مجله محیط زیست و توسعه فرابخشی
پیاپی 79 (بهار 1402)

In recent years, the phenomenon of dust has become one of the most important environmental challenges around the world, which is one of its negative effects on the agricultural sector. Dust on agriculture can affect the growth and performance of plants by affecting the photosynthesis process and also by increasing the leaf temperature, and by providing favorable conditions for the occurrence of diseases and disrupting the population balance of pests against beneficial and predatory insects and Also, the effect of reducing the efficiency of spraying plants against pests and diseases creates the grounds for causing damage and reducing production in various agricultural and horticultural products. The purpose of this research is to estimate the willingness to pay to reduce the effects of dust on the agricultural sector of the centers of dust production and its surrounding areas in Alborz province.

In order to achieve the goal of this research, first, according to the map of dust centers prepared in Alborz province, the affected villages were determined. Ahmedabad areas are affected by dust. Then, using the Contingent valuation method (CVM), the willingness of people to pay to prevent and reduce the negative effects of the dust phenomenon on the agricultural sector was calculated using 400 questionnaires. It should be noted that the number of questionnaires was determined by using the Cochrane relationship and the population of the villages affected by dust.

According to the results of this research, the correct percentage of the estimated willingness of farmers to pay in order to reduce dust damage is 73% in the derived model. Also, the amount of expected value (WTP) was calculated equal to 165423 rials (approximately equal to 5.5 dollars). According to the population of the affected area, the total value of preserving agricultural products against the phenomenon of dust is equal to 2743375032 rials ($9144.58) per year. The results showed that the variables of age, number of working people, education, income and environmental awareness index have a positive and significant effect on the willingness of farmers to pay to preserve agricultural products against dust. In other words, the increase in age, the number of working people in the family, the increase in the level of education, the increase in income and the increase in awareness of farmers increase their willingness to pay.

The evaluation of the willingness to pay of farmers in Alborz province in order to reduce the dust damage on the agricultural sector showed that increasing awareness, education and experience (age) increases the willingness of farmers to pay dust control costs. Therefore, it can be said that in order to control and stabilize the sources of dust production in Alborz province, the knowledge and awareness of farmers regarding the negative effects of dust on the agricultural sector should be increased by using advertising training classes and so on. As a result, the willingness to pay farmers will increase. Then, in the form of non-governmental organizations or cooperative projects with the government, he designed and implemented programs to control and stabilize dust production sources with the participation of farmers.

The industrial revolution not only started a new era of rapid economic growth in countries, but also brought modern phenomena such as global warming and climate change. One of the main aspects of the industrial revolution is the transformation of the world economy into fossil fuel-based economies. The use of fossil fuels continuously disrupts the level of carbon in the atmosphere and thus keeps the heat in the atmosphere. Due to the fact that OPEC member countries are oil sellers and have a relative advantage in fossil energy consumption, and energy consumption leads to the emission of carbon dioxide, so research in this field is necessary.

In this research, carbon dioxide emission spillover in OPEC member countries was investigated using Dieblod - Yilmaz method. Then, using complex network theory, the spillover network in OPEC member countries was investigated.

Carbon dioxide emission spillover from Angola to Iran 6.1%, United Arab Emirates 6%, Algeria 0.8%, Ecuador 1.9%, Iraq 1%, Kuwait 12%, Libya 5%, Nigeria 1.4%, Qatar is 1%, Saudi Arabia is 3.3% and Venezuela is 8.8%. Kuwait has the most spillover of carbon dioxide emission to Iran. The most spillover of carbon dioxide emissions from Iran is to Iraq and Angola. The value of Contribution to others, which means the spillover of carbon dioxide emissions, is the highest for the United Arab Emirates, which means that this country has the highest amount of carbon dioxide emissions among the OPEC member countries. A negative NET value indicates that the net spillover received is higher than the spillover transferred. A positive NET value indicates that the transmitted spillover is greater than the effect of the received spillover. The value of TCI (total connectedness index) in this research is 61.76%, which is a large number and shows that the spillover effect is strong in these countries. Finally, this spillover was investigated using complex network theory.

