Environmental and Sustainability Indicators最新文献_第2页

Sustainable performance measurement in brick kilns: Proposal of an index with objective and subjective data 砖窑的可持续绩效衡量：利用主客观数据编制指数的建议

IF 5.4 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental and Sustainability Indicators

Pub Date : 2025-02-06 DOI: 10.1016/j.indic.2025.100623

Manuel de Jesús Melo-Monterrey, Patricia S. Sánchez-Medina, María del Rosario Reyes-Santiago

This research aims to construct a sustainable performance index for small brick businesses using both objective (emissions measurement) and subjective data (opinions and perceptions of business performance) throughout the brick manufacturing process. The proposed sustainable performance index, which includes both subjective and objective data, generates a more comprehensive index by integrating diverse types of data. To collect information, a structured questionnaire was developed and applied face-to-face to 142 brick-making business owners located in five metropolitan municipalities of Oaxaca (ZMO), Mexico. The measurement of polluting emissions was carried out on-site using Temptop 2000 and Testo 340 equipment. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted with the collected data and the reliability and validity of the scales were tested. The results present a sustainable performance index that integrates the economic dimension, covering commercial and financial phases; the environmental dimension, subdivided into process emissions and production inputs, and the social performance dimension. The component that scored lowest was production inputs, while the component that scored highest was financial performance. The municipality with the worst ranking position is Santa Cruz Amilpas, and the best-positioned municipality is San Andrés Huayapam. These results are significant for the government, producers, and authorities as they provide a basis for defining strategies aimed at sustainable brick production. This includes incorporating technology to enhance economic returns, mitigating negative environmental and human health impacts, and ensuring appropriate social development for employees.

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引用次数: 0

Urban expansion-induced land use land cover changes and the subsequent changes in ecosystem service and land surface temperature in the central highland of Ethiopia

IF 5.4 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental and Sustainability Indicators

Pub Date : 2025-02-06 DOI: 10.1016/j.indic.2025.100626

Belew Bekele , Wu Wei , Lemma Tsegaye , Mengistu Tilahun , Tadie Girma , Haile Ketema

Human activities that impact the environment are recognized as major contributors to climate change and alterations in ecosystem services. However, the ecological and socioeconomic impacts resulting from such human-induced changes are rarely examined at the current study site. Therefore, this study aims to examine human-induced pressure on the normal functioning of vital environmental services like ecosystem service values (ESV) and selected climatic variables like Land Surface Temperature (LST) using the most fragile and dynamic Central Ethiopian highland as a case study site. Geospatial analysis was mainly used to analyze data obtained from Landsat imageries and field investigation. The result shows that during 1990–2000, water bodies, built-up area, forest land, and farmland gained about 164.7%, 130.9%, 27.6%, and 25.5% of their area in 1990, respectively, whereas grassland exhibited the highest loss (77.3%) of its area during the same period. For the entire study landscape, the total estimated ESVs were 691.4, 731.5, and 704.6 million US$ha-1year-1 for 1990, 2000, and 2020, respectively, and these values changed with changes in the areas of each land use/cover class. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has shown positive values for vegetation-related land use/cover classes, whereas it has shown negative values for non-vegetation-related classes, and LST decreased with an increase in NDVI values. In general, there have been significant changes in land use/cover in the central highland of Ethiopia over the past three decades, and this in turn has brought significant impacts on ESVs and LST. Therefore, appropriate policies need to be devised soon to regulate LUCCs for the sustainable use of vital environmental services.

