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The influence of elemental sulfur (S(0)) amendment on methylmercury (MeHg) accumulation in rice and the chemical form of Hg in the rhizosphere were investigated under waterlogged conditions in Hg-contaminated soil (the majority of the Hg (˜70%) in forms similar to HgS). Different levels of S(0) addition increased the MeHg accumulation in rice. After a sequential extraction analysis of the chemical forms of Hg in the rhizosphere, the results showed that S(0) addition increased the organic bound Hg and decreased the residual Hg in the soils. An Hg LIII XANES further showed that S(0) addition increased the proportion of Hg in the form of RS-Hg-SR and decreased the proportion of Hg in the form of HgS, indicating that S(0) input may reactivate the non-bioavailable Hg in the rhizosphere and improve the net Hg methylation. These findings suggest that the application of S fertilizers to Hg-contaminated paddy soils may increase the MeHg concentration in the edible parts of crops, which may lead to more potential health problems in humans depending on the crop type. However, our study also suggests that S(0) addition could be an effective measure for mobilizing the insoluble Hg and accelerating the phytoremediation process in Hg-contaminated paddy soils.

One of the biggest challenges in forestry research is the effective and accurate measuring and monitoring of forest variables, as the exploitation potential of forest inventory products largely depends on the accuracy of estimates and on the cost of data collection. This paper presented a novel computational method of low-cost forest inventory using global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals in a crowdsourcing approach. Statistical features of GNSS signals were extracted from widely available GNSS devices and were used for predicting forest attributes, including tree height, diameter at breast height, basal area, stem volume, and above-ground biomass, in boreal forest conditions. The basic evidence of the predictions is the physical correlations between forest variables and the responses of GNSS signals penetrating through the forest. The random forest algorithm was applied to the predictions. GNSS-derived prediction accuracies were comparable with those of the most accurate 2-D remote sensing techniques, and the predictions can be improved further by integration with other publicly available data sources without additional cost. This type of crowdsourcing technique enables the collection of up-to-date forest data at low cost, and it significantly contributes to the development of new reference data collection techniques for forest inventory. Currently, field reference can account for half of the total costs of forest inventory.

Indoor humidity directly impacts the health of indoor populations. In arid and semi-arid cities, the buildings indoor humidity is typically higher than outdoors, and the presence of water vapor results from water dissipation inside the buildings. Few studies have explored indoor humidity features and vapor distribution or evaluated water dissipation inside buildings. This study examined temperature and relative humidity (RH) changes in typical residential and office buildings. The results indicate a relatively stable temperature with vary range of ±1°C and a fluctuation RH trend which is similarly to that of water use. We proposed the concept of building water dissipation to describe the transformation of liquid water into gaseous water during water consumption and to develop a building water dissipation model that involves two main parameters: indoor population and total floor area. The simulated values were verified by measuring water consumption and water drainage, and the resulting simulation errors were lower for residential than for office buildings. The results indicate that bathroom vapor accounts for 70% of water dissipation in residential buildings. We conclude that indoor humidity was largely a result of water dissipation indoors, and building water dissipation should be considered in urban hydrological cycles.

AbstractBecause of its low level of energy consumption and the small scale of its industrial development, the Tibet Autonomous Region has historically been excluded from China's reported energy statistics, including those regarding CO2 emissions. In this paper, we estimate Tibet's energy consumption using limited online documents, and we calculate the 2014 energy‐related and process‐related CO2 emissions of Tibet and its seven prefecture‐level administrative divisions for the first time. Our results show that 5.52 million tons of CO2 were emitted in Tibet in 2014; 33% of these emissions are associated with cement production. Tibet's emissions per capita amounted to 1.74 tons in 2014, which is substantially lower than the national average, although Tibet's emission intensity is relatively high at 0.60 tons per thousand yuan in 2014. Among Tibet's seven prefecture‐level administrative divisions, Lhasa City and Shannan Region are the two largest CO2 contributors and have the highest per capita emissions and emission intensities. The Nagqu and Nyingchi regions emit little CO2 due to their farming/pasturing‐dominated economies. This quantitative measure of Tibet's regional CO2 emissions provides solid data support for Tibet's actions on climate change and emission reductions.