According to the results of this study, the countries of Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Libya and Venezuela are the senders of carbon dioxide emissions and the countries of Kuwait, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Algeria are the receivers of carbon dioxide emissions. The country of Kuwait has the most spillover of carbon dioxide emission to Iran. The most spillover of carbon dioxide emissions from Iran is to Iraq and Angola. The TCI index is 61.76%, which shows that the spillover effect is strong in these countries. Qatar is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide emissions in the network of carbon dioxide emissions spillover in OPEC member countries. The country of Libya has the highest value of weighted indegree, and the sender of the spillover effect of carbon dioxide emissions, the country of Qatar has the highest value of weighted degree A complex network shows spillover relationships between edges. Qatar, Nigeria and Algeria countries are in one cluster and Ecuador and Venezuela countries are in one cluster and Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates countries are in one cluster due to the spillover effect of carbon dioxide emissions. Degree, outdegree and indegree values are the same for all countries.

The Persian Wild Ass Equus hemionus onager is the only odd-toed ungulates (Perissodactyla) and largest wild herbivore in Iran, with a population of about 1300 individuals, distributed in the Bahram-e Gur conservation complex and Touran Biosphere Reserve. From the semi-captive reproduction and reintroduction centers, they had population growth in the centers of Yazd province and Kavir National Park. In other centers were not successful due to not considering demographic factors such as the age and sex composition of the founder population, intra- and inter-species competition, lack of information on genetic status and inbreeding and management factors such as hard release. In this study, the threats of the Persian Wild Ass in natural habitats, the state of reproduction and reintroduction centers, and management and conservation strategies have been discussed.

Scientific sources, reports and documents available in the Semnan, Yazd, Fars and Kerman Provincial Office and the Wildlife conservation and Management bureau of the Department of the Environmental were studied regarding the threats, past and present population and fatalities of the Persian Wild Ass. Data collection was done by interviewing environmentalists, experts and completing species information forms including population, threats and expert suggestions of the respective provinces. Based on the field visits and investigation of natural habitats and reproduction and reintroduction centers in Fars and Semnan provinces, information was verified.

Over the past two decades, the population of the species has been growing in the Bahram-e Gur conservation complex, due to habitat management and the reduction of threats. While the species' population status in the Touran biosphere reserve has experienced a sharp decline since the 1970s and 1980s, and this trend has been almost stable for the past 20 years. The most important threats to the Persian Wild Ass due to human activities include destruction and fragmentation of habitats, poaching for meat, inbreeding, the occurrence of diseases in natural populations, seasonal use of vegetation, road kills, development of mines, drought, and climate change. Overgrazing by livestock reduces food availability, and also reduces the availability of water at springs. In semi-captive breeding and re-introduction centers, the lack of knowledge of the genetic status of populations, the very low growth rate, and infanticide are among the threats to the species. Management problems such as non-continuity of providing financial resources and equipment, lack of sustainable management with the passage of time, hard release due to lack of funds, equipment, and also non-observance of the gender ratio of the founding population can be effective in the failure of these centers.

The important strategies for conserving the Persian Wild Ass in the short- and long-term include identifying the threats and introducing methods to reduce the effect of the threat, developing a comprehensive plan for reproduction and reintroduction of the species, and implementing the action plan for the conservation of the population in the habitats. The implementation of participatory conservation programs with the key stakeholders can be effective in the conservation programs.

Along with the manufacturing industries development, the sustainable development of this sector should be based on the continuous productivity growth of firms from the point of view of technological progress and efficiency improvement. In the manufacturing sector, product production can be accompanied by undesirable or unfavorable products, such as polluting gases, sewage, solid and liquid wastes, which ignoring them may lead to unbiased productivity and technical changes. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the changes of productivity and environmental efficiency of manufacturing industries in Iran's provinces.

