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Global Changes and Environmental Impacts on Soil, Rocks, Water, and Air Sustainability

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainability in Geographic Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (22 October 2023) | Viewed by 3489

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Rihab Hadji

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Guest Editor

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Farhat Abbas, Campus El Bez, Setif 19137, Algeria
Interests: geomorphology; climate change; and sustainable environmental protection; engineering geology; geotechnical engineering; geoenvironmental engineering; geospatial science; natural disasters

Dr. Yacine Achour

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil Engeneering, University of Mohamed El Bachir El Ibrahimi, Bordj Bou Arréridj El-Anasser 34030, Algeria
Interests: spatial analysis; geotechnics; geographic information system; machine learning; soil improvement; local materials; landslides modelling gully erosion; climate change; civil engineering

Prof. Dr. Younes Hamed

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Sciences of Gafsa, Campus Universitaire Sidi Ahmed Zarroug, 2112 Gafsa, Tunisia
Interests: hydrogeology; isotopes; groundwater; environmental geochemistry; palaeoclimatology; water management and protection; MODFLOW modeling

Dr. Abdelaziz Merghadi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Earth and Planitary Sciences, University of Larbi Tebessi, Tebessa, Route de Constantine, Tebessa 12002, Algeria
Interests: programming languages; geographic information system; remote sensing; computer-aided design; geotechnical engineering; advanced machine learning

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change has had a major impact on the earth. These impacts are directly reflected in the weather-related natural hazards. Over the years, these hazards became more disastrous to various aspects of human life.

This Special Issue encompasses academic articles and/or reviews:

Highlighting the severe impacts related to natural hazards and climate change.
Remote sensing technologies' role in surveying, analyzing, mapping, and interpreting climate change—natural hazard impacts and/or relationships.
Studies related to prevention, damage mitigation, and risk management of natural hazard events.
All aspects of geological, geomorphological, climate change, and natural hazards.

This Special Issue focus on research that highlights the relationship between climate change and natural hazards. This relationship directly impacts the technical, environmental, cultural, economic, and social sustainability of human beings, which provides an advanced overview for future sustainable development against climate change-related natural hazards.

We encourage researchers in this Special Issue to publish their experimental, computational, and theoretical research relating to landslides, erosion, earthquakes, storm surges, floods, and land subsidence, in addition to vulnerability and risk assessment.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews non-published or being in process elsewhere are welcome. Research topics may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Climate change and impacts on soil, rocks, and water resources.
Karstic landscape and water resources.
Geomorphology and landforms.
Environmental geology.
Sustainability in Earth and environmental sciences.
Water quality and health risks.
Application of geomatics technics in environmental issues.
Natural hazard assessment and mitigation.
Mining environment and sustainable development.
Natural hazards remote sensing.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Rihab Hadji
Dr. Yacine Achour
Prof. Dr. Younes Hamed
Dr. Abdelaziz Merghadi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

climate change
natural hazard
GIS
water
sustainability
geomorphology

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 11906 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Radioactivity, Ecotoxicology (²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K) and Potentially Toxic Elements in Water and Sediments from North Africa Dams

by Younes Hamed, Yosra Ayadi, Rihab Hadji, Amina Ben Saad, Matteo Gentilucci and Elimame Elaloui

Sustainability 2024, 16(2), 490; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16020490 - 5 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1050

Abstract

The natural radioactivity of ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K was measured in water and sediment samples collected from Sidi Salem dam (Tunisia) and Aïn Dalia dam (Algeria) in the Tuniso-Algerian transboundary basin. The samples were measured using a TERRA detector of gamma, beta, and alpha rays, and atomic absorption and gamma-ray spectrometry were used to analyze the levels of radionuclides and toxic elements, respectively. Potentially toxic elements (Fe, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cr, Cu and Cd) and associated health risks in surface water and sediment of dams were investigated in this present study. The concentrations of Fe, Pb, Zn, Ni, Cr, Cu and Cd in surface water ranged from 5.430 to 9.700 mg·L⁻¹, 0.022 to 0.168, 0.018 to 0.142, 0.065 to 0.366, BDL to 0.0351, BDL to 0.071 and BDL to 0.048 mg·L⁻¹, respectively. In the sediments, the concentrations of Fe, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd and Cr were of the order of 136.7, 3.41, 3.22, 0.213, 0.182, 0.15 mg·L⁻¹ and BDL, respectively. The mean radioactivity rates in the water samples were 1.72, 0.068 and 94.6 Bq·L⁻¹ for ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K, respectively (Tunisia dam), and were 1.9, 0.09 and 131.43 Bq·L⁻¹ for ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K, respectively (Algeria dam). The mean ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K radioactivity concentrations measured in the sediment samples were 2.67, 0.18 and 197.87 Bq·kg⁻¹, respectively (Tunisian dam), and were 4.34, 0.27 and 287.61 Bq·kg⁻¹, respectively (Algeria dam). The activity concentration of ⁴⁰K was higher than that of ²³⁸U and ²³²Th for the water and sediment samples. The activity concentrations follow the order ⁴⁰K > ²³⁸U > ²³²Th. The cumulative impact of these radio-geochemical elements can cause immediate serious problems in the ecosystem due to their high potential toxicity to the environment and human health in this study area and can be transposable to any other similar region. A good knowledge of monitoring quality and quantity for transboundary water resources and international collaborations are essential to safeguard human health (women’s breast cancer, thyroid cancer, neurological impact) and avoid conflicts, especially during climatic upheavals of drought. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Changes and Environmental Impacts on Soil, Rocks, Water, and Air Sustainability)