{"title":"Urban expansion-induced land use land cover changes and the subsequent changes in ecosystem service and land surface temperature in the central highland of Ethiopia","authors":"Belew Bekele , Wu Wei , Lemma Tsegaye , Mengistu Tilahun , Tadie Girma , Haile Ketema","doi":"10.1016/j.indic.2025.100626","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indic.2025.100626","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Human activities that impact the environment are recognized as major contributors to climate change and alterations in ecosystem services. However, the ecological and socioeconomic impacts resulting from such human-induced changes are rarely examined at the current study site. Therefore, this study aims to examine human-induced pressure on the normal functioning of vital environmental services like ecosystem service values (ESV) and selected climatic variables like Land Surface Temperature (LST) using the most fragile and dynamic Central Ethiopian highland as a case study site. Geospatial analysis was mainly used to analyze data obtained from Landsat imageries and field investigation. The result shows that during 1990–2000, water bodies, built-up area, forest land, and farmland gained about 164.7%, 130.9%, 27.6%, and 25.5% of their area in 1990, respectively, whereas grassland exhibited the highest loss (77.3%) of its area during the same period. For the entire study landscape, the total estimated ESVs were 691.4, 731.5, and 704.6 million US$ha-1year-1 for 1990, 2000, and 2020, respectively, and these values changed with changes in the areas of each land use/cover class. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has shown positive values for vegetation-related land use/cover classes, whereas it has shown negative values for non-vegetation-related classes, and LST decreased with an increase in NDVI values. In general, there have been significant changes in land use/cover in the central highland of Ethiopia over the past three decades, and this in turn has brought significant impacts on ESVs and LST. Therefore, appropriate policies need to be devised soon to regulate LUCCs for the sustainable use of vital environmental services.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":36171,"journal":{"name":"Environmental and Sustainability Indicators","volume":"26 ","pages":"Article 100626"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143402737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Advanced analysis of soil pollution in southwestern Ghana using Variational Autoencoders (VAE) and positive matrix factorization (PMF)

IF 5.4 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental and Sustainability Indicators

Pub Date : 2025-02-06 DOI: 10.1016/j.indic.2025.100627

Raymond Webrah Kazapoe , Daniel Kwayisi , Seidu Alidu , Samuel Dzidefo Sagoe , Aliyu Ohiani Umaru , Ebenezer Ebo Yahans Amuah , Millicent Obeng Addai , Obed Fiifi Fynn

The study combined the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) receptor model with the Variational Autoencoders (VAE) Machine Learning technique and ecological risk indices to study the spatial distribution, sources and patterns of soil pollution in the study area. 719 soil samples were analysed for selected Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs) concentrations. As (9.68 mg/L), and Pb (7.43 mg/L) reported elevated levels across the area linked to mining activities. The PTEs displayed a decreasing trend in the order Ba > Cr > V > Zn > Cu > Ni > As > Pb > Co. The Pearson correlation matrix outlines two main groups of PTEs: (1) moderate correlation (Ba, Cr, Cu, Ni and V) and (2) weak correlation (As, Pb and Zn). These relationships are corroborated by the VAE, which outlined a low contribution by As and a high contribution by V to all the latent dimensions. The PMF revealed three factors: Factor 1 (geogenic): Ba (77.5%), Cu (54.4%), Ni (66.4%), V (54.0) and Cr (46.8%). Factor 2 (mixed) Co (61.6%), Pb (64.8%) and Zn (71.0%). Factor 3 (anthropogenic) As (86.7%). The degree of contamination analysis depicts that 69.03% of the samples are moderately polluted, while 15.14% and 0.28% revealed considerable and very high pollution, respectively. The pollution load index shows that 20% of the samples depict the existence of pollution. The Potential Ecological Risk Index (RI) values showed that most samples (97.08%) suggest low pollution, while 2.92% depict moderate pollution. Integrating chemometric and machine learning techniques provides a dynamic system that can monitor pollution shifts early, to aid remediation efforts in highly affected areas.

