Environmental Development最新文献

Even though the UN's Sustainable Development Goals emphasize improving dietary diversity and overall nutritional status globally by promoting sustainable agriculture, inadequately diversified dietary intake remains a public health problem in many low-income countries, including in Sub-Saharan Africa. The main objective of this study was to gather relevant information to gain an improved understanding of household dietary diversity and explore the role that production diversification could play within household diets and nutrition so that appropriate interventions could be implemented with the goal of enhancing nutrition-sensitive agriculture while also considering the varied features across the agroecosystems. Agroecosystem-based cross-sectional study design was employed. Data were collected predominantly through semi-structured questionnaires and analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics, and a multilevel mixed-effect model. Results showed that the usual dietary intake of households has a monotonous pattern dominated by starchy staple foods, and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and animal-sourced foods was very limited. One out of five households had inadequate dietary diversity but varied significantly across agroecosystems. About 26% of the heterogeneity in dietary diversity was attributed due to agroecosystem level factors. In the fixed-effect part of the model, production diversification, wealth status, number of meals per day, market access, and annual mean rainfall were significantly associated with household dietary diversity status. The findings of our research contribute to give insights on the linkage between dietary diversity and production diversification among subsistence rural farmers across contrasting agroecosystem zones. Therefore, understanding agroecosystem variations and local context in the rural subsistence farming setup is a key point in designing nutrition-sensitive agriculture.

Drought is a common feature of all rangelands, which directly affects biotic life including local dwellers by various means. These drought-prone dwellers have adopted various strategies to survive in severe weather conditions. These strategies vary according to locality and depend on multiple socioeconomic factors. It is crucial to record different coping mechanisms at the local level to reduce the risks associated with recurring droughts given the forecasts of increased drought impacts in pastoral regions and other social pressures. The objective of this study is to estimate the severity of drought and look at short-term drought coping mechanisms in the Cholistan rangeland and characterize its characteristics. 320 respondents were selected from different areas of the Cholistan rangeland by using a random sampling technique. The Standardized Precipitation Index was used to estimate the severity of drought through rainfall data from 1987 to 2017, obtained from the Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources. The results revealed that severe droughts occurred in Cholistan during the years 1999 (−10), 2002 (−11.6), 2014 (−2.69), 2015 (−2.93), and 2017 (−0.53). Migration, livestock sales, herd splitting, and destocking are the four important short-term coping strategies adopted by pastoralists before and during droughts in Cholistan rangeland with 50.4%, 27.4%, 10.3%, and 11.97% respectively. The chi-square result showed that there is a significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) in strategies adopted by pastoralists in different localities, as well as residence and herd size, and also significantly affect (p ≤ 0.05) the strategies adopted by pastoralists from the Cholistan rangelands. Drought in Cholistan is evident through various ecological and socioeconomic effects and pastoralists adopt different measures against drought by mostly relying on existing resources.

Traditional communication channels and new “human-computer interaction” spread channels are intertwined, facilitating the promote of the concept of “green for all”. This paper integrates the influence of virtual channel and physical channel attributes into the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability theory (MOA) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explore the spread process of public green behaviors. The results show that: (1) In the composite effect, environmental responsibility (ER) and external objective factors (EOF) have no significant impact on the propagation of green behavior among the public. Both virtual channel attributes (VCA) and physical channel attributes (PCA) can accelerate the spread process of public green behavior, with PCA having the greatest impact on the propagation of public green behavior. (2) ER, VCA, PCA, EOF, and external subjective factors (ESF) can all promote the spread of public green behavior through the intermediary chain of spread motivation and spread intention. Among them, channel attributes more directly influence the spread of green behavior, and the chain mediating effect of ER through the chain was the most significant. At the same time, ESF plays a significant moderating role between the intention to spread and propagation behavior (PB), effectively bridging the gap between behavior and intention. (3) Further heterogeneity analysis shows that, compared with males, PCA has a greater promoting effect on the green behavior propagation of females, while VCA has a more significant positive effect on the green behavior propagation of the more educated public. Finally, this article examines the presence of intermediary and regulatory mechanisms among various income groups. Research has found that promoting the creation of conducive conditions for comprehensive green behavior propagation and developing targeted and mass-oriented green behavior propagation strategies by all societal stakeholders are crucial for enhancing public engagement in green practices.