To achieve the goal of the article, a two-step approach is used. In the first stage, the global Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index was measured the consideration of sewage and waste undesirable outputs and was divided into two components, technical efficiency changes and technological progress. In the second stage, the effect of environmental productivity growth drivers was estimated using Tobit, Logit and Probit models. The data of this article were extracted from the reports of the survey plan from industrial firms with 10 or more workers in the period of 2015-2019.

The findings of the first stage state that technological progress is the main contributor to environmental productivity growth in Iran’s manufacturing industries. The average change of environmental productivity has been Also decreased, which shows that the Iran’s provinces manufacturing firms are behind the existing global technology frontier. In our period, the criterion of eco-friendliness showed that 10 provinces were green and 16 were yellow, and the big provinces are also among yellow provinces. The results of the second stage indicate that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between per capita income and environmental productivity growth. Also, the increase in the ratio of capital to employment has led to an increase in the environmental productivity growth; But the increase of energy intensity of manufacturing industries will reduce the environmental productivity.

In order to improve environmental productivity, industrial firms can help improve productivity, profit, competitiveness and enhance the quality of human life through evaluating the performance of economic firms, pricing processes of waste and waste of economic resources in the production process, as well as efforts to reduce pollution and harmful effects of the environment. Therefore, by reducing the production inputs consumption for a certain level of production or providing services, the reduction of production costs, the quality and products competitiveness at the national and global level will be improved, and the result will be the improvement of green economic growth. According to the results of the article, some policy recommendations can be suggested. First, the application and development of cleaner technologies and technologies that save energy consumption are the main drivers for the environmental productivity growth and sustainable development of Iran's provinces in the future. Second, considering the relationship between per capita income and the environmental productivity growth and since almost all large provinces such as Tehran and Isfahan are struggling with environmental problems, it is necessary to develop policies to increase industrial concentration in other provinces. In provinces with excessive economic activities such as Tehran, Isfahan and Khuzestan, it is necessary to control the industries density and population in these provinces in order to prevent the spread of pollution and other diseases of big cities that threaten sustainable development.

The increase of various industries and the ever-increasing growth of the population of the planet have caused all kinds of contamination in the environment. One of the most important contaminants in water, which has many risks for human health and living organisms and important environmental risks, is anionic compounds in high concentration. Chromium is one of these contaminants that causes contamination in the environment and brings many risks to human health and other living organisms. Various methods have been evaluated to remove heavy metals from water, which often include chemical or energy-intensive processes. Therefore, it is important to modify these sources with the help of affordable adsorbents and with low energy consumption. Previous studies showed that biochar, metal-coated biochars and carbon-metal composites are highly effective in removing chromium contaminants with a concentration of 20 mg/liter from water, but so far the effect of these adsorbents on removing this anionic contaminant in high concentrations has not been investigated.

In this research, the efficiency of different adsorbents (biochar, copper-coated biochar, aluminum-coated biochar, iron-coated biochar, biochar-copper composite, biochar-aluminum composite and biochar-iron composite) on the removal of chromium, with a concentration of 300 mg per liter, from water was investigated. Metal-coated biochars were prepared from the combination of metals (copper, iron and aluminum) with a concentration of 10000 mg/kg with biochar produced at 600 degrees Celsius and various biochar-metal composites were prepared from the combination of these metals with rice straw and then the samples were pyrolyzed at 600 degrees Celsius. In order to determine the efficiency of the adsorbents, 0.5 grams of each adsorbent was mixed with 40 ml of chromium solution with a concentration of 300 mg/l and pH= 6 and shaken for three hours until they reached equilibrium. Then the samples were centrifuged for 5 minutes at 6000 rpm and after the filtration, the final concentration of the contaminant was obtained and the percentage of chromium removal was calculated.

The results of the present study showed that all of the applied adsorbents were effective in removing high concentrations of chromium from water. The lowest removal rate of this contaminant was related to the biochar sample, which only removed 15.28% of this contaminant from water; And the highest amount of removal was achieved using iron composite, which removed 44.45% of the contaminant from the aqueous solution. According to the results of this research, it can be observed that coating biochar and rice straw with metals has been able to increase the efficiency of this adsorbent in removing chromium from water. For example, iron composite and iron-coated biochar were able to remove 44.45 and 30.86% of chromium contaminant from the aqueous solution, respectively, while rice straw biochar was only able to remove 15.28% of this contaminant from water.

