Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has become one of the most important goals across the globe due to their significant role in the economic prosperity and human well-being. ...Recently, the business industry has become a dominant concentration for SDGs. However, the importance of small- and medium-sized industries has been rarely debated in this perspective. In particular, no attempt has yet been made to estimate the commitment of small and medium Enterprises (SMEs) towards SDGs in the emerging market in Pakistan. This study fills the gap by examining the influence of top management support on SDGs (e.g., environment and community practices) with a mediating role of green supply chain management and government support as a moderator. The model of this study is tested through structural equation modeling on the cross-sectional data collected through a structured questionnaire from 313 Pakistani SMEs. The results show that top management support significantly influences green supply chain management, environment, and community-based SDGs. Green supply chain management plays a partial mediating role between top management support and environment practices as well as between top management support and community practices. Government support significantly strengthens the relationship between top management support and green supply chain management. This research recommends SMEs to encourage participation in green supply chain practices and SDGs. Additionally, this research strongly suggests the government to facilitate SMEs in the adoption of green practices that can resultantly contribute to SDGs. Further implications have stated.
•South Asia (SA) has been greening significantly, while GPP increase is weak.•Croplands contribute most to greening, but not to GPP increase in SA.•Cropland greening does not contribute to gross ...carbon uptake by plants in SA.•Natural vegetation can assimilate atmospheric carbon proportional to greening.•Reforestation and conservation of natural vegetation areas are essential in SA.
Vegetation greening contributes to gross carbon sequestration by plants and thus plays a vital role in mitigation of global warming. Terrestrial vegetation has a significant greening trend in South Asia (SA); however, it remains elusive how this greening translates to gross primary production (GPP) (proxy of gross carbon uptake by plants at ecosystem scale) in SA. In this study, we investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of GPP in correspondence to leaf area increase (based on leaf area index as proxy of greening) over SA using remote sensing driven data on Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud computation, during 2003–2017. We found a much weaker increase of GPP in SA as compared to the overall greening trend, primarily attributed to the disturbance in cropland activities of the region. Especially, greening was highly significant (p < 0.05) over the most irrigated and fertile Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) of SA, however GPP trend was non-significant (p > 0.05) over this region. Further, natural vegetation areas also showed low vegetation greening and GPP increase during the study period. The analysis of the potential drivers revealed that both climatic and anthropogenic stresses (intensive cropping, population pressure) had a negative impact on the regional GPP, especially in IGP. Our study indicated that the overwhelming greening of SA because of enhanced cropland activities, did not contribute much to GPP over the region. The restricted cropland canopy carbon uptake and low GPP increase in forests led to a lower than expected increase of gross carbon assimilation over SA in the context of climate changes and anthropogenic disturbances. Our study inferred that effective reforestation programs and conservation of natural vegetation areas are essential in SA for efficient vegetation carbon assimilation.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
A two-way tunable power divider for Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer (SWIPT) is proposed in this paper. The power divider divides the incoming power in such a way that maximum ...power is utilized for energy harvesting purposes and the rest of the power is used for information decoding purposes. This unequal distribution of power is realized by tuning the varactor diode's reverse biasing voltages. A good matching performance is attained using the radial and short stubs at the input and one of the output ports, respectively. High isolation is achieved with the help of the resistor used for connecting the output ports of the power divider. The achieved power division ratios vary from 13:1 to 28:1. The tunable power divider is designed and fabricated at 2.4 GHz. The bandwidth measured at 10 dB return loss is 3.2 GHz and the isolation better than 12 dB is achieved between the output ports. The designed structure is compact and good consistency is observed between the simulated and measured results. The designed power divider may be used for future 5G wireless networks.
