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Topic Review
Greenery Systems
Urbanization, when it is not planned carefully, are highly effecting the urban heat island. To mitigate the problem, urbanization planning must take into consideration the implementation of greenery systems and sustainable ecosystems for buildings as part of the solution in addition to the outer space. The mitigation techniques that are influencing the urban heat index may be the greenery systems applied on buildings, or urban green spaces that include large land and large scale systems, such as lakes and parks. The objective of the current article is to compile, discusses and compare the previous studies on greenery systems, like green roofs and green walls, how they are supporting the energy saving and improve thermal conditions in the building sector, as well as improving the urban heat index. The fundamental  of greenery systems, which are thermal insulation, evapotranspiration, and shading effect, are also discussed. The benefits of greenery systems are including the improvement of stormwater management,  improvement of air quality, the reduction of sound pollution, the reduction of carbon dioxide, and the improvement of aesthetic building value. 
  • 4.1K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Reindeer Distribution
The reindeer is a widespread and numerous species in the northern Holarctic, being present in both tundra and taiga (boreal forest). Originally, the reindeer was found in Scandinavia, eastern Europe, Russia , Mongolia, and northern China north of the 50th latitude. In North America, it was found in Canada , Alaska (United States ), and the northern contiguous USA from Washington to Maine. In the 19th century, it was apparently still present in southern Idaho. It also occurred naturally on Sakhalin, Greenland, and probably even in historical times in Ireland. During the late Pleistocene era, reindeer were found further south, such as at Nevada, Tennessee , and Alabama in North America and Spain in Europe. Today, wild reindeer have disappeared from many areas within this large historical range, especially from the southern parts, where it vanished almost everywhere. Populations of wild reindeer are still found in Norway , Finland , Siberia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada . Domesticated reindeer are mostly found in northern Fennoscandia and Russia, with a herd of approximately 150–170 semi-domesticated reindeer living around the Cairngorms region in Scotland. The last remaining wild tundra reindeer in Europe are found in portions of southern Norway . A few reindeer from Norway were introduced to the South Atlantic island of South Georgia in the beginning of the 20th century. The South Georgian reindeer totaled some estimated 2600 animals in two distinct herds separated by glaciers. Although the flag and the coat of arms of the territory contain an image of a reindeer, they were eradicated from 2013 to 2017 because of the environmental damage they caused. Around 4000 reindeer have been introduced into the French sub-Antarctic archipelago of Kerguelen Islands. East Iceland has a small herd of about 2500–3000 animals. Caribou and reindeer numbers have fluctuated historically, but many herds are in decline across their range. This global decline is linked to climate change for northern, migratory caribou and reindeer herds and industrial disturbance of caribou habitat for sedentary, non-migratory herds.
  • 4.0K
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
African Humid Period
The African humid period (AHP) is a climate period in Africa during the late Pleistocene and Holocene geologic epochs, when northern Africa was wetter than today. The covering of much of the Sahara desert by grasses, trees and lakes was caused by changes in Earth's orbit around the Sun; changes in vegetation and dust in the Sahara which strengthened the African monsoon; and increased greenhouse gases, which may, or may not imply that anthropogenic global warming could result in a shrinkage of the Sahara desert. During the preceding last glacial maximum, the Sahara contained extensive dune fields and was mostly uninhabited. It was much larger than today, but its lakes and rivers such as Lake Victoria and the White Nile were either dry or at low levels. The humid period began about 14,600–14,500 years ago at the end of Heinrich event 1, simultaneously to the Bølling-Allerød warming. Rivers and lakes such as Lake Chad formed or expanded, glaciers grew on Mount Kilimanjaro and the Sahara retreated. Two major dry fluctuations occurred; during the Younger Dryas and the short 8.2 kiloyear event. The African humid period ended 6,000–5,000 years ago during the Piora Oscillation cold period. While some evidence points to an end 5,500 years ago, in the Sahel, Arabia and East Africa the period appears to have taken place in several steps such as the 4.2 kiloyear event. The AHP led to a widespread settlement of the Sahara and the Arabian Deserts, and had a profound effect on African cultures, such as the birth of the Pharaonic civilization. They lived as hunter-gatherers until the agricultural revolution and domesticated cattle, goats and sheep. They left archeological sites and artifacts such as one of the oldest ships in the world, and rock paintings such as those in the Cave of Swimmers and in the Acacus Mountains. Earlier humid periods in Africa were postulated after the discovery of these rock paintings in now-inhospitable parts of the Sahara. When the period ended, humans gradually abandoned the desert in favour of regions with more secure water supplies, such as the Nile Valley and Mesopotamia, where they gave rise to early complex societies.
