Environmental Science Research Articles

Computer Vision―The Frontier of Modern Environmental Diagnostics: A Review

Computer vision (CV), in combination with various sensors and image analysis algorithms, is a frontier direction in diagnosing the state of the environment and its biogenic and abiogenic objects. The work generalizes scientific achievements and identifies scientific and technical problems in this area of research based on the conceptual system of analysis on the time axis: from implemented achievements as part of the past and present to original new solutions—the future. Our work gives an idea of three areas of application of CV in diagnosing the state of the environment: phenotype recognition in digital images, monitoring of living and abiogenic objects, and development of new methods for identifying pollution and its consequences. The advantages of CV, which can be attributed to scientific achievements in this field of research, are shown: an increase in the volume of analyzed samples, simultaneous analysis of several parameters of the object of observation, and leveling of subjective evaluation factors. The main CV problems currently solved are the accuracy of diagnostics and changing quality of the survey, identification of the object of analysis with minimal operator participation, simultaneous monitoring of objects of different quality, and development of software and hardware systems with CV. A promising direction for the future is to combine the capabilities of CV and artificial intelligence. Thus, the review can be useful for specialists in environmental sciences and scientists working in interdisciplinary fields.

Intercropping maize (Zea mays L.) and field beans (Vicia faba L.) for forage, increases protein production

In 2005–2007, a field study was conducted into intercropping of maize with faba bean at Pawlowice research station, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences. The main aim of the multi-year field research was an investigation into the reactions of differing maize hybrid earliness to intercropping cultivation with faba bean. The field research evaluated the effect of three maize hybrids—Wilga (early—E), Blask (medium—M) and Iman (late—L)—and the sowing rate of faba bean—18 (Fb1), 27 (Fb2) and 36 (Fb3) seeds per 1 m2—on growth dynamics and yield structure, and biomass, protein, and energy yield. Cultivation of faba bean in maize inter-rows led to significant competition with maize and affected yields, causing a decrease in maize dry matter yield from 14.1 (Fb1) to 20.6% (FB3) compared with maize sown alone. In terms of total biomass yield from maize and faba beans, no significant differences were found, but a slight increase in yield of 1.1–4.2% (repective to Fb1 and Fb3) was noted compared to maize sown alone. The early maize hybrid had a significantly lower yield but was most suitable for intercropping with faba bean. The dry biomass yield of early hybrids increased in intercropping by 25% compared to pure maize cultivation. Total protein yield from both intercropping components was higher than in the pure sowing of maize: from 24 (Fb1) to 39% (Fb3). The increase in protein production resulted in an improvement in the energy–protein ratio. The number of UFL per kg of total protein decreased from 13.2 in pure maize cultivation (M-P) to 9.3 (Fb3). A more balanced forage biomass was produced from intercropping maize with faba bean, especially when an early maize hybrid was sown with faba beans.

A water quality prediction approach for the Downstream and Delta of Dongjiang River Basin under the joint effects of water intakes, pollution sources, and climate change

Water quality prediction is an important means for scientific water environment management and early warning measures. However, its reliability is often restricted by the uncertainties of parameters and pollution sources. Previous methods for resolving these uncertainties still have shortcomings due to low computational efficiency and incomplete coverage of mechanisms. With insufficient data, they also overlooked revealing the comprehensive impact of water intakes, pollution sources, and climate change on water quality in river networks. Insight understanding migration law and the main driving mechanisms under these factors is crucial for water resources and sustainable socioeconomic development. Here, we developed an efficient multi-scenario ensemble water quality prediction (MEWQP) approach to address the deficiency. The Downstream and Delta of Dongjiang River Basin was the demonstrative case. Firstly, we developed multiple parameters and pollution sources inverse estimation method by incorporating the Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP), general likelihood uncertainty estimation, and inverse methods to improve accuracy. Secondly, the Markov-Chain was used to predict flows affected by climate change. Thirdly, 60 scenarios were analyzed to quantify the impacts of multiple factors on water quality including 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), and dissolved oxygen (DO), and identify an optimized scheme of water intakes. Results show that: (1) WASP has good performance for BOD5, NH3-N, and DO with Mean Absolute Relative Error of 5.87%, 9.19%, and 15.25%, respectively; (2) pollution sources have the greatest impact, followed by extreme climate and intakes. Their combined impacts are greater than individuals; (3) under non-water intakes DO can be improved by 31%, also offset the impact of climate change by 16%; (4) the optimized scheme of intakes could improve DO by 6%. Therefore, decision-makers should simultaneously adjust water intake and reduce pollution sources to obtain high-quality water resources.

