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In August 2022, the Oder River experienced an ecological disaster, resulting in the extinction of hundreds of aquatic organisms. Mass fish deaths also occurred during that time in the Gliwice Canal, located in southern Poland, which connects to the upper section of the Oder River. The aim of the article was to assess the impact of the waters from the Gliwice Canal on the water quality changes in the Oder River, as expressed by chloride, sulphate, nitrate, phosphate content, as well as its parameters such as conductivity, temperature, and pH. Statistical analyses were conducted based on our own research and a series of data collected by the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection. Below the confluence of the Oder River with the waters of the canal, an increase in sulphates levels and a decrease in sodium content were observed. The other parameters remained unchanged. It was also noted that the magnitude of each parameter was significantly higher in the waters of the Gliwice Canal compared to the Oder River. The research conclusion is that there is no influence of the canals' waters on the quality of the Oder River waters, both during the ecological disaster and afterwards. The presented research clearly indicates the need for separate analyses of flowing waters (with significantly higher salt and other pollutant dissolution capacity) and stagnant waters in water infrastructure (without water exchange). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open-type check dams are effective in mitigating sediment-related disasters in mountain regions. Unlike closed-type dams, they do not interrupt sediment transport or ecological continuity. This work reports on flume experiments that explored sediment trapping by truss and beam check dams, focusing on the impact of the relative spacing between the trusses or beams on sediment capture. We assessed the ability of adjustable check dams to preserve a dynamic sediment equilibrium by modifying the truss or beam spacing. Experiments with various gravel sizes and truss or beam spacings revealed that a smaller spacing results in a significant reduction in the proportion of sediment passing through the dam, whereas a larger spacing facilitates sediment transport through the dam. The two dam types showed different behaviors. Beams were more effective than trusses in trapping sediment, particularly at relative spacings of between 1.5 and 2.3, with the difference in sediment retention between the two types of dam reaching 43%. A practical case study of an adjustable beam check dam on Dongzhuang Stream in southern Taiwan illustrated the applicability of our research, where sediment management was notably enhanced following adjustments to the dam structure. The flexible operation of open-type, adjustable beam check dams presents a promising approach for sustainable sediment control in fluvial systems, enabling a balance between disaster mitigation and ecological conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although space travel is not often discussed in relation to the environmental crisis, it is proposed here that how the core agent of space travel, namely the astronaut, is imagined is of cardinal importance to environmental issues. Two astronaut types are identified in the analysis: the aspirational astronaut planning to escape Earth out of a looming sense of eco-anxiety amidst increasing signs of ecological disaster; and the exiled astronaut who experiences overwhelming environmental distress or solastalgia as home becomes stranger every day. The selected images of astronauts are interpreted as eco-imaginaries that embody a particular disposition in terms of their geo-locality and climate changes. The aspirational astronaut is explored by a brief slice into two film depictions, namely Approaching the Unknown (Mark Elijah Rosenburg, 2016) and Ad Astra (James Gray, 2019). The exiled astronaut originates from sub-Saharan Africa through the filmed performance work of the Kinshasha-based duo Michel Ekeba and Eléonore Hellio, working as the Kongo Astronauts (2021–2022), and an eco-film by Maisha Maene, entitled Mulika (2022). It is proposed that the diverging eco-imaginaries are products of where one places Earth in climate debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though the effect of oil price shocks on macroeconomics has been extensively investigated, the literature on how efficiency in household energy use affect crude oil price volatility is yet explored. This study unveils whether household energy efficiency lower crude oil price volatility asymmetrically in the United States using the historical and forecast dataset that spans from 1970:Q1-2040:Q1. Applying the multivariate case of Quantile-on-Quantile Regression, the empirical results show that household energy efficiency dampens crude oil price volatility with a stronger connection in quantiles before the median quantiles of crude oil price volatility. However, the effect of household energy efficiency decreases with an increase across quantiles of the crude oil price volatility. The results further show that energy-related CO2 emissions and retail electricity price intensify crude oil price volatility with varying effects across quantiles. These findings are similar to the sensitivity analysis and robustness checks. Overall, the policy implication of our findings is that government and policymakers need to demonstrate unequivocal commitments to improving not only energy-efficient practices at household level but also to mitigate energy-related environmental disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introducing a causal model to study the drought disaster around the world is the need of the planet today. There are many causes and effects of drought disasters around the world. These parameters, by affecting and being influenced by each other, cause the formation of processes that can make the experience of this event unpleasant. By planning and formulating appropriate strategies based on the results of this model, this event can be properly treated. For this purpose, in this research, the causal model of drought disasters is introduced. First, effective criteria or parameters in the occurrence of drought are identified. The tool used in this research is the modified fuzzy DEMATEL model. After responding to the direct relations matrix and defuzzification of this matrix, the causes and effects of the drought disaster are finally realized. The results of this study indicate that the criteria of global warming, mismanagement, and war are causal parameters or causes and the criteria of climate change, deforestation and soil degradation, dam construction, agriculture and livestock, and additional water needs are the parameters of the effect. Therefore, by establishing the conditions of each of the causal parameters, drought occurs or intensifies, and with the occurrence of drought, the effect parameters are created and show their effect on the causal parameters in the occurrence of drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale catastrophic events, either natural or human-influenced, highlight the requisite for emergency plans that specifically address the needs of obstetric and gynecologic patients. Pregnant, postpartum, and lactating individuals and their newborns and infants can be adversely affected by disasters and disaster-related environmental conditions. Obstetrician–gynecologists and other health care professionals