Globally, land degradation is becoming a grave concern. Over the years, conditions such as drought, extreme weather events, pollution, changes in land use land cover, and desertification have intensified and led to land degradation, affecting both ecological and economic processes. Equally, during the last two centuries, population and urbanization have amplified manifold and increased the demand for additional food and shelter, resulting in alteration in land use land cover, over-grazing, and over-cultivation, loss of nutrient-rich surface soil, greater runoff from the more impermeable subsoil, and reduced water availability. Geographically, Goa is a highly diversified state. It is sandwiched between the West Coast and the Western Ghats. The state is blessed with beaches, mangroves, backwaters, wetlands, wildlife sanctuaries, evergreen forests, barren lands, and other vital ecosystems. The State of Goa, on average, receives more than 3000 millimeters of rainfall annually with high surface runoff. Using both primary and secondary data, this study sought to investigate and quantify the state’s land degradation. Secondary data came from satellites and other sources, while primary data came from field observation and ground truthing. Land degradation factors related to soil loss and the spatial pattern of soil erosion are predicted and evaluated using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) method. Landsat-8 OLI-TIRS images were utilized to decide land use and cover (C factor), while DEM information was utilized to assess (LS factor). A soil map and rainfall data were collected to acquire a better understanding of soil erodibility (K factor) and rainfall erosivity (R factor). The kriging interpolation technique was used to gain a deeper comprehension of land degradation.The purpose of this paper is to comprehend the concept of integrated land degradation and how it affects the environment of Goa. Using remote sensing data and geostatistical methods, the study creates a comprehensive map of land degradation in the region by identifying and analyzing the various forms of land degradation in Goa. The paper also looks at how rainfall and the amount of land cover affect the rate of soil erosion in Goa. According to the findings, intense rainfall makes the eastern part of Goa particularly susceptible to soil erosion, and bare soil has a greater potential for erosion than vegetated land. The paper concludes that comprehensive land degradation mapping can be a useful tool for developing efficient land management strategies to preserve soil and encourage sustainable development in the region.

An important factor in determining agricultural production is the availability of irrigation water in the main canal of the M’Pourie plain. This factor affects both the intensification of crops and the size of the irrigation areas. The main Senegal River canal in Rosso, Mauritania, runs across the Plaine of M’Pourie. This study aims to assess the physicochemical quality of the water used for irrigation and agriculture in the main irrigation canal on the M’Pourie plain. The measurements were made from 2021 to 2022, and the following physical and chemical parameters were monitored: pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, salt content, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium; ammonium bicarbonate; chloride; nitrite; nitrate; nitrogen; sulfate; and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR). These measurements were analyzed using volumetric, spectroscopic, and spectrophotometric methods. After conducting statistical analysis and comparing the results with Moroccan quality standards for surface water utilized in irrigation, it has been discovered that the average pH value is 7.51, indicating a neutral state. However, the average nitrite and ammonium values exceed Moroccan standards at 5.16 mg.L-1 and 0.41 mg.L-1, respectively. The water’s low mineralization is attributed to its low electrical conductivity, with an average of 52.2 μS.cm-1. Based on the analysis of the Senegal River water used for irrigation in the M’Pourie plain, it has been determined that its sodium adsorption ratio and electrical conductivity classify it as belonging to class C1S1. This indicates that the water has low salinity and is excellent for irrigation, with a low risk of alkalinization.

The present study attempted to observe the perception and adaptation strategies of farmers in the context of climate change. It observes that the majority of the farmers are aware of climate change and understand that they are facing problems due to it. The major problems faced by the farmers are the long duration of dryness due to lack of rainfall, weed pressure, very high temperatures, and crop disease. However, farmers are not very aware of technological adaptation and have changed the cropping time due to changes in the time of monsoon. The study recommends that there is a need for intensive micro and macro policy initiatives in terms of modern green sustainable technology along with awareness and skill development of the farmers. The government should also focus more on policy initiatives for sustainable agricultural practices in line with sustainable development goals.

