in developing and newly industrialized countries, population growth and migration contribute immensely to the development of megacities and mega urban areas. in most cases, the rapid development ofcities has far-reaching consequences for the ecosystem in general and the hydrological cycle in particular. the developments in china within the last decades show an interesting, but complex setting. ...

Using remote sensing (RS) data and geographical information system (GIS), eco-environmental vulnerability and its changes were analyzed for the Yellow River Basin, China. The objective of this study was to improve our understanding of eco-environmental changes so that a strategy of sustainable land use could be established. An environmental numerical model was developed using spatial principal ...

This paper discusses the diverse climate forcings that impact agricultural systems, and contrasts the current paradigm of using global models downscaled to agricultural areas (a top-down approach) with a new paradigm that first assesses the vulnerability of agricultural activities to the spectrum of environmental risk including climate (a bottom-up approach). To illustrate the wide spectrum of ...

Gaza coastal aquifer (GCA) is the major source of fresh water for the 1.5 million residents of Gaza Strip, Palestine. The aquifer is under deteriorating quality conditions mainly due to the excessive application of fertilizers. The intrinsic vulnerability of GCA to contamination was assessed using the well-known DRASTIC method. Detailed analysis of the intrinsic vulnerability map of GCA was car...

Cyanobacterial blooms in drinking water reservoirs present a major ecosystem functioning and human health issue. The ability to predict reservoir vulnerability to these blooms would provide information critical for decision making, hazard prevention and management. We developed a new, comparative index of vulnerability based on simple measures of reservoir and catchment characteristics, rather ...

This paper presents a spatial analysis of likely/potential hotspots of sustainability issues in Mainland China through an empirical investigation of patterns of ecological vulnerability in and of China’s megaregions. To be specific, this paper assesses the level of patterns of the ecological vulnerability of 16 megaregions through an indicator system, which includes soil erosion, desertificatio...

introduction because of expansion of agricultural activities and excessive use of chemical fertilizers and location of municipal and industrial wastewater of andimeshk, it is possible for this aquifer to be polluted. therefore, the aim of present study is to assess the aquifer vulnerability of andimeshk plain and recognition of sensitive areas against pollution which this work can be conducted ...