Search Results (298)

In this review, I synthesize recent evidence showing how climate acceleration, biosphere disruption, food and freshwater insecurity, pollution, disease, and inequality are increasingly converging into a single, interconnected sustainability challenge. I show that the Anthropocene crisis extends far beyond climate warming and its impacts alone: current national commitments remain consistent with warming of approximately 2.3–2.5 °C under full implementation, while current policies could produce up to 2.8 °C; however, the remaining carbon budget for a 50% chance of limiting warming to 1.5 °C may be exhausted within only a few years, and the oil and gas industry has committed to a 14% increase in upstream production over the period 2024–2030. At the same time, pollution remains responsible for approximately nine million deaths annually; agriculture accounts for roughly 70% of global freshwater withdrawals; and groundwater depletion, continental drying, marine heatwaves, weakening carbon sinks, and intensifying precipitation extremes are destabilizing the ecological and hydrological systems that sustain human health and food security. This review’s incremental contribution is the integration of these trends within a justice-centered sustainability framework that links Earth-system feedback, public health burdens, water insecurity, and institutional failure rather than treating them as separate environmental problems. I argue that because vulnerability is produced not by exposure alone but by unequal access to infrastructure, wealth, governance capacity, and political power, a viable response therefore requires more than decarbonization: it demands ecological restoration, food and water-centered governance, pollution and disease mitigation, and justice-based institutional reform capable of sustaining human dignity, equity, and resilience within planetary boundaries. I encourage resilience and sustainability programs around the world to fold in these additional challenges to their missions and goals. Full article

Fertilised cropland systems are the dominant source of reactive nitrogen losses in the global environment, contributing most anthropogenic nitrous oxide emissions and driving agricultural nitrogen surplus to nearly three times the safe planetary boundary for nitrogen. This review advances a nitrogen-centred analytical framework that positions cropland nitrogen management as a greenhouse gas mitigation imperative, a planetary boundary challenge, and a cross-cutting lever for integrated Sustainable Development Goal progress. Unlike prior reviews that treat nitrous oxide emissions, nitrogen use efficiency, or Sustainable Development Goal linkages as separate concerns, this framework demonstrates that reducing reactive nitrogen losses from fertilised cropland is the single intervention space most likely to generate co-benefits across food security, clean water, climate action, life on land, and partnership goals, while helping restore the transgressed nitrogen boundary. The nitrogen cascade from fertilised croplands and associated livestock manure generates sequential damages across climate, water quality, human health, and terrestrial biodiversity that are mapped against their goal implications. Mitigation strategies including precision nitrogen management, nitrification inhibitors, biochar amendment, agroforestry, circular manure management, and emerging bio-technical innovations are evaluated against their co-benefits, adoption constraints, and potential to shift losses toward other nitrogen species. A financing gap of over one trillion dollars annually and the absence of binding global nitrogen governance are identified as the primary barriers to integrated action. Spatially explicit nitrogen redistribution and nitrogen use efficiency improvement are presented as design principles capable of reconciling planetary boundary recovery with food security equity across nitrogen surplus and nitrogen-deficit regions. Full article

Environmental disclosure and environmental, social, and governance assessments are gaining importance, using Corporate Disclosure Project (CDP) scores to evaluate corporate environmental disclosure. However, scarce evidence links CDP scores with performance and value among Japanese manufacturing firms. This study examines these associations using panel data from 2018 to 2023, combining financial data from Nikkei NEEDS Financial QUEST with CDP scores for climate change, water security, and forests. CDP ratings were converted into ordered numerical values, and regression models were estimated with firm-level controls, firm age, applicable fixed effects, and an annual macroeconomic control variable. Robustness checks included categorical score specifications, propensity score matching, and two-step system generalized method of moments estimation. The results indicate that the overall CDP score is positively associated with Tobin’s Q, whereas the evidence for return on assets and return on equity is weaker. Improvements in the overall score are also linked to increases in Tobin’s Q. By contrast, individual climate change, water security, and forest sub-scores show weak and inconsistent statistical significance. These findings should be interpreted as associations, not definitive causal effects. The study extends environmental accounting research beyond carbon-focused analyses, suggesting that aggregate CDP evaluations are more value-relevant than disaggregated sub-scores. Full article

