Environmental Management Measures Research Articles

Investigating the impact of artificial intelligence development on water pollution in China

Analysing the impacts of AI development on water pollution is of great significance for improving water environment management measures and promoting global sustainable development. In this study, macro and micro panel data of China from 2008 to 2019 were used to measure the development level of AI at the industry and provincial levels in China, and a panel data regression model was constructed to analyse the effects of AI development on water pollution and regional heterogeneity. The measurement results show that the development level of AI is increasing. Among the six industries, the intelligence level of the manufacturing industry has developed the fastest, by approximately 48.74 times compared with the baseline. At the provincial level, Guangdong Province made the greatest progress in intelligence level, increasing by approximately 23.6 times. The regression results show that AI technology is helpful in reducing the level of water pollution, and this conclusion remains valid after the regression of instrumental variables and robustness testing. In terms of regional heterogeneity, AI technology can significantly reduce the degree of water pollution in eastern and western China. However, the development of AI technology in the central region has no significant impact on water pollution, and a risk of increasing the degree of water pollution exists. The reasons may be that the eastern region has high levels of economic vitality and technological innovation and a strong ability to transform AI achievements, which can significantly improve the water environment. Industrial support policies in the western region are strong, and the application of AI can quickly improve production methods and significantly reduce water pollution levels. In comparison, the levels of economic development, technological innovation, and policy support in the central region need to be strengthened, so the environmental effect of AI is not significant.

Eco-friendly hotels and guesthouses as a new opportunity for resilience and sustainability: Evidence from the Czech Republic.

The economic recovery of the tourism industry after the Covid-19 pandemic to find modern and efficient trends to increase profitability is accompanied by the adoption of comprehensive accommodation approaches towards resilience and environmental sustainability. The research aims at the application of environmental management elements and measures in all types of accommodation facilities in the Czech Republic (n1 = 1,016). A qualitative focus group method complemented the quantitative research using correspondence analysis, Levene's, Kruskal-Wallis, and Tukey's HSD tests (n2 = 9 + moderator). The results indicate that the differences in the number of environmental measures implemented were minimal for the monitored hotels and guesthouses. On the other hand, the star rating of accommodation facilities is not a key parameter in the environmental impact assessment. The most used environmental measures were devices reducing electricity consumption (hotels 94%, guesthouses 94%), separating waste (hotels 88%, guesthouses 89%), and water consumption reduction (hotels 85%, guesthouses 86%). At the same time, the most minor used were measures reducing chemical consumption (hotels 23%, guesthouses 22%) communication and environmental education of employees and guests (hotels 32%, guesthouses 18%).

Evaluation of Ecosystem Services in Ruoergai National Park, China

This study utilizes ArcGIS10.8 and ENVI5.3 software and the InVEST model to analyze and operate field survey data and remote sensing image data from Ruoergai National Park. The work simulates the soil retention, carbon storage, water supply, and habitat quality of the park to evaluate and analyze its four major ecosystem services. Subsequently, important areas of ecosystem services are zoned based on the results, aiming to provide decision-makers with a theoretical and scientific basis for formulating ecological environment restoration, protection, and management measures in Ruoergai National Park. The results showed the following: (1) In the study area, the land use types, ranked from largest to smallest, are grassland, unused land, forest, water area, and construction land. (2) Soil retention and water supply show an increasing trend, while carbon storage shows a decreasing trend. Habitat quality remains relatively stable, with most areas maintaining a high level of quality. (3) The importance zoning of ecosystem services in the study area exhibited a trend of “four increases and one decrease”. Specifically, the areas classified as moderately important, highly important, and extremely important all increased, while the area designated as generally important decreased. The findings indicate that climate change, land use type changes, and human activities are the primary factors influencing changes in ESs. It is crucial to prioritize highly important and extremely important areas for protection and utilization within Ruoergai National Park. Moving forward, it will be essential to minimize human activities that disrupt the ecosystem, while also focusing on the conservation and sustainable use of forest and grassland.

Wide Riparian Zones Inhibited Trace Element Loss in Mining Wastelands by Reducing Surface Runoff and Trace Elements in Sediment.

