Understanding how biophysical and biochemical variables contribute to the spectral characteristics of vegetation canopies is critical for their monitoring. Quantifying these contributions, however, remains difficult due to extraneous factors such as the spectral variability of canopy background materials, including soil/crop-residue moisture, soil...
Climate change and overpopulation have led to an increase in water demands worldwide. As a result, land subsidence due to groundwater extraction and water level decline is causing damage to communities in arid and semiarid regions. The agricultural plain of Samalghan in Iran has recently experienced wide areas of land subsidence, which is...
Land degradation, extending over 96 million hectares is a primary ecological issue for India that has resulted in catastrophic biodiversity loss and exacerbated extreme weather occurrences. One of the major sources of land degradation is large-scale coal mining to realize country's expanding energy demands. By 2050 climate change and land...
This study performs a comparative analysis of the two existing monitoring and evaluation (M&E) methodologies , Capacity-Building Assessment Matrix (CBAM) and Greenhouse Gas Inventories (GHGI) Capacity Indices , both of which aim at undertaking quantitative assessments of capacity-building efforts for climate reporting aspects. In the study...
Planning for a sustainable future involves understanding the past and present problems
associated with urban centers. Rapid urbanization has caused significant adverse impacts on the
environment and natural resources. In cities, one such impact is the unsettling urban growth, resulting
in the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which causes...
Regional droughts are increasing in frequency and climate change projections indicate an exacerbation in the occurrence of regional droughts in the future. Droughts are complex hydrometeorological events, and the complexity of cause-and-effect relationships across administrative and political borders can make drought management a challenge. While...
Forest ecosystems play an indispensable role in addressing various pressing sustainability and social-ecological challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. However, global forest loss has been, and still is today, an important issue. Here, based on spatially explicit data, we show that over the past 60 years (1960–2019), the global...
Accurate urban morphology provided by Local Climate Zones (LCZ), a universal surface classification scheme, offers opportunities for studies of urban heat risk, urban ventilation, and transport planning. In recent years, researchers have attempted to generate LCZ maps worldwide with the World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT). However...
Tracking decarbonization effects requires a model for the identification of spatial energy demands on city facilities. However, most developing countries lack detailed discrete time and device-specific energy demand data. In this study, we installed multiple energy demand monitoring systems that could observe electricity demands at the device level...
This policy brief aims to answer a critical question: how can policymakers, civil society, and researchers address air pollution, climate change, and socioeconomic equity with inclusive solutions? The brief argues that much of the answer will involve reframing how policymakers, civil society groups, and researchers perceive the interrelationship...