Search Results (4,310)

As demand for energy-efficient buildings grows, the use of expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation is expected to increase, intensifying the need for material-efficient strategies such as recycling and reuse. This study investigates the technical feasibility, chemical safety, and climate implications of reusing EPS insulation recovered from building and infrastructure applications. EPS boards with service lives exceeding 20 years were collected from demolition sites and characterised for density, compressive strength, thermal conductivity, and hazardous substance content. Measured material properties were compared with historical test reports from 1976 to 2009 to assess long-term performance. The thermal conductivity and compressive strength of the used EPS samples fell within or close to the 95% prediction intervals for the corresponding products at the time of production, indicating limited long-term degradation. No brominated flame retardants or other substances of concern were detected above the detection limits. Life cycle assessment (LCA) results showed that reuse provides greater greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction potential than improved recycling alone, primarily through avoided virgin EPS production and reduced processing needs. An important insight from this study is that key material properties of used EPS can be reliably estimated from simple measurements of density, dimensions, and weight, and that direct reuse is feasible for less demanding applications. Additionally, further work is needed to test additional samples from diverse demolition sites across various applications and climates to establish a consistent basis for reuse. Full article

Mediterranean water systems face intensifying drought pressure under climate change, yet the long-term macroeconomic consequences of recurrent water restrictions remain largely unquantified at the metropolitan scale. This study estimates the cumulative economic costs of drought-induced water restrictions in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) over 2016–2099 using a supply-driven Input–Output (Ghosh) model driven by six hydro-climatic projections. Drought conditions persist in more than half of all simulated months across all climate projections, generating substantial cumulative undiscounted losses of €52–61 billion through repeated restriction episodes rather than isolated extreme events. The present value of total GDP losses ranges between €8.4 and €41.4 billion depending on the discount rate applied (1%, 3% and 5%). Losses concentrate in service sectors due to strong intersectoral propagation effects, despite agriculture exhibiting the highest direct water dependence. The framework provides a transferable approach for assessing long-term climate-driven drought costs in metropolitan urban or regional economies. Full article

This study comparatively assesses the Municipal Emission Reduction Plans (MERPs) of Spetses, Platanias, and Souli, examining their role as analytical and strategic tools for local climate planning, with particular emphasis on water-related infrastructure. A descriptive comparative analysis was conducted using secondary data extracted from officially approved MERPs, covering sectoral and total greenhouse gas emissions for 2019 and 2023, as well as reported mitigation actions and 2030 targets. The results reveal significant inter-municipal variations in emission patterns, driven by geomorphological characteristics, infrastructure configuration, and energy consumption, but also by governance structures and system boundaries. Water supply and irrigation systems are identified as highly energy-intensive sectors, particularly in municipalities with extensive, pumping-dependent networks. At the same time, the analysis shows that the inclusion or exclusion of outsourced services—such as water supply and wastewater management—substantially affects the representation of emissions and the prioritization of mitigation actions. The study concludes that MERPs can support climate planning at the municipal level, but their effectiveness is conditioned by data completeness, system boundaries, and governance models. These findings highlight the need to move beyond purely accounting-based approaches toward integrated planning frameworks that capture the full operational scope of municipal systems, enabling more accurate emission assessment and more effective, context-specific mitigation strategies within the water–energy–nexus. Full article

Whether industrial artificial intelligence (industrial AI) contributes to environmental sustainability remains an open empirical and theoretical question. While digital and intelligent technologies are widely promoted as drivers of green transformation, their net impact on carbon emissions is ambiguous due to potentially offsetting efficiency gains and rebound effects. This study examines how industrial AI influences urban carbon emissions using panel data for 260 Chinese cities from 2005 to 2019. We construct a novel city-level industrial AI development index by integrating information on data infrastructure, AI-related talent supply and intelligent manufacturing services using the entropy weight method. Employing two-way fixed-effects models, instrumental-variable estimations, lag structures, and multiple robustness checks, we identify the causal impact of industrial AI on carbon emissions. The results indicate that industrial AI significantly reduces urban carbon emissions. Mechanism analyses suggest that this effect operates primarily through improvements in energy efficiency and green technological innovation, while being partially offset by scale expansion. Furthermore, a higher share of secondary industry mitigates the emission-reducing effect of industrial AI. Heterogeneity analysis further indicates stronger emission-reduction effects in eastern regions, large cities, and areas with higher human capital and stronger environmental regulation. The findings suggest that intelligent industrial upgrading can simultaneously enhance productivity and support climate mitigation, but this effect is highly context-dependent, offering policy insights for achieving sustainable industrial modernization and carbon neutrality in emerging economies. Full article