The diffusion of trace elements in mining wastelands has attracted widespread attention in recent years. Vegetation restoration is an effective measure for controlling the surface migration of trace elements. However, there is no field evidence of the effective riparian zone width in mining wastelands. Three widths (5 m, 7.5 m, and 10 m) of Rhododendron simsii/Lolium perenne L. riparian zones were constructed in lead-zinc mining wastelands to investigate the loss of soil, cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn). Asbestos tiles were used to cut off connections between adjacent plots to avoid hydrological interference. Plastic pipes and containers were used to collect runoff water. Results showed that more than 90% of trace elements were lost in sediment during low coverage and heavy rainfall periods. Compared with the 5 m riparian zone, the total trace element loss was reduced by 69-85% during the whole observation period in the 10 m riparian zone and by 86-99% during heavy rain periods in the 10 m riparian zone, which was due to reduction in runoff and concentrations of sediment and trace elements in the 10 m riparian zone. Indirect negative effects of riparian zone width on trace element loss through runoff and sediment concentration were found. These results indicated that the wide riparian zone promoted water infiltration, filtered soil particles, and reduced soil erosion and trace element loss. Riparian zones can be used as environmental management measures after mining areas are closed to reduce the spread of environmental risks in mining wastelands, although the long-term effects remain to be determined.

Psychological Counseling Model Proposal for Reducing Violence in Emergency Services

Violence is destructive and abrasive for patients and their relatives as well as for healthcare workers. Violence, which leads to various emotional and physical injuries, job dissatisfaction, and absenteeism, causes fatal mistakes and has a negative impact on service quality. On the other hand, the patient and his relatives may be anxious, nervous, sensitive or inclined to show anger behavior due to the situation they are in. These summarized reasons can bring the healthcare worker and patient, who should be on the same side, and their relatives face to face. However, healthcare professionals and patients share a common goal and have to act together. Accordingly, it is thought that when the causes of violence are eliminated for both groups, violence will decrease to a large extent. In this context, efforts should be made to identify and eliminate the psychological and social reasons that lead people to act aggressively in order to prevent violence in the emergency room. The proposed model aims to build a bridge of compassion between healthcare workers and patients and their relatives, while also providing psychological support to healthcare workers and patients and their relatives, training healthcare workers in communication, compassion, empathy and emotion management, and teaching stress-reducing techniques to prevent violence in emergency services. Various search engines were used in the literature search. The search terms were determined as "violence in an emergency", "causes of violence", "prevention of violence" and "violence in health", but studies involving environmental risk management and security measures were excluded.

Analysis of Environmental Impact Management on C Quarry Mining in Tiron Village, Banyakan District

This research aims to analyze the environmental impacts of C quarry mining in Tiron Village, Banyakan District, and propose appropriate measures for environmental management. The study uses a quantitative approach with a descriptive method. The quantitative approach is employed to test hypotheses using numerical data, while the descriptive method is used to describe and analyze the collected data. The population of this research includes all stakeholders involved in C quarry mining in Tiron Village, Banyakan District. The sample is determined using purposive sampling, selecting respondents with relevant knowledge and experience related to the research. The research instrument used is a questionnaire to measure respondents' perceptions of the impacts of C quarry mining. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire are tested using Pearson correlation and Cronbach's alpha reliability tests, respectively. Data collection is done by distributing questionnaires directly to the respondents. The collected data are analyzed using statistical tests. The findings of this research will provide valuable insights into the environmental impacts of C quarry mining in Tiron Village, Banyakan District. The results will contribute to developing effective environmental management strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of mining activities. This research highlights the importance of sustainable mining practices and the need for collaboration between various stakeholders to protect the environment and ensure the continuity of development projects.

