Search Results (66)

Background: The implementation of advanced agronomical strategies, including the use of antitranspirant, in order to mitigate the negative effects of environmental stress, particularly heat stress on plants, has become a focal area of research in the Mediterranean basin. This region is characterized by hot and dry summer that affects plant physiology. Methods: The experiment was carried out in Sicily (South Italy) on 12-year-old avocado cv. Hass grafted onto Walter Hole rootstock. Two subplots each of forty homogenous trees were selected and treated (1) with calcium carbonate (DECCO Shield^®) and (2) with water (control) at the following phenological phases: 711, 712 and 715 BBCH. The climatic parameters were recorded throughout the year. Physiological measurements (leaf transpiration, net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, leaf water potential) were measured at 105, 131 and 168 days after full bloom. Fruit growth was monitored, and physico-chemical analyses were carried out at harvest. Results: The antitranspirant increased photosynthesis and stomatal conductance and reduced leaf transpiration (−26.1%). Fruit growth rate increased during summer, although no morphological and qualitative difference was observed at harvest. PCA highlighted the positive effect of the calcium carbonate on overall plant physiology. Conclusions: Antitranspirant foliar application reduced heat stress effects by improving physiological responses of avocado trees. Full article

Residential and agricultural buildings must prioritize environmental sustainability, employing locally sourced, bio/geologically sustainable materials, and reversible construction methods. Hence, adobe construction and earth-based building methods are experiencing a comeback. This article describes the hygrothermal performances of a real scale agricultural building prototype, in real field conditions, built and designed to be energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, and well-suited for the hot, dry climates typical of the Mediterranean region during summer. The building prototype is a small modular two room construction, one room based on wood (for control purpose) and the other one on raw earth. The experimental set up highlights the passive cooling and humidity regulation potential provided by raw earth and adobe brick technology in agricultural buildings used for fruit and vegetable storage. Such passive cooling alternatives in the Mediterranean climate could reduce the need for energy-intensive and environmentally impactful cold storage rooms. Full article

Climate conditions in combination with the concentration of pollutants increase the human health stress and exacerbate systemic diseases. The city of Rhodes is a desirable tourist destination that is located in a sensitive climate region of the southeastern Aegean Sea in the Mediterranean region. In this work, hourly recordings from a mobile air quality monitoring system, which is located in an urban area of Rhodes city, are employed in order to measure the concentration of regulated pollutants (${\mathrm{S}\mathrm{O}}_2,{\mathrm{N}\mathrm{O}}_2,{\mathrm{O}}_3,{\mathrm{P}\mathrm{M}}_{10} \mathrm{a}\mathrm{n}\mathrm{d} {\mathrm{P}\mathrm{M}}_{2.5})$ and meteorological factors (pressure, temperature, and relative humidity). The air quality health index (AQHI) and the discomfort index (DI) are calculated to study the impact of air quality and meteorological conditions on human health. The analysis is conducted during a hot summer period, from 29 June to 14 July 2024. During the second half of the studied period, a heatwave episode occurred that affected the bioclimatic conditions over the city. The results show that despite the fact that the concentration of pollutants is lower than the pollutant thresholds (according to Directive 2008/50/EC), the AQHI and DI conditions degrade significantly over the heatwave days. In particular, the AQHI is classified in the “Moderate” class, and the DI indicates that most of the population suffers discomfort. The AQHI and DI simultaneously increase during the days of the heat episode, showing a possible negative synergy for the health risk. Finally, both the day maximum and night minimum temperature are increased (about 0.8 and 0.6 °C, respectively) during the heatwave days as compared to the whole studied period. Full article

This study assesses the impact of two regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) and one sustained deficit irrigation (SDI) strategies on the fruit quality characteristics of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) compared to a fully irrigated control in a Mediterranean climate. Field trials were conducted over two growing seasons at the Cajamar Experimental Center in Paiporta, Valencia, Spain. The SDI strategy, which achieved considerable water savings of approximately 50%, led to a reduction in yield (both total and marketable), as well as a decrease in the size and unit weight of the fruits. However, it also produced arils with higher dry matter content and aril juice with higher soluble solids content, all without altering the maturity index. Notably, the SDI approach resulted in increased non-marketable production due to a higher incidence of cracking, particularly during the exceptionally hot and dry summer of 2023. Although the maturity index remained unchanged across the irrigation strategies, the SDI yielded a greater percentage of pink-red rind on marketable fruits compared to the other strategies. This is important because ‘Mollar de Elche’ pomegranates are typically harvested based on their external colour. Thus, the SDI strategy could allow for earlier harvesting, potentially enhancing the commercial value, as earlier harvests often command higher prices, which may partially offset some of the reduction in marketable yield. Conversely, both RDI strategies achieved a slight water saving without compromising marketable yield or the quality characteristics of the fruit. Full article