Currently, access to safe drinking water in developing countries remains a structural challenge. Despite progress, many households still lack access to clean and safe water, leading to serious consequences for health, human dignity, and the economy. This research aims to evaluate the impact of drinking water and sanitation investment projects on monetary expenditures for water consumption. Using data from the 2017 and 2023 National Household Survey (ENAHO-INEI) in Peru, a longitudinal study with a retrospective cohort design was conducted. The complex, probabilistic sampling method allowed for modeling both periods using ordered multiple response logit regression. The results show that household connections to potable water positively impacted water consumption expenditures in 2017 (n = 21,251) and 2023 (n = 19,482). Similarly, connections to sanitation facilities positively influenced expenditures in 2017, although no significant evidence was found in 2023. Having access to safe water (adequate chlorine) versus unsafe water (inadequate chlorine) showed a positive effect on consumption expenditures in both years, reflecting that families must bear a double expense to access alternatives such as bottled water. A higher monthly income of the head of household, associated with greater age and years of education, increases expenditures on potable water, excluding households in monetary poverty. A differentiated design of water policies is recommended, based on natural region (coast, highlands, and rainforest) and area (urban or rural), considering the different water access alternatives according to the geographic location of the dwelling. Full article

Drowning is a largely preventable global public health problem. Many unintended drownings are linked to the initial responses to cold-water immersion (cold shock), which includes a rapid involuntary cardio-respiratory response that increases the risk of aspirating water within the first two minutes of immersion. Floating rather than struggling to swim can help survival in this circumstance. In light of early research and subsequent changes in anthropometry, we are re-examining whether bone mineral density (BMD) in people from African, Caribbean, and Asian communities influences their float. This study examined predictors of float outcome. A total of 101 participants of African, Caribbean, Asian, or mixed heritage were recruited; 96 attempted a two-minute supine float following instruction and practice, of whom 89 were successful. Body fat percentage strongly correlated with buoyancy and floating outcome, while other predictors, including BMD, showed weak or no association. Passive floaters (no movement required) demonstrated greater buoyancy and less exertion than active floaters (purposeful movement required). These findings suggest that body fat percentage is the primary factor influencing float outcome, and that with appropriate instruction and practice, individuals of African, Caribbean and Asian heritage can “find their float”. The results indicate that floating is a learnable competence and highlight the need for integrated drowning prevention strategies combining existing campaigns with accessible, community-based practices and co-produced approaches to improve engagement and equity. Full article

Coordinated management of drip irrigation water demand and lateral canal supply is a critical strategy for improving water use efficiency in arid irrigation districts; however, under water-deficit conditions, the efficient and equitable allocation of limited canal water among multiple drip irrigation systems remains largely unresolved. This study developed a bi-objective cooperative water allocation and scheduling model for a lateral canal serving 11 subordinate drip irrigation systems. Subject to canal diversion flow balance and total deficit constraints, the model simultaneously minimized (i) the mean coefficient of variation (CV) of water allocation duration within rotation irrigation groups, targeting temporal uniformity, and (ii) the sum of squared deviations of the water supply satisfaction rate across systems, targeting distributional equity. Water demand inputs were derived from a localized FAO-56 Penman–Monteith irrigation schedule for Jinghe County with stage-specific crop coefficients. A hybrid binary–continuous NSGA-II encoding with a dynamic intra-group flow allocation mechanism was employed. For the baseline deficit scenario (Early May, supply-to-demand ratio β = 67.76%), the model partitioned the 11 systems into four rotation groups with a mean CV of 3.15 × 10⁻³, while the sum of squared deviations of the satisfaction rate decreased from 4.366 under the empirical scheme to 1.50 × 10⁻⁴, confining all systems to 67.38–68.45% and eliminating the coexistence of over-supply and complete deprivation (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p < 0.001; Cohen’s d = −1.698). The Pareto front revealed a significant efficiency–equity trade-off (Spearman’s ρ = −0.9999), and NSGA-II outperformed SPEA2 by approximately 29-fold and 22-fold in the two objectives. Robustness was confirmed across three deficit scenarios and algorithm parameter sensitivity analyses (CV < 2%). The study offers methodological support for refined water allocation management of terminal canal systems in arid regions. Full article