have a unique role in developing and carrying out an emergency preparedness plan that addresses safety and medical needs in the event of a disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report data drawn from a field study in an Italian region (Campania), where a disastrous earthquake took place in 1980. We rely on subjects' responses to a questionnaire and on experimental measures. We compare the time preferences in two different samples, the first one constituted by subjects who directly experienced the earthquake and its aftermath effects, and the second one constituted by subjects who lived far away from the earthquake epicentre, but in urban areas with comparable socioeconomic features. Our aim is to test whether there are long run effects of environmental disasters on time preferences. We find significant differences, since individuals living close to the epicentre are more patient than subjects in the alternative sample, also controlling for risk aversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I draw on my own experience to trace the political opportunities and psychic challenges of leading a feminist movement-building and supporting organization, one that is dedicated to strengthening the global network of women's and feminist funds by influencing global aid and philanthropic funding flows to grass roots organizations and activists fighting for gender justice. I describe the destructive effects on the work and relationships in the organisation of unacknowledged unconscious processes manifesting in aggression, rivalry, competition, projections and the reproduction of unequal power relationships. I also describe the felt experience of my own burnout and withdrawal that resulted (particularly) from the intense psychodynamics of a strategy framing process that took place in the broader global context of an ending pandemic, an increase in violence toward feminist activists, looming economic and environmental disaster and backlashes to feminist gains. I explore and reflect on these unconscious processes, drawing on systems psychodynamic thinking and socioanalysis, showing how this theory and methodology can help us understand the fantasy underpinning feminist movement-building work and the constraints of that work in this increasingly violent historical moment. By learning to process these dynamics in productive ways, and to stay physically and psychically healthy, perhaps it is possible to retain Global South oriented feminist leaders and activists within our midst in a moment when our world needs them most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fundão dam failure in Brazil stands as one of the most significant environmental disasters in global mining, causing extensive harm to soils and native vegetation. Despite ongoing restoration efforts, the potential of photosynthetic cryptogamic pioneer organisms, such as biocrusts, remains largely untapped. This study explores the inoculation of moss‐dominated biocrusts in mining tailings using a novel biodegradable glue technique. We began by assessing the diversity of mosses naturally occurring in these tailings, identifying six species. Among them, Hyophila involuta (Hook.) A. Jaeger emerged as the most suitable species for inoculation experiments. We compared the inoculation of biocrusts within the biodegradable glue bed to direct soil inoculation. Our findings revealed that 94.5% of the inoculated biocrusts adhered to the glue bed after 75 days, demonstrating the technique's global potential in overcoming challenges associated with moss inoculation. We emphasize the need for further research into the long‐term effects of biodegradable glue‐bed application on biocrust sustainability across different ecosystems, while also implementing habitat improvements to mitigate other environmental stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an attempt at cross reading of three novels and an account of youth thus belonging to four authors: Rachid Boudjedra, J-m-g Clézio, Amin Zaoui, Nelly Arcan. A geocritic reading since the desert is the space represented in manner géocentré and multifocale. A reading which wants to be especially ecopoetic insofar as we try to release an ecological ethics behind these aesthetic productions. Nelly Arcan predicts a future with the desert climate in the world. We try to release the literary representations of this desert as a future possible vital space. A topographic space of the ecological disaster that humanity passes very close to more and more. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslides are among the most serious and frequent environmental disasters, involving the fall of large masses of rock and soil that can significantly impact human structures and inhabited areas. Anticipating these events is crucial to reduce risks through real-time monitoring of areas at risk during extreme weather events, such as heavy rains, allowing for early warnings. This study aims to develop a methodology to enhance the prediction of landslide susceptibility, creating a more reliable system for early identification of risk areas. Our project involves creating a model capable of quickly predicting the susceptibility index of specific areas in response to extreme weather events. We represent the terrain using cellular automata and implement a random forest model to analyze and learn from weather patterns. Providing data with high spatial accuracy is vital to identify vulnerable areas and implement preventive measures. The proposed method offers an early warning mechanism by comparing the predicted susceptibility index with the current one, allowing for the issuance of alarms for the entire observed area. This early warning mechanism can be integrated into existing emergency protocols to improve the response to natural disasters. We applied this method to the area of Prunella, a small village in the municipality of Melito di Porto Salvo, known for numerous historical landslides. This approach provides an early warning mechanism, allowing for alarms to be issued for the entire observed area, and it can be integrated into existing emergency protocols to enhance disaster response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The green tide formed by Ulva prolifera (U. prolifera) is a harmful marine ecological disaster. The rapid and accurate detection is of great significance for timely management of U. prolifera and the healthy development of the marine industry. Methods: Because the boundary of U. prolifera area is difficult to be determined accurately in high resolution remote sensing images (HSRIs), an U. prolifera detection method for HSRIs based on dual-path convolutional neural networks (CNN) is proposed in this paper. First, a dual-path CNN semantic segmentation framework is designed based on the distribution characteristics of U. prolifera in HSRIs. The area and boundary of U. prolifera in HSRIs can be extracted simultaneously using the proposed framework. Then, the strategy for optimizing the initial U. prolifera area detection results based on U. prolifera boundary is proposed to improve the detection accuracy. Results: The experimental results show that the proposed method can extract U. prolifera accurately, with F1-score of 88.25%, intersection-over-union of 78.97% and over accuracy of 98.99%, which is better than other U. prolifera detection algorithms. Conclusions: The proposed method can obtain good results for the detection of different types of U. prolifera in HSRIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The