Quantitative risk assessment of rainstorm-induced flood disaster in Piedmont plain of Pakistan.

Pakistan's geographic location makes it an important land hub between Central Asia, Middle East-North Africa, and China. However, the railways, roads, farmland, riverways, and residential quarters in the Piedmont plains of Baluchistan province in northwestern Pakistan are under serious threat of flooding in the summer of 2022. The urgency and severity of climate change's impact on humanity are underscored by the significant threats posed to human life and property in Piedmont Plains environments through extreme flood events, which has garnered widespread concerns.

Natural sampling and aliasing of marine geochemical signals.

It is well known that the sedimentary rock record is both incomplete and biased by spatially highly variable rates of sedimentation. Without absolute age constraints of sufficient resolution, the temporal correlation of spatially disjunct records is therefore problematic and uncertain, but these effects have rarely been analysed quantitatively using signal processing methods. Here we use a computational process model to illustrate and analyse how spatial and temporal geochemical records can be biased by the inherent, heterogenous processes of marine sedimentation and preservation.

A New Global Mangrove Height Map with a 12 meter spatial resolution.

Mangrove forests thrive along global tropical coasts, acting as a barrier that protects coastlines against storm surges and as nurseries for an entire food web. They are also known for their high carbon sequestration rates and soil carbon stocks. We introduce a new global mangrove canopy height map generated from TanDEM-X spaceborne elevation measurements collected during the 2011-2013 period with a 12-meter spatial resolution and an accuracy of 2.

Two types of heavy precipitation in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau.

The southeastern Tibetan Plateau (SETP) is the preeminent summer heavy precipitation region within the Tibetan Plateau (TP). However, the large-scale circulation types and dynamics driving summer heavy precipitation in the SETP remain inadequately elucidated. Using the hierarchical clustering method, two distinctive atmospheric circulation patterns associated with heavy precipitation were identified: the Tibetan Plateau vortex type (TPVT, constituting 56.

Insect-derived biochar for CO adsorption under humid conditions: Elucidating adsorption mechanisms and competitive interactions with water molecules.

The CO adsorption capacity of biochar depends on the type of biomass used and its physicochemical properties; various sorption parameters including temperature, CO concentration, and humidity affect the CO adsorption capacity. Biochar derived from defatted black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) biomass was investigated for direct CO capture and exhibited a hydrophilic/mesoporous structure that contained high concentrations of alkali and alkaline metals (>10 wt%), which contribute to CO chemisorption. The CO adsorption efficiency was higher at 25 °C compared with that at 30 °C and 35 °C, probably due to reduced Brownian motion of CO molecules at lower temperatures.

Deposition history of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in tibetan lakes indicate the effectiveness of protected area establishment.

The effectiveness of protected areas in mitigating human impacts remains uncertain due to limited in-situ data; however, atmospheric micropollutant deposition in alpine lakes may provide a quantitative approach to evaluate anthropogenic pressures and threats. In this study, the temporal changes of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) inside/outside the Siling Co protected area, Tibet were reconstructed. The varying anthropogenic impact history suggested that, unlike the dominance of residential activities (i.

Evaluating Nanotrap Microbiome Particles as A Wastewater Viral Concentration Method.

Wastewater-based surveillance has emerged as a powerful approach to monitoring infectious diseases within a community. Typically, wastewater samples are concentrated before viral analyses to improve sensitivity. Current concentration methods vary in time requirements, costs, and efficiency.

Autocorrelation and Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analyses Reveal Superdiffusive Mass Transport in Solvent-Filled Nanoporous Media.

Fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy experiments were conducted to better understand the complex mass transport dynamics of organic molecules in liquid-filled nanoporous media. Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes incorporating 10 and 20 nm diameter cylindrical pores were employed as model materials. Nile red (NR) dye was used as a fluorescent tracer.

Sustainable solar energy deployment: a multi-criteria decision-making approach for site suitability and greenhouse gas emission reduction.

Conventional power generation methods have led to adverse environmental impacts. Thus, the need for a strategic transition to alternative energy sources arises. This study presents a comprehensive approach to sustainable solar energy deployment using multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques.

Land Use Change Consistently Reduces α- But Not β- and γ-Diversity of Bees.

Land use change threatens global biodiversity and compromises ecosystem functions, including pollination and food production. Reduced taxonomic α-diversity is often reported under land use change, yet the impacts could be different at larger spatial scales (i.e.

Middle Ear Mechanics in the Barn Owl.

The barn owl is a common research subject in auditory science due to its exceptional capacity for high frequency hearing and superb sound source localization capabilities. Despite longstanding interest in the auditory performance of barn owls, the function of its middle ear has attracted remarkably little attention. Here, we report the middle ear transfer function measured by laser Doppler vibrometry and direct measurements of inner ear pressures.

Interface Modification by GaO Atomic Layers within Er-Doped GeO Nanofilms for Enhanced Electroluminescence and Operation Stability.

