COVID-19 indiscriminately impacted all the segments of the global society. Due to the unstructured job market, women in the informal sector were at high risk to experience the adverse effects of the ...pandemic. This paper aims to explore the impact of COVID-19 on women domestic workers and their families. Semi structured interviews conducted with fifty-four women domestic workers in three districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan were analyzed in five themes: disruption caused by lockdown, loss of livelihood, economic hardships, social support mechanism, and challenges faced during the pandemic. The study underlines that the pandemic left severe impacts on access to basic services, employment, food security at household level and pattern of expenditures. The plummeting economic activities led to sudden drops in earnings that forced families to sell their assets and incur debts. Respondents lamented over the social support system and considered it a necessary but not sufficient condition for uplifting the lives of the poor. Strains in marital relationships led to stress, anxiety and domestic violence among families. The utmost concern was the restoration of economic activities and urgent policy interventions to strengthen social safety measures for the vulnerable segments of society.
Population growth and population inflow from other regions has caused urbanization which altered land use land cover (LULC) in the lower Himalayan regions of Pakistan. This LULC change increased the ...land surface temperature (LST) in the region. LULC and LST changes were assessed for the period of 1990–2017 using Landsat data and the support vector machine (SVM) method. A combined cellular automata and artificial neural network (CA-ANN) prediction model was used for simulation of LULC changes for the period of 2032 and 2047 using transition potential matrix obtained from the data years of 2002 and 2017. The accuracy of the CA-ANN model was validated using simulated and classified images of 2017 with correctness value of 70% using validation modules in QGIS. The thermal bands of Landsat images from the years 1990, 2002 and 2017 were used for LST derivation. LST acquired for this period was then modeled for 2032 and 2047 using urban indices (UI) and linear regression analysis. The SVM land cover classification results showed a 5.75% and 4.22% increase in built-up area and bare soil respectively, while vegetation declined by 9.88% during 1990–2017. The results of LST for LULC classes showed that the built-up area had the highest mean LST as compared to other classes. The future projection of LULC and LST showed that the built-up area may increase by 12.48% and 14.65% in 2032 and 2047, respectively, of the total LULC area which was ~11% in 2017. Similarly, the area with temperature above 30 °C could be 44.01% and 58.02% in 2032 and 2047, respectively, of the total study area which was 18.64% in 2017. This study identified major challenges for urban planners to mitigate the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. In order to address the UHI in the study area, an urban planner might focus on urban plantation and decentralization of urban areas.
Projecting future hydrology for the mountainous, highly glaciated upper Indus basin (UIB) is a challenging task because of uncertainties in future climate projections and issues with the coverage and ...quality of available reference climatic data and hydrological modelling approaches. This study attempts to address these issues by utilizing the semi-distributed hydrological model “Soil and water assessment tool” (SWAT) with new climate datasets and better spatial and altitudinal representation as well as a wider range of future climate forcing models (general circulation model/regional climate model combinations (GCMs_RCMs) from the “Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment-South Asia (CORDEX-SA) project to assess different aspects of future hydrology (mean flows, extremes and seasonal changes). Contour maps for the mean annual flow and actual evapotranspiration as a function of the downscaled projected mean annual precipitation and temperatures are produced and can serve as a “hands-on” forecast tool of future hydrology. The overall results of these future SWAT hydrological projections indicate similar trends of changes in magnitudes, seasonal patterns and extremes of the UIB—stream flows for almost all climate scenarios/models/periods—combinations analyzed. In particular, all but one GCM_RCM model—the one predicting a very high future temperature rise—indicated mean annual flow increases throughout the 21st century, wherefore, interestingly, these are stronger for the middle years (2041–2070) than at its end (2071–2100). The seasonal shifts as well as the extremes follow also similar trends for all climate scenario/model/period combinations, e.g., an earlier future arrival (in May–June instead of July–August) of high flows and increased spring and winter flows, with upper flow extremes (peaks) projected to drastically increase by 50 to >100%, and with significantly decreased annual recurrence intervals, i.e., a tremendously increased future flood hazard for the UIB. The future low flows projections also show more extreme values, with lower-than-nowadays-experienced minimal flows occurring more frequently and with much longer annual total duration.
•Mass balance was negative in the southeastern ITP, neutral in the northwestern ITP.•Mass loss accelerated in the southeastern ITP, decelerated in the northwestern ITP.•No significant differences in ...height changes on the surge and non-surge glaciers.•Glacier mass loss was equivalent to 15.3% of the total lake water storage increase.