Investigating Noise Mapping in Cities to Associate Noise Levels with Sources of Noise Using Crowdsourcing Applications

Environmental noise is a major environmental concern in metropolitan cities. The rapid social and economic growth in the 20th century is not always accompanied by adequate land planning and environmental management measures. As a consequence of rapid urbanization processes, cities are facing an increase in noise pollution. Noise is being recognized as a serious environmental problem and one which must be accounted for in a sustained development policy designed to improve the quality of life for citizens. Therefore, the monitoring of noise is a crucial aspect of urban planning to allow urban planners to create harmonious and livable environments for communities worldwide. This research aims at assessing the noise levels and associated sources of noise in downtown areas through the involvement of crowdsourcing techniques. The incorporation of noise mapping and increased public awareness are achieved by a framework that enables a comparative scheme between two cities: Alexandria, Egypt and Zagreb, Croatia. The methodology depends on combining crowdsourcing techniques using mobile applications and geographic information system (GIS) tools to detect and analyze noise. Finally, this research provides a comparison between the two cities using the adopted methodology and introduces recommendations to enhance urban planning decisions.

Associations between serum per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and thyroid hormones in Chinese adults: A nationally representative cross-sectional study

Disruption of thyroid homeostasis has been indicated in human studies on the effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). However, limited research exists on this topic within the general Chinese population. Based on a substantial and representative sample of the Chinese adult population, our study provides insight into how PFASs specifically affect thyroid homeostasis. The study included 10 853 participants, aged 18 years and above, sampled from nationally representative data provided by the China National Human Biomonitoring (CNHBM). Weighted multiple linear regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) models were used to explore the associations between eight individual PFAS concentrations and total thyroxine (T4), total triiodothyronine (T3), and the T4/T3 ratio. Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) and quantile-based g-computation (qgcomp) were employed to explore the joint and independent effects of PFASs on thyroid homeostasis. Both individual PFASs and PFAS mixtures exhibited a significant inverse association with serum T3 and T4 levels, and displayed a positive association with the T4/T3 ratio. Perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA) [–0.07 (95 % confidence interval (CI): –0.08, –0.05)] exhibited the largest change in T3 level. PFUnDA also exhibited a higher weight compared to other PFAS compounds in qgcomp models. Additionally, a critical exposure threshold for each PFAS was identified based on nonlinear dose–response associations; beyond these thresholds, the decreases in T3 and T4 levels plateaued. Specifically, for perfluoroheptane sulfonic acid (PFHpS) and 6:2 chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonate (6:2 Cl-PFESA), an initial decline in hormone levels was observed, followed by a slight increase when concentrations surpassed 0.7 ng/mL and 2.5 ng/mL, respectively. Sex-specific effects were more pronounced in females, and significant associations were observed predominantly in younger age groups. These insights contribute to our understanding of how PFAS compounds impact thyroid health and emphasize the need for further research and environmental management measures to address these complexities.

How Does Market-Oriented Environmental Regulation Affect Carbon Emission Performance? A Quasinatural Experiment Based on the Pilot Policy of Energy-Use Rights Trading

In order to evaluate the effect of market-oriented environmental management measures on regional carbon emission intensity in the pilot areas better, this paper adopts a quasinatural experiment of energy-use rights trading (EURT) policy by using the difference-in-difference method from the perspective of cities in China from 2006 to 2019. The results show that the policy of EURT can significantly reduce regional carbon emission intensity, which varies in different regions and different scales of cities. The main goal of implementing the policy is to reduce regional carbon emission intensity by improving the energy consumption structure and promoting the improvement of industrial structure and green innovation. In addition, the spatial impact of the EURT pilot project is demonstrated by its ability to not only reduce local carbon emission intensity but also decrease carbon intensity in and around the designated areas.

A model for improving the efficiency of forest industry enterprises in the context of rational environmental management

The development of the forest industry is one of the important goals of state policy. The purpose of the work was to study certain aspects of the efficiency of Russian forest industry enterprises in the context of rational environmental management and to develop a graphical model for its improvement. The main research methods are analytical, modeling, and statistical data processing. As a result, information was obtained on the current level of efficiency of production of forest industry key products by regions of the country. The development of the model was based on the general hypothesis of the study, that expanding the depth of wood biomass processing while reducing the negative impact on the environment leads to increased efficiency and sustainable development of enterprises in the forest industry. The proposed model demonstrates certain aspects of the interaction of forest industry enterprises with the environment. The most important elements of this model are waste-free production and the deep processing production, based, among other things, on the use of waste from the main production. To increase the efficiency of forest industry enterprises, it is extremely important to develop and implement environmental management measures.