For silicon-based devices using dielectric oxides doped with rare earth ions, their electroluminescence (EL) performance relies on the sufficient carrier injection. In this work, the atomic GaO layers are inserted within the Er-doped GeO nanofilms fabricated by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Both Ga(CH) and Ga(CH) could realize the ALD growth of GaO onto the as-deposited GeO nanofilm with unaffected deposition rates.

Establishing bio-logging data collections as dynamic archives of animal life on Earth.

Rapid growth in bio-logging-the use of animal-borne electronic tags to document the movements, behaviour, physiology and environments of wildlife-offers opportunities to mitigate biodiversity threats and expand digital natural history archives. Here we present a vision to achieve such benefits by accounting for the heterogeneity inherent to bio-logging data and the concerns of those who collect and use them. First, we can enable data integration through standard vocabularies, transfer protocols and aggregation protocols, and drive their wide adoption.

Floral morphological and chemical analyses of Dienia flowers (Orchidaceae, Malaxidinae) relative to pollination processes.

Dienia is a small, pantropical genus of epidendroid Malaxideae orchids. The floral lip is upwardly directed and does not serve as a landing platform for pollinators. This role has been assumed by sepals and/or gynostemium or whole inflorescence.

Unravelling viral ecology and evolution over 20 years in a freshwater lake.

As freshwater lakes undergo rapid anthropogenic change, long-term studies reveal key microbial dynamics, evolutionary shifts and biogeochemical interactions, yet the vital role of viruses remains overlooked. Here, leveraging a 20 year time series from Lake Mendota, WI, USA, we characterized 1.3 million viral genomes across time, seasonality and environmental factors.

Utilizing UAV and orthophoto data with bathymetric LiDAR in google earth engine for coastal cliff degradation assessment.

This study introduces a novel methodology for estimating and analysing coastal cliff degradation, using machine learning and remote sensing data. Degradation refers to both natural abrasive processes and damage to coastal reinforcement structures caused by natural events. We utilized orthophotos and LiDAR data in green and near-infrared wavelengths to identify zones impacted by storms and extreme weather events that initiated mass movement processes.

Downscaling of ERA5 reanalysis land surface temperature based on attention mechanism and Google Earth Engine.

Land Surface Temperature (LST) is widely recognized as a sensitive indicator of climate change, and it plays a significant role in ecological research. The ERA5-Land LST dataset, developed and managed by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), is extensively used for global or regional LST studies. However, its fine-scale application is limited by its low spatial resolution.

Optimizing solar performance of CFTSe-based solar cells using MoSe as an innovative buffer layers.

In this study, we explore the photovoltaic performance of an innovative high efficiency heterostructure utilizing the quaternary semiconductor CuFeSnSe (CFTSe). This material features a kesterite symmetrical structure and is distinguished by its non-toxic nature and abundant presence in the earth's crust. Utilizing the SCAPS simulator, we explore various electrical specifications such as short circuit current (J), open circuit voltage (V), the fill factor (FF), and power conversion efficiency (PCE) were explored at a large range of thicknesses, and the acceptor carrier concentration doping (N).

Continental drift triggered the Early Permian aridification of North China.

The boundary between wet and arid climate zones in the Tethys Ocean remains challenging to trace, complicating our understanding of global aridification pattern during the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian transition. The North China Block (NCB), situated in the Tethys Ocean, underwent a transition from humid to arid climate during the Early Permian, providing a rare opportunity to trace this climate boundary across this region. Here, we present paleomagnetic evidence indicating that the NCB underwent rapid northward drift between 290 and 281 million years ago.

Skillful seasonal predictions of continental East-Asian summer rainfall by integrating its spatio-temporal evolution.

Skillful seasonal climate prediction is critical for food and water security over the world's heavily populated regions, such as in continental East Asia. Current models, however, face significant difficulties in predicting the summer mean rainfall anomaly over continental East Asia, and forecasting rainfall spatiotemporal evolution presents an even greater challenge. Here, we benefit from integrating the spatiotemporal evolution of rainfall to identify the most crucial patterns intrinsic to continental East-Asian rainfall anomalies.

Transition from multi-year La Niña to strong El Niño rare but increased under global warming.

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) exhibits a strong asymmetry between warm El Niño and cold La Niña in amplitude and temporal evolution. An El Niño often leads to a heat discharge in the equatorial Pacific conducive to its rapid termination and transition to a La Niña, whereas a La Niña persists and recharges the equatorial Pacific for consecutive years preconditioning development of a subsequent El Niño, as occurred in 2020-2023. Whether the multiyear-long heat recharge increases the likelihood of a transition to a strong El Niño remains unknown.

Target-assisted self-powered photoelectrochemical sensor based on AgS/BiOCl heterojunction for ultrasensitive chlorpyrifos detection.

Chlorpyrifos (CPF), a widely used organophosphorus pesticide, presents substantial risks to both environmental and human health due to its persistent accumulation, thereby necessitating the development of effective detection methods. Self-powered photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensors, as an innovative technology, address the limitations inherent in conventional sensors, such as susceptibility to interference and inadequate signal response. Herein, we synthesized AgS/BiOCl as a photosensitive material, employing it as a light-harvesting substrate and a signal-transducing platform to develop a self-powered PEC sensor for the detection of CPF.