This study evaluates the application of an expert opinion-based fuzzy method for reservoir operation in humid subtropical climate/hot-summer Mediterranean climatic classes (Cfa/Csa in the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system), which are characterized by humid subtropical to Mediterranean conditions with ample rainfall and seasonal water availability challenges. Effective reservoir management in these regions is critical for balancing water storage and downstream release and maintaining ecosystem health under variable hydrological conditions. The performance of the fuzzy method was compared to two meta-heuristic algorithms: gravitational search algorithm (GSA) and shuffled frog leaping algorithm (SFLA). System performance was assessed using key indices such as the reliability index as a measure of meeting water demands. The fuzzy method achieved the highest reliability index of 0.690, outperforming GSA (0.677) and SFLA (0.688), demonstrating its superior ability to ensure consistent water supply downstream. The fuzzy method, leveraging expert knowledge, not only enhanced downstream water supply reliability but also reduced computational time compared to the meta-heuristic approaches. The incorporation of expert opinions provides a practical, robust, and efficient framework for reservoir management in challenging climate conditions such as Cfa/Csa classes. Additionally, the fuzzy solution demonstrated superior adaptability to diverse hydrological conditions, balancing ecological and water supply needs effectively. These findings highlight the potential of using expert opinions to support sustainable reservoir operations by achieving optimal trade-offs between competing objectives and addressing challenges in water resource management under varying climatic conditions. Full article

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon, combined with reduced vegetation and heat generated by human activities, presents a major environmental challenge for many European urban areas. The UHI effect is especially concerning in hot and temperate climates, like the Mediterranean region, during the summer months as it intensifies the discomfort and raises the risk of heat-related health issues. As a result, assessing urban heat dynamics and steering sustainable land management practices is becoming increasingly crucial. Analyzing the relationship between land cover and Land Surface Temperature (LST) can significantly contribute to achieving this objective. This study evaluates the spatial correlations between various land cover types and LST trends in Thessaloniki, Greece, using data from the Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) program and advanced vegetation index techniques within Google Earth Engine (GEE). Our analysis revealed that there has been a gradual increase in average surface temperature over the past five years, with a more pronounced increase observed in the last two years (2022 and 2023) with mean annual LST values reaching 26.07 °C and 27.09 °C, respectively. By employing indices such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and performing correlation analysis, we further analyzed the influence of diverse urban landscapes on LST distribution across different land use categories over the study area, contributing to a deeper understanding of UHI effects. Full article

There is no doubt that global climate change is happening and affecting life on Earth in a variety of ways. It can be seen on the extreme events of natural disasters, prolonged periods of drought, and increased summer and annual temperatures. While climate change affects every place on Earth, the Mediterranean region is considered a hot spot of climate change. Temperature is expected to increase further, precipitation, especially during summer months, is expected to decrease, and extreme rainfall events are projected to increase. These projected changes will affect both continental and insular environments, with small islands being particularly vulnerable due to the lack of space for species to move into more favorable conditions. As a result, these environments need to be studied, the changes quantified, and the consequences monitored. The current study focuses on the island of Fournoi in the central eastern part of the Aegean Sea. We employed data from a local meteorological station, which operates for a limited period, the Climate Research Unit TS data, and remote sensing thermal data to monitor the trends in aridity over a period of almost 40 years. The results show that summer temperature has increased significantly over the last 40 years, and this is confirmed by both meteorological and remote sensing data. At the same time, precipitation seems to remain stable. Despite the increased aridity imposed by the increased temperature and stable precipitation, vegetation seems not to be experiencing extreme stress. On the contrary, it seems to be following a positive trend over the study period. This observation is explained by the extreme resilience of the plant species of the study area and the fact that vegetation has been recovering over the last 50 years after a period of human overexploitation, and this recovery overcomes the stress imposed by increased aridity. Full article

Mediterranean climates, characterised by hot and dry summers, have predictable fire regimes, and many species with physical seed dormancy (PY) thrive after wildfires. While it is well known that PY is released after heat shock in these species, intraspecific variation in seed response to heat is less understood. This research explores, for the first time, the variability in the traits of Cistus ladanifer seeds from the same central Spain population over eight years. It examines seed germination and viability under different heat shocks and the relationships among seed traits and climatic variables. While the response to heat shock remained constant over the years studied, achieving the highest germination percentages after heat shock at 100 °C, seed germination varied between years, and environmental conditions affected seed traits. Seed moisture content was negatively correlated with the maximum summer temperatures, and seed viability was positively related to annual precipitation. Germination at 100 °C was lower in warmer years as more seeds did not break their PY. In conclusion, despite the fact that PY appears to be genetically determined, it also depends on the environmental conditions experienced by the mother plant. This interannual phenotypic variability may help Cistus ladanifer to cope with the increasingly unpredictable conditions imposed by climate change. Full article