Assessing the dynamics and patterns of Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) and its transformation is an important practice of urban planners and environmentalists for a variety of applications, including land management, urban climate modeling, and sustainability of any urban region. Monitoring changes in LULC using geospatial techniques can help to identify areas at risk for indefensible land use, low-grade environment, and especially for sustainable urban planning. This study aims to analyze the changing pattern, dynamics, and alteration of LULC using Google Earth Engine (GEE) and Machine Learning Applications for the years 1991, 2001, 2011, and 2022 in the Varanasi City Development Region (VCDR). The LULC classification was divided into seven classes using random forest classification, and Landsat-5(TM) and 9(OLI-2) satellite data were used. Saga GIS has been utilized for the detection of LULC change during the 1991-2022 period. For validation of classification results, accuracy assessment was estimated using error matrices and through user, producer, and overall accuracy estimation. The Kappa statistics were applied for the reliability of the accuracy assessment result. As a result, the built-up area increased by 507.8 percent, and other classes like agricultural, barren, fallow land, and vegetation cover rapidly declined and altered into concrete areas over the period. Water bodies and river sand classes have been slightly converted into different classes. The finding explains that 114.8 km2 of fertile agricultural land, 14.81 km2 barren land, and 12.93 km2 of vegetation cover transformed into impervious surface, which is unsustainable and causes various problems like food scarcity, environmental degradation, and low quality of urban life. This study can be a useful guide for urban planners, academicians, and policymakers by providing a scientific background for sustainable urban planning and management of VCDR and other cities as well.

The study was carried out on the territory of the Kemerovo region-Kuzbass (Western Siberia, Russia). The purpose of the study was to obtain information on the species diversity and population of big-game animals. The monitoring was carried out on the forest territories of the region’s administrative districts. In the course of remote sensing using an unmanned aerial vehicle, the presence of all types of animals under consideration, except for the bear, was recorded. The deviation of the population number determined using the traditional method of digital technologies varied up to 50%. It was established that environmental measures organized and carried out by the regional administration and hunting farms improved the situation and stabilized the population of the main group of game animals. It was found that when using a sufficiently high sensitivity of the thermal imager (the used thermal imager had a very high sensitivity class ≤ 60 mK at 300 K), long-haired animals, which are characterized by a lower intensity of thermal radiation (for example, wolves) are identified and recognized in the images. The larger the animal and the worse the thermal insulation layer (wool or feathers), the easier it is to identify it in infrared images and the lower the sensitivity requirements of thermal imagers. The ability to recognize and record smaller animals and birds requires additional research on existing technologies. Our research has confirmed the validity of digital remote monitoring methods for managing the wildlife of hunting farms and nature conservation areas of the Siberian Taiga territories.

The relationship between trade and climate change is not a simple linear relationship. In this paper, using the threshold regression model, we estimated the effect of trade on climate change in South Africa. The paper applied the LM test to examine the nonlinear inference approach to test whether nonlinearity existed and if the threshold model was relevant to the study. The results show that when energy use is set as the threshold variable, the relationship between trade and climate change measured as methane is U-shaped. Also, in other models of GHG as climate change indicators, the results show that the effect of trade on climate change is not dynamic. This result supports the idea that high and low trade effects may have different impacts on climate change indicators. It is, therefore, recommended that all exporters in South Africa resort to more innovative environmental mechanisms to reduce the contribution to climate. The suggestion for future studies is to consider exports of different sectors to climate change. This approach will avoid the generalization of exporting firms as the worst emitters.

