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Topic Review
The Role of Urban Green Infrastructure
The urban green infrastructure (UGI) is “an interconnected network of urban green spaces, including multiple types of natural or man-made systems, ranging from large-scale water or terrestrial ecosystems to small-scale pocket parks or green components, such as green walls in cities”. It provides ecosystems services that are highly important for human well-being in cities.
  • 1.5K
  • 28 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Cr and Plants
Extensive industrial activities resulted in an increase in chromium (Cr) contamination in the environment. The toxicity of Cr severely affects plant growth and development. Cr is also recognized as a human carcinogen that enters the human body via inhalation or by consuming Cr-contaminated food products.
  • 1.5K
  • 28 May 2021
Topic Review
Adaptation to Climate Change in Jordan
Adaptation to climate change in Jordan describes measures with the objective to prepare the country for the impacts of climate change. Water resources in Jordan are scarce. Besides the rapid population growth, the impacts of climate change are likely to further exacerbate the problem. Temperatures will increase and the total annual precipitation is likely to decrease, however with a fair share of uncertainty. Hence, existing and new activities with the objective to minimize the gap between water supply and demand contribute to adapt Jordan to tomorrow's climate. This might be accompanied by activities improving Jordan's capacity to monitor and project meteorological and hydrological data and assess its own vulnerability to climate change. This article focuses on the impacts of climate change on the Jordanian water sector.
  • 1.5K
  • 17 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Mycorrhizae and Water Quality
Mycorrhizae fungi are 400 million-year-old plant symbionts whose evolutionary success has been attributed to their ability to expand the rhizosphere of plants, enabling greater uptake of nutrients from surrounding soils in exchange for photosynthate provided by their host plants.
  • 1.5K
  • 26 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Aquaponics
Aquaponics is an alternative method of food production that confers advantages of biological and economic resource preservations. Nonetheless, one of the main diculties related to aquaponics systems could be the outbreak and dissemination of pathogens. The present review summarized the principal plant pathogens, the conventional and alternative BCA treatments on aquaponics systems, while considering related research on aquaculture and soilless systems (i.e., hydroponic) for its applicability to aquaponics and future perspectives related to biological control.
  • 1.5K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Small-Scale Urban Green Infrastructure
Urban green infrastructure (UGI) such as green roofs, green facades, public parks, urban forests, urban wetlands, and unmanaged green sites, provide nature-based solutions (NBS) that offer a promising avenue for climate change adaptation in cities to reduce the negative environmental impacts of urbanization, such as the urban heat island effect and altered precipitation patterns. UGI supports a wide range of ES at different spatial levels including but not limited to provisioning (e.g., food, and freshwater), regulating (e.g., urban temperature regulations, noise reduction, air purification, pollination, runoff mitigation, and waste treatment), socio-cultural (tourism, recreation, cognitive development, social cohesion), and supporting (e.g., habitat for biodiversity diversity), with fewer documented health benefits (e.g., good health, mortality). 
  • 1.5K
  • 19 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Urban Ecosystem Models
Urban ecosystem services provide many benefits for human beings. Given the dramatic increase of urbanization, maintaining sustainability of cities relies heavily on ecosystem services, and it is crucial for quantifying, managing, and optimizing urban ecosystem services to promote social and ecological sustainable development. 
  • 1.5K
  • 22 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Catalytic Applications of Single-Atom Catalysts
Heterogeneous catalysis is an important research hotspot in the global field. Due to its economic and energy-saving features, it is widely used in the transformation of various energy resources (e.g., petroleum, coal, natural gas, and solar energy) in nature, the synthesis of numerous industrial chemicals, the purification of vehicle exhaust, and so on. It is estimated that catalysts are used in the production processes of about 80% of artificial chemicals at some stages, and about 35% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) is accounted for by catalytic processes. In the field of catalysis, exploring the efficient, stable, and economical catalyst formulations has promoted the rapid development of nanomaterials synthesis methods. Traditional heterogeneous catalysts are metal nanoparticles (NPs) dispersed on supports. Among them, noble metals are the most efficient catalysts. 
