The fewer, the better fare: Can the loss of vegetation in the Cerrado drive the increase in dengue fever cases infection?

Several studies have reported the relationship of deforestation with increased incidence of infectious diseases, mainly due to the deregulation caused in these environments. The purpose of this study was to answer the following questions: a) is increased loss of vegetation related to dengue cases in the Brazilian Cerrado? b) how do different regions of the tropical savanna biome present distinct patterns for total dengue cases and vegetation loss? c) what is the projection of a future scenario of deforestation and an increased number of dengue cases in 2030? Thus, this study aimed to assess the relationship between loss of native vegetation in the Cerrado and dengue infection. In this paper, we quantify the entire deforested area and dengue infection cases from 2001 to 2019. For data analyses, we used Poisson generalized linear model, descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, non-parametric statistics, and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models to predict loss of vegetation and fever dengue cases for the next decade. Cluster analysis revealed the formation of four clusters among the states. Our results showed significant increases in loss of native vegetation in all states, with the exception of Piauí. As for dengue cases, there were increases in the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Mato Grosso. Based on projections for 2030, Minas Gerais will register about 4,000 dengue cases per 100,000 inhabitants, São Paulo 750 dengue cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and Mato Grosso 500 dengue cases per 100,000 inhabitants. To reduce these projections, Brazil will need to control deforestation and implement public health, environmental and social policies, requiring a joint effort from all spheres of society.

High Times and Dry Times In a Salt Marsh: Budgeting For Supplemental Freshwater Needs at the Big Boggy National Wildlife Refuge, USA

Salt marshes can be vulnerable to reduced freshwater input. Reduced freshwater inflows, particularly during a hot or dry summer season, can be catastrophic for vegetation productivity, organic accretion and inorganic sedimentation, and the ability of a marsh to maintain a sustainable elevation facing relative sea level rise (RSLR). Unfortunately, it is challenging for scientists to obtain inflow records for ungauged watersheds and link them with historical trends of salt marsh loss. We sought to address this challenge in Big Boggy National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), a small watershed in East Matagorda Bay, Texas. Our objective was to link the quantity of freshwater inflow with salt marsh sustainability and recommend management actions for the NWR. We first explored land cover trends and found that this watershed lost more than one-third of its low marsh since 1953. We then measured the streamflow into and out of the watershed, created a water budget, and modeled historical and future inflows from 1953 to 2100. Freshwater inflows have been increasing on average since 1953, but a combination of RSLR, sediment starvation, and punctuated seasonal droughts are likely responsible for the loss of salt marsh. We also estimated supplemental water needs during potential droughts out to 2100. We conclude that managers cannot fundamentally alter the accretion versus RSLR balance in this basin except by modifying freshwater input. Thus, during droughts, they should focus on providing these inputs and avoiding vegetation loss. Our work points to both water purchases and land management options that can achieve this goal.

Aquatic Vegetation Loss and Its Implication on Climate Regulation in a Protected Freshwater Wetland of Po River Delta Park (Italy)

Aquatic vegetation loss caused substantial decrease of ecosystem processes and services during the last decades, particularly for the capacity of these ecosystems to sequester and store carbon from the atmosphere. This study investigated the extent of aquatic emergent vegetation loss for the period 1985–2018 and the consequent effects on carbon sequestration and storage capacity of Valle Santa wetland, a protected freshwater wetland dominated by Phragmites australis located in the Po river delta Park (Northern Italy), as a function of primary productivity and biomass decomposition, assessed by means of satellite images and experimental measures. The results showed an extended loss of aquatic vegetated habitats during the considered period, with 1989 being the year with higher productivity. The mean breakdown rates of P. australis were 0.00532 d−1 and 0.00228 d−1 for leaf and stem carbon content, respectively, leading to a predicted annual decomposition of 64.6% of the total biomass carbon. For 2018 the carbon sequestration capacity was estimated equal to 0.249 kg C m−2 yr−1, while the carbon storage of the whole wetland was 1.75 × 103 t C (0.70 kg C m−2). Nonetheless, despite the protection efforts over time, the vegetation loss occurred during the last decades significantly decreased carbon sequestration and storage by 51.6%, when comparing 2018 and 1989. No statistically significant effects were found for water descriptors. This study demonstrated that P. australis-dominated wetlands support important ecosystem processes and should be regarded as an important carbon sink under an ecosystem services perspective, with the aim to maximize their capacity to mitigate climate change.

An Assessment of Urban Expansion Impacts on Land Transformation of Rajpur-Sonarpur Municipality

Urban expansion, population pressure, and increasing industrialization are influenced the world's natural environment, increased climate change, and global warming. Land use and land cover (LULC) changes are occurring due to anthropogenic activities and the results are land transformation, thermal variation, heat stress, and massive vegetation loss, which is increased oxygen deficiency and air pollution. Remote sensing-based Landsat TM and OLI/TIRS data were used to identify the land transformation and the effect of urbanization in Rajpur-Sonarpur Municipality in the years 2000 and 2020. The Built-up land was increased due to anthropogenic activities and around 12.16% area has been increased. Similarly, the agricultural land has been increased by 2.10 km2 area and vegetation area has been decreased around 6.52 km2 in the study area. The vegetation degradation areas were located in the South, South-west, and central parts of this study area. Correspondingly, North, North-west and central parts have a noticeable amount of built-up area developed. During twenty years, 6.97°C temperature was increased due to urban expansion, population pressure, transportation accessibility, and other urban amenities. The overall accuracies of classification maps were 96.25% and 91.64 % and the kappa coefficients were 0.95 and 0.89 respectively.