Ecological determinants of leishmaniasis vector, Lutzomyia spp.: A scoping review.

Leishmania spp. are zoonotic parasites transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies, including those of the Lutzomyia genus, which can cause leishmaniases in both humans and dogs. Lutzomyia spp. are established in many countries in South and Central America and some areas of the southern United States, with suspected potential of these vectors to undergo further range expansion due to climate change. A scoping review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extensions for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines to describe the current state of knowledge on the key ecological factors associated with Lutzomyia spp. survival, reproduction and establishment. The following electronic databases were searched for eligible studies published from 1 January 1990, to the date of search, 26 April 2023: CAB Direct (CABI), MEDLINE (via Ovid), Biological Sciences Database and Environmental Sciences Database. Primary research articles that were available in English and focused on ecological factors associated with Lutzomyia spp., such as climatic and habitat factors, geographic range, seasonality and temporality, and host abundance, were eligible for inclusion in the study. Following de-duplication, a total of 167 studies were included in Level 1 screening, 64 studies were included in Level 2 screening and 31 studies met the criteria for data extraction. Study locations included Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, the United States, Mexico and Canada, with some studies including multiple regions. A total of 31 different Lutzomyia spp. were assessed across these studies, with most (51.6%) of the studies focused on Lutzomyia longipalpis. Eligible studies investigated factors such as seasonality (n = 5), temperature (n = 19), precipitation (n = 13), humidity (n = 2), vegetation presence or requirements (n = 13), ecotypes (n = 7), and/or community type (i.e., urban, suburban, rural) (n = 5). Lutzomyia spp. activity was found to be higher during the rainy season, and peak when temperatures were between 20 and 25°C. Lutzomyia spp. were also found to preferentially reside in tropical or subtropical forests, which are characterised by their lack of a distinct dry season and high precipitation. This scoping review summarised the current state of the literature on the ecological factors associated with the survival, activity and reproduction of Lutzomyia spp. While there appears to be some consensus in the literature regarding some ecological requirements (such as seasonality, temperature and habitat features), overall, there is a lack of published research in this topic. This poses a significant challenge for future studies, which aim to predict the future distribution of Lutzomyia spp. in the context of climate and land use changes. Additional ecological research is urgently needed on Lutzomyia spp. given their relevance to both human and animal health.

Quantitative Changes in the Publishing of Lithuanian Scientific Journals in 2015–2022: Public and Private Sectors’ Adaptation to the Changing Conditions

The article analyses the quantitative changes in the Lithuanian scientific journal publishing in 2015-2022. The study reveals the problems of public bibliographic accounting and terminology in order to comprehensively analyse the public and private sector published print and electronic scientific journals. The gaps and uncertainties identified allow for the improvement of official publication records in the future, avoiding ambiguities in the assessment of the publication volumes of scientific journals. Science policy makers and implementers should take the initiative to standardise the definition of scientific journals, as this is the only way to achieve a clearer approach to this form of science communication. Although the annual volume of scientific journal publications has shrunk by 18.1% (from 265 (2015) to 217 (2022) publications), the decline itself has not been sharp. The decline has been stabilised by business involvement, changes in the evaluation of colleges, and the transformation of professional journals, book series and conference proceedings into scientific journals. Flexibility has been provided by electronic publishing instruments, which have reduced the dependence on external financial sources. The public publishing sector has tended to reduce the number of scientific journals in all scientific fields. This was mainly due to the reorganisation of the higher education network, the qualitative requirements for scientific articles and the reorganisation of scientific collectives. The publishing business has seen the greatest potential in the fields of technology and the medical and health sciences, and as a result, the number of journals published in these fields has not declined and continues to grow. Despite the private sector's growth trends, 50% of journals have 30 or more years of publication. This forms the core of Lithuanian scientific journals, which public sector publishers are striving to preserve and integrate into the international scientific environment.

