Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Environmental Studies
Growing wildfire-derived PM2.5 across the contiguous U.S. and implications for air quality regulation
Published: 2024-12-09
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies
Growing wildfire activity across North America generates large amounts of smoke that can travel long distances. Characterizing the influence of this smoke on surface air quality is critical for regulation of air quality and protection of public health. Here we provide granular, daily estimates of smoke fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations across the contiguous U.S. and use them to [...]
Easing population to 4 billion by 2200 would help people and nature
Published: 2024-12-06
Subjects: Environmental Studies
The past century of increases in human population and resource consumption has produced some undesirable effects, ranging from environmental degradation to climate change to political unrest. We are accustomed to seeing these dependent variables charted with time on the x-axis. But this study presents metrics of biodiversity, consumption, and pollution and their extremely strong correlations when [...]
WITHDRAWN: Green-Oriented Transition of the Manufacturing in the Digital Economy: A System Dynamics Perspective
Published: 2024-12-04
Subjects: Environmental Studies
withdrawn.
The State of Global Catastrophic Risk Research: A Bibliometric Review
Published: 2024-11-29
Subjects: Agriculture, Biodiversity, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Food Science, Geography, Other Life Sciences
The global catastrophic risk (GCR) and existential risk (ER) literature focuses on analysing and preventing potential major global catastrophes including a human extinction event. Over the past two decades, the field of GCR/ER research has grown considerably. However, there has been little meta-research on the field itself. How large has this body of literature become? What topics does it cover? [...]
Carbon dioxide removal could perpetuate community-scale inequalities of U.S. air pollution in net-zero scenarios
Published: 2024-11-28
Subjects: Environmental Public Health, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies
Pathways to net-zero reduce GHG emissions and improve air quality, but the magnitude and distribution of these improvements will depend on specific mitigation decisions, such as the amount of carbon dioxide removals (CDR). Here, we combine a series of models and datasets to analyze community-scale PM2.5 impacts across the contiguous U.S. of net-zero scenarios with different levels of CDR. Both [...]
Exposure to compound climate hazards transmitted via global agricultural trade networks
Published: 2024-11-15
Subjects: Agriculture, Climate, Environmental Studies, Risk Analysis
Compound climate hazards, such as co-occurring temperature and precipitation extremes, substantially impact people and ecosystems. Internal climate variability combines with the forced global warming response to determine both the magnitude and spatial distribution of these events, and their consequences can propagate from one country to another via many pathways. We examine how exposure to [...]
Unravelling sustainable development at the sub-national scale in India
Published: 2024-11-07
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Studies, Life Sciences, Nature and Society Relations
India's diverse socioeconomic landscape and environmental challenges make it a complex case for implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite India's federal structure, comprehensive research on subnational SDG progress is lacking. This study analysed progress, challenges, interlinkages, and spatial disparities in individual and grouped SDGs (environmental, social, and [...]
Livelihood Asset versus Capabilities: Pillars for Sustainable Development in Rural Households of East Wallaga zone, Southwest Ethiopia
Published: 2024-10-30
Subjects: Environmental Studies
This study investigated the relationship between livelihood assets and capabilities in rural households of East Wallaga Zone, Southwest Ethiopia, to understand how they contribute to sustainable development. The analysis, using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), examined factors such as social engagement, land size, education, animal ownership, irrigation, and household size as indicators of [...]
Fluoride concentration in groundwater and relationship with the sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+) Fluoride concentration in groundwater
Published: 2024-10-19
Subjects: Environmental Studies
Groundwater is the largest freshwater reserve on the planet, and its quality plays a fundamental role in human well-being and economic development. However, it sometimes contains potentially harmful compounds, such as fluoride in high concentrations, which has led to the implementation of quality standards to ensure water potability. This study evaluates the concentrations of fluoride in [...]
Climate change projects and youth engagement: Empowerment and contested knowledge.
Published: 2024-10-19
Subjects: Environmental Studies
This study investigated youths’ empowerment through EU-funded climate change projects (CCPs) and the role that social research and public engagement have in that process. The importance of considering youth empowerment in a time of climate change is increasingly recognised. Youths are exposed to interrelated health, social, economic, and political vulnerabilities caused by climate change, but [...]
Emotional predictors of environmental policy support and opposition
Published: 2024-10-15
Subjects: Environmental Studies
Understanding the affective responses to the climate and ecological emergency is essential to the development of and compliance with mitigation and adaptation policy. Empirical evidence suggests that individuals feeling negative emotions about the state of nature and the climate are more likely to show greater support for environmental policy. This is the first study investigating which among [...]
Definitional confusion and collateral damage due to new deforestation-free trade policies
Published: 2024-10-11
Subjects: Environmental Studies
1. New policies for deforestation-free trade policies, such as the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), critically depend on the definition of forest, as mappable land cover and/or as rights-related land use type. Areas with a high tree cover combined with agricultural use and agroforestry are excluded from the official forest definition but are not separately mapped. Based on the [...]
BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES IN MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
Published: 2024-10-08
Subjects: Environmental Studies
Micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are essential for economic and social development globally, as they represent a significant proportion of employment and production. Nonetheless, these enterprises confront substantial difficulties in incorporating sustainable practices, largely attributable to their limited financial resources and capacity, difficulties in accessing relevant information, [...]
Floodcraft: Game-based Interactive Learning Environment using Minecraft for Flood Mitigation and Preparedness for K-12 Education
Published: 2024-10-04
Subjects: Educational Methods, Environmental Studies, Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces
Flooding poses a significant threat to communities worldwide, yet educational methods to teach flood mitigation strategies are often lacking in engagement and practical application. This study introduces Floodcraft, an open-source educational game developed using the Minecraft platform to teach K-12 students about flood preparedness and mitigation methods interactively. The game encompasses four [...]
Private protected areas exhibit greater bias towards unproductive land compared to public protected areas
Published: 2024-09-13
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Studies, Geography, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Globally, private protected areas (PPAs) have become an important tool for biodiversity conservation. While they are expanding in size and number, there is limited evidence on their potential impact on avoiding biodiversity loss, and how this impact compares to the public protected areas (PAs). The impact of protection is measured as the actual biodiversity outcome within the area protected [...]