The scarcity of resources is a major challenge for the livability of cities and sustainable urbanization. This study explores the socioeconomic dimensions of water scarcity in four low-income neighborhoods of Amman, the capital of Jordan, using a qualitative approach. The study investigates how water scarcity intersects with socioeconomic vulnerability, spatial injustice, and behavioral adaptation. The main research findings are that income, the quality of the neighborhood, and infrastructure access commonly shape residents’ coping strategies and perceptions of fairness. While households adopt a range of adaptive behaviors, limited affordability and institutional neglect intensify existing inequalities. Temporal shifts in service provision, spatial disparities within and between neighborhoods, and gaps in awareness and governance deepen the sense of water insecurity. The study concludes that water scarcity in Amman is not only a technical or economic challenge but a socially embedded problem that requires equity-oriented policies, participatory planning, and spatially targeted investments. Full article

Urban green spaces are increasingly recognized as cooling infrastructure for climate resilience, environmental health, and spatial equity. However, their planning value depends not only on where green spaces are located but also on whether cooling supply is translated into lower thermal pressure and aligned with heat-sensitive demand. This study examines blue–green–gray infrastructure cooling supply, thermal regulation, human-relevant thermal pressure, and supply–demand mismatch across 1385 census tracts in Maryland, USA. An Infrastructure Cooling Supply Index (ICSI) was constructed from green, blue, and gray infrastructure components and evaluated against maximum land surface temperature (LSTmax), Heat Index, extreme heat days, and a Human-Relevant Thermal Pressure Index (HTPI) integrating ambient heat intensity and recurrent extreme heat exposure. Explainable machine learning was used to identify the relative contributions of individual infrastructure components, and cooling supply was compared with socially differentiated heat-sensitive demand. The results show that higher ICSI is significantly associated with lower LSTmax, Heat Index, and HTPI. The association was strongest for surface thermal conditions, remained significant for Heat Index and integrated human-relevant thermal pressure, and was comparatively weaker for recurrent extreme heat days, indicating that infrastructure cooling supply affects thermal outcomes through distinct pathways. Cooling supply was also spatially uneven, with stronger provision generally associated with greater vegetation and tree-canopy coverage, higher park provision, larger water-area proportions, and lower gray-infrastructure pressure. Explainable GeoAI results identify impervious cover, tree canopy, water-area proportion, road density, and park provision as the principal contributors to tract-level thermal pressure. The mismatch analysis identifies 433 census tracts, or 31.3% of all Maryland tracts, as low-supply–high-demand priority areas. These tracts reveal substantial spatial convergence among elevated heat-sensitive demand, insufficient cooling infrastructure, and persistent thermal pressure. This study provides a tract-level approach for targeting cooling interventions where thermal pressure, vulnerability, and infrastructure deficits converge. Full article

Closed-loop habitats in space-analogue and other extreme environments must sustain life and performance within tightly bounded constraints on water, energy, food, air revitalisation, waste processing, space, and crew time. Existing assessments emphasise engineering reliability, resource throughput, and human factors, but less often address everyday practices—meals, hygiene, privacy, social rituals, sensory comfort, and care work—as variables relevant to sustainability. This conceptual paper develops closed-loop hospitality as an integrated sustainability assessment framework for analysing how such practices mediate between resource constraints and environmental, social, and operational outcomes. Drawing on sustainability assessment, circular resource use, resilience, socio-technical systems, habitability, and hospitality theory, the framework links constraint variables—including resupply interval, closure ratio, bottlenecks, redundancy, volumetric capacity, crew time scarcity, intercultural crew composition, and health-support capacity—to hospitality design choices and measurable indicators. It identifies outcomes such as resource intensity, recycling and waste burden, system reliability, labour distribution, equity and legitimacy of access, psychosocial wellbeing, compliance, and adaptive resilience. The paper supports threshold setting, scorecards, and protocol design in analogue habitats, arguing that sustainable habitation requires balancing resource stewardship with minimum viable hospitality: preserving dignity, care, privacy, cohesion, and operational continuity within closed-loop limits. Full article