Wildfires present a major global environmental issue, exacerbated by climate change. The Iranian Northern Zagros Forests, characterized by a Mediterranean climate, are particularly vulnerable to fires during hot, dry summers. This study investigates the impact of climate change on forest fires in these forests from 2006 to 2023. The analysis revealed significant year-to-year fluctuations, with notable fire occurrence in years 2007, 2010, 2021, and 2023. The largest burned area occurred in 2021, covering 2655.66 ha, while 2006 had the smallest burned area of 175.27 ha. Climate variables such as temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind speed, heat waves, and solar radiation were assessed for their effects on fire behavior. Strong correlations were found between higher average temperatures and larger burned areas, as well as between heat waves and increased fire frequency. Additionally, higher wind speeds were linked to larger burned areas, suggesting that increased wind speeds may enhance fire spread. Multiple linear regression models demonstrated high predictive accuracy, explaining 84% of the variance in burned areas and 69.6% in the variance in fire frequency. These findings document the growing wildfire risk in the Northern Zagros region due to climate change, highlighting the urgent need to integrate scientific research with policies to develop effective wildfire management strategies for sustainable forest management. Full article

This study focused on optimising the window-to-wall ratio (WWR) as a design solution to reduce energy consumption and enhance building intelligence from an energy-saving perspective. It examines the impact range of the WWR in improving the energy efficiency in low-rise residential apartments in Sulaimaniyah City, which experiences a hot summer Mediterranean climate. This study employed a quantitative approach, simulating and analysing the energy consumption of the selected samples using specific tools, such as Autodesk Revit and Insight Cloud. The findings show that improving the window-to-wall ratio can significantly reduce the energy use intensity (EUI) across various building orientations. Southern-facing walls permit reductions ranging from 1.23 to 14.98 kWh/m², whereas northern-facing walls show losses ranging from 2.03 to 12.98 kWh/m². Similarly, western-facing walls show decreases ranging from 0.41 to 6.41 kWh/m² and eastern-facing walls from 1.44 to 5.59 kWh/m². These energy-saving ranges improve building intelligence in terms of energy utilisation. Furthermore, the recommended WWR is 65% for southern and eastern walls and 95% and 30% for northern and western walls. This study underscores the significance of optimising the window-to-wall ratio in intelligent building design. Neglecting this can significantly impact energy use and represents a missed opportunity to improve building intelligence. Full article

The Montenegrin climate is characterised as very heterogeneous due to its complex topography. The viticultural heritage, dating back to before the Roman empire, is settled in a Mediterranean climate region, located south of the capital Podgorica, where climate conditions favour red wine production. However, an overall increase in warmer and drier periods affects traditional viticulture. The present study aims to discuss climate change impacts on Montenegrin viticulture. Bioclimatic indices, ensembled from five climate models, were analysed for both historical (1981–2010) and future (2041–2070) periods upon three socio-economic pathways: SSP1-2.6, SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5. CHELSA (≈1 km) was the selected dataset for this analysis. Obtained results for all scenarios have shown the suppression of baseline conditions for viticulture. The average summer temperature might reach around 29.5 °C, and the growing season average temperature could become higher than 23.5 °C, advancing phenological events. The Winkler index is estimated to range from 2900 °C up to 3100 °C, which is too hot for viticulture. Montenegrin viticulture requires the application of adaptation measures focused on reducing temperature-increase impacts. The implementation of adaptation measures shall start in the coming years, to assure the lasting productivity and sustainability of viticulture. Full article