A New Application of the Disturbance Index for Fire Severity in Coastal Dunes

Fires are a disturbance that can lead to short term dune destabilisation and have been suggested to be an initiation mechanism of a transgressive dune phase when paired with changing climatic conditions. Fire severity is one potential factor that could explain subsequent coastal dune destabilisations, but contemporary evidence of destabilisation following fire is lacking. In addition, the suitability of conventional satellite Earth Observation methods to detect the impacts of fire and the relative fire severity in coastal dune environments is in question. Widely applied satellite-derived burn indices (Normalised Burn Index and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index) have been suggested to underestimate the effects of fire in heterogenous landscapes or areas with sparse vegetation cover. This work assesses burn severity from high resolution aerial and Sentinel 2 satellite imagery following the 2019/2020 Black Summer fires on Kangaroo Island in South Australia, to assess the efficacy of commonly used satellite indices, and validate a new method for assessing fire severity in coastal dune systems. The results presented here show that the widely applied burn indices derived from NBR differentially assess vegetation loss and fire severity when compared in discrete soil groups across a landscape that experienced a very high severity fire. A new application of the Tasselled Cap Transformation (TCT) and Disturbance Index (DI) is presented. The differenced Disturbance Index (dDI) improves the estimation of burn severity, relative vegetation loss, and minimises the effects of differing soil conditions in the highly heterogenous landscape of Kangaroo Island. Results suggest that this new application of TCT is better suited to diverse environments like Mediterranean and semi-arid coastal regions than existing indices and can be used to better assess the effects of fire and potential remobilisation of coastal dune systems.

Resistance, resilience, and recovery of salt marshes in the Florida Panhandle following Hurricane Michael

Characterizing the fragility, resistance, and resilience of marshes is critical for understanding their role in reducing storm damages and for helping to manage the recovery of these natural defenses. This study uses high-resolution aerial imagery to quantify the impacts of Hurricane Michael, a category 5 hurricane, on coastal salt marshes in the Florida Panhandle, USA. Marsh damage was classified into several categories, including deposition of sediment or wrack, fallen trees, vegetation loss, and conversion to open water. The marshes were highly resistant to storm damages even under extreme conditions; only 2% of the 173,259 km2 of marshes in the study area were damaged—a failure rate much lower than that of artificial defenses. Marshes may be more resistant than resilient to storm impacts; damaged marshes were slow to recover, and only 16% of damaged marshes had recovered 6 months after landfall. Marsh management mattered for resistance and resilience; marshes on publicly-managed lands were less likely to be damaged and more likely to recover quickly from storm impacts than marshes on private land, emphasizing the need to incentivize marsh management on private lands. These results directly inform policy and practice for hazard mitigation, disaster recovery, adaptation, and conservation, particularly given the potential for more intense hurricane landfalls as the climate changes.

Potencial social y ambiental de la industria eólica para una transición energética en América Latina

Brasil, México y Uruguay han adoptado la energía eólica como estrategia para combatir el cambio climático. Sin embargo, sus experiencias son distintas y se encuentran poco documentadas. Este artículo analiza las ventajas y desventajas de la industria eólica con miras a su futura expansión en América Latina. La metodología consiste en sistematizar y analizar la bibliografía existente en castellano, portugués e inglés. Se identificaron cuatro ventajas de la energía eólica (baja huella de carbono, reducidos costos de producción, creación de empleos e ingresos por renta de tierras) y cinco desventajas (pérdida de cobertura forestal, impacto en aves y fuentes de agua, contaminación por derrames de aceite y desechos y afectaciones a la salud). Los desafíos de política pública para la región son: fomentar la investigación sobre los daños socioambientales de la energía eólica y diseñar herramientas para mitigarlos; desarrollar la cadena completa de suministros de manufactura e insumos mediante la innovación tecnológica; repartir equitativamente los beneficios de la industria eólica entre la población local y priorizar la necesidad pública de electricidad, por encima de intereses privados. Mientras estos desafíos no sean asumidos plenamente, los proyectos eólicos seguirán formando parte de una estructura hegemónica que se autoproclama como la solución al cambio climático, pero que sigue manteniendo una lógica extractivista que no beneficia a la población. Abstract Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay have adopted wind energy as a means to fight climate change. However, their experiences are different and insufficiently documented. This paper analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the wind industry in light of its future expansion in Latin America. The methodology consists of the systematization and analysis of literature written in Spanish, Portuguese and English. Four advantages and five disadvantages were identified. The advantages are wind energy’s reduced carbon footprint, low production costs, the potential for job creation and income from land rentals, while the disadvantages are possible vegetation loss, impact on birds and water sources, oil and waste contamination and health damage. The challenges for public policy are: supporting research on the socioenvironmental impacts of the wind industry and designing tools for their mitigation; developing a full supply chain of materials through technological innovation; distributing the benefits of wind energy equally among the local population, and prioritizing public needs of electricity above the interest of the private sector. If these challenges are not fully met, wind energy projects will be part of a hegemonic structure that claims to solve the problems created by climate change, while in fact continuing to use an extractivist logic, incapable of benefitting people.