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Climate change adds extra stress on the current global situations and the regional development plans. Despite, Africa being rated the least among the continents contributing to the atmospheric pollution, it continues to be responsible for the least global emissions (estimated at 4%). Although they contributed to anthropogenic emission slightly, African continent is one of the highly vulnerable to impacts of long-term climate variability and extreme weather events, especially on the Nile. Moreover, developing countries are the most vulnerable to climate change impacts because they have fewer resources to adapt: socially, technologically and financially. Therefore, this paper is seeking to find and modify the regional development process in the frame of climate change along the Nile river. By considering some examples to accelerate the development process and methods in the Nile’s valley regions. Strongly related to the climate change impacts on different sectors and activities such agriculture, industry, energy, and the water supply and demand as well.

The research aims to quantify the environmental carrying capacity of both Petrified Forest Protectorate in East Greater Cairo and Hassanah Dome Protectorate in West Greater Cairo, with their sustainable use and preservation. The environmental carrying capacity works as a sustainable method not to exceed the environmental limits of nature reserves or in other words, the number of visitors does not exceed the maximum allowed for visiting the reserve. The methodology used in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has been used. The elements of the methodology are at 3 levels, namely, physical carrying capacity (PCC), which depends on the optimal rate of space used per capita and open period, real carrying capacity (RCC), which depends on environmental and social factors, and effective carrying capacity (ECC), which depends on administrative and operational capacity. The results of the research found that the Petrified Forest Protectorate (East of Greater Cairo) accommodates 186,286 visitor per day, and Hassanah Dome Protectorate (West of Greater Cairo) accommodates 26,612 visitor per day. In addition to assessing the level of the ecological carrying capacity index (ECCI), which measures the extent of support for the population and its activities, and by comparing the total environmental carrying capacity of the two protectorates that reached 212,898 visitors per day with the population of Greater Cairo (Cairo Governorate and Giza Governorate), which reached 17 million (Capmas, 2017), it was found that the environmental carrying capacity of the two protectorates is not sufficient to support recreational activities and environmental tourism for people of Greater Cairo.

Abstract Increasing agricultural production has become one of the key components to bridge the gap between securing food resources and sustainable development goals (SDGs), namely, no poverty, zero hunger, preservation of natural resources (water and energy), combating climate change and its impacts, and halting the loss of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems. In this regard, the crucial role of nanotechnology in modern farming is emphasized as an efficient means to develop “precision farming” systems. It can play a potent role in promoting sustainable agriculture, improving nutrient utilization, and mitigating climate change and environmental pollution. Particularly, nanotechnology-enabled products such as “smart nano-delivery capsules” offer new opportunities for controlled slow release of diverse deliverables (e.g., pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and micronutrients) in compliance with the needs of plants under specific environmental stimuli responses. In this framework, this review explores the basic properties, application benefits, and future directions of nanotechnology in agricultural economics, particularly for promoting crop growth and soil reclamation under the umbrella of SDG targets. All obstacles for applying agri-nanotech products (agri-NPs) in farming have been identified and discussed, considering their life cycle assessment (LCA) in soil and plants. Emphasis has been made on evaluating the impacts of various nanotech products on crop growth in reference to traditional market technologies. Besides, this review work discusses the benefits of nanobiochar and nanobubbles as viable alternative natural nanotech products to promote crop physiology, alleviate environmental pollution, and sequester carbon in the soil. This work also summarizes the technical aspects associated with the conversion of agricultural biomass wastes into affordable biofuels. It also highlights regulations, legislative policies, and economic outputs to strengthen the public awareness and acceptance of nanotechnologies in agro-environmental fields. The opportunities and challenges in these topics are discussed to help actively develop and implement nano-enabled products in agriculture and related industries.

Emphasis is trending toward future bioenergy production being derived from cellulosic materials rather than starch from seed crops. The majority of research on perennial biomass production for conversion to ethanol or other biofuel has used warm-season grasses as the feedstock material. Some cool-season grasses also have great potential for biomass production, even in the southern prairie region. A study was conducted for 4 years to evaluate the dry matter production potential of several cool-season grass cultivars in west-central Kansas. Ten cultivars were grown at two locations, one an upland soil and the other a lowland soil, and harvested in late June from 2007 to 2010 when fully headed with mature seed. Three cultivars, one tall [Thinopyrum ponticum (Podp.) Barkw. & D.R. Dewey], intermediate [T. intermedium (Host) Barkw. & D.R. Dewey], and western wheatgrass [Pascopyrum smithii (Rydb.) Love], had the greatest biomass production with 4,525–4,840 kg ha−1 dry matter averaged over four years at an upland location. At a lowland location, three cultivars, either intermediate or tall wheatgrasses, averaged 5,340–5,490 kg ha−1 dry matter over the 4 years. During the particularly moist spring of 2007, three cultivars at the upland location and eight cultivars at the lowland location produced over 9,000 kg ha−1 dry matter. All cultivars increased in plant stand frequency from 2006 to 2011, except for the western wheatgrass and Russian wildrye [Psathyrostachys juncea (Fisch.) Nevski] cultivars that already had a high frequency before the first biomass harvest. These grasses may add versatility to production systems by not only serving as complementary forage for grazing or hay, but also by providing an alternative feedstock for cellulosic ethanol and combustion energy production.