Abstract The rapid urbanization in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) area has aggravated the cross-regional pollution of PM2.5 and aroused concern about the conflicts between urban development and air quality. This study aims to examine the spatial-temporal PM2.5 variations in the BRI region, in which area many countries are undergoing rapid urbanization and the main field of future urbanization, to delineate the driving mechanism of PM2.5 accumulation or dissipation. Previous studies have analyzed the PM2.5 distribution at the national level, providing limited information regarding regional heterogeneity in urbanization and PM2.5 concentrations within each country. Additionally, the regional differences in the driving mechanisms of urbanization factors on PM2.5 concentrations have not been thoroughly investigated within the BRI areas. In this study, remote sensing raster data was combined with geographic grid units to examine variations in urbanization and PM2.5 within the BRI region, identifying “typical regions” where urbanization could enhance PM2.5 accumulation. The main results are as follows: i) The spatial autocorrelation of urbanization and PM2.5 concentrations has gradually strengthened, showing consistent high-value distributions in the North China Plain, Ganges Plain and indicating a synergistic growth among emerging developing regions such as China, India, and the Persian Gulf Coast. ii) The correlation between urbanization and PM2.5 concentrations exhibited a distinct trend of differentiation within the BRI regions. The influence of urbanization on PM2.5 changed from agglomeration to dispersion, forming a “typical region” category composed of ten countries, including China, India, and Morocco. iii) The three main urbanization-related factors for PM2.5 accumulation in the “typical regions” for 2005–2016 were energy pollution emission, economic activities, and human activities. By 2023, the effects of energy pollution and economic activities are expected to converge in some “typical region” countries. Targeted urban strategies and governance actions based on the different driving-types of “typical regions” in BRI have been proposed to coordinate relationship between urban construction and atmospheric environmental protection.

The Paleogene of the east sag is in the rift period of the lake basin, which is subjected to the effect of the bedrock burial hill and the east branch of the Tan-Lu faulted zone, with the layers present the half graben rift, which is break in east and overlap in west. According to the distribution of the main synsedimentary faulting in the plane and profile, the half graben rift can be further divided into abrupt slope fault zone and gentle slope fault zone. In the corrective background, the LST of the brupt slope fault zone have developed the alleviation system (alluvial fan, braided river and flood plain deposition) and the vertical accretion of the macrofragment deposition; in the TST, the alluvial fan has evolved to the fan delta and turbidite fan; the deep lake fades faded, the water body shoaled and the shoremeare and flood plain environment is coming in HST, with the development of the large scale prograde fan delta. The LST of the gentle slope fault zone have developed the alleviation system in the corrective background; TST changed from the alluvial fan to the retrograde fan delta, with the onshore fan delta plain above the faulting fold belt, the fan delta front between the upper and underlying and the slumping turbidite fan under the underlying fold belt; HST developed the prograde alluvial fan deposit, which are from the upper to the low-lying successively: alluvial fan, braided river, braided river delta plain, braided river delta front and the deep slump turbidite fan.

One of the most important criteria for a city’s sustainability is climate adaptation. Simultaneously, traditional cities in West Asia have achieved harmony between architecture and the environment, depending on the experience and culture of the local community, indicating a fundamental stage of adaptation to the environment and climate. This research attempted to study and examine the traditional urban fabric, in order to diagnose its significance and ability to solve contemporary problems, such as the lack of comfortable and suitable urban housing environments in hot–dry climate areas, which cover most of West Asia. We used two research methods to create an integrated vision to investigate the indicators and their effect on urban form. Four case studies in the urban fabric and housing communities of West Asia’s hot–dry research areas were chosen for the analytical study. Furthermore, inductive analysis was carried out to determine the most critical sustainability parameters in the particular urban fabric. The climate response parameters of the study cities were evaluated using Ecotect simulation tools, and the determinants of sustainability indicators were quantitatively evaluated to assess each indicator’s impact on the sustainability of the urban fabric. Our findings have implications for assessing the relevance of climate adaptation in the sustainability of cities and their effectiveness in combating the impacts of climate change.

Rungia gialaiensis, a new species endemic to Gia Lai Province in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, is described and illustrated. It is morphologically allied to R. daklakensis and R. khasiana, but differs from both in its stoloniferous branches growing from leaf axils.