unprecedented scale and severity of the 2019–2020 'Black Summer' bushfires in Australia were an environmental disaster, and koalas became the public face of the fires' toll on wildlife. Aims: We investigated the media stories on koalas during the fires to identify what was reported, and how the numbers of koalas killed by the fires were sourced and reported. Methods: We searched for media articles published in major Australian print and online news outlets, local sources, press releases and international outlets for the terms 'koala', 'fire', 'bushfire', 'emergency', 'disaster' and 'burn', published between 15 October 2019 and 31 October 2020, and recorded any numbers of koalas given in those reports. This places our methods in a qualitative realm of investigation. Key results: We reviewed 371 media articles on the bushfires and koalas in New South Wales (NSW). Almost half included an estimate of the numbers of koalas killed in NSW. Almost a third stated that koalas are going extinct in NSW, however almost two thirds did not mention that koalas were already in decline from threats other than fire. Conclusions: We concluded that it was dangerous to put numbers on koalas. Misinformation, half-truths, and neglecting the important role of science and scientists, can erode public trust in the media and in science. Implications: The obsession with numbers has left a legacy that can drown out the more considered narrative of science and lead to distortions of policy and management, as well as distract from other critical attributes of koala conservation. We reviewed 371 media articles on the bushfires and koalas in New South Wales published between September 2019 and October 2020 for a qualitative analysis of impacts, factual errors and misinformation, themes and imagery. Presentation of exaggerated figures obscured the complexity of the issues. We concluded that to put numbers on koalas killed and the New South Wales koala population can be misleading as it erodes public trust in media and distorts scientific facts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is a multifaceted hazard, influenced directly or indirectly by factors such as precipitation, evapo‐transpiration, soil moisture content and groundwater levels. Drought dynamics is fundamentally linked to hydrological processes, as droughts directly impact water availability, soil moisture and overall hydrological balance. Given the global climate change and consequent increasing frequency of extreme events, assessing the vulnerability to drought stress in underprivileged areas has become highly relevant. In this context, drought characterization has become crucial for understanding the complex patterns of droughts and its impacts on agriculture, ecosystems and communities, thereby contributing to food security, environmental sustainability and disaster preparedness. The major goal of this study was to evaluate the onset, duration, frequency and extent of agricultural drought using satellite‐based datasets. The hyper‐temporal Système Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) VEGETATION (VGT) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data were used in this study to quantify the drought related stress on vegetation cover. The spatial extent of drought and its pattern were estimated using the long‐term Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) derived from hyper‐temporal SPOT‐VGT NDVI datasets. Notably, strong agreement was found between the estimations of onset and duration, particularly during severe drought years such as 2002 and 2008. The study reveals that more over 95% of the total area encountered severe crop stress before the second week of July in 1999, 2002 and 2008, which are identified as severe drought years in the region. The frequency maps effectively captured the occurrence of drought events over a sixteen‐year span, highlighting distinct drought episodes in the study area and underscoring the significant prevalence of drought stress across a considerable area. The high r2 (0.61) value indicates a significant level of shared variability between VCI and yield of major crops, demonstrating their consistent alignment in capturing vegetation health and crop yield anomalies. The comprehensive delineation of drought patterns in the Bundelkhand region revealed by this study is potential for future preparedness efforts, enabling strategic planning and facilitating the implementation of sustainable policy interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short story utilises the tropes of the cybergothic to explore contemporary and historical crises of embodiment, particularly those that take place within the context of ecological disaster. The narrative takes place in the virtual equivalent of an intentional community, where the disembodied consciousnesses of humans seek refuge from an ecologically devastated Australia. The Clearing is an attempt confront the vestiges of colonial identities in settler Australians, and to interrogate the material realities and anxieties that are often elided in techno-utopian responses to the climate crisis. This work was written and conceived on the stolen land of the Wadjuk Noongar people. I pay my respect to their Elders, and extend that respect to all Indigenous Australians. Sovereignty was never ceded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change remains a polarizing issue in the United States, with conservatives expressing greater skepticism regarding its risks. We investigate how fear shapes climate attitudes across political orientations. Utilizing data from a 2023 online survey, results support hypotheses that conservatives demonstrate lower climate concern and that fear of natural and environmental disasters increases climate concern. Interaction results show that fear of anthropogenic environmental disasters elicits greater climate concern amongst conservatives. At high levels of ecological fear, the political divisions diminish as all orientations converge on higher levels of acknowledging climate risks and causes. Practically, this relationship highlights messaging opportunities by focusing on relevant environmental threats that aid in influencing conservatives to build collective support across political divides. Theoretically, these findings challenge expectations of dominant paradigms related to threat perception and political orientation, contributing to the ongoing development of new models that more thoroughly represent the relationship between these multifaceted constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental issues in mainstream documentary film have been aestheticized and personified through specific filmmaking methods such as talking-head interviews, single-character narrative arcs, and three-part dramatic structures. These anthropocentric approaches can make it difficult to pay attention to slower temporalities and more-than-human lifeworlds that are at the crux of understanding slower-moving environmental disasters. The groundwork for the ecological collapse of an ecosystem is often only partially discernible within a human time frame, encompassing connections across species, seasons, elements, genres, and time and space too temporally and spatially vast, too micro- or macroscopic to be captured as visible evidence, and therefore more experimental film practices are needed to register these scalar frequencies. Multispecies cinema is a new mode of filmmaking that centers the more-than-human through several experimental methodological expansions, with the goal of decentering the human while narrativizing ecosystems in trouble. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme weather events, such as hurricanes with intense rainfall and storm surges, are posing increasing challenges to local communities worldwide. These hazards not only result in substantial property damage but also lead to significant population displacement. Federal disaster assistance programs are crucial for providing financial support for disaster response and recovery, but the allocation of these resources often unequal due to the complex interplay of environmental, social, and institutional factors. Relying on datasets collected from diverse sources, this study employs a structural equation model to explore the complex relationships between disaster damage (DD), social vulnerability (SV), public disaster assistance (PDA), the national flood insurance (NFI), and population migration (PM) across counties in the contiguous US. Our findings reveal that communities with lower SV tend to experience higher levels of DD across US counties. SV is negatively associated with PM, PDA, and NFI, both directly and indirectly. Furthermore, PDA is positively linked to PM, whereas DD has a direct negative effect on PM but an indirect positive effect through PDA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The traditional villages along the Jiangsu section of the Grand Canal are facing the threat of decline and disappearance due to the decline of the canal transportation function and the advancement of urbanization, and it is urgent to study the protection and renewal of these villages. Based on the needs of villagers, this study aims to explore the planning and construction strategies of traditional village infrastructure in the Jiangsu section of the Grand Canal. Through a literature review, field investigation, and qualitative and quantitative analysis methods, this paper conducts in-depth research and data analysis on the status quo of six types of infrastructure in 29 traditional villages, including road traffic, water supply and drainage, garbage sanitation, energy utilization, postal communication, and ecological disaster prevention. The research results show that, although the infrastructure construction has made some progress, there are still problems such as unreasonable planning, low construction quality, and the lack of cultural characteristics, which cannot fully meet the actual needs of villagers. Through a regional comparative analysis, it is found that the infrastructure condition of the Jiangnan Canal section is better than that of the Huaiyang Canal section and Middle Canal section, but they all face challenges of protection and renewal. Based on the needs of villagers, this study puts forward corresponding protection and optimization strategies, which provide theoretical guidance and practical methods for the sustainable development of traditional village infrastructure, and it has important reference significance for the infrastructure protection and development of traditional villages in other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) represent a significant global marine ecological disaster. In the Yellow Sea, green and golden tides often occur simultaneously or sequentially, suggesting that interspecific competition involves not only spatial and resource competition but also allelopathy. This study investigated the allelopathic interactions between Ulva prolifera and Sargassum horneri using physiological and biochemical parameters, including relative growth rate (RGR), cell ultrastructure, chlorophyll fluorescence, enzyme activity, and metabolomics analysis. The results showed that S. horneri filtrate significantly inhibited U. prolifera growth, while U. prolifera filtrate had no significant effect on S. horneri. Both algal filtrates caused cellular damage and affected photosynthesis, enzyme activities, and metabolism. However, their allelopathic responses differed: U. prolifera may rely on internal compensatory mechanisms, while S. horneri may depend on defense strategies. These findings provide insights into the dynamics of green and golden tides and support the scientific control of HABs through allelopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CO2 is considered the primary contributor to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and is responsible for several global environmental and energy-related disasters, causing serious concerns because of its adverse impacts on the deterioration of the global ecosystem. Thus, it is now crucial to develop efficient strategies for capturing CO2 and its conversion into desired products. It is anticipated that this will greatly improve the stability of the ecosystem and encourage sustainable expansion in the energy industry. In this case, metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are becoming increasingly popular nowadays as a result of their appealing features including large internal surface area, structural homogeneity, and flexible porosity. This review critically examines the current advancements and real-world applications of metal–organic frameworks for CO2 fixation and its conversion into useful chemical products. Considering this, the contemporary trends and developments in CO2 conversion into cyclic carbonates, formic acid, olefins, methane, carbon monoxide, heterocycles, etc. via cycloaddition, hydrogenation and carboxylation processes are comprehensively deliberated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the complex relationships between environmental monitoring efforts (EME), community engagement (CE), and environmental risk perception (ERP) in the context of improving environmental disaster preparedness (EDP) in the specific case of fluoride pollution. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a conceptual framework, the study examines the effect of several variables on disaster preparation behavior in communities exposed to environmental risks. Methods: The data was collected from people living in Shanxi Province, China, an area that suffers from severe fluoride contamination. Results: The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) indicate that community engagement significantly improves the perception of environmental risk, which, in turn, positively impacts the preparation for disasters. Moreover, environmental monitoring efforts were shown to be a mediator of the association between community participation and disaster preparation, underscoring the crucial role that systematic monitoring plays in disaster management. The results indicate that including social and environmental elements is crucial for improving the ability of communities to withstand and recover from environmental catastrophes. Conclusion: The findings emphasize that there is an urgent need to consider social, and environmental aspects if the resilience of communities to, and their recovery from, environmental disasters is to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some communities in the Veneto Region (Italy) are facing a major technological disaster due to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) pollution. In response to this serious problem, a group of ordinary mothers exposed to PFAS contamination came together under the name MammeNoPfas (MothersNoPfas) to address this environmental disaster moving towards activism. They started to develop the epistemic capacity to understand these substances and disseminate this knowledge within their communities. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of these mothers as an epistemic community and a minority group, engaged in an accidental form of environmental activism. Based on in-depth narrative interviews, 23 mothers were involved in the study. A grounded theory and thematic analysis methods were used. Four major themes emerged: (1) health surveillance, (2) collective ignorance, (3) collective learning, (4) community practices. Nine sub-themes were associated with the emerging themes. This study demonstrated that the skills acquired by MammeNoPfas enabled significant participation in environmental and health issues. Social mobilisation, fighting for legal justice against those who poisoned their land and bodies and establishing themselves as an epistemic community are the three main dimensions characterising the struggle of MammeNoPfas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of environmental studies has great, but largely under‐realized, potential to play an integral role in confronting its raison d'etre—the ecological and climate crisis. Realization of this potential depends on the prospect of stronger connections being made across the wide and eclectic spectrum of its sub‐fields. This article explores two sub‐fields and streams of literature that have remained mostly unconnected—environmental impact assessment and environmental disaster studies—and identifies cross‐cutting concepts and themes. It is argued that greater integration of the two sub‐fields may help generate new insights and approaches in the complicated challenge of preventing of environmental disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multimodal change detection (MCD) harnesses multi-source remote sensing data to identify surface changes, thereby presenting prospects for applications within disaster management and environmental surveillance. Nonetheless, disparities in imaging mechanisms across various modalities impede the direct comparison of multimodal images. In response, numerous methodologies employing deep learning features have emerged to derive comparable features from such images. Nevertheless, several of these approaches depend on manually labeled samples, which are resource-intensive, and their accuracy in distinguishing changed and unchanged regions is not satisfactory. In addressing these challenges, a new MCD method based on iterative optimization-enhanced contrastive learning is proposed in this paper. With the participation of positive and negative samples in contrastive learning, the deep feature extraction network focuses on extracting the initial deep features of multimodal images. The common projection layer unifies the deep features of two images into the same feature space. Then, the iterative optimization module expands the differences between changed and unchanged areas, enhancing the quality of the deep features. The final change map is derived from the similarity measurements of these optimized features. Experiments conducted across four real-world multimodal datasets, benchmarked against eight well-established methodologies, incontrovertibly illustrate the superiority of our proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, when desertification is one of the expected ecological disasters in the background of global climate change, investigation of the biological mechanisms of xerophytes stress resistance has become popular. One of the key biochemical mechanisms of plant protection against unfavourable environmental conditions is a large group of compounds with different chemical nature united under the name of antioxidant system. Investigation of the characteristics of the antioxidant system of xerophytes of different habitats of the driest region of Georgia (East Georgia) was the aim of the presented study. The content of low-molecular antioxidants and osmolytes as well as the activity of antioxidant enzymes was studied in leaves of experimental plants. It has been concluded that the distinctive values of the indices of antioxidant system are manifested as the main mechanism of adaptation. There can be several such mechanisms in each species at the same time, which is probably a specific feature. In some cases, these mechanisms are similar in species of one habitat and presumably are related to the living environment; In general, it is possible to single out characteristic strategy of adaptation to stress for each studied species, which includes certain enzymatic and non-enzymatic components of the antioxidant system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kinship relationality understands the world as alive and sentient, and positions humans as participants within interconnected ecological networks. Inherently, this worldview can challenge how many educators and learners have been trained in extractive, transactional, and sedentary cultures; that is, separated out of relationship. This article shares the work of a large urban public library in western Canada, and their 'Play Professor,' as they built and facilitated an outdoor play-based literacy program. Following the program, amid subtle and stark reminders of ecological disaster, we noted the possibilities and complexities when moving literacy learning outdoors. Guided by kinship relationality [Donald. 2021. "We Need a New Story: Walking and the wâhkôhtowin Imagination." Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies 18 (2): 53–63. ], this article centres how conceptions of literacies might be expanded and nuanced to engage languages and stories already alive within the place-based ecologies where the learning occurs. Sharing vignettes of how the program unfolded, we sketch shifts in facilitation as other life forms came into the storied play. To support relational renewal in and through literacy practices we then bring forward the notion of kinship literacies and articulate three catalysts to support its growth: attuning to ecological stories, enhancing holistic practices, and expanding dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Awareness about environmental problems is crucial for dealing with impending ecological disasters and web series serve this purpose quite effectively, being an appealing and accessible audio-visual medium. Web series are one of the most powerful and popular online mediums that convey societal and ecological issues more effectively by visually portraying them to the public. Through mise-en-scene, the spectators grasp the plot line and understand the ongoing issues more deeply. The research paper deals with the visual representation of environmental degradation and its impact on humans and nature as a whole, through the web series, Railway Men: Untold Story of Bhopal 1984. Considering the series as a text, the study follows the content analysis method using the theoretical framework of ecocriticism. It presents the deadly impact of the Bhopal gas tragedy and the condition of people in Bhopal on the night of second and third December 1984. The study attempts to understand, how nature turned poisonous because of anthropocentric activities and how the series provides a visual clarity regarding human and nature interdependence. It unveils the Union Carbide Company and the Indian Government's poor response towards the deaths of people as well as the heroic roles of the railway employees in saving the lives of the common mass. The paper aims to make people aware of the current need to think about ongoing environmental catastrophes by revisiting the