The transition toward low-impact facility management requires robust evidence that environmental optimization does not compromise hygienic reliability. In the professional cleaning sector, sustainability claims are often based on product substitution rather than on integrated performance validation. This study provides a dual-perspective evaluation comparing a conventional cleaning protocol with the Pfe Green system, an eco-designed approach compliant with the Italian Minimum Environmental Criteria (CAM, D.M. 29 January 2021), implemented in a civil building of Renault Italia S.p.A. in Rome. A combined Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and microbiological evaluation was conducted under real operational conditions to quantify both climate-related and hygienic outcomes. The LCA, performed in accordance with ISO 14040–44 and ISO 14067 standards, demonstrated that the Green protocol achieved an approximately 30% reduction in Global Warming Potential over a 100-year horizon (GWP₁₀₀), mainly attributable to structural process optimization, including reduced detergent mass, lower laundering temperatures, improved dilution control, and energy-efficient machinery. Microbiological monitoring, conducted according to ISO 14698 and UNI EN ISO 18593, showed that both systems ensured high levels of microbial abatement, with the Green protocol exhibiting slightly higher average reductions in total viable counts (96.1% vs. 94.2%). These findings confirm that lower chemical input and eco-formulated products do not compromise hygienic performance when supported by standardized procedures and microfiber-based mechanical removal. By integrating life-cycle metrics with microbiological validation, this research proposes a replicable assessment model for sustainable cleaning services. The results demonstrate that CAM-aligned green protocols can simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions and maintain hygienic effectiveness, thereby supporting evidence-based sustainable procurement and corporate environmental strategies. The originality of this study lies in the integration of life-cycle environmental assessment with real-world microbiological validation under operational conditions, providing a comprehensive framework for evaluating sustainable cleaning systems beyond product-level substitution. Full article

Concerns regarding the safety, environmental impacts, and long-term sustainability of pesticide-dependent crop protection have intensified interest in biological control, which suppresses pest populations using natural enemies (predators, parasitoids, and pathogens) within integrated pest management (IPM) programs. This bibliometric study maps the development of biological control research from 2000 to 2025 using records retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. The publication trends, collaboration structures, leading countries and institutions, core journals, keyword co-occurrence and clustering, citation bursts, and influential cited references were examined using CiteSpace and VOSviewer. The results show a pronounced increase in publication output after 2011, indicating rapid expansion and consolidation of the field in the last decade. Keyword analyses reveal a thematic shift toward ecosystem-based framing, reflected by the growing prominence of terms such as ecosystem services, habitat management, and ecological intensification, which emphasize landscape- and management-oriented approaches to enhancing pest suppression. Cited-reference patterns highlight the persistent influence of the foundational literature on habitat manipulation, landscape complexity, and conservation biological control. Despite the field’s growth, research gaps remain in integrating biological control with emerging bioengineering tools and explicitly accounting for climate-driven variability across regions and production systems. Full article

Agrivoltaics (AV) has emerged as an integrated land-use innovation capable of simultaneously addressing food, energy, and water challenges, yet its systemic implications for farming system sustainability remain insufficiently synthesized. This review adopts a farming system dynamics perspective to examine how AV systems reorganize biophysical, ecological, and socio-economic interactions across agroecosystems. Drawing upon agroecological principles, pathways of sustainable intensification and ecological intensification, and resource-loop strategies in circular economy, we identify the key elements and cause-and-effect relationships that shape AV system performance. Evidence indicates that the co-location of photovoltaics (PV) structures and crop cultivation generates new system properties, altered light distribution, moderated microclimates, redistributed soil moisture, and diversified production functions that influence productivity, resource-use efficiency, ecological services, and farm resilience. Using causal loop analysis, we conceptualize four central feedback dynamics: (i) PV–crop trade-offs and spatial-sharing relationships; (ii) microclimate modifications and crop physiological responses; (iii) ecological performance and landscape-level interactions; and (iv) circularity loops connecting resource conservation, renewable-energy substitution, soil processes, and material flows. This feedback collectively determines eco-efficiency outcomes, including enhanced land-equivalent productivity, improved water-use efficiency, strengthened regulating services, and reductions in external energy dependence. At the farming-system scale, AV diversifies income streams and stabilizes yields under climatic variability, whereas at the landscape scale, it fosters multifunctionality by supporting regenerative resource flows and ecological resilience. Building on these insights, we propose an integrated framework that links agroecological elements with dynamic feedback structures to guide context-specific AV design, management, and governance. This system-oriented synthesis provides a foundation for future research and policy efforts aimed at optimizing AV as a circular, resilient, and sustainable farming system innovation. Full article