The results of present study showed that iron coated biochar and biochar-iron composite had more ability to remove chromium contaminant from aqueous solution than other metal coated biochars and biochar-metal composites and were able to perform more successfully. Therefore, the use of these adsorbents can be effective in the treatment of chromium-contaminated water.

Fuel stations are one of the major sources of BTEX emissions to the atmosphere. Benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and gazeline isomers are BTEX aromatic hydrocarbons. BTEX compounds are the most abundant volatile organic compounds in atmosphere and surface water.These compounds can affect the health of employees, drivers and surrounding residents. Due to the risks of BTEX compounds on people's health and the possibility of emitting them from fuel stations, examining the concentration of these compounds and controlling them in fuel stations is essential and effective in preventing their complications. The aim of this study is investigation the amount of BTEX in the ambient air of hamadan fuel stations and its surrounding and to compare with occupational and respiratory air standards.

The samples were collected according to the NIOSH method and the SKC adsorbent instruction by the individual sampling pump from indoor air and surrounding of Palestinian, Khansari and Forough fuel stations in Hamadan.The concentrationof BTEX compounds was extracted by dichrometan solvent and measured by GC/FID. The data were analyzed using SPSS software.

The mean of benzene, toluene, ethylenzene and xylene in Khansari fuel station were 1.23, 3.32, 0.31 and 1.43 mg/m3 respectively, in Palestine fuel station was 1.53, 4.14, 0.29 and 1.25 mg/m3 respectively and in Forough fuel station were 1.65, 2.23, 0.42 and 1.22 mg/m3, respectively. The highest concentration of BTEX compounds was located inside the fuel station and their concentration decreased by increasing the distance from the station. The mean concentrations of benzene in the air inside and distance 200m from the fuel stations were higher than EPA and in air inside and distance 50m from fuel station was higher than NIOSH guidelines. Also, the mean concentration of toluene in the air inside the Palestine fuel station was higher than the EPA guidelines.

The results showed that the dispersion of BTEX compounds in Hamadan refueling stations was caused by vehicles and gasoline evaporation during refueling. The reason for the decrease in the concentration of BTEX compounds by increasing the distance from fuel stations can be attributed to the production of pollutant concentrations in the yard stations, temperature conditions, wind direction and vehicles transportation. By increasing the distance from the station, as the production resources are more inside the station, from the concentration of BTEX compounds decreases by increasing the distance. Also, by increasing the distance from station, the wind airflow, lead to the distribution and dispersion of BTEX compounds and decreases its concentration. Employed personnel and drivers inside fuel stationsare confronted with benzene and toluene pollutants. As regards to short-term counterview with BTEX compounds causes effects such as stimulation and sensitivity of the skin, central nervous system problems (fatigue, headache, dizziness and loss of balance). Also in long-term encounters, in addition to the problems mentioned, they can affect the kidney, liver and blood. Therefore, more oversight should be carried out by petroleum product authorities and control actions to maintain the health of the people and reduce the pollutants in fuel stations, including leakage of tanks and pumps, and the possibility of recycling of gasoline vapors during refueling.

Human's continuous encroachment on the environment and indiscriminate harvesting and improper use of natural resources have caused irreparable damage to the environment. Throughout their lives, humans have disturbed the balance and harmony of the environment with their interference and negative effects on the regular rules of nature, and it has progressed to the point where the human society is faced with a multitude of environmental problems. Therefore, the recognition of adverse environmental behaviors, their management and control, is the foundation of education that should be considered by curriculum planners through content and textbooks from the very beginning of formal education. One of the effective ways in this matter is teaching environmental concepts in elementary school. Environmental education through conceptualization in textbooks can be a vital tool to deal with environmental problems. Therefore, the purpose of the research; The analysis of environmental literacy concepts in elementary school science books is based on the national curriculum.

