Ecological Disaster Research Articles

Spatiotemporal Evolution Features of the 2022 Compound Hot and Drought Event over the Yangtze River Basin

A rare compound hot and drought (CHD) event occurred in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) in the summer of 2022, which brought serious social crisis and ecological disaster. The analysis of the causes, spatiotemporal characteristics and impacts of this event is of great significance and value for future drought warning and mitigation. We used the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)/GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) data, meteorological data, hydrological data and satellite remote sensing data to discuss the spatiotemporal evolution, formation mechanism and the influence of the CHD event. The results show that the drought severity caused by the CHD event was the most severe during 2003 and 2022. The CHD event lasted a total of five months (from July to November), and there were variations in the damage in different sub-basins. The Wu River Basin (WRB) is the region where the CHD event lasted the longest, at six months (from July to December), while it also lasted four or five months in all the other basins. Among them, the WRB, Dongting Lake Rivers Basin (DLRB) and Mainstream of the YRB (MSY) are the three most affected basins, whose hot and drought severity values are 7.750 and −8.520 (WRB), 7.105 and −9.915 (DLRB) and 6.232 and −9.143 (MSY), respectively. High temperature and low precipitation are the direct causes of the CHD event, and the underlying causes behind this event are the triple La Niña and negative Indian Ocean Dipole event. The two extreme climate events made the Western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH) unusually strong, and then the WPSH covered a more northerly and westerly region than in previous years and remained entrenched for a long period of time over the YRB and its adjacent regions. Moreover, this CHD event had a devastating impact on local agricultural production and seriously disrupted daily life and production. Our results have implications for the study of extreme disaster events.

Rituals as Nature-Based Governance of reciprocity between people and nature

The conventional approach to environmental governance, based on institutions, regulations, and interventions, has utterly failed to stop the current ecological catastrophe. I suggest a radical alternative: Ritual as the core mode of ‘nature-based governance’ (NBG) that enacts deep and comprehensive reciprocity between people and nature. NBG grounds governance mechanisms in embodied more-than-human practices with normative force. I combine a wide range of theoretical resources in social sciences, economics, and philosophy to suggest a general concept of ritual that is inspired by but generalizes over Indigenous thought and is informed by East Asian ideas about ritual as the pivot of social order. However, the radical basis for my argument recognizes ritual as a kind of action that humans and non-humans share as living beings. Therefore, rituals can be activated in workable governance mechanisms to create and sustain communities of multi-species cohabitation. I present a theoretical case study on property as ritual; this relates human property of land with non-human territoriality, acknowledging possession and its ritual performance as a behaviour shared in humans and non-human species. Consequently, rooted in ritual, a more-than-human notion of property emerges that radically differs from modern ideas of the institution of property but converges with Indigenous relational concepts. Equipped with these theoretical insights, I suggest practical applications in the context of NBG of Nature-based solutions. These are: reconceptualizing eco-compensation as a reciprocal ritual of gift-giving, the commoning of ecosystem services of animal populations in wildfire protection, and the formation of urban multi-species communities in urban gardening.

Effects of treatment process on larvae growth performance and nutrient yield during cyanobacteria bioconversion by black soldier fly

Abstract Cyanobacteria blooms, a global environmental problem, have caused serious economic and ecological disasters worldwide. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) are known to feed and develop on a wide range of feed sources, which makes the use of BSFL bioconversion promising for harvested cyanobacteria. In this study, cyanobacteria were compounded into feedstock by three different treatments, and then BSFL was placed into the substrates to explore the effect of treatments on BSFL growth performance and nutrient yield. It was found that the alterations in the nutrient composition of the substrate and the content of key compounds (vitamin C and microcystin-LR) caused by different treatments were responsible for the different growth performance of BSFL. Difference in larvae digestive enzyme activities caused by changes in treatment processes and substrate moisture content will ultimately affect the BSFL nutrient production. The larvae stress response to different treatment processes demonstrated that the low moisture content environment has an inhibitory effect on the growth of BSFL, and the harvested cyanobacteria treated by the sun-drying treatment process exhibited less interference on BSFL. Through a brief economic assessment, we conclude that cyanobacteria can only produce benefits with the sun-drying treatment process where the substrate moisture content needs to be maintained at 70-80%, wall-breaking and heating treatment and heating treatment processes showed a deficit due to a higher cost and a lower output. This study provides a reference for promoting the utilization of cyanobacteria and proffer instructive significance for the biotransformation of cyanobacteria by BSFL.