Studies on the Prevalence Rate of Neoplastic Growth in Fish Johniuss Dussumieri (Valenciennes, 1833) of Karachi Coast Due to Polluted Sea Environment

Background: With the growing concern over the impacts of environmental pollution on marine life, this study addresses the critical issue of neoplastic growth in fish populations. The increasing prevalence of tumors in fish due to contaminated marine environments has raised alarms about ecosystem health and public health implications. Objective: The primary objective of this research was to assess the prevalence and seasonal variation of neoplastic growth in fish populations, particularly focusing on the impact of environmental pollution. Methods: Fish specimens were collected from various markets and examined for neoplastic growth. The study employed observational techniques, statistical analyses including ANOVA and Duncan's Multiple Range Test, and assessed seasonal variations from January 2019 to December 2022. Results: A total of 2,373 fish were examined, with 193 cases of neoplastic growth identified, indicating a substantial prevalence of tumors. The statistical analysis revealed significant variations in tumor prevalence, with a notable correlation to environmental factors. Conclusion: The study concludes that environmental pollution significantly impacts the prevalence of neoplastic growth in fish populations. This has profound implications for marine ecology and public health, emphasizing the need for effective environmental management and pollution control measures.

Research on Enterprise Environmental Risk Management of Industrial Bank under Analytic Hierarchy Process

With the frequent occurrence of corporate environmental incidents and the intensification of bank credit risks, the banking industry urgently needs to strengthen the prevention, control and management of corporate environmental risks. Based on the analytic hierarchy process, this paper takes the three enterprises that have been granted credit by IB as samples, selects the enterprise environmental risk model of four sub-indicators: carbon emissions, basic environmental management, environmental risk management measures, and environmental risk emergency management, and selects the appropriate green credit objects according to the calculation results. It also puts forward suggestions on environmental risk management to improve the collection and transmission of enterprise environmental information, strengthen the supervision of enterprise risk management measures, and formulate a unified enterprise environmental risk rating standard, so as to provide reference for the banking industry to carry out enterprise environmental risk management.

Challenges to environmental governance arising from the Russo–Ukrainian conflict: Evidence from carbon emissions

The destruction of ecosystems, increase in carbon emissions, and volatility of energy prices following the outbreak of the Russo–Ukrainian conflict constitute a complex situation that environmental managers must cope with. In response, this study aims to explore the impact of the Russo–Ukrainian conflict on carbon emissions in the European Union (EU) and associated heterogeneity factors. This study utilized stacked data from 2021 to 2022 on daily carbon emissions and used the differences-in-differences (DID) model as its methodological framework. This study also provides additional analyses for the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and Russia. The full-blown Russo–Ukrainian conflict led to a significant increase in carbon emissions in the EU, averaging 0.092 MtCO2. Further investigations showed that the conflict led to a significant increase in energy prices and that changes in the prices of different energy sources had a heterogeneous effect on carbon emissions. Specifically, an increase in natural gas prices drove a rise in carbon emissions, whereas an increase in oil prices led to a decrease in carbon emissions in the EU. Third, the conflict also affected countries outside the EU, including the US and the UK, which experienced significant increases in carbon emissions in contrast to Russia, which underwent a decline. Finally, the study identified four sectors - international aviation, industry, power, and residential - as the primary contributors to elevated carbon emissions in the EU. This study provides a novel perspective for exploring the interplay between conflicts and carbon emissions and offers valuable insights into shaping effective environmental management policies and measures.

Mathematical methods in nature management and land use planning

The article discusses the most popular mathematical methods in environmental management and land use planning, and substantiates their use in restoring the components of disturbed landscapes. Environmental management and land use planning are developing branches of applied sciences and engineering activities, involving measurements of landscape components, calculations of their changes and interactions. Based on such calculations, environmental and land management measures are developed aimed at restoring natural landscapes and returning them to their original parameters. An important role in the performance of calculations is played by mathematical methods, which are the tools for establishing the tight connections between the elements, determining the predictive values of the desired characteristics and other necessary calculations.