The renewable energy research contribution of Tanzania: A review

The central objectives of this study are to locate existing research on renewable energy, examine the energy policy of Tanzania, assess bibliometric factors, determine the direction of the current research, and comprehend unexplored research topics. This exploration focuses on a bibliometric-based study using computer-assisted software tools known as VOS viewer and RStudio in analyzing the Scopus data retrieved package for the key phrase of "Renewable energy" in the article titles published from 2002 to 2022. A total of 661 publications (which is only 0.45% and 6.3% of the global and continental publications from Africa respectively) were analysed after refining using different bibliometric criteria like study site, type of document, publication stage, language used in the document, and publication time interval. The results shows that Energy fuels, engineering, technology, environmental sciences, ecology, and business economics are the most frequently studied fields. Also, from a total of 661 publications, only 32 documents were published from Tanzania for 20 years from 2022 which is less than 2 publication/year. This study concludes that there is a notable lack of research output from Tanzania in this critical field. This gap underscores the need for greater investment in renewable energy research and development within the country, as well as targeted efforts to build research capacity and foster collaboration among academia, government, and industry stakeholders.

BEATS: BEAmline for synchrotron X-ray microTomography at SESAME.

The ID10 beamline of the SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) synchrotron light source in Jordan was inaugurated in June 2023 and is now open to scientific users. The beamline, which was designed and installed within the European Horizon 2020 project BEAmline for Tomography at SESAME (BEATS), provides full-field X-ray radiography and microtomography imaging with monochromatic or polychromatic X-rays up to photon energies of 100 keV. The photon source generated by a 2.9 T wavelength shifter with variable gap, and a double-multilayer monochromator system allow versatile application for experiments requiring either an X-ray beam with high intensity and flux, and/or a partially spatial coherent beam for phase-contrast applications. Sample manipulation and X-ray detection systems are designed to allow scanning samples with different size, weight and material, providing image voxel sizes from 13 µm down to 0.33 µm. A state-of-the-art computing infrastructure for data collection, three-dimensional (3D) image reconstruction and data analysis allows the visualization and exploration of results online within a few seconds from the completion of a scan. Insights from 3D X-ray imaging are key to the investigation of specimens from archaeology and cultural heritage, biology and health sciences, materials science and engineering, earth, environmental sciences and more. Microtomography scans and preliminary results obtained at the beamline demonstrate that the new beamline ID10-BEATS expands significantly the range of scientific applications that can be targeted at SESAME.

The impact of Gen Z's pro-environmental behavior on sustainable development goals through tree planting

This interdisciplinary study addresses a critical gap in environmental behavior research by focusing on Gen Z's engagement with tree planting, a key yet underexplored activity in the context of achieving sustainable development goals. Motivated by the need to understand how cultural practices and environmental policies influence young people's participation in sustainability efforts, this research examines how integrating psychological theories with sociocultural dynamics can enhance our understanding of proactive environmental engagement. Leveraging frameworks from psychology, sociology, environmental science, and cultural studies, this research integrates the Value-Belief-Norm theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior to analyze how Gen Z's values, environmental beliefs, and perceived behavioral control influence their intentions and actions toward tree planting. The methodology involves a two-phase empirical investigation: initially developing and validating measurement items with 141 Gen Z participants, followed by a second phase with 203 participants to validate the proposed model using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The findings highlight that the environmental value of Gen Z significantly shapes its attitudes and behavioral intentions toward tree planting. Additionally, this study reveals the crucial role of personal norms and perceived behavioral control in steering individuals’ pro-environmental behaviors. The Vishu Thaineetham initiative, which has a global footprint and has transformed a cultural tradition into a sustainable tree-planting movement, is a case study for innovative ecological preservation. This initiative demonstrates the potential of culturally adapted practices to foster collective environmental engagement and promote cleaner production strategies. The implications for theory and practice, emphasizing insights into environmental behavior models, are also provided.