Urban trees are increasingly deployed as nature-based infrastructure to mitigate heat and manage stormwater, yet quantitative guidance on how species traits and site context shape transpiration remains fragmented. We conducted a systematic metadata analysis of seven field studies that measured daily transpiration rate in urban settings using heat-pulse methods. The units and spatial scales reported were harmonized with the sap flow density across active sapwood (J_s, g H₂O/${\mathrm{cm}}^2$/day) by converting reported stand transpiration and the outer 2 cm of sapwood sap flux using established Gaussian radial distribution functions for angiosperms and gymnosperms, which account for the non-linear decline in sap flux from the vascular cambium to the heartwood boundary. We then summarized distributions and tested group differences with Kruskal–Wallis and Dunn post hoc comparisons across wood anatomy, climate, soil texture, and planting configuration. Conifers exhibited significantly lower median $J_s$ (39.76 g/${\mathrm{cm}}^2$/day) than angiosperms, while the ring-porous group (median $J_s$ = 92.25 g/${\mathrm{cm}}^2$/day) and diffuse-porous groups (median $J_s$ = 96.70 g/${\mathrm{cm}}^2$/day) had similar distributions overall. Climate-modulated responses within wood anatomy groups differed, with diffuse-porous species exhibiting the highest median $J_s$ (152.59 g/${\mathrm{cm}}^2$/day) in semi-arid regions, ring-porous species maintaining comparatively stable median $J_s$ across climates (varying slightly between 80.72 and 99.32 g/${\mathrm{cm}}^2$/day), and conifers reaching their highest median $J_s$ (69.90 g/${\mathrm{cm}}^2$/day) in humid continental sites. Soil texture effects were consistent with moisture availability: sandy loam generally reduced $J_s$ relative to loam or silt loam for conifers and diffuse-porous species. Across anatomies, single trees transpired more than clustered trees or closed canopies. For example, planting as single trees increased median $J_s$ by 86% in conifers (from 33.01 to 61.37 g/${\mathrm{cm}}^2$/day) and by 45% in diffuse-porous species (from 81.31 to 118.25 g/${\mathrm{cm}}^2$/day). These results provide actionable ranges and contrasts to inform species selection and planting design for urban greening and runoff reduction, while highlighting data gaps for future research. Ultimately, by matching specific wood anatomies and planting configurations to local soil and climatic conditions, urban planners and ecohydrologists can strategically optimize urban forests to maximize targeted ecosystem services. Full article

Improving the energy performance of existing multi-apartment residential buildings is critical for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in Central and Eastern Europe, where large stocks of post-war buildings with limited insulation are connected to district heating systems. This study evaluates façade insulation retrofit strategies for two representative typologies in Novi Beograd, Serbia—a high-rise tower and an elongated slab-type (‘lamella’) building—using calibrated dynamic energy models and cradle-to-use lifecycle assessment (LCA) over a 50-year service life. Models were calibrated against measured 2023–2024 heating consumption data (NMBE < 1%, CVRMSE < 15%) and normalized with Typical Meteorological Year weather for consistent scenario comparison. Retrofit scenarios applied expanded polystyrene (EPS) and cellulose insulation at 10, 12, and 15 cm thicknesses. Results show that external insulation reduces annual heating demand by approximately 19–20% compared to the uninsulated baseline (192 kWh/m²·a), with the majority of savings achieved at 10 cm and only marginal gains from additional thickness. Insulation thickness has a stronger influence on operational energy reduction than material choice, as differences between EPS and cellulose remain below 0.5%. LCA indicates 23.6–26.0% lower climate change impacts and 23.6–25.8% reduced cumulative energy demand in retrofit scenarios, with cellulose offering modest advantages due to lower embodied emissions and biogenic carbon storage. These findings support targeted envelope retrofits as an effective strategy for decarbonizing district-heated residential buildings in the region. Full article

East Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change due to limited adaptive capacity and strong reliance on rain-fed agriculture. Ethiopia, in particular, experiences recurrent socio-economic losses from droughts and floods. This study presents a national-scale assessment of observed (1981–2010) and projected (2041–2100) changes in extreme seasonal precipitation across Ethiopia using ten ETCCDIs. High-resolution Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) observations and bias-corrected outputs from a selected ensemble of CMIP6 models under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios are used to assess historically trends and future extreme precipitation, respectively. Historical trends show increases in extreme precipitation during the Kiremt (JJAS) season, particularly over the northwestern, western, and southwestern highlands; however, most of these increases are not statistically significant. In contrast, the Belg (FMAM) season exhibits widespread declines, which are also largely not statistically significant. Future projections suggest increases in total precipitation (PRCPTOT), heavy (R10) and very heavy rainfall days (R20), very wet days (R95p) and extremely wet days (R95p), and rainfall intensity (SDII) over northwestern, western, southwestern, and parts of northeastern Ethiopia during JJAS. During FMAM, PRCPTOT is projected to increase in the northern and northwestern regions, while decreases are expected in the northeastern and southeastern regions. The Awash and Tekeze basins emerge as key hotspots of change, indicating potential seasonal shifts and an increased likelihood of extreme weather in these regions. Despite inter-model uncertainty, the results highlight the need for flexible, uncertainty-informed adaptation strategies to enhance climate resilience in Ethiopia. Full article

The once-extensive coastal forested wetlands (CFWs) of the Mississippi River Delta (MRD) are declining under the combined pressures of pervasive hydrologic change, unregulated harvesting, relative water level rise (due to the combination of geological subsidence and sea-level rise—SLR), and climate change. We synthesize here over 50 years of research conducted in the MRD to examine the history of the CFWs and their management, their ecosystem functions and services, and the nature, extent, and severity of ongoing changes. Seedling recruitment failure and increasing salinity levels are the most immediate threats to forest persistence, necessitating management that restores hydrologic function and sediment and nutrient supply to allow seedling survival and minimizes saltwater intrusion. Collectively, the evidence indicates that managed inflows can bolster accretion and sustain forest function, and long-term resilience requires hydrologic restoration at landscape scales coupled with site-level actions that secure recruitment and address local degradation trajectories. These include freshwater and sediment introduction, protection from herbivory, and, in some cases, planting. Our research findings have important implications for worldwide CFWs, and tidal freshwater ecosystems in general, which occur mainly in tropical deltas. Full article

To combat climate change, farmers want to develop sustainable agriculture that enhances food production while strengthening their capacity to cope with extreme weather events and pest and disease pressures. Promoting agroecological farming practices is a promising approach in enhancing sustainability and strengthening the climate-resilient farming systems. Recent research often overlooks to what extent the agroecological farming practices (AFP) provide a measurable advantage over non-AFP methods under increasing environmental challenges. In this regard, this study compares the extent of climate resilience between AFP mango-based farming systems and non-AFP mango-based farming systems in southern Ethiopia. AFP adopters applied ecological principles like intercropping, integrated pest management, agroforestry, canopy management, varietal diversity, and water and soil preservation to enhance biodiversity and soil health, and boost productivity and ecosystem services. The study employed a mixed-method design, drawing on the data from 395 selected households. The resilience of AFP and non-AFP farming systems was assessed by computing the 13 agroecosystem indicators of climate resilience using the Self-evaluation and Holistic Assessment of Climate Resilience of Farmers and Pastoralists (SHARP+) tool. Households in AFP mango-based farming system demonstrated greater diversification in agricultural production system compared to those in non-AFP mango farming system. The analysis of climate resilience indicators showed that the mango production systems under the AFP were more climate-robust than their conventional systems. Both the compound resilience score and the household resilience index showed that the mango farming systems under AFP substantially enhanced climate resilience. Hence, coordinated supports from the extension services, NGOs, and researchers are needed to scale up these benefits of AFP. Strengthening the AFP mango farming requires addressing the key barriers such as market access, input availability, and crop diversification strategies. This paper identifies important avenues for further AFP research in Sub-Saharan African countries. Full article

