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n the EU's perspective, energy efficiency is one of the most effective ways to reduce energy consumption and contribute to the fight against climate change. Recent studies have shown that energy efficiency alone is not sufficient to achieve sustainable development goals. The real challenge is to combine energy efficiency with energy sobriety. This work aims at raising a debate about the relationship between energy efficiency and energy sobriety and at studying how the principle of sobriety works. In particular, th...

There exist a large variation in the yield of maize in Bulgaria regardless of the high productive potential of maize, and the favorable marketing conditions in the world. Climate change during the last 3 decades, the limited possibilities for irrigation are a limiting factor in determining suitable areas for maize growing. The period with sufficient moisture is decisive in choosing a suitable hybrid. The analysis of the agro-climatic potential of the region and the adaptation of the cultivation technology to the p...

Through mathematical modeling at the local or regional level, local or zonal trends for meteorological factors can be determined and the main hazards to which elements of the infrastructure, the economy and the population are exposed. In the present study, a statistical analysis was aimed at trying to determine the analysis of variability and climate change in the western part of Romania and a statistical correlation between the temperature variation and the amounts of precipitation recorded at the Timisoara weath...

Fires in road tunnels pollute the ventilation air of the underground space and create unfavorable conditions for life. International recommendations for the design of emergency ventilation share the statement that the critical velocity (specifically its numerical value of 3.0 m/s) can be used to predict the spread of toxic substances in underground space and to exclude backflow for the majority of tunnels. Nowadays, it is advisable to supplement this point of view with the results of new studies, which notes that ...

Drought is a complex weather and climate-related phenomenon with significant ecological and socioeconomic consequences. In light of the increasing severity and frequency of droughts in Europe in recent years, this study focuses on assessing the spatiotemporal evolution of drought in Bulgaria during the period 2014-2022. To achieve this, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is calculated at different time scales (1, 3, and 6 months) for both the country's territory and individual municipalities using software...

The purpose of this research is to create a new paradigm as a scientific base for national programs for gas hydrate R&D and projects for technology development and gas hydrate exploitation. The main tasks are the results to mitigate climate and energy crises and to avoid technology problems of renewable energetics and social problems from mass jobs changes in energy and related sectors. The methodology includes analyses and examples from unsuccessful national programs and production tests and a thermodynamic appro...

Airborne particulate matter (APM), and in particular its fine fraction PM2.5, is well known as an important pollutant in the urban atmosphere worldwide. The health effects of APMs depend not only on their size but also on their chemical composition. Black carbon (BC), heavy metals and other constituents can impact human health and climate. The main sources of BC are the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biomass burning and other organic materials. Resuspension of soil and road materials, secondary aerosol for...

Sustainable cities are urban center engineered to improve their environmental impact through proper urban planning and management. The implementation of green infrastructures is one of the most important characteristics in sustainable cities. Urban green areas play a basic role in the socio-economic development and in the sustainability of the cities. Climate change is one of the factors that needs to be into consideration during the design of sustainable cities, as it constitutes a major problem that humanity has...

The increasing impacts of climate change have necessitated a comprehensive reassessment of large infrastructure projects, particularly highways, to ensure their resilience and sustainability. The article focuses on the analysis of climate change vulnerability, mitigation measures, and adaptation strategies within the context of a major highway project in Romania. With climate change accelerating, highways in Romania are becoming increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather events, shifting precipitation patterns, te...

The European Union stands apart through its ambitious blueprint to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Playing a pivotal role within this process, the energy transition in EU is challenged by the trilemma of supply security, competitiveness and sustainability. Historical contingencies and contextual factors trigger different evolutionary trajectories in terms of temporalities and geographies. Testing the club convergence hypothesis, studies addressed the heterogeneity of EU member states either from energy or environ...

The topic of sustainable mobility has been prioritized on the EU-s political agenda, with the goal of lowering CO2 emissions and air pollution. This goal entails the introduction of low-polluting cars, such as those driven by an electric battery (BEV), into the EU car market. The current investigation was guided by the theory of planned behavior (TPB): The three main TPB constructs-attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control-as well as the intention to purchase a BEV have been measured. In additio...

Composite materials are widely used in high-tech fields of industry, especially in the aeronautical and aerospace industry, land and water transport. Weight reduction, high creep resistance, very good damping deformations compared to traditional materials, represent some of the advantages for these materials- usage. The studies carried out aim to determine the evolution of the physical-mechanical characteristics of a composite material with a thickness of less than 1 mm, using descriptive statistics techniques. In...