Fostering the Development of Earth Data Science Skills in a Diverse Community of Online Learners: A Case Study of the Earth Data Science Corps

Today’s data-driven world requires earth and environmental scientists to have skills at the intersection of domain and data science. These skills are imperative to harness information contained in a growing volume of complex data to solve the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Despite the importance of these skills, Earth and Environmental Data Science (EDS) training is not equally accessible, contributing to a lack of diversity in the field. This creates a critical need for EDS training opportunities designed specifically for underrepresented groups. In response, we developed the Earth Data Science Corps (EDSC) which couples a paid internship for undergraduate students with faculty training to build capacity to teach and learn EDS using Python at smaller Minority Serving Institutions. EDSC faculty participants are further empowered to teach these skills at their home institutions which scales the program beyond the training lead by our team. Using a Rasch modeling approach, we found that participating in the EDSC program had a significant impact on undergraduate learners’ comfort and confidence with technical and nontechnical data science skills, as well as their science identity and sense of belonging in science, two critical aspects of recruiting and retaining members of underrepresented groups in STEM. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

Digital Transformation Techniques for Manuscripts

The world is witnessing continuous technological developments that have an impact on societies and institutions. Therefore, all countries seek to keep pace with these developments and introduce them into various fields. Digital transformation has become one of the most important necessities that all institutions must adopt today, as digital transformation is capable of creating a competitive technological environment to achieve the highest levels of quality at the lowest costs. Manuscripts are of interest to many scholars and researchers due to their scientific and artistic value. Preserving them means preserving national identity, especially with the emergence of technology. It has become imperative to preserve manuscripts from damage and loss and make them available to the largest number of beneficiaries. In the past, Arabs were among the most important peoples who contributed to the preservation of manuscripts. One of the most important challenges facing modern society is managing, preserving, and retrieving information from the vast amount of paper documents and files that are increasing daily. By using technology, the time taken to search for the required document or distribute documents to the relevant parties leads to a significant increase in the productivity of the institution. Information technology and electronic communication systems have revolutionized traditional methods of processing, preserving, and exchanging information. The presence of advanced technologies provides us with ease and accuracy in accessing information. Archiving as a general concept relies on storing and classifying papers in a way that makes it easy to refer back to them when needed. With the advent of computers, the process has become easier, providing more flexibility and ease in retrieval, as well as reducing the costs of preservation and storage. This technology has a direct impact on the archival profession, as archivists have turned to electronic means and imaging storage systems, as well as audiovisual methods, in an attempt to solve the storage and preservation problem. Modern digital technology affects all areas of life due to the integrated scientific environment it provides. All societies have begun to transition towards the digital age because of its remarkable development in information and communication technology. Keywords: Information, Manuscript, Technology, Scanning, Digitization

Teaching and learning about race, culture, and environment in a predominately white institution

The environment and natural resource fields have traditionally centered western science, the scholarship of white men, and land conservation strategies that neglect historical inhabitants. These tenets have led to a narrow view of how conservation is defined and created challenges for BIPOC students and professionals to see themselves as full and equal participants in the environmental sciences. The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources has worked to address these shortcomings through courses designed to address issues of systemic racism and exclusion in the environmental field. In our student’s first year, we pair a fall course focused on communication skills with a spring course that addresses issues of racism and social justice in the environmental fields. We use the fall semester to create a learning community where students build relationships of trust, mutual regard, and care and develop a deeper understanding of their relationship with the environment. In the spring, we present students with a variety of frameworks to think critically about equity, inclusion, positionality, privilege, racism, and diversity. A key learning outcome is to help students consider how historical and present-day dynamics of race and racism have shaped the environmental field. Importantly, we focus on the voices and messages of environmental leaders who have historically been left out of popular environmental narratives. We outline lessons learned in the integration of diversity, equity, and inclusion into our environment and natural resources curriculum and ways to further enhance our centering of equity and inclusion in the curriculum.