deadly night of the gas disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monograph summarizes our studies on the enzyme-mycological depletion of cereal seeds in the contaminated zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. April 26, 2024, marked the 38th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. In the contaminated zone (Novozybkovsky District, Bryansk Region), field experiments were initiated to study the accumulation of radiocaesium in the grain of 42 varieties of winter rye and 92 varieties of winter wheat. From 1987 to 1993, a total of 1,532 varieties from 28 crops of the global gene pool were examined. The research was conducted by the Moscow branch of VIR, in collaboration with several other research institutions. The findings of these experiments revealed that the global plant gene pool exhibits substantial diversity in radionuclide accumulation. The maximum variation in cesium-137 accumulation in grain under the same year and field conditions can be as much as 170-fold between different crops and up to ninefold among varieties within a single crop. The enological approaches described by I.M. Molchan, which consider informational and energetic interactions at various biological levels, should be integrated into both breeding programs and the assessment of the global plant gene pool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entangled in the push for modernity and securing frontiers, the young and rising mountains of the Himalayas bear stark witness to the effects of climate change and anthropogenic activities. Much of these effects are evident in the register of disasters, which displays horrific events. While popular media have increased its focus on climate change in this region, especially Uttarakhand, the emphasis has heavily relied on a techno-managerial aspect. Valuable these approaches may seem, they render the emotive and affective dimensions of disaster an appendix to the explanation. Drawing on scholarship on grief, I argue that grief is a structuring affect in the Himalayas that can politicise the Anthropocene as a generative framework to reveal historical inequalities. I show how it is politically urgent to emphasise grief when framing the story of disaster, not merely as a footnote but as the core element for portraying the plot of human suffering in public remembrance. I propose that a turn to the political in grief should emerge in the form of public witnessing and grievability. In demonstrating these claims, the paper approaches an unsettling account of disaster in the Raini village of Uttarakhand (India). Through this, the article centres on a normative dimension of climate change that often characterises a disaster as an 'eventful' register – invisibilising the affective contours of loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mining production industry often leaves large quantities of mine spoil heaps exposed on the surface. The lack of monitoring of these discharges could create sources of pollution; the most common among them is acid mine drainage, which causes the contamination of the environment by heavy metals present in its solutions. Bouaazza’s mine, present in Taza province North-East Morocco, was known for lead and sulfide exploitation for many years, which contributed to the exposure of important quantities of acid spoil heaps on the surface. To assess the impact caused by acid mine drainage in Makhat’s stream plants, sediments, and plant samples were collected along the stream. Physicochemical results for sediments showed pH values below 6. Geochemical results for sediments indicated Pb concentrations higher than the World Surface Rock Average standards (16 ppm), with values over 3000 ppm. As for plants, the values found after ICP-AES analyses were higher than the WHO permissible limit (2 ppm). These results confirm the harmful impact of the lack of environmental monitoring while and after abandoning mining explorations, which leads to environmental disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the relatively unexplored topic of the collective memory of environmental disasters from a psychosocial perspective. To achieve this, we conducted an exploratory case study on the Vaia storm, which hit the Italian Alps in October 2018, causing significant social and ecological damage. We carried out thirteen in-depth semi-structured interviews with members of the enunciatory community of Vaia as follows: groups of people who either experienced the disaster firsthand, studied it, or had a particular interest in it. Through a thematic analysis of the interview transcripts, the four following key themes emerged that illustrate the forms taken by the collective memory of the disaster: (1) a sensory dimension; (2) an emotional dimension; (3) a narrative dimension; and (4) a material dimension. Our findings suggest a non-anthropocentric, hybrid understanding of collective memory, aligning with emerging concepts in the psychosocial literature on the emotional impacts of environmental disasters. We also advance potential future research questions at the intersection of memory studies, resilience, and sustainability and stress the practical implications of collective memory in fostering sustainable practices and enhancing climate resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of environmental disasters in Australia are increasing. Moreover, they are expected to continue on an upward trajectory, leaving regional and rural communities in a highly vulnerable and precarious situation. Evaluating initiatives that support communities is essential to understand how best to help people process these events. This report is based on an evaluation of a Creative Recovery Network training programme supported by Arts Mid North Coast. The project was designed to support communities to build resilience in the aftermath of a disaster using creative processes. The evaluation used an action research frame that informed practice in real time by sharing data with stakeholders throughout. Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered and coded for thematic analysis. The evaluation included interviews, focus groups and surveys. The evaluation showed how the training provided the participants, all from disaster-affected communities, with a space to creatively express and process the many emotions that had arisen from their experiences. The training provided participants with tools that were successfully used in creative recovery workshops in their local communities. This paper reports on the Arts Mid North Coast and the Creative Recovery Network partnership project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influxes of sargassos are responsible for economic and environmental disasters in areas where they bloom, especially in regions whose main income relies on tourism and with limited capacity for sanitation and public health response. A promising way of valorization would be to convert this incredible biomass into tools to fight the deadly vector mosquito Aedes aegypti. In the present study, we generated hydrolates and aqueous extracts from three main Sargassum morphotypes identified in Guadeloupe (French West Indies): Sargassum natans VIII, Sargassum natans I and Sargassum fluitans. We conducted a chemical characterization and a holistic evaluation of their potential to induce toxic and behavioral effects in Ae. aegypti. Despite the low insecticidal potential observed for all the extracts, we found that S. natans VIII and S. fluitans hydrolates deterred oviposition, induced contact irritancy and stimulated blood feeding behavior in host seeking Ae. aegypti females, while aqueous extracts from S. natans I and S. fluitans deterred both blood feeding behavior and oviposition. Chemical characterization evidenced the presence of phenylpropanoid, polyphenols, amino acids and esters. Thus, Sargassum spp. aqueous extracts and hydrolates could be used to manipulate Ae. aegypti behavior and be valorized as control tools against this mosquito. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fundão dam collapse in 2015 resulted in the largest environmental disaster in Brazil's history with the release of tons of ore tailings mainly in aquatic environments. Amphibians are susceptible to contamination and they typically develop in aquatic and terrestrial habitats, making them useful indicators of environmental impact. Nonetheless, the effects of mining on amphibians are much overlooked compared with other waterborne organisms. We examined the impact of the disaster on the generalist treefrog Boana albopunctata (Spix, 1824) by measuring fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and liver mass in specimens collected in southeastern Brazil, before the disaster (2014) and at two time points after (2018 and 2022). Specimens collected in 2022 had lower FA levels in their tympanic area, which indicates the selection of individuals with more symmetrical eardrums across generations. We found liver hypertrophy after the accident, indicating the resilience of this biotransformative organ after heavy metal exposure but with likely physiological damage. This study is the first to demonstrate the impact of the Fundão dam rupture on an amphibian population living in the affected area. Our findings highlight the diverse impacts of mining on organisms and suggest that studies with amphibians can contribute in comprehending the magnitude of this and similar disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In China, in addition to green tides and red tides, outbreaks of Cnidaria (jellyfish organisms), Annelida (Urechis unicinctus Drasche, 1880), Mollusca (Philine kinglipini S. Tchang, 1934), Arthropoda (Acetes chinensis Hansen, 1919), and Echinodermata (Asteroidea organisms (commonly known as starfish), Ophiuroidea organisms, and Acaudina molpadioides Semper, 1867) not only damage marine resources, tourism, coastal industries, and navigation but also profoundly impact ecosystems near nuclear plants, beaches, and infrastructures, endangering human lives. This article suggests measures to mitigate future disasters, emphasizing enhanced monitoring and integration into China's marine ecological disaster monitoring system. This review is conducive to enhancing researchers' comprehension and reflection regarding biological disasters in marine ecosystems. Owing to global climate change or the ever-more frequent human activities in the offshore areas, it is highly probable that an imbalance in the offshore ecosystem has been induced. However, the importance of maintaining and protecting marine ecosystems' balance cannot be overstated. In recent years, various marine disasters have occurred frequently, such as harmful algal blooms (green tides and red tides), storm surge disasters, wave disasters, sea ice disasters, and tsunami disasters. Additionally, overpopulation of certain marine organisms (particularly marine faunas) has led to marine disasters, threatening both marine ecosystems and human safety. The marine ecological disaster monitoring system in China primarily focuses on monitoring and controlling the outbreak of green tides (mainly caused by outbreaks of some Ulva species) and red tides (mainly caused by outbreaks of some diatom and dinoflagellate species). Currently, there are outbreaks of Cnidaria (Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa organisms; outbreak species are frequently referred to as jellyfish), Annelida (Urechis unicinctus Drasche, 1880), Mollusca (Philine kinglipini S. Tchang, 1934), Arthropoda (Acetes chinensis Hansen, 1919), and Echinodermata (Asteroidea organisms, Ophiuroidea organisms, and Acaudina molpadioides Semper, 1867) in China. They not only cause significant damage to marine fisheries, tourism, coastal industries, and ship navigation but also have profound impacts on marine ecosystems, especially near nuclear power plants, sea bathing beaches, and infrastructures, posing threats to human lives. Therefore, this review provides a detailed introduction to the marine organisms (especially marine fauna species) causing marine biological disasters in China, the current outbreak situations, and the biological backgrounds of these outbreaks. This review also provides an analysis of the causes of these outbreaks. Furthermore, it presents future prospects for marine biological disasters, proposing corresponding measures and advocating for enhanced resource utilization and fundamental research. It is recommended that future efforts focus on improving the monitoring of marine biological disasters and integrating them into the marine ecological disaster monitoring system. The aim of this review is to offer reference information and constructive suggestions for enhancing future monitoring, early warning systems, and prevention efforts related to marine ecological disasters in support of the healthy development and stable operation of marine ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining ecological resilience theory with a phenomenological epistemology, we explored experiential, social, and cultural factors mediating resilience‐building with participants from a village destroyed by the 2018 Fuego volcanic eruption in Guatemala. The purpose of the study is to find out what strategies displaced families and communities employ for living through the aftermath of a volcano eruption and for building psychological resilience. We conducted semistructured interviews with nine survivors of the Fuego eruption, now relocated and coping with the loss of community and family members killed in the disaster. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to analyze transcripts. The analysis produced four main themes: (i) individual and collective challenges, (ii) social support and protection, (iii) faith and culturally endorsed belief, and (iv) looking to the future. As well as learning more about how a community faced challenges presented by a volcano eruption, the current study has a degree of transferability, with implications for understanding how other communities experience and cope with such events. Highlights: Participants lost relationships and communities, and experienced emotional distress after the eruption.Social support from community members and professionals helped survivors face loss and relocation.Participants used faith to answer questions about why the eruption happened and how they responded.Reflecting on the loss, taking advantage of new opportunities, and being future‐focused aided recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017, Yongji County, which is located in Jilin Province, China, was devastated by its worst floods for generations. Consequently, the people of Yongji County suffered losses due to both the natural disaster and the deficiencies of disaster management. The aim of this research was to evaluate the factors that influenced the experiences of victims to provide insights into the performance of disaster management. Statistical analysis was employed to describe the functions and role of