  • 1.5K
  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Methods for Bioaerosol Characterization
Bioaerosol characterization represents a major challenge for the risk assessment and management of exposed people. One of the most important bioaerosol sources is the organic waste collection and treatment. This work analyzed and discussed the literature with the purpose of investigating the main techniques used nowadays for bioaerosol monitoring during organic waste treatment. The discussion includes an overview on the most effcient sampling, DNA extraction, and analysis methods, including both the cultural and the bio-molecular approach. Generally, an exhaustive biological risk assessment is not applied due to the organic waste heterogeneity, treatment complexity, and unknown aerosolized emission rate. However, the application of bio-molecular methods allows a better bioaerosol characterization, and it is desirable to be associated with standardized cultural methods. Risk assessment for organic waste workers generally includes the evaluation of the potential exposition to pathogens and opportunistic pathogens or to other microorganisms as biomarkers. In most cases, Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula, Legionella spp., Aspergillus spp., and Mycobacterium spp. are included. Future perspectives are focused on identifying common composting biomarkers, on investigating the causality process between chronic bioaerosol exposure and disease onset, and finally, on defining common exposure limits.
  • 1.5K
  • 20 Jul 2020
Topic Review
Aerosols Deposition and Marine Biota
Atmospheric aerosol deposition (wet and dry) is an important source of macro and micronutrients (N, P, C, Si, and Fe) to the oceans. Most of the mass flux of air particles is made of fine mineral particles emitted from arid or semi-arid areas (e.g., deserts) and transported over long distances until deposition to the oceans. However, this atmospheric deposition is affected by anthropogenic activities, which heavily impacts the content and composition of aerosol constituents, contributing to the presence of potentially toxic elements (e.g., Cu). Under this scenario, the deposition of natural and anthropogenic aerosols will impact the biogeochemical cycles of nutrients and toxic elements in the ocean, also affecting (positively or negatively) primary productivity and, ultimately, the marine biota. 
  • 1.5K
  • 08 Jun 2021
Topic Review
List of Life Zones by Region
The climate and ecology of different locations on the globe naturally separate into life zones, depending on elevation, location, and latitude. The generally strong dependency on elevation is known as altitudinal zonation: the average temperature of a location decreases as the elevation increases. The general effect of elevation depends on atmospheric physics. However, the specific climate and ecology of any particular location depends on specific features of that location. This article provides a list of life zones by region, in order to illustrate the features of life zones for regions around the globe.
  • 1.5K
  • 09 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Water-Soluble Organic Aerosols
Water-soluble organic aerosols (OA) are an important component of atmospheric particulate matter and one of the key drivers that impact both climate and human health. Understanding these processes involving water-soluble OA depends on how well the chemical composition of this aerosol component is decoded. Yet, obtaining such a detailed chemical information faces several challenges, of which the complexity of the sample matrix is one of the most demanding issues. A number of different advanced multidimensional analytical techniques are available today with the potential to tackel the complex chemical nature of water-soluble OA, allowing the untargeted profilling of new chemical structures without the need for use of databases or libraries. This critical review is aimed at nonspecialists who are interested in learning more about the potential and impact of such multidimensional non-targeted analytical strategies in water-soluble OA research.
  • 1.5K
  • 19 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Climate-Change Impact on Florida’s Water Resources
Emerging changes in water availability in the U.S. state of Florida have been recognized as a combined result of human perturbations, natural variability, and climate change. Florida is particularly susceptible to the impacts of the sea level rise due to its extensive coastline, low elevation, and lack of topographic relief to promote drainage. Owing to the porous nature of the state’s aquifer systems, saltwater intrusion into coastal areas is an evolving threat. Additionally, anthropogenic intervention has increased the contribution of nutrients and sediments to many lakes, reservoirs, and rivers, subsequently causing eutrophication and sedimentation problems. 