{"title":"Advanced analysis of soil pollution in southwestern Ghana using Variational Autoencoders (VAE) and positive matrix factorization (PMF)","authors":"Raymond Webrah Kazapoe , Daniel Kwayisi , Seidu Alidu , Samuel Dzidefo Sagoe , Aliyu Ohiani Umaru , Ebenezer Ebo Yahans Amuah , Millicent Obeng Addai , Obed Fiifi Fynn","doi":"10.1016/j.indic.2025.100627","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indic.2025.100627","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study combined the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) receptor model with the Variational Autoencoders (VAE) Machine Learning technique and ecological risk indices to study the spatial distribution, sources and patterns of soil pollution in the study area. 719 soil samples were analysed for selected Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs) concentrations. As (9.68 mg/L), and Pb (7.43 mg/L) reported elevated levels across the area linked to mining activities. The PTEs displayed a decreasing trend in the order Ba > Cr > V > Zn > Cu > Ni > As > Pb > Co. The Pearson correlation matrix outlines two main groups of PTEs: (1) moderate correlation (Ba, Cr, Cu, Ni and V) and (2) weak correlation (As, Pb and Zn). These relationships are corroborated by the VAE, which outlined a low contribution by As and a high contribution by V to all the latent dimensions. The PMF revealed three factors: Factor 1 (geogenic): Ba (77.5%), Cu (54.4%), Ni (66.4%), V (54.0) and Cr (46.8%). Factor 2 (mixed) Co (61.6%), Pb (64.8%) and Zn (71.0%). Factor 3 (anthropogenic) As (86.7%). The degree of contamination analysis depicts that 69.03% of the samples are moderately polluted, while 15.14% and 0.28% revealed considerable and very high pollution, respectively. The pollution load index shows that 20% of the samples depict the existence of pollution. The Potential Ecological Risk Index (RI) values showed that most samples (97.08%) suggest low pollution, while 2.92% depict moderate pollution. Integrating chemometric and machine learning techniques provides a dynamic system that can monitor pollution shifts early, to aid remediation efforts in highly affected areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":36171,"journal":{"name":"Environmental and Sustainability Indicators","volume":"26 ","pages":"Article 100627"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143379365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Farmland Abandonment—Migration—Wildlife encroachment nexus: Insights of smallholders of the Karnali Basin, Nepal

IF 5.4 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental and Sustainability Indicators

Pub Date : 2025-02-06 DOI: 10.1016/j.indic.2025.100625

Basanta Paudel , Yili Zhang , Mohan Kumar Rai , Linshan Liu , Pashupati Nepal , Narendra Raj Khanal , Zhaofeng Wang , Binghua Zhang , Dianqing Gong , Bo Wei , Changjun Gu

Mountainous regions of Nepal's Himalaya are greatly affected by farmland abandonment. The increase in farmland abandonment is clear, however, its associated nexus has yet to be explored. To elucidate this important issue, three ecological villages are studied from the Karnali River Basin, Nepal. A questionnaire survey of 169 households was conducted in 2022. Binary logistic regression (BLR) was used to analyze the factors influencing farmland abandonment. Results show that the proportion of farmland abandonment is higher in the Mountain and Hill regions compared to the Tarai. Almost 38% of the total farmland in the Mountain region has been abandoned, with 96.6% of this total classified as Bari land (unirrigated farmland). This study found a close nexus between migration, wildlife encroachment, and farmland abandonment. Higher rates of international labor migration and permanent migration from highland-to-lowland were noticeably triggering farmland abandonment. Almost 25% of the respondents from Tarai migrated from the Mountain and Hill regions. The BLR results indicate that triggering variables from different drivers include loss and damage caused by wildlife encroachment, lack of machinery for farming, long distance to farmland, access to irrigation, increased migration rates and labor shortage, and climate-induced natural disasters (floods, landslides, droughts) play a major role in farmland abandonment. The results of constraints to agriculture indicate that socioeconomic and location variables are the leading constraints compared to institutions and environment, and need to minimize such constraints to agriculture and improve production on a regional basis, which would serve to reduce farmland abandonment within the region.

{"title":"Farmland Abandonment—Migration—Wildlife encroachment nexus: Insights of smallholders of the Karnali Basin, Nepal","authors":"Basanta Paudel , Yili Zhang , Mohan Kumar Rai , Linshan Liu , Pashupati Nepal , Narendra Raj Khanal , Zhaofeng Wang , Binghua Zhang , Dianqing Gong , Bo Wei , Changjun Gu","doi":"10.1016/j.indic.2025.100625","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indic.2025.100625","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mountainous regions of Nepal's Himalaya are greatly affected by farmland abandonment. The increase in farmland abandonment is clear, however, its associated nexus has yet to be explored. To elucidate this important issue, three ecological villages are studied from the Karnali River Basin, Nepal. A questionnaire survey of 169 households was conducted in 2022. Binary logistic regression (BLR) was used to analyze the factors influencing farmland abandonment. Results show that the proportion of farmland abandonment is higher in the Mountain and Hill regions compared to the Tarai. Almost 38% of the total farmland in the Mountain region has been abandoned, with 96.6% of this total classified as <em>Bari</em> land (unirrigated farmland). This study found a close nexus between migration, wildlife encroachment, and farmland abandonment. Higher rates of international labor migration and permanent migration from highland-to-lowland were noticeably triggering farmland abandonment. Almost 25% of the respondents from Tarai migrated from the Mountain and Hill regions. The BLR results indicate that triggering variables from different drivers include loss and damage caused by wildlife encroachment, lack of machinery for farming, long distance to farmland, access to irrigation, increased migration rates and labor shortage, and climate-induced natural disasters (floods, landslides, droughts) play a major role in farmland abandonment. The results of constraints to agriculture indicate that socioeconomic and location variables are the leading constraints compared to institutions and environment, and need to minimize such constraints to agriculture and improve production on a regional basis, which would serve to reduce farmland abandonment within the region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":36171,"journal":{"name":"Environmental and Sustainability Indicators","volume":"26 ","pages":"Article 100625"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143387934","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

