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Toxic element concentrations including As, Hg, Pb, Zn, Cr, Co, Cu, Cd, and Mn were assessed in lignite mining areas of the Kutch district of Gujarat. It was assessed mainly in land uses like reclaimed mine soil, core zone soil, roadside soil, and reference agricultural soil along the soil layer of different depths. Roadside soil has the highest concentration of mercury (5.36 mg/kg), arsenic (18.2 mg/kg), lead (34.5 mg/kg), and manganese (464 mg/kg). In comparison, the core zone soil has the highest concentration of zinc (93.4 mg/kg), chromium (52.3 mg/kg), cobalt (19.2 mg/kg), and cadmium (5.65 mg/kg), respectively. Numerous soil indices including contamination factor, geo-accumulation index, ecological risk factor (ERF), and ecological risk index (ERI) showed that the study area lies within the moderate contamination to very high contamination zone and moderately polluted to the unpolluted range. The (E i f ) (Hg) for roadside soil and core zone soil indicated high potential ecological risk category, while reclaimed mine site indicated considerable potential ecological risk. The E i f (Cd) in all sites in the mining area (121-327) can be put under high potential ecological risk, and the rest of the metals (As, Pb, Zn, Co, Cu, Cr, and Mn) can be put under low ecological risk category. In the three sites (i.e., reclaimed mine site, roadside soil, and core zone soil), core zone soil of (10-20 cm) showed the highest ERI value of 660.48 (10-20 cm), indicating high ecological risk. Cd and Hg contribute to 48% and 38% of ERI value. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) suggested that the Cu and Mn were closely linked with each other and derived from similar origin and geo-chemical composition. The results of this study interpreted that the soil near the lignite mining area was contaminated with toxic elements. It is, therefore, recommended that the routine toxic element monitoring in the soil sample of the examined area should be done, and remediation action should be advised to prevent the accumulation of toxic elements in the soil and further into the food chain., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Soil fertility (SF) is a crucial factor that directly impacts the performance and quality of crop production. To investigate the SF status in agricultural lands of winter wheat in Khuzestan province, 811 samples were collected from the soil surface (0-25 cm). Eleven soil properties, i.e., electrical conductivity (EC), soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), calcium carbonate equivalent (CCE), available phosphorus (P av ), exchangeable potassium (K ex ), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), and soil pH, were measured in the samples. The Nutrient Index Value (NIV) was calculated based on wheat nutritional requirements. The results indicated that 100%, 93%, and 74% of the study areas for CCE, pH, and EC fell into the low, moderate, and moderate to high NIV classes, respectively. Also, 25% of the area is classified as low fertility (NIV < 1.67), 75% falls under medium fertility (1.67 < NIV value < 2.33), and none in high fertility (NIV value > 2.33). Assessment of the mean wheat yield (AWY) and its comparison with NIV showed that the highest yield was in the Ramhormoz region (5200 kg.ha -1 ), while the lowest yield was in the Hendijan region (3000 kg.ha -1 ) with the lowest EC rate in the study area. Elevated levels of salinity and CCE in soils had the most negative impact on irrigated WY, while P av , TN, and Mn availability showed significant effects on crop production. Therefore, implementing SF management practices is essential for both quantitative and qualitative improvement in irrigated wheat production in Khuzestan province., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

