Current Research in Environmental Sustainability最新文献

The application of the emergy approach to analyzing the sustainability of greenhouse systems has resulted in the deployment of adequate management in order to boost the production sustainability of these systems. The goal of this study was to apply the emergy approach to assess the sustainability of greenhouse tomato production systems. The data for this study was collected from greenhouse owners through face-to-face referrals and the completion of a questionnaire. Sixty three tomato greenhouses were chosen for this purpose in Mirjaveh district, Zahedan, Iran. In tomato greenhouse systems, the average total emergy supporting output was 1.06E+16 sej/1000 m² of greenhouse area. The unit emergy value of economic product (unit emergy value) was calculated to be 9.94E+03 sej/J, indicating that greenhouse systems outperform open field systems of various crops by at least 100 times. The significant proportion of purchased non-renewable resources affected the tomato production system's sustainability in this study. As a result, using productive renewable local environmental inputs, more efficient labor, and technologies to reduce greenhouse building inputs and acquire non-renewable inputs will make the greenhouse tomato production system more sustainable.

The world is subjected to a paradigm shift in the form of sustainable development. It is essential for developed and particularly developing counties, to incorporate sustainability and help in the establishment of sustainable societies through awareness among the young population. This paper investigates the sustainability awareness among university students in the developing economy of Pakistan through a structured questionnaire, the analysis was carried out using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and SPSS. The study highlights the role of both public and private education sectors in promoting sustainability. The findings reveal that the private education sector is leading in making the students cognizant of sustainability and sustainable development whereas, the public sector is lagging behind. In order to fulfill and implement the sustainability goals in the country both sectors need to play their part by integrating sustainability into the curriculum and modifying the policy framework.

Drastic changes in the urban landscape can lead to irreversible changes in the spatiotemporal pattern of the land surface temperature (LST). The present study was aimed to map the effects of blue-green urban landscapes on LST using geospatial techniques in Addis Ababa during 2006–2021. Object-based image analysis (OBIA) was used to produce land-use/land-cover (LULC) maps using high-resolution imagery from SPOT 5 and Sentinel 2A. Land surface temperature was retrieved from thermal imageries of Landsat 7 ETM⁺ (band 6) and Landsat 8 TIRS (band 10) using the Mono-Window Algorithm (MWA). Built-up area was the most dominant LULC in the city with expanding trend with an annual growth of 4.4% at the expense of farmland, vegetation, and bare land. In contrast, 53.7% of farmland, 48.1% of vegetation, and 59.4% of bare land were transformed into built-up class during 2006–2021. Mean LST showed an increasing trend from 25.8 °C in 2006 to 27.2 °C and 28.2 °C during 2016 and 2021, respectively. Highest mean LST was observed at bare land having average values of 26.9 °C, 28.7 °C, and 30.1 °C in 2006, 2016 and 2021, respectively. Regression analysis has revealed a strong negative correlation between NDVI and LST, a strong positive correlation between NDBI and LST, and a weak negative correlation between MNDWI and LST. Built-up areas and vegetation cover play a decisive role in the variation of LST compared to surface water. These findings are helpful for understanding urban green as well as land-use planning to minimize the potential impacts of urbanization.

The effect of three farm areas, including small, medium, and large, on the sustainability of wheat production was studied using the emergy technique in 2018–19 in Jovein, Iran. By increasing the size of the farm, the share of renewable natural resources decreased and the share of purchased resources increased. The total emergy supporting small, medium, and large farms, was 1.39 × 10¹⁶, 1.95 × 10¹⁶, and 2.16 × 10¹⁶ sej ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, respectively. In small farms, the share of renewable natural inputs, non-renewable natural inputs, and purchased inputs of total input emergy were 55.6 × 10¹³, 63.01 × 10¹⁴, and 70.30 × 10¹⁴ sej ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, respectively. However, the share of renewable natural inputs, non-renewable natural inputs, and purchased inputs on large farms were 50.9 × 10¹³, 11.38 × 10¹⁶, and 98.03 × 10¹⁵ sej ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹, respectively. As the farm size increased from small to large, the emergy yield ratio and emergy investment ratio increased by 11.11% and 101%, respectively, while the unit emergy value, renewable emergy ratio, emergy investment ratio, and environmental sustainability index decreased by 27.31, 50.61, 45.45, and 18.65%, respectively. According to the results, although cultivation in large farms uses less renewable environmental resources and more purchased resources, a higher yield is produced per unit area.