Delineating Non-Susceptible Landslide Areas in China Based on Topographic Index and Quantile Non-Linear Model

Efficient analysis of non-susceptibility to landslides targets regions with minimal or zero landslide probability, thereby obviating the need to estimate the likelihood for low-susceptibility zones. This study assesses the effectiveness of the quantile non-linear (QNL) model in delineating the non-susceptibility of landslides in China through a topographic index. The topographic index encompassed slope angle and topographic relief, which are calculated using a 3 × 3 and 15 × 15 square cell moving window, respectively. Additionally, a global landslide susceptibility model established using a comprehensive global landslide database and fuzzy algorithm was employed for comparative analysis, providing a holistic evaluation of the QNL model’s accuracy. The results show that while the overall distribution of the two QNL models for non-susceptible landslide areas was roughly consistent, notable discrepancies were observed in localized regions, especially in the Southwest and Qinghai-Tibet geological environment areas where landslides are prone to occur. The applicability of the QNL model is significantly limited in these areas. In addition, the predicted results of the QNL_CHN model are closer to those based on the global landslide susceptibility model of the fuzzy algorithm. This study provides valuable insights to enhance the QNL model’s applicability, thereby strengthening forest ecosystem management and mitigating ecological disaster risks.

Long-Term Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Ulva prolifera Green Tide and Effects of Environmental Drivers on Its Monitoring by Satellites: A Case Study in the Yellow Sea, China, from 2008 to 2023

Ulva prolifera (U. prolifera) green tide outbreaks have occurred in the Yellow Sea of China for many years, causing serious losses to marine ecology and the marine economy. The monitoring and tracking of U. prolifera green tide is a crucial aspect of marine ecological disaster prevention and control management. This paper aims to investigate the spatiotemporal distribution changes in U. prolifera green tide in the Yellow Sea throughout its life cycle. A survey of the Yellow Sea from 2008 to 2023 was conducted using multi-source remote sensing images. Long-term monitoring and analysis of U. prolifera revealed the evolution process of the green tide, including the early development, outbreak, decline, and extinction stages, considering time, space, and frequency of occurrence. Additionally, this study examined peak coverage change patterns over the past 16 years and analyzed the influence of environmental factors such as sea surface temperature and sea surface wind field on the development of U. prolifera. The research results serve as a valuable reference for the monitoring, early warning, and scientific prevention and control of U. prolifera green tide in the Yellow Sea, as well as other similar marine disaster areas.

The Strait of Malacca: a Crossroad of Climate Change and Vulnerabilities

The Strait of Malacca, an indispensable artery facilitating global trade, confronts an existential peril exacerbated by climate change. This research comprehensively analyses the intricate interplay between ecological and socioeconomic factors, with a primary focus on India’s vulnerabilities and adaptive strategies. The study scrutinizes the escalating sea levels, intensification of storms, and coastal erosion, elucidating their multifaceted impacts on ecosystems, communities, and economies. The Malacca Straits are one of the world’s most vulnerable areas because of their high potential for political conflict and ecological disaster. The areas bordering the Straits are of high bio-diversity and ecologically fragile. The imperative to foster resilience is underscored, necessitating the exploration of adaptive strategies to empower communities, preserve ecosystems, and foster sustainable development amidst climatic challenges. This research transcends conventional threat assessments, offering a holistic roadmap for India and stakeholders to navigate the complexities of climate change and ensure the enduring prosperity of the Strait of Malacca. It also delves specifically into the vulnerabilities faced by countries bordering the Strait, with a particular focus on India’s dependence on the waterway for trade, food security, and energy needs. The need of the hour is to analyse these vulnerabilities, and to pave the way for the development of robust adaptation strategies that ensure the long-term sustainability and resilience of the Strait of Malacca in the face of a changing climate.

Evolutionary trends and analysis of the driving factors of Ulva prolifera green tides: A study based on the random forest algorithm and multisource remote sensing images