The viewpoint and reaction of a country towards climate change are shaped by its political, cultural, and scientific backgrounds, in addition to the distinct characteristics of its evolving climate and the anticipated and actual consequences of the phenomenon in the times ahead. A region’s climate has a significant impact on how water is managed and used, mostly in the primary sector, and both the distribution of ecosystem types and the amount and spreading of species on Earth. As a result, the environment and agricultural practices are affected by climate, so evaluating both distribution and evolution is extremely pertinent. Towards this aim, the climate distribution and evolution in the São Francisco River basin (SFRB) is assessed in three periods (1970–2000, 1981–2022) in the past and 2041–2060 in the future from an ensemble of GCMs under two SSPs (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways), SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5. The Köppen-Geiger (KG) climate classification system is analyzed, and climate change impacts are inferred for this watershed located in central-eastern Brazil, covering an area equivalent to 8% of the country. Results predict the disappearance of the hot summer (Csa) and warm summer (Csb) Mediterranean climates, and a reduction/increase in the tropical savanna with dry winter (Aw)/dry summer (As). A striking increase in the semi-arid hot (BSh-steppe) climate is predicted with a higher percentage (10%) under SSP5-8.5. The source and the mouth of SFRB are projected to endure the major impacts of climate change that are followed by a predicted increase/decrease in temperature/precipitation. Future freshwater resource availability and quality for human use will all be impacted. Consequences on ecosystems, agricultural, and socioeconomic sectors within the SFRB might deepen the current contrasts between regions, urban and rural areas, and even between population groups, thus translating, to a greater extent, the inequality that still characterizes Brazilian society. Maps depicting land use and cover changes in SFRB from 1985 to 2022 highlight tendencies such as urbanization, agricultural expansion, deforestation, and changes in shrubland and water bodies. Urban areas fluctuated slightly, while cropland significantly increased from 33.57% to 45.45% and forest areas decreased from 3.88% to 3.50%. Socioeconomic data reveals disparities among municipalities: 74.46% with medium Human Development Index (HDI), 0.59% with very high HDI, and 9.11% with low HDI. Most municipalities have a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita below US$6000. Population distribution maps show a predominance of small to medium-sized urban and rural communities, reflecting the basin’s dispersed demographic and economic profile. To achieve sustainable adaptation and mitigation of climate change impacts in SFRB, it is imperative that integrated measures be conducted with the cooperation of stakeholders, the local population, and decision-makers. Full article

In the upcoming period, city squares’ urban redesign will be crucial in achieving sustainable development goals. This study presents a systematic review of OTC-related studies for the urban design of city squares using the PRISMA 2020 methodology. A review included a total of 173 papers from 2001 to 2023. The results identified five study types—clusters based on four pre-defined criteria: study approach, data collection methods, time duration, and primary objectives. The clusters indicate that more than half of all studies are related to the comparison of thermal comfort and heat mitigation measures. Most of the case studies were located in one of three climate zones: temperate oceanic (Cfb) (58 studies), hot summer Mediterranean (Csa) (40 studies), or humid subtropical (Cfa) (28 studies). The most common geometry of the analyzed urban square is medium-sized, is rectangular, and has dominant axel orientation south–north. Also, based on all five clusters, several research gaps were identified, appropriate for future research: the majority of studies related to the traditionally considered climate areas, no typology of urban square geometry configuration based on OTC assessment, and the lack of a local design model for assessing and improving the thermal comfort of city squares. Full article

The Greater Athens Area (GAA), situated in the southern part of the European continent (in Greece), has a Mediterranean climate characterized by hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. As a result of increased sunshine and high temperatures, exceedances in ozone concentrations are often recorded during the hot period. In the present study, the monthly as well as daily variations of O₃ concentrations at thirteen stations in the GAA were investigated for the period 1987–2019. Moreover, the impact of O₃ on the people’s health in Greece was examined by using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study with the socio-economic conditions of the country. Ozone concentrations were found to be particularly high during the summer months, especially in suburban stations. Values ranged from 65 μg/m³ to 90 μg/m³ during the night, in contrast to urban areas and remain high for several hours. Comparing estimates from GBD, it was found that exposure to ozone can impair respiratory function, leading to death or susceptibility to respiratory diseases that reduce quality of life, especially for people over 55 years of age. Finally, since 2009, when the economic crisis began in Greece, an upward trend was observed for deaths and disability adjusted life years. Full article

The ongoing global energy crisis in Europe has intensified energy poverty in vulnerable households, prompting a critical examination of passive retrofit strategies for improving the habitability of obsolete social housing in southern Europe from the 1960s. Given the Mediterranean climate’s characteristics (hot summers and mild winters), these buildings possess low thermal resistance envelopes designed for heat dissipation in summer but contribute to elevated heating demands in colder months. In response to the pressing need for solutions that strike a balance between reducing energy demand and ensuring year-round comfort, this research explores diverse approaches. Drawing insights from built prototypes in Colombia and Hungary and utilizing a validated simulation model in Seville, Spain, this study investigates the feasibility of implementing a double-skin envelope on building facades and assesses the impact of thermal insulation in the air chamber. So, the research specifically aims to find an equilibrium between lowering energy demand and maintaining adequate comfort conditions, concentrating on the renovation of obsolete social housing with envelopes featuring low thermal resistance in the Mediterranean climate. Results indicate that, due to the poor thermal envelope, the influence of thermal insulation on comfort conditions and energy savings outweighs that of the double skin. Consequently, the emphasis of renovation projects for this climate should not solely concentrate on passive cooling strategies but should strive to achieve a positive balance in comfort conditions throughout the year, encompassing both warm and cold months. Full article