disaster management in the 2017 Yongji County flood. The Logistic regression also was adopted to explore the association between the performance and outcomes of disaster management experienced by victims, and gender, age, profession, frequency of disasters, the efficiency of defense measures, the efficiency of rescue, the loss of property, the degree of normal life and productivity recovery, the satisfaction of governmental compensation, the degree of disaster information disclosure, the government attitudes, the mechanism of accountability, and public safety education. This paper is among the first studies to identify the factors that affect victims' perceptions in assessing the performance of disaster management hosted by local government. Hence, this research makes an important contribution in assisting policymakers and officers in local government to improve performance in dealing with natural and environmental disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil has been known for its mineral resources, which have been exploited by companies spread for the whole country. Nonetheless, the Brazilian mining sector has also been known for the recent disasters which have generated unprecedented social, economic, and environmental costs. In this way, this work presents an analysis of the impacts of the imposition of a new tax on the Brazilian mining activity, since it is a potential cause of negative externalities, causing damage to the environment and the society. For this, the computable general equilibrium (CGE) model was used. The results show that the introduction of a tax for the mining sector increased the production cost of mining activity and related sectors, which implies a reduction in economic dynamism. On the other hand, an introduction of the tax has also generated an increase in government revenues, which can finance new spending on other sectors of the country. Therefore, the economic losses resulting from the policy are not very pronounced, making it feasible to impose the tax on mining activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental disasters are extreme environmental processes such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, tsunamis, floods, cyclones, storms, wildfires and droughts that are the consequences of the climate crisis due to human intervention in the environment. Their effects on human health have alarmed the global scientific community. Among them, autoimmune diseases, a heterogeneous group of disorders, have increased dramatically in many parts of the world, likely as a result of changes in our exposure to environmental factors. However, only a limited number of studies have attempted to discover and analyze the complex association between environmental disasters and autoimmune diseases. This narrative review has therefore tried to fill this gap. First of all, the activation pathways of autoimmunity after environmental disasters have been analyzed. It has also been shown that wildfires, earthquakes, desert dust storms and volcanic eruptions may damage human health and induce autoimmune responses to inhaled PM2.5, mainly through oxidative stress pathways, increased pro-inflammatory cytokines and epithelial barrier damage. In addition, it has been shown that heat stress, in addition to increasing pro-inflammatory cytokines, may also disrupt the intestinal barrier, thereby increasing its permeability to toxins and pathogens or inducing epigenetic changes. In addition, toxic volcanic elements may accelerate the progressive destruction of myelin, which may potentially trigger multiple sclerosis. The complex and diverse mechanisms by which vector-borne, water-, food-, and rodent-borne diseases that often follow environmental diseases may also trigger autoimmune responses have also been described. In addition, the association between post-disaster stress and the onset or worsening of autoimmune disease has been demonstrated. Given all of the above, the rapid restoration of post-disaster health services to mitigate the flare-up of autoimmune conditions is critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the five-part miniseries, Chernobyl (2019), with its contaminated landscape that deals with a troubled, traumatic history. It takes inspiration from the work of Walter Benjamin and his concept of historical materialism, but principally draws on theoretical paradigms dealing with transcultural memory, to advance a discussion on memory work, (re)mediation of historical events and televisual representation. Specifically the essay explores the strategies through which the Anglo-American co-production between Sky and HBO, the first of its kind, offers a collective remembrance of this man-made ecological disaster from 1986 in 2019, awakened in (re)mediated landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The failure of the Fundão dam devastated a large area of the Atlantic Forest, causing damage to and loss of riparian forests. Considering all the ecological roles of a terrestrial and freshwater community, it is necessary to understand the functioning of riparian forests and their regenerative potential, which will be decisive in selecting actions to restore these ecosystems, especially Atlantic Forest remnants. Aims: We evaluated the flora and structure of the regenerating stratum in three riparian vegetation remnants along the Rio Doce basin to support the propagation and restoration of the affected environments. Methods: Plots of 5 m × 5 m were made in each area, totalling 77 sampling units. In these plots, all woody individuals with a diameter at soil height (DSH) of at least ≥1 cm and diameter at breast height (1.3 m from the soil) of at least <5 cm were marked, measured (in height and DSH), sampled and identified. Key results: A total of 275 species distributed in 47 families were sampled, with Fabaceae the most diverse family and Siparuna guianensis Aubl. the most abundant species. Variation in β diversity was significant, and composition analysis showed that plots of each area tended to cluster. Principal component analysis and linear models showed that the edaphic parameters were not related to the richness and abundance of species in the sampled areas. Conclusions: The areas sampled here serve as a reference for the restoration of impacted areas. Implications: This study represents an important step towards knowing the species in reference areas for an active and efficient restoration in impacted areas. For an efficient restoration strategy, it is necessary to identify a reference ecosystem that can serve as a guide for planning and obtaining a measure of success. We sampled the flora of the regenerating stratum along the Rio Doce Basin, Brazil, to support the propagation and restoration of affected environments (Mariana disaster), and a total of 275 species distributed in 47 families were sampled. The results will be extremely important to propose restoration and conservation strategies for areas affected. Photograph by Odirlei Oliveira. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many, if not most, man-made disasters are preceded by near-misses, where something goes awry but lucky circumstances prevent things from going truly and irreparably wrong. Organizations can learn from these near-misses and make changes necessary to prevent future disasters, but often they do not. This can sometimes be the fault of dysfunctional leadership, but there are also more basic psychological factors at work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]