Understanding the prolonged spatiotemporal evolution and identifying the underlying causes of Ulva prolifera green tides play pivotal roles in managing such occurrences, restoring water ecology, and fostering sustainable development in marine ecosystems. Satellite remote sensing represents the primary choice for monitoring Ulva prolifera green tides due to its capability for extensive, long-term ocean monitoring. With the use of multisource ecological and environmental big data, such as GOCI Ⅰ/Ⅱ images, meteorological data, runoff data, and data on various water quality parameters (SST, ocean current speed, wind speed, precipitation, DO, PAR, Si, NO3-, PO4-, and N/P), pertaining to the highly impacted South Yellow Sea of China, an innovative remote sensing extraction model was established. This model involved a hybrid approach, merging the robustness of the random forest (RF) model and the optical algae cloud index (ACI) to map Ulva prolifera distribution patterns. Moreover, we analysed the evolutionary trends and the driving factors determining these distribution patterns. The ACI-RF method exhibited exceptional performance, with an F1 score surpassing 0.95, outperforming alternative methods such as the support vector machine (SVM) and K-nearest neighbour (KNN) methods. Over the period from 2011 to 2022, excluding 2021, there was a notable decline in the area of Ulva prolifera green tides, varying between 397 and 2689.9 km2, with an average annual reduction rate of 3%. The maximum annual biomass varied between 0.12 and 15.9 kt. Notably, more than 75% of the area of Ulva prolifera green tides exhibited northward drift, which was significantly influenced by northern currents and wind fields. The regions most susceptible to Ulva prolifera green tides were observed in areas of water eutrophication. The analysis of driving factors shows that factors such as average sea surface temperature, eastward wind speed, northward wind speed, precipitation, PO4-, and N/P/Si significantly influence the biological growth rate of Ulva prolifera. Furthermore, coastal land use change and surface runoff in Jiangsu Province, particularly surface runoff in June, significantly impacted the growth rate of Ulva prolifera, with Pearson correlation coefficients of 0.74 and 0.67, respectively. Against the background of global warming and severe deterioration in the marine environment, Ulva prolifera blooms persist. Consequently, two distinct management strategies were proposed based on the distribution patterns and cause analysis results for addressing Ulva prolifera green tides: establishing a continuous protection framework for rivers, lakes, and nearshore areas to mitigate pollutant inputs and implementing precise environmental monitoring measures in urban expansion areas and farmlands to combat overgrowth-induced green tides. Leveraging the inherent advantages of remote sensing big data for rapid mapping, this methodology could be applied in other regions affected by marine ecological disasters. Additionally, the criteria for selecting influencing factors offer a valuable reference for designing tailored measures aimed at controlling Ulva prolifera green tides.

Baltic Sea shipwrecks as a source of hazardous pollution

Background Shipwrecks on the Baltic Sea seabed pose a serious threat to the marine environment. Fuel, ammunition and chemicals in their holds can enter the ecosystem at any time, causing an ecological disaster. It is known that oil spills from ship accidents can affect life and health of different species of animals, both immediately after catastrophe and for many years thereafter. This article discusses the negative impact of shipwrecks on the ecological status of the Baltic Sea and presents the contamination status of bottom sediment core samples taken in the vicinity of shipwrecks located in the South Baltic, i.e., S/s Stuttgart, t/s Franken, S/T Burgmeister Petersen and m/s Sleipner. It is based on the results of research carried out by the Maritime Institute between 2011 and 2016. Methods Core samples were taken by a VKG-2 vibrating probe and analysed towards content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) and total organic carbon (TOC). Seven PAHs and Seven PCBs were determined using solid phase extraction (SPE) technique followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) detection. In order to determine the concentration of TPH, the SPE technique was applied followed by gas chromatography with flame ionisation detector (GC-FID) analysis. TOC content was established by TOC analyser using infrared detection. Results Samples taken in the vicinity of the S/s Stuttgart shipwreck have shown the highest concentrations of all analysed parameters compared to the examined wrecks and significantly differed from the results typical for these areas. This studies have shown that the S/s Stuttgart shipwreck poses a serious threat to the marine environment of Baltic Sea and it is necessary to continue studies in this area and to perform a wider range of analysis.

Violations of human environmental rights in Ukraine during the period of martial law (example of the Kaкhov disaster)