Defining socioecological reciprocity: Intentionality, mutualism or collateral effect

Abstract This perspective piece discusses the history of the use of the term ‘reciprocity’ across environmental social sciences in the analysis of the interactions between the social and the natural systems. Reciprocity, as a concept, these days, seems to be used in a rather uncritical fashion. These pages do not intend to be exhaustive, instead they focus on the role that the idea of explicit intentionality (or its absence) has had on the different ways reciprocity has been conceptualized. The literature identifies two clusters of approaches to this subject. On the one hand, we encounter a group of schools in which the notion of reciprocity demands explicit intentionality, an articulation of the concept that requires intend and consciousness of the consequences of agency and the directionality of causality. On the other hand, a wider definition of reciprocity that does not depend on awareness has also been used to discuss the relationships between human and non‐human actors. Thanks to this wider definition, reciprocity has been used as well to describe interactions between human and non‐human entities in which one or both parties were not explicitly intending to benefit each other. The aim of this article was not to determine which approach is correct and which is not. The goal was to underscore the significance of requiring or not requiring intentionality on the construction and use of the notion of reciprocity and the analytical and representational consequences of this choice. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Centering diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in environmental studies and sciences by practicing compassionate pedagogies

Centering diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in environmental studies and sciences by practicing compassionate pedagogies

Environmental justice teaching in an undergraduate context: examining the intersection of community-engaged, inclusive, and anti-racist pedagogy

Since the early 1980s, the environmental justice (EJ) movement was critical in drawing much needed attention on how Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and low-income groups have experienced a disproportionate burden of environmental harms. This movement eventually formed the field of environmental justice, a multidisciplinary area of study that attempts to identify environmental injustices and provide theory and practice for their resolution. Despite the expansion of the EJ field and recent public attention, research shows that both EJ content knowledge and BIPOC students are isolated and excluded from Interdisciplinary, Environmental, and Sustainability (IES) programs within higher education. In addition, these studies have shown a relationship between EJ content and community-engaged practices with the inclusion of BIPOC students. This study sought to examine how and why EJ teaching and community-engaged pedagogies may be associated with inclusive or anti-racist practices by examining four faculty members teaching undergraduate EJ courses at four institutions. Using a multi-case study design, primary findings showed that faculty members held activist course objectives, which led to distinct community-engaged practices, such as the invitation of diverse guest educators, inclusion of readings from diverse authors, field experiences with EJ communities, and the integration of alternative ways of knowing that resist Eurocentric biases. The discussion and implications explore how these practices intersect with inclusive and anti-racist pedagogies, and provide recommendations for their implementation within the context of Environmental Studies and Sciences (ESS) in higher education.

Effects of Nanoplastics on Human Health: A Comprehensive Study

Microplastics or nanoplastics are particles of plastic with a size range of 1 to 1000 nm and have emerged as a big public health concern due to their pervasive presence in the environment and their potential to gradually harm human health. This study provides an overview of the capability of nanoplastics to cause complex and diverse effects on human health, consisting of information from pre-existing research from multidisciplinary fields such as toxicology, environmental science, epidemiology, and public health.

Interpretable data-driven prediction methods for atmospheric chloride deposition rate

Precise estimation of atmospheric chloride deposition is crucial in environmental science, providing valuable insights into atmospheric pollution, metal corrosion, and the hydrologic cycle. The distribution of atmospheric chloride deposition involves multiple processes of production, transportation, and deposition, making it a problem with well-defined physical mechanisms. Although numerous parametric models have been proposed for atmospheric chloride distribution prediction, they present challenges in terms of generalizability and prediction accuracy due to simplifications of the holistic process. In contrast, non-parametric machine learning algorithms can analyze complex issues and have good prediction performance, but they are used less often in atmospheric chloride deposition modeling. Therefore, we develop a genetic algorithm optimized quantile regression forest (GA-QRF) model, incorporating environmental variables associated with the holistic deposition process to predict the distribution of atmospheric chloride deposition. QRF is an ensemble learning method known for delivering precise and interpretable predictions, coupled with effective uncertainty estimation. The proposed model results achieved an R2 value of 0.935 for median prediction and 98.2% coverage of the intervals for uncertainty quantification on a dataset collected from six countries. In addition, in order to verify the consistency of the black-box machine learning model with the domain knowledge, several interpretation methods are used to deconstruct the proposed model. Considering the spatial variability of atmospheric chloride deposition, the proposed model was further used to create deposition distribution maps.