Polyhydroxy butyrate (PHB) is one of the best environment-friendly bioplastic alternatives for petroleum-based plastic due to its biodegradability. However, it has less commercial popularity owing to the high cost of downstream processing that involves repeated centrifugation and the use of costly harmful solvents, as well as a labor-intensive process. Hydrodynamic Cavitation (HC) offers easy and simple mechanisms for downstream processing. Also, biopolymer extracted for haloarchea show an advantage of least contamination under the halophilic condition on an industrial level. In this paper, a haloarchaeal consortium producing biopolymer isolated from commercial rock salt has been subjected to HC as well as distilled water lysis. A maximum of 23 g.L-1 PHB was extracted in 40 min run with 50 passes and 0.10 cavitation number at 3.9 bar pressure. The extracted biopolymer was characterized and was found to be PHB. Comparative analysis shows that HC results in a substantial reduction in the downstream processing time. Moreover, it has double the efficiency of PHB extraction as compared to the distilled water lysis method. This paper reports the HC process as a techno-commercial alternative to industrial PHB extraction.

The nutritive value of mulberry leaves makes it the only food of silkworms (Bombyx mori L.). It is recorded that 6.73 million hectares of area are affected by salinity and sodicity stresses covering various states of the country, which is becoming one of the major threats to popularizing sericulture in India. In the present study, chlorophyll, protein, catalase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase content of leaves of six mulberry germplasm viz., English Black, Kolitha-3, C776, Rotundiloba, BC259, and S1 grown under coastal saline soils of South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, India was investigated. Results demonstrated a sharp decrease in the chlorophyll (2.35 to1.19 mg.g FW-1) and protein (30.10 to 15.20 mg.g FW-1) contents of leaves of all the mulberry germplasm with increasing soil salinity (1.60 to 22.70 dS.m-1). On the contrary, the number of stress-related antioxidant enzymes like catalase, peroxidases, and superoxide dismutase increased from 1.15 to 5.43, 1.43 to 4.76, and 8.65 to 25.15 g-1 FW.min-1, respectively. Overall, the field study indicated the superiority of Kolitha-3 and C776 grown in Canning (Canning I and II), Basanti, Namkhana, Kakdwip, and Sagar blocks of coastal regions of South 24 Parganas. The study deals with issues of the utilization of scarce land promoting income-generating avenues like sericulture in saline areas.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is one of the pollutants that can cause potential damage to the ecosystem. NO2 emitted from vehicles forms the primary precursor for ground-level ozone. In this study, an analysis of the daily average of NO2 concentration with meteorology measured for two years 2021 and 2022 is being carried out. It is evident from the analysis that NO2 concentration followed an apparent diurnal pattern with a maximum value in the morning hours and a minimum during the afternoon hours. Summer months recorded the highest, and North East Monsoon (NEM) recorded the lowest values of NO2. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between NO2 and Temperature. An autoregressive model was formulated to forecast the daily average values of NO2 concentration. Unit root test was performed to check the stationarity of the data points, which is important in determining trends and seasonal changes. From the model procedure, the order that best fits the data was identified as AR (4), in which the process has the current value based on the previous three values. The Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Schwartz Criterion (SC), which are estimators of prediction error for AR (4), are low. The Jarque confirmed the normal distribution-Bera test, which again approves the satisfactoriness of the model.

The coir industry in India’s southern coastal regions, especially in the state of Kerala, is becoming increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of the accumulation and incremental increase of coir pith each year. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of pretreatment on the anaerobic digestion of coir pith. The characterization study of coir pith shows high organic content, which can be anaerobically digested to produce biogas. But, the high lignin content (30.91%) makes the process slow. To overcome this, a biological pretreatment method was tried using two microbial cultures belonging to fungal genera known to be lignin decomposers, viz., Trichoderma and Pleurotus. By using Trichoderma, lignin content was reduced by 3.7%, and the maximum gas production was obtained in a shorter time (19 days) in comparison with the sample without any pretreatment (24 days). When Pleurotus was used for lignin degradation, the lignin content was reduced by 6.78%, and the maximum gas production was obtained in a much shorter time period (14 days) in comparison with the former two methods. The gas produced comprises 74 ppm of methane, which has fuel value. The sludge after digestion was tested, which indicated a marginal increase in NPK value and hence can be used as fertilizer. The results of the study appear to be quite promising in the transition towards green energy by providing scope for the process of biomethanation, with the conclusion that further research can transform coir pith into a good renewable energy resource.