The article is devoted to the analysis of the violation of environmental human rights in Ukraine during the period of martial law from February 24, 2022 (using the example of the blowing up of the Kakhovska HPP (Kakhovska Hydro Power Plant) dam on June 6, 2023). Environmental rights include human rights to a safe ecological environment, that is, the right to a clean environment, fresh air, unpolluted land, good-quality water, high-quality, safe and harmless food products, unpolluted household items. In Ukraine, environmental rights are recognized and enshrined in the 1996 Constitution.
 It is noted that once a full-scale invasion begins, environmental hazards increase, and the damage done to Ukraine becomes much more obvious.
 It has been investigated that on June 6, 2023, around 02:50, a global environmental disaster occurred in Ukraine - the explosion of the Kakhovska HPP dam. The Kakhov reservoir began to lose water rapidly. Downstream of the Dnieper, settlements began to be flooded, including Kherson. The Kakhov disaster has all the signs of an ecological disaster.
 It has been proven that the consequences of the terrorist attack turned out to be worse than predicted. The undermining of the Kakhovska HPP dam caused serious environmental consequences, which have not fully manifested themselves yet. The rights to a safe ecological environment, guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine and the Principles of Environmental Protection during Armed Conflicts, developed by the UN International Law Commission in 2022, have been violated.
 It has been established that environmental disasters of this scale usually cannot be limited territorially, they negatively affect changes in ecosystems, which causes climate changes in the region. Therefore, the consequences of the Kakhov disaster are felt by themselves and with a high probability will be felt by other states in the future. The international community should join forces to ensure compensation for the damage caused to the environment, and take all permissible legal measures aimed at stopping the violation of environmental rights, as well as restoring the violated rights.
 The authors are of the opinion that the protection of environmental human rights in Ukraine will remain problematic for the next decades after the end of hostilities and the abolition of martial law.

Spatio-Temporal Evolution Characteristics and Driving Factors of Typical Karst Rocky Desertification Area in the Upper Yangtze River

Karst rocky desertification (KRD) has become the most serious ecological disaster in the southwest of China and is a major obstacle to the sustainable development of the karst region in the southwest. Remarkably, scientific understanding of the spatial-temporal evolution of rocky desertification and the corresponding driving mechanism is the primary prerequisite crucial to controlling rocky desertification. Hence, the typical rocky desertification area of Qujing City, located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, was selected as the research object. On the basis of the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud platform and decision tree classification, the spatial-temporal evolution process of rocky desertification in Qujing City from 1990 to 2020 was investigated, and the driving factors of rocky desertification were explored in terms of the natural environment and socio-economic aspects. Consequently, over this period, the area of rocky desertification had decreased by 1728.38 km2, while the no rocky desertification area had increased by 1936.61 km2. Notably, the major driving factors of rocky desertification were fractional vegetation cover (FVC) (q = 0.41), land use type (q = 0.26), slope (q = 0.21), and land reclamation rate (q = 0.21). Typically, rocky desertification is likely to occur in areas with moderate or low FVC (<0.7), a low slope (0–8°) or high slope (35°–80°), a land type of cultivated-land or grassland, and a land reclamation rate of 10–70%. In addition, all two-factor interactions acted as drivers that exacerbate rocky desertification. Furthermore, FVC ∩ slope (q = 0.79) and slope ∩ land use type (q = 0.56) were two interacting drivers that promote rocky desertification strongly.

Losses in fishery ecosystem services of the Dnipro river Delta and the Kakhovske reservoir area caused by military actions in Ukraine

We studied the development of commercial and recreational fishing on the Kakhovske Reservoir (aka Kakhovka) and the Dnipro (aka Dnieper) River lowlands in 2020–2023. The fish assemblage of the Kakhovske Reservoir is under consideration for the period 1956–2021. The dynamics of the fish population transformation, species extinction, and the emergence of new invasive species are given. The losses in Kakhovske Reservoir’s ecosystem services as a result of the Kakhovska Hydroelectric Power Plant’s (HPP) Dam explosion in June 2023 are analyzed. The states and prospects for local recreational and commercial fishing development are assessed. By field research and monitoring observations of the Kakhovske Reservoir and the Dnipro River lowland using the Earth remote sensing data, it was established that 2 months after the accident, the area of the remained reservoir water surface was ∼430 km2 (about 19% of the initial, including the restored Dnipro River bed). The newly formed shallow waterbodies, which do not have a water connection between each other, occupy an area of about 300 km2. These areas continue to dry out, shrink, and become overgrown with vegetation. The draining of the Kakhovske Reservoir caused an ecological disaster for about 40 species and subspecies of fish. The total monetary losses of commercial fishing are about $5.5 million annually. Losses in fishery from the vanishing of spawning grounds are estimated at 20,000 tons of fish resources (∼$40 million). The negative consequences of the loss of the Kakhovske Reservoir aquatic ecosystems will affect the socio-economic development of the entire South of Ukraine for a long time. Among the major ecosystem services lost is the cessation of water supply. Ukraine’s priority issues are the post-war rehabilitation of the country, its degraded lands, territories, and water areas, and ensuring water and food security. One of the urgent problems will be the feasibility of reconstruction of the Kakhovska HPP’s Dam and restoration of the Reservoir, renovation of water supply, fishery, navigation, energy, and recreation. Biodiversity is a basis for the efficient and sustainable ecosystem functions that provide many ecosystem services, and it should be considered for the post-war recovery and development of Ukraine.

