Rural landscape, production and human consumption: past, present and future

Production and consumption of food and in a rural area over the last 400 years were reconstructed for a parish in south east Sweden. This was based on a number of different data sources, including historical maps and official demographic and agricultural statistics. Changes in population (and thus consumption) and the production from arable land and livestock were calculated and used to provide an estimate of the area's supply and demand over time, and of the historical sustainability of the area. Overall food productivity was remarkably constant over time, at approximately 0.04 kgC m(-2) y(-1), despite recent changes in population size and the area of cultivated land. The empirical results from the past and the present, together with the future land changes due to shoreline displacement were used to predict the situation in the future. These final estimates can be used in the assessment of risk for exposure to contaminated food for the future population in the area.     

Biodegradability of plastics: the issues,recent advances,and future perspectives

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -     

China's natural wetlands: past problems, current status, and future challenges

Natural wetlands, occupying 3.8% of China's land and providing 54.9% of ecosystem services, are unevenly distributed among eight wetland regions. Natural wetlands in China suffered great loss and degradation (e.g., 23.0% freshwater swamps, 51.2% costal wetlands) because of the wetland reclamation during China's long history of civilization, and the population pressure and the misguided policies over the last 50 years. Recently, with an improved understanding that healthy wetland ecosystems play a vital role in her sustainable economic development, China started major efforts in wetland conservation, as signified by the policy to return reclaimed croplands to wetlands, the funding of billions of dollars to restore degraded wetlands, and the national plan to place 90% of natural wetlands under protection by 2030. This paper describes the current status of the natural wetlands in China, reviews past problems, and discusses current efforts and future challenges in protecting China's natural wetlands.     

Seaweed future cultivation in Chile: perspectives and challenges

Production of seaweeds in Chile has fluctuated between 120,000 and 316,000 wet metric tons per year during the last ten years. The most important Phaeophyta are exploited for alginate production and as abalone feed. Among the Rhodophyta, Chilean production comes mainly from wild stocks, as at present cultivation on a commercial scale is restricted to Gracilaria. Large scale production of this species has been the result of a sharp increase in the number of farms. During the last five years an important trend towards diversification of seaweed exploitation and cultivation has developed. The demand for brown algal materials for the alginate industry, abalone cultivation, seaweed flour production for human and animal feeding and the development of novel food products has encouraged the farming of Macrocystis pyrifera and of red edible seaweeds, such as Chondracanthus chamissoi and Callophyllis variegata, is also promoting the development of cultivation activities.     

A review on geothermal energy resources in India: past and the present

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - By 2040, India hopes to have completed its energy supply to fulfill the country’s rising energy demands. Renewable and conventional sources must...     

Evaluation of biogas upgrading technologies and future perspectives: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Biogas is acknowledged as one of the foremost bioenergy to address the current environmental and energy challenges being faced by the world. Commonly,...     

Wastewater treatment using bamboos in constructed wetlands: experiences and future perspectives

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Wastewater treatment using constructed wetlands (CWs) based on natural wetlands constitute a viable alternative with excellent cost and benefit,...     

Environmental threat and change detection in saline lakes from 1960 to 2021: background,present, and future

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Saline lakes are internationally known for unique chemical compositions, incorporate assorted foliage, and give a few biological system benefits and...     

Photochemical production of methane in natural waters: implications for its present and past oceanic source

We conducted irradiation experiments with riverine, estuarine, and marine water samples to investigate the possibility of photochemical methane (CH4) formation. CH4 photoproduction was undetectable under oxic conditions or in the absence of methyl radical precursors indicating that its photochemical formation is negligible in the present ocean. Significant photochemical CH4 production was observed in the presence of a methyl radical precursor such as acetone under strictly anoxic conditions. Our results indicate an indirect formation mechanism with coloured dissolved organic matter acting as photosensitizer. We suggest that photochemical CH4 formation might have occurred in the anoxic ocean surface layer of the Archean prior to the onset of O2 accumulation in the atmosphere at around 2300 million years ago. Oceanic CH4 photoproduction via methyl radical (CH3) precursors and its subsequent release to the atmosphere may have contributed to high CH4 mixing ratios in the Archean atmosphere.     