A limited number of meteorological stations and sparse data challenge microclimate assessment in urban areas. Therefore, it is necessary to complement these data with additional measurements to achieve a denser spatial coverage, enabling a detailed representation of the city's microclimatic features. In this study, conducted in Zagreb, Croatia, mobile air temperature measurements were utilized and compared with satellite-derived land surface temperature (LST). Here, air temperature measurements were carried out using bicycles and an instrument with a GPS receiver and temperature probe during a heat wave in June 2021, capturing the spatial pattern of air temperature to highlight the city's microclimate characteristics (i.e. urban heat load; UHL) in extremely hot weather conditions. Simultaneously, remotely sensed LST was retrieved from the Landsat-8 satellite. Air temperature measurements were compared to city-specific street type classification, while neighbourhood heat load characteristics were analysed based on local climate zones (LCZ) and LST. Results indicated significant thermal differences between surface types and urban forms and between street types and LCZs. Air temperatures reached up to 35 °C, while LST exceeded 40 °C. City parks, tree-lined streets and areas near blue infrastructure were 1.5-3 °C cooler than densely built areas. Temperature contrasts between LCZs in terms of median LST were more emphasised and reached 9 °C between some classes. These findings highlight the importance of preserving green areas to reduce UHL and enhance urban resilience. Here, exemplified by the city of Zagreb, it has been demonstrated that the use of multiple datasets allows a comprehensive understanding of temperature patterns and their implications for urban climate research., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Soil pollution by heavy metals can cause continuing damage to ecosystems and the human body. In this study, we collected nine fresh topsoil samples and 18 maize samples (including nine leaf samples and nine corn samples) from agricultural soils in the Baiyin mining areas. The results showed that the order of heavy metal concentrations (mg/kg) in agricultural soils was as follows: Zn (377.40) > Pb (125.06) > Cu (75.06) > Ni (28.29) > Cd (5.46) > Hg (0.37). Cd, Cu, Zn, and Pb exceeded the Chinese risk limit for agricultural soil pollution. The average the pollution load index (4.39) was greater than 3, indicating a heavy contamination level. The element that contributed the most to contamination and high ecological risk in soil was Cd. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Pearson's correlation analysis indicated that the sources of Ni, Cd, Cu, and Zn in the soil were primarily mixed, involving both industrial and agricultural activities, whereas the sources of Hg and Pb included both industrial and transportation activities. Adults and children are not likely to experience non-carcinogenic impacts from the soil in this region. Nonetheless, it was important to be aware of the elevated cancer risk presented by Cd, Pb, and especially Ni. The exceedance rates of Cd and Pb in corn were 66.67% and 33.3%, respectively. The results of this research provide data to improve soil protection, human health monitoring, and crop management in the Baiyin district., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Over the past three decades, global urbanization and climate change have caused significant differences in climate conditions between urban and rural environments. The effects of global warming affect the climatic values in the urban area. The bioclimatic comfort in an area effectively chooses a site regarding the urban quality of life and activities. This study aims to predict the temporal and spatial changes of the bioclimatic comfort zones of Gaziantep province in terms of climate comfort in the context of long-term global scenarios. The future climate simulation maps were produced and analyzed comparing comfort conditions according to Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) 245 and 585 scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) Phase 6 (CMIP6). Spatio-temporal changes in temperature, humidity, and bioclimatic comfort areas were analyzed to inform these efforts according to Thom's discomfort index (DI) and effective temperature-taking wind velocity (ETv). The current situation of bioclimatic comfort areas to examine their synergy under extreme hot weather throughout the province and their possible concerns in 2040, 2060, 2080, and 2100 were modeled using ArcGIS 10.8 software. SSP585/2100 will create hot (84%) areas, according to DI, and warm (29%) areas, according to ETv. The spatial results of the research are discussed, and some strategies are produced in terms of urban planning, design, and engineering., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

The present study was focused on the preparation of cobalt oxide (CoO) and barium-doped cobalt oxide (Ba-doped CoO) by following the co-precipitation method for the degradation of Emamectin benzoate pesticide in the aqueous medium. The prepared catalysts were characterized using SEM, EDX, and XRD to confirm the formation of catalysts and to observe the variation in the composition of catalysts during the degradation study. It can be suggested from the results of SEM, EDX, XRD, and FTIR analyses that Ba atom has successfully incorporated in the crystalline structure of CoO. The degradation of Emamectin benzoate pesticide was studied under the influence of different factors like solution pH, the dose of catalyst, contact time, temperature, and initial concentration of pesticide. It was observed that solution pH affects the degradation of the pesticide, and maximum degradation (23% and 54%) was found at pH 5.0 and 6.0 using CoO and Ba-doped CoO, respectively. The degradation of pesticides was found to be increased continuously (27-35% in case of CoO while 47-58% in case Ba-doped CoO) with the time of contact. However, the degradation was found to be decreased (23-3% in case of CoO while 47-44% in case Ba-doped CoO) with an increase in temperature. Likewise, in the beginning, degradation was observed to be increased up to some extent with the dose of catalyst and initial concentration of pesticide but started to decrease with further augmentation in the dose of catalyst and initial concentration of pesticide. It may be concluded from this study that doping of Ba considerably enhanced the photocatalytic ability of CoO for Emamectin benzoate pesticide., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

The ecological and health problems resulted from heavy metals (Mn, Fe, Ni, Co, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg, Pb, As, and Cr) in the road dust in the towns of Sekota and Lalibela, Ethiopia were assessed. The average heavy metal concentrations were ranged from 0.088 (Cd) to 2.714 (Fe) mg/kg. Individual metal and cumulative metals pollution levels in both towns revealed that Lalibela is moderately polluted by Zn, Pb, and Ni and Sekota being moderately polluted by Zn, Pb, Ni, As, Hg, and Cu. Furthermore, the United States Environmental Protection Agency's health risk evaluation model showed that the total heavy metal health risk levels in the road dust ranged from 5.71 × 10 -3 (adult) to 2.57 × 10 -2 (children), with an average risk of 7.35 × 10 -2 . Lalibela was found to have higher chance of risk than Sekota. The total lifetime cancer risk varied from 4.51 × 10 -9 (for adults, Sekota) to 7.75 × 10 -9 (for children, Lalibela), with a mean risk of 6.12 × 10 -9 implying a low chance of getting cancer. The hazard quotient and hazard index of all the metals were below the limit. In general, children were found to be more susceptible than adults., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