Agriculture in the Pacific is driven primarily by small-scale private farmers, many of whom do not have access to soil testing services or advice, nor the means to interpret analytical results into soil management and agronomic recommendations. Soil degradation through the process of acidification poses a significant risk to food and income security as it directly threatens crop productivity. The nutritional quality of food crops may also be affected through sub-optimal nutrient uptake by plants and nutrient imbalances. The dataset reported here provides a useful platform for the development of a decision-support tool (DST) that will assist Fiji farmers in understanding and managing soil pH and soil acidity. The DST will enable making informed decisions about liming to help correct soil pH. To support this development, historical soil pH data available from the Pacific Soils Portal were combined with updated analyses of agricultural soils from 17 locations in Viti Levu Island (Fiji) collected during a field campaign undertaken in August 2025. The soils were sampled at two depth intervals (0–15 and 15–30 cm) and analyzed for pH using a variety of methods. These methods included direct field measurements using a portable pH-meter as well as traditional laboratory determinations. Of the soils sampled, it was found that most soils exhibited pH levels below 7, which were observed for both depth intervals. Across all samples taken in 2025, it was found that 54.3% of them had soil pH < 5, 38.6% had soil pH between 5 and 6, and 7.1% had pH > 6 (based on soil pH_1:5 soil-to-water method). Depending upon specific land uses, climate and cropping intensity, it was recommended that routine liming be built into soil fertility management programs to help farmers overcome soil acidity-related constraints to production. Liming frequency, timing of application and application rate will need to be determined for specific soil and cropping situations; however, it was suggested that soil pH was not changed by more than 1 unit each time lime was applied. Such an approach should reduce the risk of soil organic matter loss through accelerated mineralization, which would be challenging to restore in that environment if soils remained under continuous cropping. The analytical information contained in this article expanded and updated the datasets available in the Pacific Soils Portal. Furthermore, this work provided an opportunity to build analytical expertise in aspects of soil chemistry at local organizations to support academic and extension activities as well as the ongoing development of the Pacific Soils Portal. Full article

Fog is a near-surface weather phenomenon with low visibility that significantly threatens transportation safety. Understanding the spatiotemporal evolution and formation mechanisms of fog is essential for improving fog forecasting and warning services to reduce related casualties and economic losses. This study examines consecutive dense fog events with long duration and high intensity that occurred along the Ma-Zhao Expressway in northeastern Yunnan from 24 to 30 October 2022. Yunnan is a typical low-latitude plateau region in southwestern China with complex terrain and diverse climates, leading to particularly complicated fog formation processes. Correlation analysis indicates that thermal and vapor factors show stronger correlations with visibility, with correlation coefficients reaching 0.68 for vertical temperature difference and −0.63 for surface relative humidity, both significant at the 99% confidence level. These values are notably higher than those of dynamic factors such as near-surface wind speed, which yields a correlation coefficient of 0.47. The results confirm the dominant role of thermal and vapor conditions in the formation and maintenance of these dense fog events, together with favorable conditions including near-surface air saturation, weak dynamic processes, and a temperature inversion in the lower troposphere. Standardized anomaly analysis reveals obvious atmospheric anomalies during the fog episodes. A strong southerly wind anomaly appears in the lower troposphere, driven by a cyclone over the Philippines and an anomalous anticyclone east of Yunnan. This southerly transport delivers warm and moist air toward the Ma-Zhao Expressway, accompanied by a positive temperature anomaly of 1.7, standard deviations near 700 hPa and a positive specific humidity anomaly of more than 2 standard deviations in the lower troposphere. These conditions favor the development of temperature inversions and atmospheric saturation, further promoting the occurrence and persistence of consecutive dense fog events. This study clarifies the key effects of thermal and vapor conditions as well as low-level southerly wind anomalies on dense fog over the Yunnan low-latitude plateau. These conclusions deepen the understanding of fog formation mechanisms in complex plateau terrain and provide a scientific reference for fog forecasting and early warning along mountain expressways in similar low-latitude plateau regions. Full article

The growing complexity of human systems and the increasing frequency of climate-driven hazards have transformed some disasters from isolated events into cascading phenomena which propagate through critical infrastructure networks, disrupting essential services and amplifying systemic risk. This work examines the impacts of extreme storms and subsequent flooding on critical entities as defined under the new EU Directive (Critical Entities Resilience, CER). This study introduces a structured Critical Entities Disruption Database—Greece (CEDD-GR), as a methodological framework for systematically recording and analysing disruptions to critical entities, and applies it to the case of Storm Daniel (2023), one of the most severe flood events recorded in Greece. The analysis identified direct impacts across eight of the eleven sectors defined in the CER Directive, namely, energy, transport, health, drinking water, wastewater, public administration, digital infrastructure and food production, processing and distribution. A total of 21 different types of critical entities were documented, revealing the mechanisms through which failures affected different subsectors. The results underscore the systemic fragility of critical entities when exposed to extreme storms, compound flooding, and mass wasting processes (landslides, ground subsidence) and highlight the need for integrated resilience planning in line with the CER framework. Full article