scholarly journals Reconstructing the impact of human activities in a NW Iberian Roman mining landscape for the last 2500 years

2014 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 208-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lourdes López-Merino ◽  
Antonio Martínez Cortizas ◽  
Guillermo S. Reher ◽  
José A. López-Sáez ◽  
Tim M. Mighall ◽  
...  
Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1608
Author(s):  
Salvatore Ivo Giano

This Special Issue deals with the role of fluvial geomorphology in landscape evolution and the impact of human activities on fluvial systems, which require river restoration and management [...]


Author(s):  
Shaden A. M. Khalifa ◽  
Mahmoud M. Swilam ◽  
Aida A. Abd El-Wahed ◽  
Ming Du ◽  
Haged H. R. El-Seedi ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious challenge for societies around the globe as entire populations have fallen victim to the infectious spread and have taken up social distancing. In many countries, people have had to self-isolate and to be confined to their homes for several weeks to months to prevent the spread of the virus. Social distancing measures have had both negative and positive impacts on various aspects of economies, lifestyles, education, transportation, food supply, health, social life, and mental wellbeing. On other hands, due to reduced population movements and the decline in human activities, gas emissions decreased and the ozone layer improved; this had a positive impact on Earth’s weather and environment. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic has negative effects on human activities and positive impacts on nature. This study discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different life aspects including the economy, social life, health, education, and the environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2400
Author(s):  
Quntao Duan ◽  
Lihui Luo ◽  
Wenzhi Zhao ◽  
Yanli Zhuang ◽  
Fang Liu

Human activities have dramatically changed ecosystems. As an irreplaceable ecological barrier in western China, the Qilian Mountains (QLM) provide various ecosystem services for humans. To evaluate the changes in the intensity of human activities in the QLM and their impact on the ecosystem, the human footprint (HF) method was used to conduct a spatial dataset of human activity intensity. In our study, the NDVI was used to characterize the growth of vegetation, and six categories of human pressures were employed to create the HF map in the QLM for 2000–2015 at a 1-km scale. The results showed that the mean NDVI during the growing season showed a significant increasing trend over the entire QLM in the period 2000–2015, while the NDVI showed a significant declining trend of more than 70% concentrated in Qinghai. Human pressure throughout the QLM occurred at a low level during 2000–2015, being greater in the eastern region than the western region, while the Qinghai area had greater human pressure than the Gansu area. Due to the improvement in traffic facilities, tourism, overgrazing, and other illegal activities, grasslands, shrublands, forests, wetlands, and bare land were the vegetation types most affected by human activities (in decreasing order). As the core area of the QLM, the Qilian Mountains National Nature Reserve (NR) has effectively reduced the impact of human activities. However, due to the existence of many ecological historical debts caused by unreasonable management in the past, the national park established in 2017 is facing great challenges to achieve its goals. These data and results will provide reference and guidance for future protection and restoration of the QLM ecosystem.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Yang ◽  
Minqiang Zhou ◽  
Ting Wang ◽  
Bo Yao ◽  
Pengfei Han ◽  
...  

Abstract. Atmospheric CO2 mole fractions are observed at Beijing (BJ), Xianghe (XH), and Xinglong (XL) in North China using the Picarro G2301 Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy instruments. The measurement system is described comprehensively for the first time. The geo-distances among these three sites are within 200 km, but they have very different surrounding environments: BJ is inside the megacity; XH is in the suburban area; XL is in the countryside on a mountain. The mean and standard deviation of CO2 mole fractions at BJ, XH, and XL between October 2018 and September 2019 are 448.4 ± 12.8 ppm, 436.0 ± 9.2 ppm and 420.6 ± 8.2 ppm, respectively. The seasonal variations of CO2 at these three sites are similar, with a maximum in winter and a minimum in summer, which is dominated by the terrestrial ecosystem. However, the seasonal variations of CO2 at BJ and XH are more affected by human activities as compared to XL. By using CO2 at XL as the background, CO2 enhancements are observed simultaneously at BJ and XH. The diurnal variations of CO2 are driven by the boundary layer height, photosynthesis and human activities at BJ, XH and XL. Moreover, we address the impact of the wind on the CO2 mole fractions at BJ and XL. This study provides an insight into the spatial and temporal variations of CO2 mole fractions in North China.


2013 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 145-157
Author(s):  
Nikola Ristic ◽  
Bogdan Lukic ◽  
Dejan Filipovic ◽  
Velimir Secerov

Developed transport network is a precondition for economic and tourism development of areas and largely follows and allows the development of human activities. If it is developing without plan, spontaneous and without coordination it may be a limit to the overall development. The aim of research was to define developmental basis for the revitalization, improvement and construction of transport infrastructure in the municipality of Negotin. The paper will present the mutual interaction and functional connectivity of planning solutions for development of transport infrastructure and development of economic and tourism, as well as the impact which planning solutions have on the evolvent of other spatial and city functions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Bingyu Wang ◽  
Takashi Oguchi ◽  
Lin Zhang

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Inland river basins in arid to semi-arid regions are widely distributed in Northwest China, Central Asia, Central Australia, and North Africa, and are often subject to significant human activities. The most distinctive natural feature of such basins is the shortage of water resources, and the pivotal reasons involve less precipitation and heavy evapotranspiration (ET). In recent years, intensive human activities also damage the natural environment of the basins. They result in many problems especially the deterioration of ecological environment which will lead to severe consequences such as desertification, sandstorm, the disappearance of wetlands, reduction of forest and grassland degradation. They prevent us from achieving the goal of sustainable development. How to balance economic development and ecosystem conservation and to realize the sense of sustainability in inland river basins will be vitally important.</p><p>The Heihe River is the second largest inland river in the Northwest of China with a long history development by human (Figure 1). Water resources from the river are crucial not only for the ecosystem but also for local human societies. The Heihe River Basin (HRB) is divided into three zones with different landscapes and natural environments. The upstream of HRB is the headstream which generates water resources mainly from glaciers and snow in Qilian Mountain. A large population of nomadic national minorities inhabits here and keeps animal husbandry as the primary production activity. In the early times, the Chinese government encouraged production activities to stimulate economic growth, and significant over-grazing and resultant severe grassland degradation occurred. Grassland is crucial for maintaining water resources especially in arid regions, without grasses most water will quickly evaporate into the air. Therefore, land resource management about grassland and the impact of human activities on the natural environment are of high research value in the HRB.</p><p>This research aims to investigate the impact of over-grazing on grassland degradation in the inland ecosystem of the HRB. The changes of grassland distribution were simulated under different over-grazing scenarios to provide a reference for resource management and the related decision-making process and to contribute to the sustainable development of the region.</p>


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