A Market-Based Payment Study for Forest Water Purification Service in Loess Plateau of Yellow River Basin, China

Freshwater scarcity is increasingly threatening social development and human survival, and more effective watershed environmental management measures are yet to be developed. Market-based payment is an innovative tool to coordinate the relationship between ecosystem services’ supply and demand sides in watersheds, emphasizing the market (rather than government intervention) as the main means to regulate and control the behavior of interest-related subjects. We proposed a marked-based plan for forestry water purification service and stimulate the potential benefits of this plan under the zero transaction cost assumption. We applied and demonstrated the approach in the Loess Plateau of the Yellow River Basin (LPB) in China. By constructing the relationship between the higher reaches of annual forestry investment and the corresponding lower reaches of sediment concentration, we established forestry water purification service supply function (R2 = 0.956). Then, connecting the agents’ cost function of water treatment plants in the lower reaches with the forest water purification service, we obtained the forestry water purification service demand function (R2 = 0.943). Combining both the service supply and demand functions, we stimulated the market equilibrium state. The results show that higher reaches will provide 13.164 kg/m3 of water purification service by afforestation, and lower reaches can save RMB 2.131 billion annually via this service. This study suggests that marked-based payment between areas is feasible for a watershed ecosystem service, and promoting the establishment of watershed compensation market is a rewarding development direction. All of these insights provide a valuable reference point for Chinese horizontal ecological compensation practice.

Impact of railways on land use and land cover change: Evidence from India

Transport infrastructure is said to drive development in a region and affect the land use/land cover (LULC) over time. We employ a difference-in-differences (DID) framework to causally examine transport infrastructure as a driver of land use/land cover change (LUCC) using the case study of the Konkan Railway, one of the largest railway projects in post-independence India. Using multi-period multispectral satellite data, we obtained the basic LULC classes for the DID and spatio–temporal analysis. The findings suggest that the Konkan Railway led to an increase in built-up land cover and open spaces at the expense of the agricultural land cover, but did not adversely affect forest cover. This result is consistent all along the 760 km long railway. The study contributes to the emerging literature on the land use impacts of railways and underscores the importance of implementing environmental management measures.

Impact of Traditional Environmental Management Measures and Ecological Product Diversification on MSME Performance: Evidence of the Batik Industry in Central Java, Indonesia

Research aims: This research aims to investigate the influence of traditional environmental management practices on corporate performance and determine the mediating role of ecological product diversification in this regard.Design/Methodology/Approach: To achieve these objectives, a research design was developed and tested using a sample of 138 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) operating in the batik industry in Central Java, Indonesia. Observation data were then analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) utilizing Amos software.Research findings: The analysis results demonstrated that traditional environmental management and ecological product diversification had a direct positive impact on the performance of small and medium enterprises. However, these results did not confirm the mediating role of ecological product diversification.Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study provides convincing evidence regarding the impact of environmentally friendly product diversification on MSME performance. Therefore, MSMEs, especially those operating in the batik industry, are encouraged to diversify environmentally friendly products to increase competitiveness and adapt to people's concern for the environment in the current era (green economy). Practitioners/Policy implications: It is acknowledged that the overall results obtained from this research provide a significant contribution to the understanding of the importance of environmental management practices and environmentally-friendly product diversification to increase business efficiency in the context of MSMEs.Research limitations/Implications: This study had a limited scope and only covered the Central Java region. Subsequent research can further expand the scope of the research field.

Risk management analysis of environmental investment in economic security


 
 