The importance of global climate models (GCMs) is increasingly recognized due to their excellent ability to accurately predict climatic factors. These capabilities prove invaluable to water resources engineers as they facilitate effective planning and strategic decision-making. Finally, evaluating the performance of GCMs is very important because it allows us to simulate and predict different climate scenarios, empowering us to make informed choices. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the degree of discordance between historical simulated data produced by the CMIP6 models and historical observational data over different climate zones of India. The ability of 24 different GCMs to reproduce the geographical and seasonal distribution of Indian precipitation has been tested by analyzing the daily historical precipitation forecasts from these models. These models have been used to estimate the degree of uncertainty associated with the spatiotemporal variability of precipitation forecasts. More than 20% percent bias (PBIAS) is observed to occur predominantly in four climate classifications: polar tundra, temperate, cold, and tropical monsoon. In some regions of India, the CMIP6 models produce overestimated or underestimated results. The locations identified indicate that there have been changes of more than 20% PBIAS near Sivalik Range, Naga Hills, and Western Ghats. The precipitations of those regions that have been underestimated also imply that those locations have different climatic conditions. This study also highlights that CMIP6 GCMs are yet to produce better results near several Indian mountainous regions depending upon climates. The outcomes of this study will be very useful for reconstructing modeled data for that specific regions.

Readiness is critical to adaptation to climate change and includes how organizations adjust their structures, processes, and policies for both mitigation and adaptation. Organizational learning regarding climate change is the process by which organizations and institutions acquire the knowledge, skills, and capabilities necessary to understand, manage, and adapt to the impacts of climate change. This process emphasizes continuous learning, innovation, and collaboration as key strategies for effectively responding to the ongoing climate crisis. The aim of this study was to investigate the current state of organizational learning related to climate change among the General Directorates of Natural Resources and Watershed Management in Golestan and North Khorasan provinces of Iran. The research was conducted using a survey method, through which 80 experts from two organizations were randomly selected to complete a structured questionnaire. The findings revealed that although employees have a strong attitude towards climate change, organizational learning related to climate change is weak. The five dimensions of organizational learning (knowledge acquisition, information distribution, information interpretation, organizational memory, information application) were assessed. Information interpretation had the most weight, while organizational memory had the least. Positive attitudes toward climate change were associated with increased engagement in climate change-related organizational learning. The study recommends implementing training and awareness initiatives, fostering knowledge sharing and retention, encouraging positive attitudes towards climate change, and promoting collaboration to enhance organizational learning as a prerequisite for organizational readiness to climate change.

For decades, phytoremediation has been hailed as one of the most promising developing techniques for sustainable waste management. Despite certain shortcomings, proper implementation of this technique is the best alternative to the conventional waste management approach. Proper implementation of phytoremediation requires careful planning, following proper guidelines related to site assessment, plant selection, planting, maintenance, monitoring, harvesting and disposal, follow-up execution, and monitoring to ensure its effectiveness. In this study, it has been tried to create a foundation for an in-situ implementation of Phytoremediation in the mining areas of Asansol and Pandabeswar of West Bengal, India. Site conditions have been assessed in terms of pollution load and soil quality. Suitable sites have been identified using Geospatial techniques and following the guidelines found in different pieces of literature. Six variables i.e. pollution loads, soil quality, the proximity of pollution source, land use, and accessibility have been used to produce site suitability map. Active mining sites have been excluded from suitable sites. Site-specific suitable plants have been recommended which are either native or adaptable to current geophysical settings. The study identified certain villages e.g. Sonpur, Madanpur, Rashunpur, Dhasla, Joalbhanga, Bajari, Salanpur. Accessibility, water availability, and demographic parameters of those villages have been assessed. Finally, maintenance, monitoring, and implementation strategies have been discussed.

Greening and its drivers in the Loess Plateau of China have been extensively studied, but attributional explorations regarding vegetation restoration in different climatic zones remain unclear. This study quantitatively evaluated greening on the Loess Plateau based on Fraction Vegetation Cover (FVC) calculated by MOD13Q1 dataset, compared FVC in different climatic zones, and explored the relationship between greening and precipitation, evaporation, soil water content (SWC), surface water bodies, and human activities. The study found that FVC on the Loess Plateau increased significantly at a rate of 0.538% yr⁻¹ from 2000 to 2020, resulting in 94% greening. The greening rate was higher in the middle temperate zones (0.557% yr⁻¹) than in the southern temperate zones (0.532% yr⁻¹), but its average FVC was lower. This suggests that the greening rate (0.551% yr⁻¹) is higher within 5 km of water bodies. Cropland (15.26%), grassland (13.66%) and trees (12.57%) had higher FVC increment than other types, while the six-fold increase in urban area is a significant impediment to greening. Additionally, there is a significant positive correlation with FVC when the urban economy exceeds 100 billion. The interaction of natural factors and human activities made the greatest contribution to greening, as calculated by the GeoDetector. It is hypothesized that there is significant potential for greening in the middle temperate zones. However, large-scale tree planting may not have a catalytic effect and could even be counterproductive. To achieve sustainable greening of the Loess Plateau in the future, shrubs and artificial water storage facilities may be key.