Land degradation is one of the critical ecological issue in the Aral Sea Basin (ASB). This study investigates land degradation in ASB during 1982–2015 using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ...(NDVI) as a proxy. The residual trend (RESTREND) for temperature, precipitation, soil moisture adjusted NDVI has been applied to identify the land degradation in ASB and quantify the contribution of climate factors such as temperature and rainfall. In addition, a binary logistic regression model is adopted to assess the contributions of land transition, socio-economic, and topographical conditions on land degradation. Based on RESTREND, the relative contribution of precipitation (30.2%), soil moisture (23%), and temperature (11.4%) indicates that precipitation is one of the main driving factors of land degradation. The results further revealed that 36.5% of ASB is degraded, which is mostly concentrated in the lower part of the ASB. In contrast, 33.2% of ASB depicts land improvement, especially in the upper part of the basin. According to the land transition assessment, 66.6% of the water area and 11.68% of forest converted to barren land and shrubland during the study period, respectively. The binary logistic regression model demonstrated water and forest area transitions into shrubland and barren land as the major contributors of contemporary land degradation in ASB. Cropland recorded a net increment by 2.69% of its initial area, and the abandoned cropland converted to shrubland and barren lands that negatively impacted land cover change. This in-depth analysis of land degradation can assist in designing pragmatic policy interventions for implementing land restoration plans in the area.
Wetlands are complex and diverse ecosystems, substantially contributing to natural capital. Projected variations in natural and anthropogenic scenarios are likely to alter wetland dynamics by ...substantially impacting the hydrological and ecosystem functions. This study focuses on monitoring the probable impacts of land use change and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variations on wetlands dynamics by analyzing the magnitude and extent of global wetland inundation trends during the study period. A microwave dataset was used to study the trends and interannual variability of surface inundation extent of global lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and wetland classes. Between 1995 and 2015, the average rate of increase in surface inundation extent of global waterbodies and wetlands of 7029.6 km2 per year occurred with the average inundation of 2.9 million km2. Whereas, 1998–2004, 2005–2009, and 2010–2015 have shown significant inter-annual variabilityduring 21 years of study period. The maximum contribution of 3.06 million km2 inundation has been recorded during the strong El Niño year of 2010. Swamps flooded forests and coastal wetlands has shown the most significant increase in surface inundation extent. Our results showed a positive lag correlation between Niño 3.4 sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies and surface inundation of different Global Lakes and Wetland classes. Moreover, lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and wetlands have revealed varying responses to different anthropogenic drivers like cropland (CL), natural vegetation (NV), and urban land (UL). CL, NV and barren land (BL) buffered region has presented strong negative connection with coastal inundation extent. Swamps demonstrated strong positive correlation with urban-land and coastal with shrub/grass land cover type. Through this study the extent of impact projected by climatic oscillations and anthropogenic drivers to water bodies and wetlands can be analyzed for well-informed conflict management and decision-making practices for minimizing the human driven impact on natural water systems.
The monitoring and prediction of rice yields are essential across various domains, including agriculture, environmental conservation, ecology, agricultural insurance, and land resource management. ...The central districts of Kazakhstan’s Kyzylorda region, encompassing 70% of the total rice cultivation area, are of particular importance for ensuring national food security. This study focuses on the central Kyzylorda region, specifically the Syrdarya, Zhalagash, and Karmakshi districts, which serve as the primary hub for rice cultivation in Kazakhstan. The primary objective is to advance remote sensing techniques tailored to evaluate crop conditions and forecast rice yields, accounting for the region’s unique soil and climatic attributes. The research methodology involves comprehensive analysis of Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 satellite data, harmonized with ground-truth information. This analysis encompasses the latest rice crop data for 2020 and precise sowing dates. Extensive field surveys were conducted to gather crucial data on growth, development, crop health, and productivity under specific agrometeorological conditions. The study provides a detailed flowchart outlining the sequential processing of remote sensing data and ground-based information, with a primary focus on forecasting rice yields in the central Kyzylorda districts for 2020. Rigorous satellite data analysis established robust correlations between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and various crop conditions, directly linked to rice yield, with high precision (R2 values ranging from 0.82 to 0.91). Validation exercises, cross-referencing satellite data with real-time field data, further enhanced accuracy. The research outcomes have extensive applications, benefiting agriculture, environmental preservation, ecology, insurance, statistics, and land management. This study underscores the significance of addressing critical challenges across various sectors through multifaceted findings.
