Atmosphere

This paper proposes an approach to digitizing the environmental passport for areas where detachable parts of launch vehicles fall in Kazakhstan based on an interactive geographic information system platform and smart maps. An example is considered for zone U-4 (“Ulytau” district of the “Karaganda” region), which includes the fall zones of “Soyuz” launch vehicle blocks (IZ 26, 32, 34, 42, 56). The natural and climatic factors and hazards of the territory are analyzed: the total area of the zones under consideration exceeds 4.1 million hectares, annual precipitation varies between 218 and 289 mm, strong winds of 5.0–6.8 m/s are characteristic, and a high level of fire hazard can develop within 6–7 days. Data on fires for 2021 are provided. For an integrated assessment, a normalized system criterion, environmental sustainability indicator (0–1), has been introduced, aggregating four groups of criteria (chemical, mechanical, pyrogenic, biota) with a breakdown of contributions and calculation of uncertainty (σ and 95% CI). The system criterion of environmental sustainability map identifies local ‘hot spots’ with levels of around 0.8–1.0, while the uncertainty map shows maximums of up to 0.12–0.14 (with background values of ~0.02–0.08), which increases the validity of management decisions on monitoring and reclamation.

Quantifying the relative roles of climate change and human activities in vegetation change is essential for sustainable restoration planning, yet the impacts of extreme climate events and their time-lagged effects are often overlooked, biasing assessments of climatic controls. Here, we developed an integrated pattern–process–attribution framework to evaluate vegetation dynamics across China’s four major climatic zones using a long-term, high-resolution kernel normalized difference vegetation index (kNDVI) dataset for 2000–2024. Theil–Sen trend estimation and the coefficient of variation (CV) were used to characterize long-term changes and interannual stability. Partial correlation analysis was applied to isolate the independent associations between kNDVI and extreme climate indices while controlling for background mean temperature and precipitation, and lagged correlation analysis with 0–3-month lags was used to quantify delayed responses. A regression-based residual attribution was further used to decompose observed kNDVI changes into a climate-driven component and a human-activity-related component (approximated by the residual not explained by temperature and precipitation). Results show widespread greening with pronounced spatial heterogeneity, with the most extensive improvement in the Tropical and Subtropical Humid Region and the Temperate Humid and Semi-humid Region. Vegetation stability exhibits a southeast–northwest contrast, and the highest variability occurs in the Temperate Arid and Semi-arid Region and the western Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Responses to climate extremes are region-dependent and generally short-lagged (mean 0.35–1.05 months), with drought constraints dominating in arid regions and thermal extremes (TXx) most relevant on the plateau. Nationally, human activities contribute 70.8% of vegetation change, exceeding the climate-driven contribution (29.2%).

Hydrogen is a promising clean energy vector capable of decarbonizing future energy systems. This study explores blue hydrogen production via a modified autothermal reforming process, integrated with oxy-fuel combustion and carbon capture technologies. The process achieves approximately 99.8% carbon dioxide capture while co-generating electricity, improving both environmental and economic performance. A detailed techno-economic analysis for Alberta, Canada, shows that hydrogen can be produced at a competitive cost of $1.70 per kilogram, depending on natural gas supply pressure, with CO₂ emissions of just 3.82 kg-CO₂/kg-H₂, meeting stringent international low-carbon thresholds. Key parameters like natural gas supply pressure, oxygen-to-methane ratio, and turbine pressure ratio were optimized for flexibility, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. Sensitivity analysis identified financial, policy, and grid decarbonization factors as key drivers of production costs. Compared to other methods, this process stands out for its superior environmental and economic outcomes, particularly in regions with ample natural gas and carbon capture infrastructure. The study underscores the importance of process innovation in advancing sustainable blue hydrogen.