Investigating the effects of warming and straw application on soil microbial biomass carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and C/N is crucial for better understanding the responses of soil microorganisms to global warming. Soil microbial biomass C, N and C/N under different warming and straw application regimes were measured in a winter wheat–soybean rotation cropland. The split–plot experiment with four blocks included two main plots, i.e., warming (coded as W) and unwarmed (coded as U) treatments, with three straw application levels (0, 0.6 and 1.2 kg m⁻², coded as S1, S2 and S3, respectively). The ranges of microbial biomass C were 250.0–1328.5, 228.1–932.4, 210.6–960.1, 177.9–710.8, 262.9–804.0 and 139.5–547.6 mg kg⁻¹ in the WS1, WS2, WS3, US1, US2 and US3 plots, respectively, over the four crop-growing seasons, and the ranges of microbial biomass N were 9.7–86.2, 7.9–80.0, 14.7–75.3, 13.4–115.8, 13.1–98.7 and 15.5–110.3 mg kg⁻¹ in the WS1, WS2, WS3, US1, US2 and US3 plots, respectively. Repeated-measures ANOVA indicated that warming induced a significant increase in microbial biomass C (P = 0.015) and C/N (P = 0.009) over the four growing seasons, while straw application did not significantly (P > 0.05) affect microbial biomass C, N or C/N. Soil microbial biomass C, N and C/N changed under the different soil moisture conditions. Warming-associated water losses also played a key role in influencing microbial biomass C, N and C/N. The results indicate that soil microorganisms in agroecosystems under the projected warmer climate conditions in the future may accumulate more C than those under the current climate conditions.

As the living standards of urban residents in China continue to improve, the number of motor vehicle trips is increasing, thus aggravating air pollution. Such pollution causes great harm to human health and the global environment. Using a system dynamics approach, this study analyzed the effect of implementation mode on China’s air pollution charging fee (APCF) policy and identified potentially negative medium- and long-term effects. The results indicated that the APCF policy has a dual effect under the single-charge mode (i.e., fees are charged on a daily basis). On the one hand, it has multiple effects of reducing emissions, relieving traffic congestion, and improving the happiness index. On the other hand, the higher the charge, the stronger the trip demand (possibly due to the sunk-cost fallacy and loss-aversion effect), which encourages motorists to weaken the cost of losses (i.e., from air pollution fees) by increasing the number of trips per day to seek short-term psychological balance, regardless of the extra costs and the amount of pollution generated. It was also found that APCF implementation mode significantly affected passenger car trips but not truck trips (perhaps because truck trips are mainly based on the demand of supply, and the daily number of trips is relatively stable). Overall, as APCF increases, it can have some paradoxical long-term effects on emissions, congestion, the happiness index, and road bearing capacity. This study’s findings can help the Chinese government improve and optimize its long-term air pollution control strategies.

This study aimed to examine the impact of ethanolic Avicennia marina (A. marina) leaves extract against seven pathogenic bacteria and the protective effect of this plant against hyperlipidemia caused by dexamethasone (DEX)-treated rats. Forty-eight male rats weighing between 150 and 200 g were randomly selected into six groups containing eight rats in each group. Moreover, in vitro antioxidant DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate) free radical scavenging activity, FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power), and ABTS assay were also analyzed for leaf extract. Results showed that the IC₅₀ values were observed as 193.9 ± 1.03 μg/mL, 340.29 ± 8.16 μM TE/mg, and 326.8 ± 6.14 μM TE/mg for DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS radical scavenging activities, respectively. A. marina leaves ethanolic extract exhibited higher activity against Candida albicans and Bacillus subtilis, moderate activity against Salmonella typhimurium, and Vibrio damsel. The administration of DEX resulted in significant (P < 0.05) increase in the levels of MDA concentration, TG, TC, LDL, LDH, and glucose but decreased significantly in HDL. Treatment with A. marina extract positively reversed the distorted lipid profile and peroxidation and improved MDA, GSH, NO, and SOD activities in DEX-administered rats. Histological investigation of liver tissue sections showed that the treatment with A. marina leaves extract moderate the fatty change caused by DEX. It is concluded that A. marina leaves extract improved the hypolipidemic property of DEX administration in comparison with standard treatment with atorvastatin.