GIS-based assessment of soil erosion impact and mitigation strategies for sustainable agriculture in Ghana's most vulnerable region

IF 5.4 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental and Sustainability Indicators

Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.indic.2024.100551

Stephen Sodoke , Samuel Ato Andam-Akorful , Ebenezer Ebo Yahans Amuah , Ebenezer Gyampoh Amoah , Kwame Anokye , Douti Biyogue Nang , Raymond Webrah Kazapoe

The study estimated the average annual soil loss for sustainable crop production in the Upper East of Ghana, using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, sensitivity, correlation and regression analyses to understand the factors driving erosion in the area. Rainfall data from Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) was used to determine the rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility from the Harmonized World Soil Database, the Slope Length and Steepness from the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission data, the Cover Management and Control Practices from Landsat satellite data from the years 2000, 2010 and 2020. The northeastern region was identified as the most susceptible to soil loss. The region recorded an annual average soil loss of 50.26 tons/ha/yr, 56.50 tons/ha/yr and 39.61 tons/ha/yr in 1990–2000, 2001–2010 and 2013–2020, respectively. A sensitivity analysis showed that C and R factors profoundly impact soil loss in the region. The regression analysis (R-squared = 0.686, n = 1374) revealed that the significant factors influencing soil erosion are slope (p < 2e-16), cover management (p < 2e-16), and support practices (p < 2e-16), while rainfall erosivity (p = 0.37036) and soil erodibility (p = 0.06753) are not significant predictors. Further findings also showed that erosion in the area affects crop production, food security and livelihoods, public health and wildlife. The study recommends a strategic and integrated approach to soil conservation which incorporates more research on sustainable land management, soil health, climate-smart agriculture, and local knowledge for sustainable land management.

{"title":"GIS-based assessment of soil erosion impact and mitigation strategies for sustainable agriculture in Ghana's most vulnerable region","authors":"Stephen Sodoke , Samuel Ato Andam-Akorful , Ebenezer Ebo Yahans Amuah , Ebenezer Gyampoh Amoah , Kwame Anokye , Douti Biyogue Nang , Raymond Webrah Kazapoe","doi":"10.1016/j.indic.2024.100551","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indic.2024.100551","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study estimated the average annual soil loss for sustainable crop production in the Upper East of Ghana, using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, sensitivity, correlation and regression analyses to understand the factors driving erosion in the area. Rainfall data from Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) was used to determine the rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility from the Harmonized World Soil Database, the Slope Length and Steepness from the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission data, the Cover Management and Control Practices from Landsat satellite data from the years 2000, 2010 and 2020. The northeastern region was identified as the most susceptible to soil loss. The region recorded an annual average soil loss of 50.26 tons/ha/yr, 56.50 tons/ha/yr and 39.61 tons/ha/yr in 1990–2000, 2001–2010 and 2013–2020, respectively. A sensitivity analysis showed that C and R factors profoundly impact soil loss in the region. The regression analysis (R-squared = 0.686, n = 1374) revealed that the significant factors influencing soil erosion are slope (p < 2e-16), cover management (p < 2e-16), and support practices (p < 2e-16), while rainfall erosivity (p = 0.37036) and soil erodibility (p = 0.06753) are not significant predictors. Further findings also showed that erosion in the area affects crop production, food security and livelihoods, public health and wildlife. The study recommends a strategic and integrated approach to soil conservation which incorporates more research on sustainable land management, soil health, climate-smart agriculture, and local knowledge for sustainable land management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":36171,"journal":{"name":"Environmental and Sustainability Indicators","volume":"25 ","pages":"Article 100551"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143180111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Unveiling urban biodiversity: An interdisciplinary hands-on project that catalyzes awareness