The Tibetan Plateau interior basin (ITP) can be regarded as the intermediate zone between balanced or slight positive mass balance and pronounced mass loss. As an endorheic basin, glacier meltwater plays an important role in adjusting lake levels and river runoff. The spatiotemporal pattern of glacier mass balance in the ITP has been estimated from TOPO DEM, SRTM, and TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X imageries from ∼1970 – ∼2013. Glacier mass balance was negative in the southeastern ITP, moderately negative in the central ITP, and neutral in the northwestern ITP. In addition, glacier mass loss accelerated in the southeastern ITP, and decelerated, even shifted from negative to positive, in the northwestern ITP between the periods of ∼1970 – 2000 and 2000 – ∼2013. Assuming that all the glacier meltwater was drained to the lakes, the glacier mass loss was equivalent to approximately 15.3 ± 8.1 % of the total lake water storage increase in the early 21st century. Although climate changes are consistent with the spatial pattern of glacier mass loss, the relationship between the heterogeneous spatiotemporal pattern of mass balance and climate change needs more detailed investigations.
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•Nanocrystalline cellulose/Gum Arabic conjugated membranes are prepared.•Nanocrystalline cellulose is synthesized from microcrystalline cellulose via acid hydrolysis process.•The ...activity of Nanocrystalline cellulose/Gum Arabic conjugates is studied for hazardous salt (Boron) removal.•The rejection efficiency of boron reaches 92.4%.•Gum Arabic can effectively hinder the E.coli attachment as both are negatively charged.
In this work, we developed hybrid membranes integrated with Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC)/Gum Arabic (GuA) conjugates using crosslinked Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a matrix phase with the addition of PEO-PPO-PEO block copolymer that insured pore formation. At first, the NCC was prepared from microcrystalline cellulose via acid hydrolysis process. The performance property of hybrid NCC/GuA was measured using boron removal. The results showed that the rejection capability enhanced as compared to the control membranes, especially at 0.1wt% of NCC the selectivity is up to 92.4% with the flux rate of 21.3L/m2.h. Moreover, the GuA in NCC/GuA conjugate significantly enhances the antibacterial activity by hindering the bacterial attachment to the surface as both of them carry the negative charge. Also by providing the active sites responsible for hydrogen bonding thus enhancing the hydrophilic character resulted in increased permeation flux rate. Therefore, the NCC/GuA conjugated membranes have great potentials for boron removal.
Land use land cover (LULC) change has become a major concern for biodiversity, ecosystem alteration, and modifying the climatic pattern especially land surface temperature (LST). The present study ...assessed past and predicted future LULC and LST change in the Swabi District of Pakistan. LULC maps were generated from satellite data for years 1987, 2002, and 2017 using supervised classification. Mean LST and its areal change were estimated for different LULC classes from thermal bands of satellite images. LULC and LST were projected for the year 2047 using the integrated weighted evidence-cellular automata (WE-CA) model and a regression equation developed in this study, respectively. LULC change revealed an increase of > 5% in the built-up while a decrease in the agricultural area by ~ 9%. There was an increase of ~ 63% area in the LST class ≥ 27 °C which may create urban heat island (UHI). Simulation results indicated that the built-up area will further be increased by ~ 3% until 2047. Area associated with LST class > 30 °C indicated a further increase of ~ 38% till 2047 with reference to year 2017. Findings of this study suggested proper utilization of LULC in order to mitigate the creation of UHIs associated with urbanization and built-up areas.
The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is used to simulate the spatiotemporal distribution of precipitation over central Asia over the year April 2005 through March 2006. Experiments are ...performed at 6.7 km horizontal grid spacing, with an emphasis on winter and summer precipitation over the Himalaya. The model and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission show a similar inter-seasonal cycle of precipitation, from extratropical cyclones to monsoon precipitation, with agreement also in the diurnal cycle of monsoon precipitation. In winter months, WRF compares better in timeseries of daily precipitation to stations below than above 3-km elevation, likely due to inferior measurement of snow than rain by the stations, highlighting the need for reliable snowfall measurements at high elevations in winter. In summer months, the nocturnal precipitation cycle in the foothills and valleys of the Himalaya is captured by this 6.7-km WRF simulation, while coarser simulations with convective parameterization show near zero nocturnal precipitation. In winter months, higher resolution is less important, serving only to slightly increase precipitation magnitudes due to steeper slopes. However, even in the 6.7-km simulation, afternoon precipitation is overestimated at high elevations, which can be reduced by even higher-resolution (2.2-km) simulations. These results indicate that WRF provides skillful simulations of precipitation relevant for studies of water resources over the complex terrain in the Himalaya.
Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Karakoram-Himalayas (HKH) are a major source of freshwater in the agriculture-dependent economy of Pakistan. In recent decades, mountain glaciers have been threatened by ...global warming. In this study, we estimated the Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA) and geodetic mass balance of fifteen representative glaciers from Hunza (Karakoram), Chitral (Hindu Kush), and Astore (Himalaya) using Landsat satellite images and Advanced Space-borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) DEMs between 2000 and 2018. The climatic trends (temperature and precipitation) in the 19 years (1995-2013) time series of the three regions were assessed using the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test and Sen's Slope. The ELA of the observed glaciers except for two Atrak (Chitral) and Gulkin (Hunza) is shifted upward, while the mass balance indicates a heterogeneous pattern ranging from −0.23 ± 0.05 to −0.01 ± 0.015 m w.e a
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, −0.13 ± 0.05 to+0.17 ± 0.11 m w.e a
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and −0.03 ± 0.02 to+0.23 ± 0.09 m w.e a
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in Chitral, Hunza, and Astore basin, respectively. A significant or slight increasing or decreasing trend was found in the mean annual temperature, mean total precipitation, and mean discharge of the studied basins. This study will be a good contribution to understanding snow and glacier dynamics in HKH, the factors that influence them, and their interaction with the environment.
Upper Indus Basin (UIB) supplies more than 70% flow to the downstream agricultural areas during summer due to the melting of snow and glacial ice. The estimation of the stream flow under future ...climatic projections is a pre-requisite to manage water resources properly. This study focused on the simulation of snowmelt-runoff using Snowmelt-Runoff Model (SRM) under the current and future Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5) climate scenarios in the two main tributaries of the UIB namely the Astore and the Hunza River basins. Remote sensing data from Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) along with in-situ hydro-climatic data was used as input to the SRM. Basin-wide and zone-wise approaches were used in the SRM. For the zone-wise approach, basin areas were sliced into five elevation zones and the mean temperature for the zones with no weather stations was estimated using a lapse rate value of −0.48 °C to −0.76 °C/100 m in both studied basins. Zonal snow cover was estimated for each zone by reclassifying the MODIS snow maps according to the zonal boundaries. SRM was calibrated over 2000–2001 and validated over the 2002–2004 data period. The results implied that the SRM simulated the river flow efficiently with Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient of 0.90 (0.86) and 0.86 (0.86) for the basin-wide (zone-wise) approach in the Astore and Hunza River Basins, respectively, over the entire simulation period. Mean annual discharge was projected to increase by 11–58% and 14–90% in the Astore and Hunza River Basins, respectively, under all the RCP mid- and late-21st-century scenarios. Mean summer discharge was projected to increase between 10–60% under all the RCP scenarios of mid- and late-21st century in the Astore and Hunza basins. This study suggests that the water resources of Pakistan should be managed properly to lessen the damage to human lives, agriculture, and economy posed by expected future floods as indicated by the climatic projections.
Previous studies have shown that glacier changes were heterogeneous in the western Karakoram, with the coexistence of retreating, advancing, and surging glaciers. However, it remains unclear that the ...mechanisms driving these changes. Based on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM and TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X images (2014), this study presents glacier surface height changes in the Hunza Basin of the western Karakoram, employing the method of differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry (DInSAR). A slight negative glacier mass balance was observed in the Hunza Basin during 2000–2014. Surge-type glaciers would not have an obvious effect on overall mass balance in regional assessments over long-time scales. Further, glacier surface velocities in the Hunza Basin were estimated from Landsat images for the period of 1990–2018 by utilizing published data sets and Landsat images. Compared to the annual glacier surface velocities, 22 surge events were observed in seven surge-type glaciers in the Hunza Basin. Glacier flow can be attributed to thermally and hydrologically control, and the geomorphological characteristics of different individuals. This study gives us a new insight into the situation of the “Karakoram anomaly” under the background of glacier mass loss in the high mountains of Asia (HMA).
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