Global climate change caused by Greenhouse gases (GHGs), particularly carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, poses incomparable threats to the environment, development, and sustainability. This research investigates the potential of economic growth, renewable energy use, and technological innovation to achieve environmental sustainability by reducing CO₂ emissions in Kazakhstan. Time series data from 1996 to 2018 were utilized by applying the Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) method. The DOLS estimate findings show that the coefficient of economic growth is positive and significant with CO₂ emissions, indicating a 1% increase in economic growth is related to a 0.34% rise in CO₂ emissions. Moreover, the estimated long-run coefficient of fossil fuel consumption is positive and significant which reveals that an increasing 1% of fossil fuel energy use is linked with a rising of 6.99% CO₂ emissions. Furthermore, the coefficient of renewable energy use is negative and significant, which indicates that increasing renewable energy use by 1% is associated with CO₂ emissions reduction by 0.38% in the long run. In addition, increasing technological innovation significantly lowers CO₂ emissions, implying that a 1% increase in the number of patent applications is linked to a 0.15% reduction in CO₂ emissions. The empirical findings reveal that economic growth and fossil fuel consumption increase CO₂ emissions in Kazakhstan while increased renewable energy use and technological innovation help to achieve environmental sustainability by reducing CO₂ emissions. This article provides policy recommendations aimed at a low-carbon economy, promoting renewable energy use, financing technological advancement, and environmental sustainability in Kazakhstan.

Participatory integrated assessment (PIA) emerged as a response to conventional integrated assessment methods in the mid-to-late 1990s. PIA is based on the tenet that more inclusive stakeholder involvement may lead to increased accountability and legitimacy in decision-making, greater levels of trust and social learning between participants, and improved quality and relevancy of knowledge outputs. In this paper, we conduct a systematic literature review to update and deepen our understanding of the approaches, methods, opportunities, and challenges associated with PIA as applied at the catchment scale. Of the total 278 studies identified in our literature search, only 37 catchment-level cases presented a clear PIA application. From our review, lessons learnt were drawn in relation to the integration of less-easily quantified areas of social science, entry and exit planning in PIA, boundary work on issue cycles and accounting for the human dimension. We conclude that PIA is a potentially useful approach for navigating the dual social-ecological dimensions of current environmental and resource management issues, especially when projects include tailored objectives and methods, user-friendly outputs, and early and consistent stakeholder involvement. However, we also highlight gaps in the field concerning the integrative reach of PIA, PIA's real-world impact, and the relationship between PIA processes and outcomes along stages of environmental issue cycles. We conclude that further work is therefore still needed to help advance the field of PIA in both research and boundary work practice.

Urban green spaces are effective extension of carbon sinks in human dominant landscapes to supplement climate change mitigation. There have been several studies on the environmental effects of urbanization, but few studies on the services offered by urban green areas. The current research took place at four urban green sites in Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India, which is situated in the Eastern Himalayas. The biomass, primary nutrients, and carbon stock, as well as carbon fractions, were recorded in the study. The research used stratified random quadrate sampling with the line transact process. The physico-chemical characteristics of collected composite soils samples at various depths were analyzed. For biomass estimation, the indirect approach was used. Based on overall estimated plant biomass (869.46 Mg ha⁻¹), biomass carbon (434.78 Mg ha⁻¹), soil carbon (50.82 Mg ha⁻¹) and total ecosystem carbon (485.55 Mg ha⁻¹), it can be concluded that the town's parks and institutional green areas improved the town's biophysical components while, also helping avoiding emission by permanently stocking carbon in its tree biomass.

Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus interactions vary from seemingly negative and intractable wicked problems to opportunities for enhanced sustainability. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of understanding on WEF resource interactions and to provide a roadmap to enhance integrated resource management. A qualitative perspective based on expert insight and experience was supported by a more quantitative systematic analysis of the literature to define Nexus interactions, describe the nature of different challenges, and explore the factors that influence them. We found that Nexus challenges, and associated interactions (e.g. trade-offs and synergies), vary with complexity and spatial and temporal scale, and biases in research and culture act as barriers to progress. An interdisciplinary approach is needed to develop technical solutions employed through the use of orchestrated shocks (e.g. historic analogues, predictive modelling, experimentation, and scenario planning) to “Vaccinate the Nexus” and improve system resilience. To achieve this, multidisciplinary capability should be developed to solve interdisciplinary challenges, while protecting specialism. It is recognised that through embracing complexity and “Nexus (or Systems) Thinking”, future integration of resource management may be facilitated through holistic education, informed by interdisciplinary research, and ingrained in cross-sector policy and governance.

In recent years, with the rapid social and economic development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (the Jing-Jin-Ji region), ecological and environmental problems have become increasingly prominent. The shortage of water and land resources continues to affect the sustainable development of the ecological carrying capacity. Thus, a comprehensive evaluation method of water and land resource carrying capacity based on ecological footprint theory and spatial analysis with geographic information system (GIS) is proposed. The method aims to correct the following flaws in the evaluation of carrying capacity of water and land resources: (1) less consideration of the coupling performance of water and land resources, and (2) the lack of objective analysis on the weights of different water and land resource types. The method is applied in a case study of the Jing-Jin-Ji region, China. The results show that half of the cities in the Jing-Jin-Ji region are under uncoordinated and unsustainable status on water and land resources. Especially in Beijing and Tianjin, water and land resources are running an ecological deficit under “extremely uncoordinated” (less than 0.5 in the study years). And for the sustainable level, the ecological carrying capacity shows a deficit under unsustainable status in Beijing, Tianjin and the central and south part of Hebei province (−0.05 hm² for water resources in Xingtai, Handan and Hengshui, less than −0.2 hm² for land resources in Baoding and Cangzhou). Therefore, improving the management system of water and land resources and changing the way of production and consumption to promote sustainable and coordinated ecological development is recommended.

Rattan is an important Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) with huge potential to boost socio-economic development in indigenous communities of Cameroon in particular and the entire country in general. Rattan is mainly harvested from the wild, with no involvement of stakeholders in renewing the resource, leading to resource scarcity. Insufficient knowledge on rattan distribution and growth rate in Cameroon jeopardizes the sustainable management of its resource base. It was in this context that this study was initiated to (i) determine economically important rattan species and their distribution; (ii) identify their habitats and conservation status; (iii) examine harvester's perceptions/observations on annual growth rate and age of maturity. Findings revealed that Eremospatha macrocarpa exists in all AEZs, Calamus deerratus was found in AEZ 2 & 5, Laccosperma secundiflorum, L. Robustum, was found in AEZ 3, 4, and 5 and Eremospatha wendlandiana was found only in AEZ4. They grow in diverse habitat/environments with some habitats/environments specifically suitable for some rattan species. The current conservation status of commercial rattan species identified shows Least Concern (LC), but resource scarcity is high. Most harvesters observed that rattan takes either 2–3 years (51%) or 4–5 years (35%) to attain maturity. The harvesters' observation on the annual growth rate of economic rattan species varied in relation to the species and AEZs. However, overall 25% and 23% of the respondents observed a growth rate of 2–3 m and 3–4 m respectively. Kruskal-Wallis test shows a significant variation in harvesters' observations in the different AEZs for all growth and maturity parameters of different rattan species (p < 0.05) except for the number of years it takes for rattan to attain maturity (p > 0.05)”. All five economically important rattan species are widely distributed in the Southern part of Cameroon. The availability of E. macrocarpa in all zones indicates its great adaptation to different climatic and ecological conditions. Increasing the rattan resource base will involve its domestication, especially in the southern part of Cameroon where all rattan species thrive. The findings of this study are important for policymakers and development planners who seek to ensure the sustainable harvesting and management of the rattan resource base in Cameroon.