IF 5.4 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental and Sustainability Indicators

Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.indic.2024.100561

Ana Paula Oliveira , António Bajanca , Ana Paramés

Urbanization, a global phenomenon, has significantly transformed ecosystems, often leading to the loss of biodiversity. Despite these challenges, urban green spaces (UGS) continue to serve as essential refuges for diverse flora and fauna within cities. This study presents an interdisciplinary, hands-on project implemented at the Portuguese Higher Institute of Education and Sciences (ISEC Lisboa), employing a Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach to explore and enhance urban biodiversity awareness. Involving 75 students from ISEC Lisboa, the project effectively demonstrated the efficacy of the PBL methodology in promoting student engagement and yielding concrete outcomes, such as a comprehensive survey documenting 71 species (39 fauna and 32 flora). To amplify the project's impact, the findings were disseminated through a well-structured communication strategy, that actively involved the students, including an on-campus exhibition and the publication of both a book and an e-publication. The participation of local schools and the recognition of the project through an environmental awareness award underscored its success in connecting academic research with community education, showcasing its potential as a model for similar urban initiatives. This study highlights the significant role of UGS as powerful educational resources that foster a deeper understanding of ecological principles and promote sustainable urban living. Additionally, it emphasizes the crucial responsibility of higher education institutions in advancing biodiversity conservation, habitat protection, and advancing broader ecological priorities to support the development of resilient and sustainable urban environments.

{"title":"Unveiling urban biodiversity: An interdisciplinary hands-on project that catalyzes awareness","authors":"Ana Paula Oliveira , António Bajanca , Ana Paramés","doi":"10.1016/j.indic.2024.100561","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indic.2024.100561","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urbanization, a global phenomenon, has significantly transformed ecosystems, often leading to the loss of biodiversity. Despite these challenges, urban green spaces (UGS) continue to serve as essential refuges for diverse flora and fauna within cities. This study presents an interdisciplinary, hands-on project implemented at the Portuguese Higher Institute of Education and Sciences (ISEC Lisboa), employing a Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach to explore and enhance urban biodiversity awareness. Involving 75 students from ISEC Lisboa, the project effectively demonstrated the efficacy of the PBL methodology in promoting student engagement and yielding concrete outcomes, such as a comprehensive survey documenting 71 species (39 fauna and 32 flora). To amplify the project's impact, the findings were disseminated through a well-structured communication strategy, that actively involved the students, including an on-campus exhibition and the publication of both a book and an e-publication. The participation of local schools and the recognition of the project through an environmental awareness award underscored its success in connecting academic research with community education, showcasing its potential as a model for similar urban initiatives. This study highlights the significant role of UGS as powerful educational resources that foster a deeper understanding of ecological principles and promote sustainable urban living. Additionally, it emphasizes the crucial responsibility of higher education institutions in advancing biodiversity conservation, habitat protection, and advancing broader ecological priorities to support the development of resilient and sustainable urban environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":36171,"journal":{"name":"Environmental and Sustainability Indicators","volume":"25 ","pages":"Article 100561"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143180113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Adapting the Material Circularity Indicator to evaluate circularity in food systems: two case studies on livestock rearing

IF 5.4 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental and Sustainability Indicators

Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.indic.2025.100590

Francesco Caraceni, Matteo Cordara, Carlo Brondi, Andrea Ballarino

In light of the growing interest in circular bioeconomy issues, this study aims to present an adaptation of the Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) for the quantitative assessment of circularity in agri-food systems. Specifically, the adapted MCI (a-MCI) developed in this research is designed to evaluate meat production in industrial farming. This is achieved by incorporating parameters such as the Survival Rate (S_R) and the Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) into the calculation of the utilisation factor (X) already embedded in the original MCI framework. The a-MCI's application was tested using case study data from various animal species (e.g., broilers and pigs), with the latter exhibiting a slightly higher a-MCI in the analysed case studies. Nonetheless, the significant variability of data collected from literature sources lead to results inconsistency, as the small sample of data induce a relevant standard deviation.