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20 pages, 36217 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Morpho-Hydrological Analysis and Preliminary Flash Flood Hazard Mapping of Neom City, Northwestern Saudi Arabia, Using Geospatial Techniques

by Bashar Bashir and Abdullah Alsalman

Sustainability 2024, 16(1), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16010023 - 19 Dec 2023

Viewed by 903

Abstract

Neom city is a unique cross-border city connecting Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt. Although Neom city is of great and critical importance for Saudi Arabia, few hydrological, natural hazard, and geomorphological studies have been undertaken on this region. This work aims to investigate the hydro-geomorphological characteristics and assess the flash flood hazards in Neom city by investigating several valuable morphometric parameters. The Shutter Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model and hydrological and geological data were analyzed in this study using ArcGIS software. Based on the morphometric parameter results, total stream lengths and stream orders were relatively high (17,956.03 km and 5, respectively), whereas the average bifurcation ratio was recorded to be low at 3.54. Basins 10, 12, 17, 30, 31, 32, and 34 were described as large basins, coarse-textured, elongated, with a medium drainage density, low infiltration values, long overland flows, and high values of constant maintenance. Additionally, the El-Shamy approach for flood hazard assessment was applied side by side with the morphometric analysis, which indicated that the possibility of an intense flood hazard is very low. In general, this study suggests that most of the studied basins cover similar and resistant rocks and soils. They have minimal conditions for flooding events and suitable conditions for underground and surface water resources. Therefore, they display high signals of susceptibility to erosion. The morphometric analysis and flash flood assessment techniques applied in this study were time- and cost-effective for the morphometric characterization of landforms. This text deals with the analysis of several environmental characteristics including hydro-morphological characteristics, drainage topography and lithology, soil erosion, groundwater recharge impact, and flash flood signals. Excellent sustainability plans should be reliant on extensive and varied information about the environment. Thus, integrated analyses incorporating environmental characteristics and flood hazard assessment play an important role in adjusting and adapting the suitable socioeconomic and scientific sustainability of the development of the study city. They build up the basic and essential information required to help decision-makers and sustainability managers design and adjust the most suitable sustainability plans for the study city over the long term. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Changes and Environmental Impacts on Soil, Rocks, Water, and Air Sustainability)

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14 pages, 4840 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Climate Change and New Challenges for Rural Communities: Particulate Matter Matters

by Isabelle Racine Miousse, Rachel B. Hale, Scott Alsbrook, Gunnar Boysen, Tanya Broadnax, Carleisha Murry, Candace Williams, Chul Hyun Park, Robert Richards, Justin Reedy, Marie-Cécile Chalbot, Ilias G. Kavouras and Igor Koturbash

Sustainability 2023, 15(23), 16192; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316192 - 22 Nov 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 969

Abstract

Climate change presents multiple challenges to rural communities. Here, we investigated the toxicological potential of the six types of particulate matter most common to rural Arkansas: soil, road, and agricultural dusts, pollen, traffic exhaust, and particles from biomass burning in human small airway epithelial cells (SAECs). Biomass burning and agricultural dust demonstrated the most potent toxicological responses, exhibited as significant (p < 0.05) up-regulation of HMOX1 (oxidative stress) and TNFα (inflammatory response) genes as well as epigenetic alterations (altered expression of DNA methyltransferases DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B, enzymatic activity, and DNA methylation of alpha satellite elements) that were evident at both 24 h and 72 h of exposure. We further demonstrate evidence of aridification in the state of Arkansas and the presence of winds capable of transporting agricultural dust- and biomass burning-associated particles far beyond their origination. Partnerships in the form of citizen science projects may provide important solutions to prevent and mitigate the negative effects of the rapidly evolving climate and improve the well-being of rural communities. Furthermore, the identification of the most toxic types of particulate matter could inform local policies related to agriculture, biomass burning, and dust control. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Changes and Environmental Impacts on Soil, Rocks, Water, and Air Sustainability)

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