Many countries encounter environmental imbalance where the ecological footprint is higher than biocapacity due to natural resource-induced economic growth. This paper focuses on Saudi Arabia, a prominent oil exporter, to assess the dynamic impact of oil extraction on ecological footprint and biocapacity by applying the quantile on quantile (QQ) approach. This empirical investigation demonstrates that a higher quantile of oil extraction is negatively associated with a lower quantile of ecological footprint; conversely, a lower quantile of oil extraction and a higher quantile of ecological footprint are positively associated. Additionally, a lower quantile of oil extraction and lower quantile of biocapacity are negatively associated. The empirical analysis confirms that oil extraction is somewhat less responsible higher score of ecological footprint due to efficient management in oil extraction and refinery process. Several policy implications of these findings are highlighted.

The main objective of this study was to capture farmers’ perceptions and adaptations to climate change in agriculture sector. Along with this, it also identified farmers’ adaptations to perceived climate change. Binary logit models were applied on data of 386 farmers, collected from three different agro-ecological zones of Punjab, Pakistan, to present a comprehensive analysis of different adaptation strategies missing in the existing literature. The coefficients of a binary logit model only explain the direction of change; therefore, to see the magnitude of change, marginal effects were also estimated. Findings revealed that farmers perceived climate change and opted different adaptation strategies. Results of binary logit models described age, education, farming experience, landholding, access to climate information, access to credit facilities, and access to extension services as important determinants of adaptation. This research also found lack of access to climate information, lack of irrigation resources, and knowledge about appropriate adaptations as key constraints in adaptation process. This situation can be improved by enhancing institutional support and capacity. It is suggested that improved agricultural education with better access to climate information and extension services affects the farmers’ well-being directly and hence is good for the economy of Pakistan.

The international community is paying more attention to climate change because a consensus has been reached that climate change has an adverse effect not only on the environment but also on agriculture. Therefore, in this study, present and future climate datasets (obtained from general circulation models) including atmospheric carbon concentration were used to assess the impact of climate change on grain production for an important base of China (Northeast). An empirical model has been developed using climate and other additional variables (effective irrigation area, fertilizer, and labor force) to assess the effect of climate change on grain production. The results revealed that maximum temperature is a key climate determinant in grain production of the study area. Atmospheric carbon concentration showed a significant impact on grain outputs in most of the cases. During the analysis, it was observed that precipitation displayed a declining trend while an effective irrigation area showed positive non-significant contribution to grain production. Analysis based on different representative concentration pathways exhibited that maximum temperature may contribute negatively to grain production in the future. Overall, the analysis showed that climate change has a significant contribution to grain production. In conclusion, the implications for future research and policymakers have been addressed. Particularly, the importance of considering regional differences in adaptation planning in agricultural regions was also considered.

Heavy metals have a great influence on the deNOₓ efficiency of catalysts. The 3Mn10Fe/Ni catalyst that used nickel foam (Ni) as the carrier, Mn and Fe as the active components, and Co as a trace auxiliary was prepared using an impregnation method. The catalysts poisoned by Pb or Zn and Co-modified catalysts with Pb or Zn poisoning were studied. The addition of Pb or Zn significantly decreases the deNOₓ activity of the 3Mn10Fe/Ni catalyst due to the decrease in the content of high-valence metal elements such as Fe³⁺ and Mn⁴⁺, lattice oxygen concentration, reduction performance, acidity, and the number of acid sites. However, after Co modification, the deNOₓ activity of the poisoned catalysts can be improved effectively because the strong interaction between Pb or Zn and lattice oxygen is weakened, and the contents of lattice oxygen, high valence metal elements, reduction ability, and the number of acid sites increase.