We report an efficient and facile approach to biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using the extract of an agro-waste rice husk generated from rice production. The biosynthesized NPs produced were characterized by UV-Visible absorption, TEM, XRD, EDX, and FTIR methods. The impact of temperature and pH on the stability of the synthesized AuNPs was also studied. The TEM imaging revealed the formation of monodispersed spherical NPs with an average size of ~ 15 nm. The absorption spectrum of AuNPs demonstrated the formation of Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) peak at 530 nm. The XRD pattern suggested the formation of face-centered cubic (FCC) lattice structure of AuNPs. The FTIR analysis displayed characteristic peaks related to various phytochemicals in the plant extract responsible for reducing and stabilizing NPs. In addition, AuNPs showed thermal stability when subjected to various temperature scales. The AuNPs exhibited an efficiency against the pathogenic bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and pathogenic fungi Candida albicans. The AuNPs 18.5% DPPH free scavenging activity, indicating the antioxidant potential for AuNPs. In addition, the AuNPs showed anticancer activity against the colorectal adenocarcinoma carcinoma cell line. Furthermore, AuNPs displayed significant enhancement in photocatalytic degradation of Methylene Blue and 4-Nitrophenol dyes. The results obtained reveal the possible usage of AuNPs produced using rice husk in several biomedical applications.

Climate change constitutes a major threat to agricultural production, food security, and natural resource management. Saudi Arabia is particularly susceptible to increasing temperatures and extreme climatic events, such as arid weather and drought. The purpose of this study is to assess farmers’ beliefs and concerns as regards climate change. Extensive interviews were conducted with 164 farmers in the Jazan region. Results revealed that 89.6% of the farmers believed that climate change is due to human activities and 93.3% believed that it is because of natural change. Seventy-five percent of the farmers were concerned about insects and 73% about the prevalence of weeds on their farms. Findings of cluster analysis revealed that farmers who are more likely to believe in climate change are more in agreement with the role of extension services in capacity building. Farmers’ beliefs about climate change were significantly influenced by membership of agricultural cooperatives, access to loans, use of extension services, age, farm size, and level of soil fertility. Access to loans was the only significant factor to explain the differences in farmers’ concerns. These results suggest the need for capacity-building activities targeted at improving farmers’ adaptability to manage climate variability.

As in many countries worldwide, deterioration of quality of water in Morocco’s natural reserves continues, such that an inventory of qualities of these reserves has become necessary. Based on statistical analyses of the data collected by measuring nineteen physicochemical variables, and applying an index, the comprehensive pollution index, to those data, the quality of the waters of Lake Dayat Roumi, Morocco, were assessed. Waters of the lake are currently characterized by a salinity of 921.7 mg Cl−/L and 124.2 mg sulfates/L. The concentration of chloride exceeds the value indicated in the standard norms. This can affect the composition of the sediment, overlying water, and specific composition of biota in the lake. Status and trends of values of other parameters also indicate deterioration of water quality in this lake. Multivariate statistical analysis made it possible to differentiate four clusters of samples according to their physicochemical characteristics. These groups are due to inputs from three sources of materials: leaching of rocks from the watershed and plantations, discharge of domestic wastewater and runoff water. Samples taken from deeper parts of the lake indicate a depression of concentrations of dissolved oxygen during the hot season. The analysis results demonstrate the heterogeneous degradation of the water quality in the peripheral areas and deep parts of the lake, favored by the leaching of soils by rainwater, which, when sufficiently severe, can cause repeated mortalities of fishes. This situation requires regular water quality monitoring to develop a management plan for restoration of water quality in the lake to preserve valued ecological services.

The peri-urban landscape is a highly dynamic area between the urban zone and the rural belt. The heterogeneous natural landscape around the cities provides several ecosystem services, but progressive urbanization affects it and results in the loss of biodiversity, greenery, and related benefits. This study attempts to quantify the social amenities associated with ecosystem services in the peri-urban landscape of the Gujrat district, in Pakistan, by using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) The results show that the peri-urban landscape provides amenities for the well-being of the community. Such amenities and the related recreational opportunities represent ecosystem services that are highly regarded by the residents, so much so that a significant willingness to pay can be associated with them. Therefore, this study highlights that natural areas and green areas’ landscapes must be taken into account when facing the social and economic necessity to provide for city expansion in developing countries, especially when aiming to achieve development in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals. The ecosystem services and their evaluation are confirmed as indispensable tools for conservation and fortification of landscape development.