  • 4.0K
  • 10 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Lost Lands
Lost lands can be continents, islands or other regions existing during prehistory, having since disappeared as a result of catastrophic geological phenomena or slowly rising sea levels since the end of the last Ice Age. Lost lands, where they existed, are supposed to have subsided into the sea, leaving behind only a few traces or legends. The term can also be extended to mythological lands generally, to underground civilizations, or even to whole planets. The classification of lost lands as continents, islands, or other regions is in some cases subjective; for example, Atlantis is variously described as either a "lost island" or a "lost continent". Lost land theories may originate in mythology or philosophy, or in scholarly or scientific theories, such as catastrophic theories of geology.
  • 3.9K
  • 11 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Muslim World
The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religions beliefs and laws of Islam, or to societies where Islam is practiced. In a modern geopolitical sense, these terms refer to countries where Islam is widespread, although there are no agreed criteria for inclusion. The term Muslim-majority countries is an alternative often used for the latter sense. The history of the Muslim world spans about 1,400 years and includes a variety of socio-political developments, as well as advances in the arts, science, philosophy, and technology, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age. All Muslims look for guidance to the Quran and believe in the prophetic mission of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, but disagreements on other matters have led to the appearance of different religious schools of thought and sects within Islam. In the modern era, most of the Muslim world came under European colonial domination. The nation states that emerged in the post-colonial era have adopted a variety of political and economic models, and they have been affected by secular and as well as religious trends. (As of 2013), the combined GDP (nominal) of 49 Muslim majority countries was US$5.7 trillion, (As of 2016), they contributed 8% of the world's total. As of 2015, 1.8 billion or about 24.1% of the world population are Muslims. By the percentage of the total population in a region considering themselves Muslim, 91% in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA), 89% in Central Asia, 40% in Southeast Asia, 31% in South Asia, 30% in Sub-Saharan Africa, 25% in Asia–Oceania, around 6% in Europe, and 1% in the Americas. Most Muslims are of one of two denominations: Sunni Islam (85-90%) and Shia (10-15%), However, other denominations exist in pockets, such as Ibadi (primarily in Oman). About 13% of Muslims live in Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country; 31% of Muslims live in South Asia, the largest population of Muslims in the world; 20% in the Middle East–North Africa, where it is the dominant religion; and 15% in Sub-Saharan Africa and West Africa. Muslims are the overwhelming majority in Central Asia, the majority in the Caucasus and widespread in Southeast Asia. India is the country with the largest Muslim population outside Muslim-majority countries. Sizeable Muslim communities are also found in the Americas, China, and Europe. Islam is the fastest-growing major religion in the world.
  • 3.9K
  • 26 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Satellite-Based Groundwater Monitoring
Satellite is an effective technology to assess water storages remotely through remote sensing and geographic information system (RS and GIS), which are very useful tools in groundwater exploration mapping. They provide inputs to assess the total groundwater resources in a region and for the selection of suitable sites for drilling or artificial recharge.
  • 3.9K
  • 18 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Lithium Recovery via Chemical Precipitation
Lithium is a vital raw material used for a wide range of applications, such as the fabrication of glass, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, and batteries for electric cars. The accelerating electrification transition and the global commitment to decarbonization have caused an increasing demand for lithium. The current supply derived from brines and hard rock ores is not enough to meet the global demand unless alternate resources and efficient techniques to recover this valuable metal are implemented. 
  • 3.9K
  • 21 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)
Disposal of palm oil mill effluent (POME), which is highly polluting from the palm oil industry, needs to be handled properly to minimize the harmful impact on the surrounding environment.
  • 3.8K
  • 01 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Air pollution and Fuel Combustion
Air pollution is a precursor to many health issues such as difficulty breathing, asthma, lung and heart diseases, and cancer. 
  • 3.8K
  • 11 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Application of Google Earth Engine
Google Earth Engine (GEE) is a cloud computing platform that was launched by Google in 2010. Since then, GEE has demonstrated its capacity of preprocessing and mining of geographic big data. GEE enables cloud computation and is an effective tool for carrying out the analysis of global geospatial big data.
  • 3.7K
  • 08 Oct 2021
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