The optical characteristics of vertically distributed aerosols over Saudi Arabia were investigated using the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) data from 2007 ...to 2019. The study region was divided into three parts (Region I: Tabuk, Makkah, Al Madinah, Asir, Al Bahah, Jizan, Riyadh, Mecca, Medina, the eastern region, Kassim, Hale, Asir, Baha, Tabuk, the northern border region, Jizan, Najilan, and Jufu. Region II: Ar, Al, Ha, Al, and Najran. Region III Al Hudud ash Shamaliyah and Ash Sharqiyah) to understand regional aerosol characteristics by performing interannual and seasonal analysis for nine aerosol types during the day and nighttime. We found that the aerosol optical depth (AOD) estimates were the highest over eastern Saudi Arabia (region III) and were seemingly driven by the presence of an expansive desert in the region. As anticipated, the AOD observations were substantially higher in spring and summer than in autumn and winter owing to the frequent occurrence of dust events during the former. Daytime observations exhibited higher AOD values than those at nighttime, which might be related to higher daytime anthropogenic activities. The estimates of the base height of the lowest aerosol layer (HB1) and the top altitude of the highest aerosol layer (TAH) were altered depending on the topography (the higher the altitude, the higher the annual mean value of HB1 and TAH). The aerosol layers (N) were relatively abundant over region III, seemingly due to the relatively stronger atmospheric convection over this region. The volume depolarization ratio of the lowest aerosol layer (VDR1) was considerable during the night due to deposition at nighttime, and VDR1 was relatively substantial in spring and summer. The color ratio of the lowest aerosol layer (CR1) estimates over regions II and III was higher at night. We report a weak positive correlation between the thickness of the lowest aerosol layer (HTH1) and the AOD of the lowest aerosol layer (AOD1) in the three regions, a strong positive correlation between TAH and N, and a negative correlation between the AOD proportion of the lowest aerosol layer (PAOD1) and N in Saudi Arabia. In this paper, the optical and physical properties of aerosols in Saudi Arabia have been studied for 13 years. Our results could provide references for researchers and the government, and relevant departments with data support on the aerosol layer to help control air pollution in Saudi Arabia.
The Aral Sea in Central Asia plays an essential role in the socio-economic development of the region. During the last six decades, there has been remarkable changes observed in the water level and ...areal extent of the Aral Sea Basin; however, the causes behind these changes are unclear. This study quantifies the impacts of climatic and anthropogenic drivers on Aral Sea and the contributions made by these drivers to the variations observed in the Aral Sea Basin. The spatial and temporal seasonal variations in groundwater budget have been analyzed using the total water storage (TWS) of the basin from 2002 to 2015. The results from this study revealed significant increases in the the mean air temperature, precipitation, and potential evapotranspiration rate from 1960 to 2015 in the Aral Sea Basin. The TWS time-series shows a statistically significant declining trend of about 2 to 4 cm per year presented by the surface water storage. Based on the average monthly values of TWS, March 2005 presented the highest anomaly ~7.85 cm, while October 2008 showed the lowest anomaly ~8.22 cm between 2002 to 2015. The groundwater level indicates a small increasing trend of approximately 0.05 cm/year during the study period. Furthermore, the negative relationship between water level, climatic, and anthropogenic factors showed that these factors projected critical impact on the water level fluctuations within the Aral Sea Basin.
Abstract
The Tibetan Plateau (TP) holds fundamental ecological and environmental significances to China and Asia. The TP also lies in the core zone of the belt and road initiative. To protect the TP ...environment, a comprehensive screening on current ecological research status is entailed. The teased out research gap can also be utilized as guidelines for the recently launched major research programs, i.e. the second TP scientific expedition and silk and belt road research plan. The findings showed that the TP has experienced significant temperature increase at a rate of 0.2°C per decade since 1960s. The most robust warming trend was found in the northern plateau. Precipitation also exhibited an increasing trend but with high spatial heterogeneity. Changing climates have caused a series of environmental consequences, including lake area changes, glacier shrinkage, permafrost degradation and exacerbated desertification. The rising temperature is the main reason behind the glaciers shrinkage, snow melting, permafrost degradation and lake area changes on the TP and neighboring regions. The projected loss of glacial area on the plateau is estimated to be around 43% by 2070 and 75% by the end of the century. Vegetation was responsive to the changed environments, varied climates and intensified human activities by changing phenology and productivity. Future global change study should be more oriented toward integrating various research methods and tools, and synthesizing diverse subjects of water, vegetation, atmosphere and soil.
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