Optimizing malachite green adsorption with Co-PTC metal organic framework: Insights into mechanisms and performance

The removal of organic pollutants from aqueous environments has garnered significant attention in environmental science and engineering. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as promising materials for this purpose due to their intriguing structures, high surface area, and perpetual porosity. In this study, we investigate the adsorption performance of Co-based MOF for the removal of malachite green (MG), a common organic dye pollutant. The MOF, abbreviated as Co-PTC is synthesized via a one-pot green approach using perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTC) as the ligand at room temperature. Basic to advanced characterization techniques are employed to elucidate the structure and interactions within the MOF. Through a comprehensive analysis, the underlying mechanisms governing the adsorption process are explored, and optimization studies have been carried out. Co-PTC in minute amounts exhibits an adsorption capacity of 79.3 % selectively for MG in 50 min. The kinetics and isotherm models governing the adsorption process are well investigated.

Analyzing bacterial detection and transport using redox impact electrochemistry

Understanding bacterial transport dynamics, particularly at the single-particle level, is crucial across diverse fields from environmental science to biomedical research. In recent times, the emerging impact electrochemistry method offers a transformative approach for detection of bacteria at the single-particle level. The method employs the principle of single-entity electrochemistry to scrutinize electrochemical processes during interaction with the working electrode. In this study, we utilized redox impact electrochemistry to detect bacteria and analyze their transport processes towards the working electrode. Stochastic detection using redox reactions at the ultramicroelectrode enabled the detection of individual bacteria, with collision resulting in a current spike signal due to charge transfer. Notably, the detection of bacteria was demonstrated at an exceptionally low concentration (100 CFU/mL), with recorded current spikes reaching approximately 8.1 nA. Analysis of integrated areas under these spikes unveiled a diverse distribution of charge transfer at the ultramicroelectrode during redox reactions, implying variations in bacterial sizes, collision positions on the electrode surface, and redox activity among bacteria. Remarkably, the average charge transfer per bacterium between E. coli and the electrode was found to be (244 ± 24) pC, underscoring the intrinsic redox activity of the bacteria, equivalent to (2.52 ± 0.25) × 10−15 mol. Additionally, our investigation explored the effects of cell transport mechanisms, including diffusion, migration, convection, and settlement on stochastic interactions of the bacteria at the ultramicroelectrode. Through the collision frequency calculations, we found that migration is the primary factor shaping bacterial transport, with gravitational cell settlement also exerting a significant influence.

Nanotechnology at the Crossroads: Advancements and Ethical Dilemmas in Healthcare, Environment and Agriculture

With the advancements in nanotechnology, the interaction between nanotechnology, society and environment has increased. Nanotherapeutics and nanopharmaceuticals have allowed facilitation of earlier and more precise diagnosis, reduced side effects, improved targeted therapies and efficacy of drugs. Likewise, nanotechnology has helped in improving the quality of environment by solving issues of air pollution, water remediation and waste management with the help of nanoproducts such as nanofilters, nanophoto catalysts, nanoadsorbents and nanosensors. Moreover, nanopesticides, nanofood, anti-bacterial nanopackaging, nanofertilizers and many other products have helped food and agriculture sector to grow. There are innumerable products on shelf based on nanotechnology impacting almost every sector. However, nanotechnology like any other technology if used unchecked and unregulated can be a cause of social, environmental, legal and ethical concerns. Therefore, it is crucial to consider these challenges in addition to the promises and opportunities nanotechnology has to offer. This review has highlighted the immense importance of nanotechnology by discussing its applications especially in medicine, environmental sciences and food and agriculture sectors. Closely studying these aspects will allow us to discover gaps, obstacles and potential solutions for responsible nanotechnology development and deployment. Understanding these concerns and challenges is also critical for policymakers, researchers, industrialists and society as a whole in order to promote ethical practices and informed decision-making. This review will help to contribute to the continuing discourse and raise ethical awareness in the field of nanotechnology thence minimizing the harm while maximizing the benefits.

Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Volume 48

The Annual Review of Environment and Resources, in publication since 1976, provides authoritative reviews of significant topics within environmental science and engineering, including ecology and conservation science, water and energy resources, atmosphere, oceans, climate change, agriculture and living resources, and human dimensions of resource use and global change. There are 30 articles.