The present research focuses on addressing various ambiguities in the existing method of integrating information entropy and water quality, thereby presenting a novel approach for an entropy-weighted water quality index. A three-dimensional water quality dataset is considered in the proposed method, the third dimension being the sampling frequency factor. The probability of observed values adhering to desirable limits prescribed by a standard code is estimated, leading to the computation of information entropy and, eventually, entropy weights. These weights are then used for the computation of the Modified Entropy-weight Water Quality Index (MEWQI) values. To verify the proposed method’s applicability, the water quality dataset of Deepor Beel, India, was considered. IS 10500: 2012 was used for estimating MEWQI values. Results showed an excellent correlation with the observed dataset and their uncertainties of occurrence. The reliability and correctness of the proposed methodology were finally confirmed through both cluster analysis and sensitivity analysis. The cluster analysis showed remarkable associations with the computed MEWQI values, while the sensitivity analysis proved that no particular parameter was accountable for the contribution of MEWQI values; instead, all parameters exhibited equal contributions. The proposed methodology was thus found to be the most reasonable and reliable as it considered both factors, i.e., measured values concerning standard limits and the uncertainty, necessary for a consistent water quality monitoring program.

Developing countries are enthusiastically on the road to economic progress and economic openness, which is proved to be a silver bullet for them. However, it has put their environmental quality at stake. This study examines whether economic openness and electricity consumption matter for environmental deterioration by controlling for the influence of economic progress. For this, we have used time series frequency data of Pakistan from 1971 to 2016 and employed the state-of-the-art dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) simulation model. The model has the advantage over traditional ARDL in determining the positive and negative environmental deterioration variations induced by economic openness, electricity consumption, and economic progress. The main findings are as follows: Firstly, electricity consumption in both long and short run positively and significantly influenced CO₂ emissions, while long-run influence exceeded that of short run. Secondly, economic progress validated an environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis and thus limited the environmental degradation. Thirdly, economic openness showed an insignificant influence on CO₂ emissions both in the long and short run. Based on research findings, it is suggested that economic progress and economic openness are not the direct culprits to deteriorate a developing country’s environmental condition like Pakistan; rather, electricity consumption remained the key role player. Therefore, the transition from fossil-based electricity consumption to renewable energy consumption would provide a sustainable pathway towards achieving sustainable economic openness in the future.

The mechanism of Cu tolerance in plants and its control measures are of considerable significance for the remediation of Cu-contaminated soils. Gibberellic acid (GA₃) is involved in plant growth and development and in the response to heavy metal stress. In the present study, changes in the biomass, oxidative stress response responses, and photosynthesis of spinach seedlings were examined under Cu stress with exogenous GA₃ applied at concentrations of 0, 3, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, or 80 mg L⁻¹. Under Cu stress, the plant Cu concentration and oxidative damage were greater, photosynthetic parameters and biomass declined, and antioxidant enzyme activities and the proline concentration increased. However, spinach growth did not terminate, indicating that spinach seedlings had strong Cu tolerance. When low concentrations of GA₃ (3–5 mg L⁻¹) were added to Cu-stressed spinach seedlings, the damage caused by Cu stress to spinach seedlings was reduced, and the Cu tolerance of spinach seedlings was enhanced, which mainly manifested as reduced oxidation damage, an increased proline concentration, elevated antioxidant enzyme activities, decreased Cu concentration in leaves, and increased Cu concentration in roots, increased photosynthetic parameters, and an increased in the total biomass. In contrast, additions of GA₃ at concentrations higher than 40 mg L⁻¹ intensified oxidative damage and decreased the activities of antioxidant enzymes, photosynthetic parameters, and biomass. Additionally, the Cu concentration increased in leaves and decreased Cu concentration in roots, indicating that high concentrations of GA₃ aggravated stress damage and severely influenced physiological functions in spinach seedlings. In summary, the application of 3–5 mg L⁻¹ GA₃ to spinach seedlings in Cu-contaminated soil can be used to reduce Cu toxicity to plants and increase Cu tolerance.