Compound spring floods in cold-continental and semi-arid interiors arise from interacting snowmelt, rain-on-snow events, intense precipitation, and frozen or saturated soils, yet these mechanisms remain poorly synthesized for Central Asia. This review develops a process-oriented framework linking preconditioning, triggers, propagation/amplification, impacts, and recovery outcomes. The synthesis shows that the most destructive spring floods occur when substantial antecedent snow storage and restricted infiltration coincide with rapid warming and rainfall, producing efficient runoff generation and widespread impacts. Evidence from Kazakhstan and comparable continental regions indicates that mechanistic understanding is relatively robust, but standardized event-level reporting of snow-water equivalent, soil wetness, precipitation phase, routing constraints, and recovery indicators remains uneven. To support post-disaster comparison, we introduce and demonstrate a Recovery Effectiveness Index (REI) combining housing resettlement, compensation, infrastructure restoration, and equity of assistance. A proof-of-concept application to the 2024 Kazakhstan floods produced a 21 June 2024 snapshot REI of 0.607–0.757 and an end-year REI of 0.850–1.000, depending on the treatment of the equity component. The framework supports compound-driver monitoring, early warning, recovery benchmarking, and more harmonized flood-risk assessment in data-sparse continental regions. Full article

This paper examines the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of mountain communities in South and Central Asia, with specific reference to the Himalayas and the Central Asian highlands. Using a comparative framework, the study combines the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI), LVI-IPCC, and the Livelihood Equity/Endowment Index (LEI) to measure multidimensional vulnerability. A mixed-methods approach combining household surveys and qualitative field evidence is used to analyze primary data from 600 households across four mountain regions: Leh (India), Sindhupalchok (Nepal), Batken (Kyrgyzstan), and Urgut (Uzbekistan). The results show that vulnerability is not explained only by climatic exposure; it is also associated with socio-economic conditions, institutional access, and livelihood assets. Leh and Sindhupalchok show higher vulnerability associated with water insecurity, food dependence, weak infrastructure, and climate variability, whereas Batken’s vulnerability is mainly linked to limited adaptive capacity. Urgut shows greater resilience associated with stronger adaptive capacity, despite persistent structural inequalities. The paper identifies financial access, social networks, and knowledge systems as important factors in strengthening resilience. It concludes that context-specific, inclusive, and asset-based policy interventions may help strengthen adaptive capacity and reduce vulnerability in fragile mountain ecosystems. Full article

Water scarcity in Peru is increasingly shaped by competing sectoral demands, particularly between large-scale mining and agriculture. Both sectors rely heavily on limited freshwater resources in arid coastal and Andean basins, generating complex trade-offs between economic productivity, environmental sustainability, and social equity. This review synthesizes and critically evaluates current knowledge on water footprint (WF) dynamics within mining–agriculture systems, integrating hydrosocial theory, water–energy–food nexus thinking, and sustainability transition frameworks. Mining activities in Peru are characterized by high blue and grey water footprints, associated with intensive extraction processes and contamination risks, while agriculture exhibits diverse water footprints depending on crop type, irrigation efficiency, and climatic conditions. The interaction of these sectors creates hydrosocial conflicts driven by unequal water allocation, environmental degradation, and institutional fragmentation. This paper identifies key drivers of conflict and evaluates emerging pathways for sustainability transitions, including technological innovation, nature-based solutions, and participatory governance mechanisms. An integrative conceptual framework derived from a thematic synthesis of the reviewed literature is proposed. The findings provide actionable insights for policymakers and researchers seeking to reconcile economic development with water sustainability in resource-constrained environments. Full article