引用次数: 0

The influence of internal spatial coupling characteristics of blue-green space on cooling benefit in metropolitan areas: Evidence form Hangzhou, China 蓝绿空间的内部空间耦合特征对大都市区降温效益的影响：中国杭州的证据

IF 5.4 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental and Sustainability Indicators

Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.indic.2024.100558

Qianru Lu , Weifeng Qi , Dongye Yang , Mingyu Zhang

The phenomenon of urban thermal environment has become increasingly serious recently, with blue-green spaces playing a crucial role in cooling urban warming. However, the synergistic cooling effects of blue and green spaces, treated as distinct entities with unique cooling mechanisms, have not been extensively explored. This study addresses this gap by examining the internal spatial coupling characteristics of blue and green spaces and their impact on cooling benefit under varying high-temperature conditions and development densities in Hangzhou, China. This study uses the area-weighted cooling intensity and the mean land surface temperature to reflect the cooling benefit, and proposes an evaluation system for spatial coupling characteristics including internal scale relationships, distance relationships, and morphological relationships, while considering the built environment and integrated spatial features as control variables. Using stepwise multiple linear regression and geographically weighted regression, the study analyzes the correlation between these characteristics and cooling benefit across four days using 4 global datasets and 16 local datasets. Results indicate that spatial coupling significantly impact its cooling effects, with internal scale relationships having the greatest impact. The influence of spatial coupling relationships varies across different land-use densities, with more pronounced effects under typical high-temperature conditions compared to extreme heat. These findings offer urban planners valuable insights into optimizing the spatial relationship of blue-green spaces, helping to maximize their cooling benefit in limited space resource in metropolitan, ultimately enhancing urban resilience to climate change.

{"title":"The influence of internal spatial coupling characteristics of blue-green space on cooling benefit in metropolitan areas: Evidence form Hangzhou, China","authors":"Qianru Lu , Weifeng Qi , Dongye Yang , Mingyu Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.indic.2024.100558","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indic.2024.100558","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The phenomenon of urban thermal environment has become increasingly serious recently, with blue-green spaces playing a crucial role in cooling urban warming. However, the synergistic cooling effects of blue and green spaces, treated as distinct entities with unique cooling mechanisms, have not been extensively explored. This study addresses this gap by examining the internal spatial coupling characteristics of blue and green spaces and their impact on cooling benefit under varying high-temperature conditions and development densities in Hangzhou, China. This study uses the area-weighted cooling intensity and the mean land surface temperature to reflect the cooling benefit, and proposes an evaluation system for spatial coupling characteristics including internal scale relationships, distance relationships, and morphological relationships, while considering the built environment and integrated spatial features as control variables. Using stepwise multiple linear regression and geographically weighted regression, the study analyzes the correlation between these characteristics and cooling benefit across four days using 4 global datasets and 16 local datasets. Results indicate that spatial coupling significantly impact its cooling effects, with internal scale relationships having the greatest impact. The influence of spatial coupling relationships varies across different land-use densities, with more pronounced effects under typical high-temperature conditions compared to extreme heat. These findings offer urban planners valuable insights into optimizing the spatial relationship of blue-green spaces, helping to maximize their cooling benefit in limited space resource in metropolitan, ultimately enhancing urban resilience to climate change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":36171,"journal":{"name":"Environmental and Sustainability Indicators","volume":"25 ","pages":"Article 100558"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143180864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Rethinking the measurements and predictors of environmental degradation in Ethiopia: Predicting long-term impacts using a kernel-based machine learning approach

IF 5.4 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental and Sustainability Indicators

Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.indic.2024.100554

Tesfaye Etensa, Tekie Alemu, Mengesha Yayo

Given the severity of global environmental degradation, particularly in countries like Ethiopia, it is urgent to rethink its drivers and measurements for actionable policy development. The relationships among these predictors are complex, often nonlinear, non-additive, and include reverse causality, making it difficult for traditional econometric models to capture them. Conventional CO₂ metrics also tend to overlook unique emission sources in developing countries, where emissions are closely linked to energy production, unsustainable agriculture, deforestation, and land use rather than industry. To address these gaps, this study applies a kernel-based machine learning model and develops context-specific CO₂ metrics to analyze environmental degradation predictors and forecast their long-term impacts in Ethiopia using quarterly data from 2000Q1 to 2020Q4. The findings indicate that economic growth, industrialization, energy poverty, urbanization, ICT, and resource rent are significant predictors, exhibiting complex, nonlinear relationships. Long-term prediction analysis shows that energy poverty, economic growth, ICT, and urbanization initially worsen degradation but lead to stabilization over time. In contrast, industrialization and resource rent predominantly exacerbate environmental issues before leveling off. The study recommends policies to enhance energy access and efficiency through renewable energy subsidies and financial incentives, integrate green infrastructure into urban planning, incentivize clean industrial technologies, promote environmentally inclusive growth, regulate eco-friendly ICT, such as energy-efficient data centers and e-waste management, implement a resource rent tax, and use adaptive policies with real-time analytics to address degradation thresholds, balancing economic growth with resilience and sustainability.

鉴于全球环境退化的严重性，尤其是在埃塞俄比亚这样的国家，当务之急是重新思考环境退化的驱动因素和衡量标准，以制定可行的政策。这些预测因素之间的关系错综复杂，通常是非线性、非相加的，还包括反向因果关系，因此传统的计量经济学模型很难捕捉到它们。传统的 CO₂ 指标还往往忽视发展中国家独特的排放源，这些国家的排放与能源生产、不可持续的农业、森林砍伐和土地利用而非工业密切相关。为了弥补这些不足，本研究采用了基于核的机器学习模型，并开发了针对具体情况的二氧化碳指标，利用 2000Q1 至 2020Q4 的季度数据分析埃塞俄比亚的环境退化预测因素并预测其长期影响。研究结果表明，经济增长、工业化、能源贫困、城市化、信息和通信技术以及资源租金都是重要的预测因素，并呈现出复杂的非线性关系。长期预测分析表明，能源贫困、经济增长、信息和通信技术以及城市化最初会加剧退化，但随着时间的推移会趋于稳定。相比之下，工业化和资源租用则主要加剧了环境问题，然后才趋于平稳。研究建议采取以下政策：通过可再生能源补贴和财政激励措施提高能源获取率和效率；将绿色基础设施纳入城市规划；激励清洁工业技术；促进环境包容性增长；规范生态友好型信息和通信技术，如节能数据中心和电子废物管理；实施资源租赁税；利用实时分析的适应性政策解决退化阈值问题，平衡经济增长与恢复力和可持续性。

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引用次数: 0

Spatiotemporal dynamics of land surface phenology and its response to climate change in the upper Gelana watershed, northeastern highlands of Ethiopia

IF 5.4 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental and Sustainability Indicators

Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI: 10.1016/j.indic.2024.100574

Sileshi Tadesse , Asnake Mekuriaw , Mohammed Assen

Land surface phenology (LSP) is a crucial indicator of climate change and its impact on ecosystems. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess the spatiotemporal variations in LSP and its response to climate change across the agroecological zones (AEZs) of the upper Gelana watershed in the northeastern highlands of Ethiopia. The LSP metrics were derived from MODIS NDVI data using TIMESAT v3.3, and trends as well as correlations were analyzed using the statistical programming language R. The results indicate that the dega AEZ exhibits an earlier start of the season (SOS) and a longer length of the season (LOS) compared to the lower and upper weina dega (LWD and UWD) AEZs. A delay in SOS and end of season (EOS) was observed in 71.3% and 82% of the study area, respectively, while LOS increased in nearly half of the area. There is a positive correlation between SOS and maximum temperature, and a negative correlation with belg season rainfall and drought indices in large parts of the study area. Similarly, EOS exhibits a direct association with kiremt season maximum temperature, rainfall, and drought indices. Furthermore, a shorter LOS is associated with a higher annual maximum temperature, while a longer LOS is associated with the increasing trend in annual rainfall. These findings will help raise awareness on climate change adaptation activities, including crop diversification, alteration of planting dates, soil conservation, water harvesting and irrigation, particularly within rural communities of the study area that rely heavily rely on rainfed agriculture.

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引用次数: 0