  • 1.5K
  • 07 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Hockey Stick Graph
Hockey stick graphs present the global or hemispherical mean temperature record of the past 500 to 2000 years as shown by quantitative climate reconstructions based on climate proxy records. These reconstructions have consistently shown a slow long term cooling trend changing into relatively rapid warming in the 20th century, with the instrumental temperature record by 2000 exceeding earlier temperatures. The term "hockey stick graph" was popularized by the climatologist Jerry Mahlman, to describe the pattern shown by the Mann, Bradley & Hughes 1999 (MBH99) reconstruction, envisaging a graph that is relatively flat with a downward trend to 1900 as forming an ice hockey stick's "shaft" followed by a sharp, steady increase corresponding to the "blade" portion. The reconstructions have featured in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports as evidence of global warming. Arguments over the reconstructions have been taken up by fossil fuel industry funded lobbying groups attempting to cast doubt on climate science. Paleoclimatology dates back to the 19th century, and the concept of examining varves in lake beds and tree rings to track local climatic changes was suggested in the 1930s. In the 1960s, Hubert Lamb generalised from historical documents and temperature records of central England to propose a Medieval Warm Period from around 900 to 1300, followed by Little Ice Age. This was the basis of a "schematic diagram" featured in the IPCC First Assessment Report of 1990 beside cautions that the medieval warming might not have been global. The use of indicators to get quantitative estimates of the temperature record of past centuries was developed, and by the late 1990s a number of competing teams of climatologists found indications that recent warming was exceptional. Bradley & Jones 1993 introduced the "Composite Plus Scaling" (CPS) method which, as of 2009, was still being used by most large-scale reconstructions. Their study was featured in the IPCC Second Assessment Report of 1995. In 1998 Michael E. Mann, Raymond S. Bradley and Malcolm K. Hughes developed new statistical techniques to produce Mann, Bradley & Hughes 1998 (MBH98), the first eigenvector-based climate field reconstruction (CFR). This showed global patterns of annual surface temperature, and included a graph of average hemispheric temperatures back to 1400 with shading emphasising that uncertainties (to two standard error limits) were much greater in earlier centuries. Jones et al. 1998 independently produced a CPS reconstruction extending back for a thousand years, and Mann, Bradley & Hughes 1999 (MBH99) used the MBH98 methodology to extend their study back to 1000. A version of the MBH99 graph was featured prominently in the 2001 IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR), which also drew on Jones et al. 1998 and three other reconstructions to support the conclusion that, in the Northern Hemisphere, the 1990s was likely to have been the warmest decade and 1998 the warmest year during the past 1,000 years. The graph became a focus of dispute for those opposed to the strengthening scientific consensus that late 20th century warmth was exceptional. In 2003, as lobbying over the 1997 Kyoto Protocol intensified, a paper claiming greater medieval warmth was quickly dismissed by scientists in the Soon and Baliunas controversy. Later in 2003, Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick published McIntyre & McKitrick 2003b disputing the data used in MBH98 paper. In 2004 Hans von Storch published criticism of the statistical techniques as tending to underplay variations in earlier parts of the graph, though this was disputed and he later accepted that the effect was very small. In 2005 McIntyre and McKitrick published criticisms of the principal components analysis methodology as used in MBH98 and MBH99. Their analysis was subsequently disputed by published papers including Huybers 2005 and Wahl & Ammann 2007 which pointed to errors in the McIntyre and McKitrick methodology. Political disputes led to the formation of a panel of scientists convened by the United States National Research Council, their North Report in 2006 supported Mann's findings with some qualifications, including agreeing that there were some statistical failings but these had little effect on the result. More than two dozen reconstructions, using various statistical methods and combinations of proxy records, support the broad consensus shown in the original 1998 hockey-stick graph, with variations in how flat the pre-20th century "shaft" appears. The 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report cited 14 reconstructions, 10 of which covered 1,000 years or longer, to support its strengthened conclusion that it was likely that Northern Hemisphere temperatures during the 20th century were the highest in at least the past 1,300 years. Further reconstructions, including Mann et al. 2008 and PAGES 2k Consortium 2013, have supported these general conclusions.