Technological drought is caused by a lack of irrigation technology and a poor water management system. Here we present and analyse the results of a large survey of farmers in Bangladesh, designed to reveal their experience of and attitudes to, as well as factors and challenges of technological drought management. Also, we analysed the impact of water sources and the role of irrigation development to mitigate the technological drought taking North Bengal of Bangladesh as a case study. To explore the nature and characteristics of technological drought, we have used both qualitative and quantitative data from the study area. We used Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to find out the underlying dimensions and factor loadings of the technological drought using the field data. Moreover, we compared the relations and associations between socio-demographic, water source characteristics and technological drought perceptions. PCA results indicated seven underlying dimensions (challenges) out of thirty-one factors of technological drought related to river water management, irrigation technology, socio-economic conditions, land use, and electricity and fuel supply. The high population, lack of modern irrigation technology, upstream management problems, inefficiencies in the system, electricity connections, load shedding, and poor socio-economic conditions prevent people from getting the water they desperately need in the case study area. We also found a significant relationship between farmers’ socio-demographic and water source characteristics with technological drought perceptions. Although there has been increasing use of irrigation technology and improved water resource management in recent years, it is essential to highlight that there will likely be more challenges in the future if this trend continues.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) are commonly grouped for service delivery planning, monitoring and policy, reflecting their many interconnecting impacts, but few studies articulate household-level WASH-solid waste interactions. We aim to assess mismanaged solid waste interactions with WASH that affect urban households and whether integrated waste-WASH indicators can be constructed to monitor these interactions. Via literature review, we identify three trade-offs and seven synergies between WASH and waste management for urban households. Trade-offs arise from consumption of water packaged in bottles or bags and disposable diapers (DDs), whilst synergies include opportunities for households with water services to wash separated waste or cloth diapers. One trade-off (packaged water consumption) has grown rapidly in southeast Asia and West Africa. Household surveys for Ghana and Kenya demonstrate that the urban population lacking waste collection services overlaps strongly with those lacking WASH services. In Kenya, 3.3 million people simultaneously lacked waste collection, hygiene, and basic sanitation services. Finally, we construct indicators from household survey micro-data to measure DD and packaged water consumption in households lacking waste services. Case studies show that from 2012–13 to 2016–17, packaged water consumption grew among Ghanaian households burning or dumping waste, whilst most urban Nigerian households consuming DD lack waste collection services. We conclude that household survey micro-data can be used to construct trade-off measures to inform policy and target services towards populations simultaneously exposed to uncollected waste and lacking WASH services. However, such analyses require an institutional mechanism to coordinate cross-goal monitoring and greater survey data harmonisation. In countries where large populations lack both waste collection and WASH services or with growing DD or packaged water consumption, balanced evidence is needed on DD and packaged water's impacts from both WASH and solid waste management perspectives.

As the circular economy (CE) grows, it is necessary for companies to prepare for their transition from linear to circular, targeted to generate a positive business impact. Therefore, the aim of this study is threefold. First, to map what high impact research on circularity indicators and CE actions is reporting. Second, to point out challenges and opportunities in the application of circularity indicators. Third, to discuss implications for businesses wanting to generate positive impacts. To that end, a systematic literature review was carried out on the ScienceDirect, Scopus and Web of Science databases. Existing research on circularity indicators is based on either circularity measurement indices (0–100%) or circularity assessment tools, which are developed for one or more levels of application within micro, meso, and macro. The main challenges for establishing circularity indicators are linked to the lack of standardization on how to measure circularity and on providing clear guidance on how the indicator can and should be used. The main opportunities lie on bringing to life the concept of circularity through practical applications and reveling opportunities for internalizing flows. Internalizing flows can lead to a positive business impact and measuring circularity can be a tool for business management on top of bringing about circular-economy-related benefits.