The safety of drinking and irrigation water is an issue of great concern worldwide. The rational development and utilization of water resources are vital for the economic and societal stability of Altay, an extremely arid area. In this study, three types of water samples (25 river waters, 10 groundwaters, 6 lake waters) were collected from main rivers and lakes in Altay and analyzed for electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, pH, major ions (i.e., K + , Na + , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , HCO 3 - , Cl - , SO 4 2- , NO 3 - , NO 2 - , F - ), and trace elements (i.e., Al, Li, B, Sc, Ti, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Mo, I, Ba, U). The water quality index (WQI), hazard quotient, carcinogenic risk, Na percentage, and Na adsorption ratio were then calculated to evaluate the water quality for drinking and irrigation. The results showed that the main hydrochemical type of river waters and groundwaters was Ca-HCO 3 , whereas that of lake water was mainly Na-SO 4 . The WQIs (9.39-170.69) indicated that the water quality in Altay ranged from poor to excellent. The concentrations of As, Ni, and U need to be carefully monitored since their average carcinogenic risks (for all waters collected, for adults) reached 0.05686, 0.06801, and 0.14527 and exceeded the safety risk levels (10 -4 -10 -6 ) by at least 568 times, 680 times, and 1452 times, respectively. The result of Na% and SAR indicated that lake waters (with Na% of 62.92 and SAR of 41.63) and groundwaters (with Na% of 37.88 and SAR of 5.58) in Altay were unsuitable for irrigation, while river water (with Na% of 29.24 and SAR of 3.33) could meet the irrigation quality requirements. The results of this study could help promote reasonable water resource use among three types of waters and population protection in Altay., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

The current work was conducted to study the concentrations of heavy metals (HMs) in farming soil and wheat and compute their geological and health indexes, including geo-accumulation index (I geo ), chronic daily intake (CDI), hazard index (HI), hazard quotient (HQ), and cancer risk (CR). In general, 256 samples were collected from agriculture soil (AS) and wheat in Kalaleh and Aq Qala areas, northern Iran. The average rates of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn were detected to be 0.28, 25.24, 15.44, and 60.33 mg·kg -1 , respectively, for AS and 0.01, 8.85, 0.73, and 33.81 mg·kg -1 for wheat, respectively. Based on the results, the HQ and HI levels for investigated HMs were lower than l. So, the health risk of HMs exposure for adults and children was low. CR levels for Pb in AS for both children and adults were observed greater than the threshold value. Accordingly, lead-contaminated soil will be carcinogenic if ingested by children. On the other hand, the exposure to Pb (through wheat) and Cd (through both soil and wheat) had the acceptable CR level for all groups. As a result, for an extended period, there are no significant health consequences for children and adults., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Zagros Mountains are like an island in the Middle East and they are subjected to changes in climate. Daphne mucronata Royle is an important medicinal plant species preserved in the high elevation regions in these mountains. Maxent species distribution model was used to integrate presence data (2413 points) and environmental variables to model the current and future potential distribution of D. mucronata in Iran. The most important variables were Bio19 with 50.5% contribution, followed by Bio8 and Bio2 with 30% and 11.4% contributions, respectively. The best Maxent model included seven variables, 4 feature types (linear, quadratic, product, and hinge), and had a test AUC value of 0.894. The current potential distribution indicated that 8% of Iran's drylands are suitable for growing D. mucronata and this area could decrease to 5.2% under representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5, and 3.1% under RCP 8.5 due to climate change. Our results suggest that D. mucronata may lose overall about 2.8% and 4.9% of its current distribution under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, respectively, by 2050. There would be only 0.7 and 0.2% gains under RCP 4.5 and 8.5, respectively. The species would locally disappear between 1500- and 2000-m elevation under RCP 4.5 and 8.5, respectively. The establishment of some stations for monitoring the changes in transition zone or lost areas especially on the southeastern parts of Zagros Mountain can help in detecting changes in the future. Additionally, stable habitats may be good target areas for future conservation planning., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

The present study aimed to evaluate the sources of pollution and the potential human and ecological risks of hazardous elements (HEs) in 40 hotspot sites of the agricultural soil around the Arvand River, Iran. The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Hg were measured to be 7.2, 0.8, 14.0, 67.9, 69.5, 63.0, 296, and 0.66 (mg kg -1 ), respectively. With the exception of Ni, the mean concentrations of all the elements were found to be higher than those in the background. The spatial distribution of HEs in the study area indicated an increasing trend of contamination from the north to the south. Pb, Zn, and Hg were the most enriched elements, resulting in a high pollution load. Moreover, the agricultural soil of the study area was threatened by a very high ecological risk due to the contribution of Hg, Cd, and Pb. Multivariate statistical analyses determined that the pollution sources are specified by the oil refinery emissions and effluents, irrigation with polluted water, fertilizers, dust storms, and airport emissions. The carcinogenic risk of HEs in both adults and children revealed an acceptable level; however, children faced a great chance of non-carcinogenic risk. The results provide a scientific basis for monitoring HEs and managing health risks via effective methods in the agricultural areas of the Arvand River basin.