Christian Neoplatonism and Deep Incarnation: Nicholas of Cusa and Giordano Bruno as Inspirations for Contemporary Ecotheology

In response to the specter of looming anthropogenic ecological catastrophe, many Christian thinkers have begun to rethink the God/world relationship and reimagine the ontic cleavage between divinity and creation. The idea of “deep incarnation”, which expands the scope of divine incarnation in an attempt to draw God and creation into closer relation, is a prevalent framework for such reimagination. Two historic, underutilized thinkers that might help deep incarnation theologians expand their own theologies and make sense of the conceptual and ethical differences among them are Neo-Platonist philosopher–theologians Nicholas of Cusa and Giordano Bruno. Working within an ecofeminist framework, this article argues that while both Cusanus and Bruno provide significant philosophical grounds for contemporary ecotheologies of deep incarnation, a Brunist perspective is preferable because of its more expansive anthropology and its more inclusive understanding of divinity.

Nature, Gender, and Resistance in Atwood's Surfacing and The Handmaid's Tale

This study attempts to explain Margaret Atwood’s two famous novels Surfacing (1972) and The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) in reference to Ecofeminism. Women and nature are always celebrated with each other and wherever their position is absolutely neglected. As a result, the sterility of the society launches. Atwood selects females as the leading characters and ecological catastrophe in its contextual. Atwood knowledgeably syndicates in Surfacing and The Handmaid’s Tale the dual subjugation of nature and women that occurs in the two societies. The corruption of nature conveys extermination to the societies and develop a contributory dynamic of subjugation of women by patriarchal society. She clinches that the discrimination against women and nature is identical and thus liberation of women won’t be fruitful without an equivalent endeavor to liberate nature.

Ethnography under Authoritarianism: Notes from Medical Anthropological Fieldwork

What is perceived today as “living in an unknown moment” with global pandemics and ecological disasters has long become the “new normal” that structures everyday life at the margins of Europe and the Middle East, particularly in places with rising authoritarian regimes. As scholars working in and on Turkey, for instance, we have witnessed or experienced firsthand several moments of crisis over the recent years. We have seen the collapse of peace negotiations between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Worker's Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistane; PKK) in 2015 and the resulting surge in state violence in Turkey's Kurdistan, the 2016 coup attempt against the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi; AKP) government by the Gülen movement, and the long-standing suppression, criminalization, and incarceration of dissent affecting, among others, students, politicians, journalists, and academics. These divergent yet interlinked moments of crisis have reshaped and often complicated, if not completely stopped, our research as ethnographers of Turkey. These moments of crisis have also pushed us to develop creative strategies and analytics to continue our fieldwork and provided opportunities to hone our research questions and methodologies in more nuanced ways.

The application of laser‑induced fluorescence in oil spill detection.

Over the past two decades, oil spills have been one of the most serious ecological disasters, causing massive damage to the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems as well as the socio-economy. In view of this situation, several methods have been developed and utilized to analyze oil samples. Among these methods, laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) technology has been widely used in oil spill detection due to its classification method, which is based on the fluorescence characteristics of chemical material in oil. This review systematically summarized the LIF technology from the perspective of excitation wavelength selection and the application of traditional and novel machine learning algorithms to fluorescence spectrum processing, both of which are critical for qualitative and quantitative analysis of oil spills. It can be seen that an appropriate excitation wavelength is indispensable for spectral discrimination due to different kinds of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons' (PAHs) compounds in petroleum products. By summarizing some articles related to LIF technology, we discuss the influence of the excitation wavelength on the accuracy of the oil spill detection model and proposed several suggestions on the selection of excitation wavelength. In addition, we introduced some traditional and novel machine learning (ML) algorithms and discussed the strengths and weaknesses of these algorithms and their applicable scenarios. With an appropriate excitation wavelength and data processing algorithm, it is believed that laser-induced fluorescence technology will become an efficient technique for real-time detection and analysis of oil spills.