 Biodiversity loss is irreversible and demands investment in organizational measures for environmental protection and effective risk management of relevant financial investments to ensure national economic security. This research analyzes the directions of investment support for economic security based on rational interaction between society and ecosystems. The goal of this article is to identify the main directions of anthropogenic impact on the environment and the interdependence of improving ecological indicators through investment activities in the corresponding direction to ensure economic security. The study examines investment directions in environmental protection within the LIFE program projects to prevent negative cause-and-effect effects from the implementation of natural innovations. The maximization of the EU’s efforts in ecosystem restoration and protection is identified to mitigate investment risks by promoting the adoption of innovations across a wider range of societal spheres. It is estimated that during the period from 2018 to 2022, there was an increase in investment in environmental protection by approximately 18%, resulting in areduction in emissions intensity by 22.9% by economic activity types from 2016 to 2021, and the average CO2 emissions indicator contributed to a decrease by 1.1%. Investing in the environment requires continuous adaptation to changing external conditions and requires adjustments to reduce risk threats, such as unforeseen consequences of financial investments in certain economic sectors, shifts in societal behavior, and unexpected ecosystem impacts. However, effective management of investment risks is a potential for the development of environmental investment activities, such as the implementation and support of sustainable innovations (transition to eco-friendly construction, reforestation, raw material certification).
 
 

Identification of driving factors for chlorophyll‐a in multi‐stable shallow lakes of China employing machine learning methods

AbstractDue to the rapid increase in urbanization and anthropogenic activity in the lake catchment, nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen are abundant in urban sewage, leading to lake eutrophication and promoting algal blooms. Chlorophyll‐a (Chl‐a) is an important indicator of algal blooms; thus, predicting concentration is vital for lake restoration and management. Literature reveals that most of the previous studies of Chl‐a prediction required multiple variables and considerable computation. Thus, it is crucial to scientifically identify the key drivers of Chl‐a in Taihu Lake for the formulation of effective environmental management measures. In this study, a long‐term dataset (1991–2015) and Daniel trend test method were employed to analyse the trend of meteorological and water quality indicators in Taihu Lake in China. The redundancy of variables was eliminated by using the rank correlation method, combined with prior knowledge that provides a solid foundation for the analysis of the driving factors of Chl‐a. Four machine learning models, named Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), random forest (RF), support vector regression (SVR) and gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT), were employed to predict the concentration of Chl‐a in different regions of Taihu Lake. The result shows that the XGBoost model outperformed the other three models in terms of R2 (>0.90) and root mean square error (RMSE) (3.69–8.40). Finally, based on the predictions of the concentration of Chl‐a using the XGBoost model, the SHapley Additive exPlanation (SHAP) framework was utilized to analyse the key factors influencing Chl‐a concentration. Finding of this study suggests that the XGBoost model performed best and could be applied to the overall stretches of Taihu Lake and other lakes in China; model prediction will be helpful in providing a zoning decision‐making approach for the rational protection of the lake environment and the prevention of algal bloom hazards.

Evaluation of the drinking water quality and potential health risks of nitrate and fluoride in Southwest Delhi, India

ABSTRACT The present study was attempted to evaluate the water quality index (WQI) and also performed potential human health risk assessment i.e. Hazards quotient (HQ), Total hazard index (THI) of nitrate (NO3 −) and fluoride (F−) through ingestion of groundwater in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. The WQI classification showed that 56%, and 34% of groundwater resources were unfit for consumption in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. The HQ and THI of the non-carcinogenic hazards were computed using the potential health risk assessment of NO3 − and F−enriched groundwater. The findings showed that in adults, 26% and 36% of the water samples had high risk quotients for HQ-NO3 − and HQ-F−, respectively, while in children, 40% and 54% of the samples had risk quotients for HQ-NO3 − and HQ-F− above the permissible level. This suggests that F− contributes more to the non-carcinogenic risk than NO3 − in pre-monsoon. However, NO3 − adds more to the non-carcinogenic risk than F− in post-monsoon, as shown by the HQ-NO3 − and HQ-F− in 42% and 2% of samples for adults, and in 58% and 14% of samples for children, respectively. Children in the study area were more vulnerable to the non-carcinogenic effects of NO3 − and F− according to the findings. Total hazards index (THI) for adults and children in for NO3 − and F− were ranged from 0.34 to 8.61 (Avg. 1.68) and 0 to 8.20 (Avg. 1.75) in pre-monsoon season. Similarly, NO3 − and F− were ranged from 0.37 to 2.85 (Avg. 1.86) and 0 to 2.86 (Avg. 0.85) in post-monsoon season, respectively. The results of this study can improve effective environmental management measures for enhancing the groundwater quality and public health of the study area.