Urban water insecurity is an increasingly critical challenge in rapidly urbanizing regions of the Global South, driven by population growth, environmental degradation, infrastructure limitations, and institutional constraints. Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, exemplifies these interconnected pressures. This study presents a systematic review of 45 peer-reviewed and selected grey literature sources published between 2000 and 2025, conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Studies were included if they examined drinking water contamination, public health risks, household coping practices, wastewater-related exposure, or governance dynamics in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Findings were synthesized using a narrative thematic approach. The review identifies widespread contamination across municipal supply systems, groundwater, tanker water, traditional water sources, and household-stored water. Microbial contamination, particularly total coliforms, fecal coliforms, and Escherichia coli, emerged as the most consistently reported and immediate public health concern. Chemical and physicochemical contaminants, including ammonia, iron, arsenic, nitrate, and turbidity, were also widely reported, especially in shallow and deep groundwater systems. Seasonal dynamics further influenced exposure risks, with increased microbial contamination during monsoon periods and greater dependence on alternative and less regulated water sources during dry seasons. The findings further indicate that unsafe water exposure is associated with a substantial burden of waterborne diseases and emerging risks such as antimicrobial resistance. Although household water treatment practices reduced contamination in some cases, risks often persisted due to recontamination during storage and handling. These burdens disproportionately affected marginalized and peri-urban populations with limited access to safe and reliable water infrastructure. The review also highlights persistent governance challenges, including institutional fragmentation, weak regulatory enforcement, inadequate infrastructure investment, and growing dependence on informal water supply systems. Together, these conditions contribute to a hybrid urban water system in which formal and informal sources coexist without consistent quality control. Overall, the evidence demonstrates that water insecurity in Kathmandu Valley is a systemic condition shaped by the interaction of environmental contamination, unequal exposure, household coping limitations, and fragmented governance. By integrating environmental, public health, and governance evidence, this review advances understanding of urban water insecurity in rapidly urbanizing contexts and highlights the need for integrated, equity-oriented, and governance-informed interventions. These findings have broader relevance for cities across the Global South experiencing similar environmental and infrastructural pressures. Full article

Climate change intensifies hydrological variability and threatens agricultural water security. This review synthesizes literature on agricultural water system resilience under climate change through a structured critical narrative approach informed by PRISMA/SALSA reporting principles. We examine four linked domains: resilience concepts and indicators, assessment methods under uncertainty, climate impact and vulnerability evidence, and adaptation/governance pathways. The synthesis indicates a broad shift from engineering-centered water-supply approaches toward socio-ecological resilience frameworks that combine infrastructure, ecosystem processes, farmer behavior, and institutions. Methodologically, deterministic optimization is increasingly complemented by stochastic, robust, integrated-assessment, remote-sensing, and machine-learning approaches, although data requirements, uncertainty propagation, and interpretability remain important constraints. Evidence suggests that crop water demand and irrigation requirements may increase substantially under high-emission scenarios, with acute risks in arid and semi-arid regions. Effective adaptation is unlikely to rely on single technologies alone; precision irrigation, nature-based solutions, climate services, and infrastructure investments require complementary demand-side rules, water accounting, equity safeguards, and participatory governance to avoid maladaptation such as the irrigation-efficiency rebound effect. We identify priority research needs in transparent review protocols, uncertainty quantification, cross-scale governance, farmer decision-making, digital inclusion, and monitoring systems. The review provides a moderated conceptual framework and policy-oriented research agenda for strengthening agricultural water resilience. Full article

Climate change represents one of the defining global health challenges of the 21st century, with far-reaching implications for population health, health systems, and health equity. The acceleration of environmental change, evidenced by record-breaking global temperatures, extreme weather events, and ecological degradation, poses a direct threat to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3), which aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all. This manuscript presents a narrative review and policy analysis of the intersection of climate change and global public health in light of the outcomes of the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil. Drawing on peer-reviewed literature, major institutional reports, and relevant policy documents, we explore how climate change exacerbates communicable and non-communicable diseases, undermines health system resilience, and disproportionately affects vulnerable populations worldwide. Particular attention is given to heat-related morbidity, infectious disease expansion, air pollution, food and water insecurity, displacement, gender inequities, antimicrobial resistance, and mental health impacts. The paper highlights the significance of the Belém Health Action Plan (BHAP), which is treated here as a COP30-associated action framework that places health more centrally within climate policy discussions. However, major challenges remain, including its voluntary orientation, the absence of dedicated financing mechanisms within the framework itself, and limited clarity on accountability arrangements, as identified through our synthesis of the available policy and evidence base. We argue that achieving SDG 3 is no longer feasible without integrating climate adaptation and mitigation into health systems and policies, and that progress will depend on translating global commitments into context-specific country strategies, governance arrangements, and implementation pathways. Full article