the third in a mountainous background site. Using a simple model and the mixed layer height from a ceilometer, the GHG concentration in the mixed layer and the CO/CO2 ratio were determined from the total column observations and compared to surface measurements using Cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS). Finally, combining the ground-based total column and space-based TROPOMI CO measurements, we estimate the annual CO and CO2 MCMA emissions based on a simple model, i.e.: without recourse to complex transport models. By this way, we study the inter-annual variability of the CO and CO2 MCMA anthropogenic emissions, and relate it to the main natural or anthropogenic changes occurring during the last decade, such as the 2015–2016 El Niño period or the COVID-19 lock-down event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landfills are a significant source of fugitive methane (CH 4) emissions, which should be precisely and regularly monitored to reduce and mitigate net greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, we present long-term, in situ, near-surface, mobile atmospheric CH 4 mole fraction measurements (complemented by meteorological measurements from a fixed station) from 21 campaigns that cover approximately 4 years from September 2016 to December 2020. These campaigns were utilized to regularly quantify the total CH 4 emissions from an active landfill in France. We use a simple atmospheric inversion approach based on a Gaussian plume dispersion model to derive CH 4 emissions. Together with the measurements near the soil surface, mainly dedicated to the identification of sources within the landfill, measurements of CH 4 made on the landfill perimeter (near-field) helped us to identify the main emission areas and to provide some qualitative insights about the rank of their contributions to total emissions from the landfill. The two main area sources correspond, respectively, to a covered waste sector with infrastructure with sporadic leakages (such as wells, tanks, pipes, etc.) and to the last active sector receiving waste during most of the measurement campaigns. However, we hardly managed to extract a signal representative of the overall landfill emissions from the near-field measurements, which limited our ability to derive robust estimates of the emissions when assimilating them in the atmospheric inversions. The analysis shows that the inversions based on the measurements from a remote road further away from the landfill (far-field) yielded reliable estimates of the total emissions but provided less information on the spatial variability of emissions within the landfill. This demonstrates the complementarity between the near- and far-field measurements. According to these inversions, the total CH 4 emissions have a large temporal variability and range from ∼ 0.4 to ∼ 7 t CH 4 d -1 , with an average value of ∼ 2.1 t CH 4 d -1. We find a weak negative correlation between these estimates of the CH 4 emissions and atmospheric pressure for the active landfill. However, this weak emission–pressure relationship is based on a relatively small sample of reliable emission estimates with large sampling gaps. More frequent robust estimations are required to better understand this relationship for an active landfill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationships between meteorology and pregnancy outcomes are not well known. This article reviews available evidence on the relationships between seasonality or meteorology and three major pregnancy outcomes: the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (including preeclampsia, eclampsia and gestational hypertension), gestational length and birth weight. In total 35, 28 and 27 studies were identified for each of these outcomes. The risks of preeclampsia appear higher for women with conception during the warmest months, and delivery in the coldest months of the year. Delivery in the coldest months is also associated with a higher eclampsia risk. Patterns of decreased gestational lengths have been observed for births in winter, as well as summer months. Most analytical studies also report decreases in gestational lengths associated with heat. Birth weights are lower for deliveries occurring in winter and in summer months. Only a limited number of studies have investigated the effects of barometric pressure on gestational length or the effects of temperature and sunshine exposure on birth weight, but these questions appear worth investigating further. Available results should encourage further etiological research aiming at enhancing our understanding of the relationships between meteorology and adverse pregnancy outcomes, ideally via harmonized multicentric studies.

Little is known about the impacts of green spaces on pregnancy outcomes. The relationship between green space exposure and preeclampsia has never been studied. We used a hospital-based perinatal database including more than 80,000 births to study the relationships between greenness exposure and three pregnancy outcomes: birth weight in term born infants, preterm deliveries and preeclampsia. Greenness was characterized using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) within circular buffers surrounding maternal homes. Analyses were conducted using generalized estimating equations, adjusted for potential confounders. We observed an increase in birth weight in term born infants and a reduced risk of preterm births associated with an increase in NDVI. No significant association was observed between greenness and preeclampsia. This study provides modest support for beneficial effects of greenness exposure on pregnancy outcomes and calls for confirmation in other study settings.