Sustainable Earth Review
Volume:3 Issue: 1, Jan 2023

Geological and petrophysical studies of some erosion prone soils around Okigwe and Umuahia area, southeastern Nigeria was carried out to determine the erodibility and erosivity characteristics of the study area. Soil samples were collected with a soil auger at a depth range of 0-2m. Analyses carried out include the determination of petrophysical properties (porosity, permeability), and sieve analysis. Grain size analysis revealed sorting coefficients of 0.36-1.32, and graphical kurtosis of 0.51- 1.49. The soils are predominantly well to moderately sorted, strongly coarsed skewed and leptokurtic. The sand/sandstone is 87-100% sand with little or no fines with the percentage moisture content ranging from 3.8-26.7%. Estimated permeability values ranges between 0.12-0.46cm/s while the porosity values are between 32.2-37.8%. Result of this study thus revealed that the area is characterized by an interlaying of clay/shale and sandstone units. The accumulation of water at the contact of the shale/sandstones units decreases the shear strength of the sandstone which further reduces the stability and results in the slipping off of the sandstone unit. The slipped sandstone is later carried away by runoff thereby leading to gully development.

River ecosystems face numerous human pressures that can lead to certain impacts on the environment. However, there is limited information available regarding the prevalence, spatial patterns, mutual impacts, and simultaneous occurrences of these pressures. In this study, we aimed to identify and assess various types of human pressures at different scales within the Talar River catchment. In this regard, a total of 43 sites within the Talar River catchment were selected for investigation. We employed a comprehensive approach by selecting 30 key indicators that represent major human pressures on river ecosystems. These indicators were combined to create a pressure index. The findings revealed that 93% of the studied sites experienced land use pressure, indicating significant human modification in those areas. Additionally, 69% of the sites were subjected to connectivity pressure, 88% to morphological pressure, 86% to water quality pressure, and 41% finally exhibited hydrological pressure. Importantly, our analysis also revealed complex interactions between multiple human pressures. Approximately 8.4% of the sites were affected by two distinct human pressures, while 2.3% experienced three overlapping pressures. Moreover, an overwhelming majority (92%) of the sites were impacted by combinations of more than three human pressures, emphasizing the cumulative impacts of all pressures. These findings underscore the need for comprehensive and systematic consideration of multiple factors when undertaking integrated river basin management and restoration efforts. In other words, effective management and restoration strategies should account for the different scales within the catchment and address the specific combinations of human pressures present.

The attractiveness of cities, the concentration of industrial activities have resulted in rural-urban migrations or migrations from small cities to metropolitan areas, sometimes causing existing metropolises not to be unable to meet their citizens' needs. Therefore, it's necessary to develop some plans to satisfy Eyvanekey needs. One of the solutions is to develop new town development plans. Eyvanekey New Town, located in the eastern part of Tehran and near numerous industrial towns, has been planned and developed to accommodate the overspill of Tehran, and the workers of the industrial sector in this area, as well as a new settlement for the local people of Eyvanekey. Considering the high costs of construction and planning of urban projects including housing, it's required to conduct feasibility studies and related economic evaluations in different dimensions before any investment to ensure their efficiency and effectiveness. this study aims to economically evaluate and compare the development of different types of residential spaces in Eyvanekey NewTown. For this purpose, various economic indicator calculation methods are used in Excel software, and four types of residential space are considered, including 1-A moderate-density 50-unit residential complex project,2-A moderate-density 100-unit residential complex project with a mix of residential, commercial, and local services uses,3-A moderate-density particular residential project for special habitations in the form of a two-story 8-unit building, and finally,4-A low-density residential villa complex project. Examining Financial-economic indicators, including net present value, benefit-cost ratio, internal rate of return, payback period, and annual worth, indicate that these projects are financially feasible. Moreover, according to the variety of residential types, diversity of investment amounts, civil participation, and the employer's share of land worth, the land cost is also removed from the projects, resulting in the enhanced attractiveness of investments.

The impact of roads as ubiquitous features of the modern landscape on wildlife habitat and biodiversity is now a serious global concern. Due to transportation infrastructure around the world, habitat loss is now considered a major threat to biodiversity conservation. The development of communication roads has exerted devastating influences on the environment, especially on wildlife habitats and sensitive ecosystems. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to assess the impacts of the Darmian road which passes through the middle of a protected area and divides it into two southeast and northwest parts. The Leopold matrix method was used to identify potential impacts on wildlife habitats. The scoring process in the Leopold matrix was performed by collecting the opinions of a panel of environmental experts and specialists based on the criteria of magnitude and significance. The results showed importance of risks are vehicle traffic (244), vehicle traffic noise (67), and salt defrosting (39), respectively. Also, the evaluation of environmental factors showed that the highest risks due to road functions include fragmentation and reduction of the habitat area (68), greater access to natural ecosystems (63), noise pollution (53), hunting and reduced habitat safety (44), and wildlife fatalities and accidents on roads (34). Thus, the environmental managers should pay more attention to the use of mitigation measures as management strategies to decrease the amount of negative impacts and further damage in the future. Finally, management strategies and solutions are suggested to reduce environmental damage according to the important impacts of road exploitation.

In recent decades, many sociologists and urban scholars have focused on the development of nightlife and placed it at the center of their agenda. However, nightlife, like a double-edged sword, has both positive and negative impacts on cities, and there is a gap in the literature on the relationship between nightlife and urban sustainability. Accordingly, this paper aimed to analysis the perceived impacts of nightlife on Tehran sustainability. Based on snowball sampling, a web-based survey was carried out among 10 experts. To investigate perceived impact and evaluate statistically significant differences skewness and kurtosis test and one samples t-test were used. Our findings revealed that although nightlife leads to urban sustainability in Tehran, these results are not same in other cities and is place-specific and vary over time and space. It largely depends on the type of governance, planning, design and legislation of cities. Accordingly, legislative measures and regulations, collaborative efforts across different sectors, developing sustainable infrastructure and facilities, promoting inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility, and good governance, transmitting heritage values to young people and minimizing ecological impacts in nightlife environments plays a crucial role in cultivating a sustainable city.

With the increase of global environmental concerns, the importance of emerging pollutants is increasing daily. Endotoxin is one of the emerging pollutants whose presence in water sources causes serious risks to human health. This review article aims to investigate the amount of endotoxin in aquatic ecosystems and the potential dangers of endotoxin in these sources. In this study, the general characteristics of endotoxin have been investigated along with practical methods for removing this pollutant from water sources. At first, an overview of endotoxins and their importance in water pollution was given, and the importance of studying endotoxin contamination in water sources and the objectives of this study were determined. Then, the sources of endotoxin contamination in water, the effect of endotoxin on human health, its associated risks, and the relationship between endotoxin levels and its adverse consequences on human health were discussed. The following examined the methods used to measure and detect endotoxin in water samples and the advantages and limitations of each of these methods. Also, different strategies were proposed to control and reduce endotoxin contamination in water sources. Finally, existing regulations and guidelines for endotoxin levels in drinking water and other water sources are explained, and regulatory gaps and frameworks are discussed. The results of this study emphasize the importance of continuous monitoring and management of endotoxin contamination in water sources and the need to increase information about this emerging pollutant to provide practical strategies to maintain water quality and public health.