The large-scale expansion of rubber plantations in southern India: major impacts and the changing nature of drivers

This study investigates the major environmental and socio-economic impacts of an increase in the area of rubber plantations and the changing patterns of drivers of land use changes. Using a combination of geospatial techniques and socio-economic methods, we mainly analyzed the rate of increase in area under rubber plantations, the major impacts of land use changes, and the changing drivers of land use changes. Our results show that the area under rubber plantations has increased significantly within the study area, with the area under rubber plantations increasing from 30 to 74% of the total area within five decades. Impact assessment of land use changes based on household surveys showed significant improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the farmers, however, at the expense of severe environmental degradation. Our results also indicate that while areas under rubber plantations continue to increase, the drivers of land use changes have changed over time. Furthermore, it has been observed that in the past, many interventions prioritized social and economic development and placed less emphasis on the ecological stability of the region. Perceptions of farmers revealed that the effects of ecological fragility already affected the economic robustness of the whole area. Therefore, we conclude that government interventions to support additional rubber cultivation should also focus on ecosystem stabilization in order to minimize the risk of an ecological catastrophe that would significantly affect the economic prosperity of the region.

Ewolucja pojęcia odporności społecznej wskutek doświadczeń pandemii COVID-19 i kryzysu imigracyjnego

Odporność społeczna (social resilience) cieszy się coraz większym zainteresowaniem badaczy, ponieważ pozwala przygotować społeczeństwo do wielu, różnego rodzaju sytuacji kryzysowych. Począwszy od zagrożeń ekologicznych i katastrof naturalnych poprzez zagrożenia ekonomiczne i zdrowotne, aż po zagrożenia występujące w trakcie konfliktu zbrojnego. Niestety pojęcie odporności społecznej (OS) wciąż pozostaje niejednorodne, a jego definicje nie zawsze są spójne z intencjami twórców koncepcji OS. Celem artykułu jest przegląd obecnych w literaturze definicji oraz wskazanie w jaki sposób współcześnie publikujący badacze definiują OS. Środkiem do realizacji jest przegląd definicji OS z ostatnich pięciu lat (2019-2023), z czasopism zindeksowanych w bazie Scopus. Przegląd ten pozwala pokazać ewolucję pojęcia OS, która jest efektem doświadczeń pandemii COVID-19, problemów migracyjnych oraz napaści zbrojnej Rosji na Ukrainę.

Biodegradable films from the lignocellulosic fibers of wheat straw biomass and the effect of calcium ions

Plastics are hazardous to human health, and plastic waste results in environmental pollution and ecological catastrophe. Biobased polymers from renewable sources have recently become promising for developing biodegradable packaging films. Among them, lignocellulosic residue from agricultural biomass is inexpensive, renewable, and biodegradable. This study aims to develop biodegradable films using lignocellulosic residue from wheat straw biomass. The methodology is a green process that solubilizes lignocellulosic chains using Zn2+ ions and crosslinks with Ca2+ ions of different concentrations (200–800 mM). The results reveal that the increase of Ca2+ ions significantly decreases moisture content, water solubility, water vapor permeability, transparency, and elongation of films. The tensile strength is recorded as 6.61 ± 0.07 MPa with the addition of 800 mM of CaCl2, which is approximately 2.5 times higher than commercial polyethylene films. Around 90 % of films biodegrade within a month in soil containing 20 % moisture content. Overall, lignocellulosic residue from wheat straw biomass could be an excellent replacement for synthetic polymer to fabricate strong, transparent, and biodegradable plastic films.

Women, environment and armed conflicts in Assam: literature as witness

ABSTRACT Women, especially in the Indigenous and ethnic communities of Assam and Northeast India, have shared an intricate relationship with nature. This relationship was disrupted by the human-made conflicts that ravaged the region for decades. Not only did these conflicts – ethno-nationalist in nature, for the most part – victimize women directly by subjecting them to violence and taking away their agency, but they also indirectly impacted them by adversely affecting the environment. This article examines the relationship between conflict-induced environmental degradation and its impact on women by analyzing its representation in literary texts like Felanee and Mayabritta. These texts, written by women writers, depict the ecological disasters that have afflicted the state of Assam as a result of armed conflict and situate their women characters at the centre of these disasters. By examining these novels as literature of witness, the article argues for a gender-sensitive approach to conflict management.

“Autumn”: John Clare and the Altered Fenland

abstract: The draining of the fens has been described as “England’s greatest ecological disaster.” This article delineates how John Clare’s ‘flitting’ to Northborough in the spring of 1832 fatefully coincided with a new, more efficient—or, in ecological terms, more disastrous— era of wetland drainage projects in the late 1820s and 30s. Focusing on his late (and sadly neglected) prose essay “Autumn” (1841), I explore how Clare recalls and recasts some of the enduring themes of both Romanticism and his own early poetry as he surveys the ecological disaster he had lived to see unfold.