  • 1.5K
  • 10 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Polymeric Biodiesel
Biodiesel industry is expanding rapidly in accordance with the high energy demand and environmental deterioration related to the combustion of fossil fuel. However, poor physicochemical properties and the malperformance of biodiesel fuel still concern the researchers. In this flow, polymers were introduced in biodiesel industry to overcome such drawbacks. This article introduces polymeric biodiesel which is Hydroxyalkanoates methyl ester (HAME) and hydroxybutyrate methyl ester (HBME) that are sourced from carbon-enriched polymers with the help of microbial activity. Composition, production techniques, characteristics, and limitations of polymeric biodiese were explored. 
  • 1.5K
  • 21 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Human Rights and Climate Change
Human Rights and Climate Change is a conceptual and legal framework under which international human rights and their relationship to global warming are studied, analyzed, and addressed. The framework has been employed by governments, United Nations organizations, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, human rights and environmental advocates, and academics to guide national and international policy on climate change under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the core international human rights instruments. Human rights and climate change analysis focuses on the anticipated consequences to humans associated with global environmental phenomena including sea level rise, desertification, temperature increases, extreme weather events, and changes in precipitation, as well as adaptation and mitigation measures taken by governments in response to those phenomena that may involve human rights or related legal protections.
  • 1.5K
  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Peat Processing Technologies and Peat Applications
Peatlands can become valuable resources and greenhouse gas sinks through the use of different management practices. Peatlands provide carbon sequestration; however, they are also among the greatest greenhouse gas emissions sources. Peat is undervalued as a resource in the bioeconomy and innovation—a way that could save costs in peatland management. 
  • 1.5K
  • 11 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Soil Health
Soil health is the capacity of the soil to provide an environment for optimum growth and development of plants, while also ensuring the health of animals and humans. Animal manure has been used for centuries as a source of nutrients in agriculture. However, many other soil properties that contribute to soil health are affected when manure is applied. Bulk density, aggregate stability, infiltration, water holding capacity, soil fertility, and biological properties are impacted to various degrees with manure application. The goal of this paper was to compile the research findings on the effects of various livestock manure types on soil fertility, soil physical properties, soil biology and the yield of various cereal crops. Specifically, this paper summarizes results for poultry, cattle, and swine manure used in various cropping systems. Although there are conflicting results in the literature with regards to the effect of manure on various soil properties, the literature offers convincing evidence of beneficial impacts of manure on soil and the growth of crops. The degree to which manure affects soil depends on the physical and chemical properties of the manure itself and various management and environmental factors including rate and timing of application, soil type, and climate.
  • 1.5K
  • 16 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Ecological Footprint
Ecological Footprint (EF) is one of the most scientific methods for the assessment of environmental performance. It is broadly applied to measure the sustainability grade of communities. EF is also an accounting tool for quantifying Herman Daly’s (Nobel Prize winner for sustainable development) principles of sustainability, and it could provide the ability of natural resource consumption monitoring and present advice for the reduction of human pressure on the ecosystem.
  • 1.5K
  • 09 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Source Analysis of Heavy Metal Pollution in Soils
Eight types of heavy metals in the soil on the banks of Shuimo River in Urumqi were analysed via X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and national standard detection methods. The UNMIX and positive matrix factorisation (PMF) models were comprehensively used to analyse the sources and contribution rates of potential pollutants. The soil samples were collected from three layers: 0–20, 20–40, and 40–60 cm. Each sample point in each layer was located 5 m, 1 km, and 2 km from the riverbank. The results showed that only the average concentration of Mn in each layer of soil was lower than the background value, and the average concentrations of other heavy metals were higher than their background values. Among them, Ni concentration highly exceeded the background value in the 40–60 cm soil layer, reaching 1.92 times. The similarities and differences between the sources and contributions estimated by the UNMIX and PMF models were also clarified. The similarities of the two common sources (natural source and artificial source) for each soil layer were relatively large, and the analysis results of the two models were within model reliability range. By comparing the Pearson correlation coefficients and distribution maps of heavy metal concentrations in surface soil, Zn, Pb, Cr, and Cu were from human sources, and Mn, Ni, and V were from natural sources. In future studies, multiple models should be comprehensively used to determine the potential pollutant sources and estimate contribution rates.
  • 1.5K
  • 23 Sep 2022
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