The research method is descriptive and content analysis type. The statistical population included the experimental science books of elementary school, which due to the nature of the subject, sampling was not done and all the statistical population was investigated. The data collection tool was the content analysis list made by the researcher, which was made with the judgment of experts. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics.

The results of the research showed that in the experimental science books of elementary school; Based on the components of environmental literacy (water consumption management, electricity consumption management, gas consumption management, waste management, forest conservation, animal conservation); The most attention in the first and third grades; water consumption management (25.79 and 35.19 percent), second grade; waste management (34.69 percent), fourth, fifth and sixth grades; forest preservation (22.64, 22.15 and 31.91 percent). Also, attention to environmental elements in the entire primary period (with frequency of 987), the most attention is related to the fifth-grade experimental science book with 21.47 percent and the least attention is related to the sixth grade with 14.28 percent. On the other hand, based on prioritization; The most attention of experimental science textbooks in elementary school was on water consumption management (with 217 frequency) and the least attention was on gas consumption management (with 115 frequency).

Environmental concepts do not have a favorable position in experimental science books of elementary school. Considering the environmental problems in the country, it was suggested to review the content of experimental science textbooks to pay more attention to environmental components and to include skill-oriented environmental content in the first to third grades and research-oriented content in the fourth to sixth grades, Vertical and horizontal organization in the design of environmental content of experimental science textbooks and balanced distribution of content in the first to sixth grade should be observed, More content on the topic of waste should be included in the content of elementary school textbooks, especially the topic of waste management in the fifth and sixth grade, More content should be devoted to the issue of energy and centrality of gas consumption in the third and fourth grade books, Content related to forest and animal conservation should be included in all the elementary grades.

Nitrogen is the nutrient in plants production which usually can be added as a fertilizer into the soil. Nitrate is one of the pollutants which is mainly caused by agricultural activities which contaminants groundwater and surface water and threatens human health. Investigating an effective factor on water and minerals movement in soil and applying the new modifiers such as inorganic nanoparticles and biochar might be useful in reducing nitrate leaching and avoiding underground waters pollutions. Due to this difficulty, some situations to preserve nitrogen in the upper layers of soil such as increasing the absorbent surfaces for minerals, zeolite modifier, and biochar are considered by researchers. As many research have been conducted on using biochar in agricultural systems in terms of organic carbon sequestration in soil and reducing the greenhouse gases, its influence on other processes such as nitrate leaching has been considered as well. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of mineral nano-particles and biochar on nitrate leaching in soil and aggregate stability.

This study had been conducted in the laboratory in faculty of natural resources and geology science, Shahrekord University. Treatments in this study included zeolite, cloisite, and biochar at three levels. PVC pipes with 3 cm in diameter and 40 cm in height were used for the soil columns. Urea fertilizer included 46% pure nitrogen was applied to the soil columns. The amount of the Urea fertilizer was employed as an applied fertilizer for corn plants (200 g Nitrogen per hectare). Urea fertilizer was added as a solution to the soil in irrigation 1, and 5 from irrigation events. At the end of each irrigation event, nitrate effluent was measured using Spectrophotometry method.

The results showed a significant reduction of nitrate leaching in treatments, 1g biochar, 1g zeolite, and 1g cloisite compared to the control treatment. There was no significant difference between reduction of nitrate leaching in the three treatments, 1g biochar, 1g Zeolite, and 1g cloisite. Furthermore, nitrate leaching in treatments, 5g biochar, 5g zeolite, and 5g cloisite compared to the control treatment was decreased significantly. In all irrigations, 5g biochar had the smallest amount of nitrate leaching comparing 5g zeolite, and 5g Clozite. In general, the results showed that nitrate leaching would be decreased significantly by adding biochar and mineral nano-particles (5%) into the soil. According to the present results and previous findings, it can be mentioned that adding biochar into the soil will cause improving the soil physical properties and reducing nitrate leaching. Thus, we show here, that biochar and nano-particles soil application decreased nitrate leaching and enhanced soil aggregate stability.