Environmental Resilience in the Pandemic Years 2020–2021
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 1850
Special Issue Editors
Interests: environmental sciences; geochemistry; ecology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
At the beginning of 2020, climate change was at the top of the international agenda. A series of catastrophic wildfires and storms had transformed the issue, turning it into a mainstream public concern. Within a matter of weeks, COVID-19 had triggered simultaneous public health and economic crises, yet climate change has remained a priority. Meanwhile, the climate has continued to change. Starting with Australia’s worst recorded bushfire season, 2021 is making a run to be the hottest year on record. Wildfires have burned a record-breaking area in California, with much of the wildfire season still left to go. Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases have continued to climb despite the dip in emissions caused by lockdowns. Climate risks are more elevated than ever.
The dramatic and rapid changes in the behaviours of individuals, organizations, and systems at all scales induced by the COVID-19 pandemic affect our environment, climate, and ecosystems. What does our reaction to the pandemic say about our ability to tackle climate change? How does social distancing impact greenhouse gas emissions? Has COVID-19 helped ease air pollution? How have landscapes and biodiversity evolved since February? Is climate change multiplying the global health threats posed by novel coronavirus? What lessons are we learning today about urgent mobilization for the greater good that can be applied to a similar challenge (climate change) that is on a longer timeline?
In the face of widespread changes brought about by COVID-19, the importance of resiliency cannot be overstated. Resilience recognizes that disruptions inevitably will come and that building flexibility into operations allows one to better recover on-course, minimizing detours or derailments as much as possible. Reaffirming commitments to environmental and social governance helps to build resilience. Since the onset of the pandemic, there is evidence that the importance of corporate sustainability has only increased. The world faces growing vulnerability to natural disasters, flooding, drought, and other transboundary environmental problems, with severe consequences for rural and urban communities, food security, economic growth, and political stability. Ultimately, solutions require collective political will: stakeholders from across sectors working toward a shared vision for socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable development.
The Special Issue on “Environmental Resilience in the Pandemic Years 2020–2021” is being coordinated with the International Conference on Clean Water, Air & Soil (CleanWAS 2021) VIRTUAL and will be on air by 21 November 2021. This conference has been continuously organized under International Water, Air & Soil Conservation Society (INWASCON) since 2010.
CleanWAS 2021 aims to gather researchers and industry practitioners to share new ideas, research results, and development experiences towards a sustainable environment.
Topics of interest for submission include but are not limited to:
- Agriculture and Forestry;
- Air;
- Biodiversity;
- Biological Resources;
- Bioremediation;
- Carbon Capture and Storage;
- Climate Change;
- Ecosystems;
- Ecotoxicity;
- Emission Sources;
- Energy Management;
- Environmental Health Issues;
- Environmental Monitoring;
- Environmental Science;
- Flooding;
- Food Processing;
- Food Technology;
- Food Contaminants;
- Hazardous Substances;
- Human–Environment Interaction;
- Human Food Chain;
- Hydrology and Water Resources;
- Life Sciences;
- Natural Resources Management;
- Oceanography and Marine Sciences;
- Organic Environment Interactions;
- Pollution Prevention;
- Recycling;
- Renewable Energy Sources;
- Soils;
- Sustainability;
- Waste Management;
- Water and Wastewater Management.
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Aqeel Ashraf
Prof. Dr. Ahmad Jalal Khan Chowdhury
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- pandemic
- environmental impacts
- ecosystem
- ecology