Past,present, and future use of phosphorus in Chinese agriculture and its influence on phosphorus losses

Large inputs of phosphorus (P) in chemical fertilizers and feed supplements since 1978 have improved soil P status in arable land in China, but have also created challenges by increasing P concentrations in manure and exacerbating water quality degradation. Arable land in China can be divided into five management zones based on soil P chemistry, with 15–92 % of arable land having lower P status than the agronomic optimum and 0.3–7.2 % having severe risks of P leaching losses. A scenario analysis of soil P budget and agronomic P demand during 2011–2030 highlighted the great pressure China faces in sustainable P management and the need for drastic changes in current practices. This includes new policies to reduce P supplementation of feed and improved P use efficiency by livestock and programs to expand the adoption of appropriate fertilization, soil conservation, and drainage management practices to minimize P losses.     

A reevaluation of carbon monoxide: past trends,future concentrations,and implications for conformity "hot-spot" policies

Control of CO is one of the great air-quality management success stories of the past 20 years. This paper evaluates whether past progress will continue into the future and whether changes in microscale CO concentrations are comparable to reductions observed at the regional scale. Neighborhood and microscale CO concentrations were evaluated at six northern and southern California monitoring sites. The study also included a review of CO emission, concentration, and exposure trends and on-road motor vehicle-based CO emission control programs for California and the United States. Consistent with California and national trends, CO concentrations declined at each of the six study locations from 1988 through 1998. Microscale concentrations declined at the same rate as did neighborhood-scale concentrations. Rollback analyses demonstrated that microscale concentrations will continue to decline through at least 2010-2020. Within a few years, microscale violations of the CO National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) will be unlikely in California except under extraordinary circumstances.     

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on air pollution: a global research framework,challenges, and future perspectives

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - As a result of extreme modifications in human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the status of air quality has recently been improved. This...     

Investigating global surface temperature from the perspectives of environmental,demographic, and economic indicators: current status and future temperature trend

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Anthropogenic activities have increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gas emissions, which have observably increased global temperature....     

Assessment of present and future risk to Italian forests and human health: Modelling and mapping

A review of ozone pollution in Italy shows levels largely above the thresholds established by EU regulation for vegetation and human health protection. The Italian air quality monitoring network appears quantitatively inadequate to cover all the territorial surface, because of scarcity and unequal distribution of monitoring sites. By applying the integrated assessment model RAINS-Italy to the year 2000, the whole of Italy exceeds the AOT40 critical level for forest, while Northern and central areas show strong potential of O₃ impact on human health with ∼11% of territory >10 O₃-induced premature deaths. Two scenarios for the year 2020, the Current Legislation and the Maximum Technical Feasible Reduction, show a reduction of AOT40Forest by 29% and 44%, SOMO35 by 31% and 47%, and O₃-induced premature deaths by 32% and 48%, compared to 2000. RAINS-Italy can be used to improve the map quality and cover areas not reached by the national monitoring network.     

A comprehensive review of dye-sensitized solar cell optimal fabrication conditions,natural dye selection,and application-based future perspectives

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) constructed using natural dyes possess irreplaceable advantages in energy applications. The main reasons are its...     

Stable lead isotopes in pond sediments as tracer of past and present atmospheric lead pollution in Belgium

This study demonstrates the utility of using rural ponds as a large-scale rain gauge to detect the importance of atmospheric lead pollution over the last 100 years in industrialized countries. Stable Pb isotopes are used to identify Pb pollution sources and to evaluate the relative importance of anthropogenic sources to the total Pb fluxes found in a semi-rural region of Western Europe (S Belgium). The isotopic ratios of lead in surface layers of a sediment core taken in a pond located at Willerzie and dated by ²¹⁰Pb geochronology show a pattern that differs clearly from that exhibited in the older sediment layers (pre-1900). These data indicate that the observed increase of lead concentration in the upper sedimentary layers comes from anthropogenic sources which are mainly of atmospheric origin.     

Nutrient pathways and their susceptibility to past and future change in the Eurasian Arctic Ocean

Climate change is altering nutrient cycling within the Arctic Ocean, having knock-on effects to Arctic ecosystems. Primary production in the Arctic is principally nitrogen-limited, particularly in the western Pacific-dominated regions where denitrification exacerbates nitrogen loss. The nutrient status of the eastern Eurasian Arctic remains under debate. In the Barents Sea, primary production has increased by 88% since 1998. To support this rapid increase in productivity, either the standing stock of nutrients has been depleted, or the external nutrient supply has increased. Atlantic water inflow, enhanced mixing, benthic nitrogen cycling, and land–ocean interaction have the potential to alter the nutrient supply through addition, dilution or removal. Here we use new datasets from the Changing Arctic Ocean program alongside historical datasets to assess how nitrate and phosphate concentrations may be changing in response to these processes. We highlight how nutrient dynamics may continue to change, why this is important for regional and international policy-making and suggest relevant research priorities for the future.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01673-0.