In temperate climates, fruit crop yields are primarily determined by environmental conditions, especially during dormancy and in the early stages of their phenological development. Climate anomalies, with both warmer spring temperatures and greater temperature fluctuation, have altered phenology, leading to a greater risk of spring frost damage to orchards. The sweet cherry (Prunus avium), like other fruit species in the temperate climate, needs to accumulate a cultivar-specific quantity of chilly units during the...

Today, humanity must deal with the consequences of ongoing climate change. The most observed manifestations of climate change include increasing temperatures, as well as increasing monthly and annual average temperatures. In the present work, the change in the number of days with temperatures between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius and above 35 degrees Celsius was compared. Meteorological data from 21 climatic stations on the territory of the Kosice and Presov self-governing regions (Slovakia) were provided by the Slova...

Drosophila as a model for toxicological study is a simple and effective test-system owing to (i) availability of a wide range of accessible methods allowing the integral assessment of the negative effect of the factor under study on the vital characteristics at all levels of the organism vital activity (from molecular to population), (ii) possibility of obtaining results within a relatively short period of time (from 2 days to 2 weeks); (iii) low price of working methods, (iv) absence of specific requirements as t...

The increasing economic activity reinforces the importance of climate change on a global scale. Together with the development of the economy and the increase in people's well-being, the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) which are released into the atmosphere as a result of human activities, also increase. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is one of the main greenhouse and ozone (O3) depleting gases. Seven percent of the anthropogenic greenhouse effect is nitrous oxide. From a molecular perspective, N2O has a 310-fold greater ...

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is one of important greenhouse gas (GHG) whose main sources are agricultural soils. N2O forms in soil as a result of microbial processes, reinforced by the use of nitrogen-containing fertilizers. This study will look at how the formation of N2O in soil is affected by soil moisture and soil granulometric composition. Soil N2O isotopes of ?15N? (central nitrogen position) and ?15N? (end nitrogen position) which could help to identify natural and anthropogenic sources of N2O emissions and the invo...

Climate change, marked by rising temperatures, poses significant health risks to indoor- bound individuals. This paper stresses the need for proactive public health measures, especially for vulnerable groups like the elderly and economically disadvantaged who lack access to air conditioning. As heatwaves worsen, traditional solutions, like energy- intensive air conditioning, are problematic due to increased energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and cost issues. Instead, this paper proposes an affordable solution: ...

Environmental problem-solving as a factor of sustainable and balanced development is an integral part of every country in the world, based on the interaction of man, nature, society, and the overcoming of crisis factors in an imbalanced world. That is why today it is necessary to move from the economics of aggressive expansion to the economics of sustainable development in order to promote the formation of a stable identity and social sustainability, which requires a fundamentally new development paradigm. The new...

In order to make the transition to a low-carbon economy and sustainable transport system and solve environmental and climate problems, many countries are replacing traditional cars that run on petroleum fuels with electric cars. Unlike vehicles with an internal combustion engine (ICE), electric vehicles` emissions from the operation phase are practically zero, but this is not the case if we consider the full life cycle. In this paper, we briefly describe the electric vehicle market, examine the life-cycle emission...

Agricultural activity accounts for two-thirds of the total anthropogenic nitrogen oxide (N2O) emissions worldwide. Most of the N2O emissions from agricultural soils come from the use of inorganic fertilizers and/or manure. As agricultural activity intensifies worldwide, N2O emissions are currently increasing by 0.25% per year. In order to investigate the feedback of soil N2O emissions with changes in environmental conditions, an improved understanding based on the wider use of isotopic tracer methods is needed. Th...

This paper refers on the result of an experimental work developed at an Italian limestone quarry. In such a site the pollutant emissions connected with standard activities such as drilling, blasting or crushing materials represent primary dust sources and contribute to determine the PM10 concentration all over the quarry plant and the surrounding area. Moreover many studies underlined the important contribution of secondary sources in the assessment of airborne dust climate. These ones, generally constituted by st...

Reducing GHG emissions from soil is crucial for mitigating climate change, promoting sustainable agriculture, protecting ecosystems and biodiversity, ensuring food security, and improving public health. The effectiveness of GHG mitigating strategies may vary depending on local conditions, soil type, and agricultural practices. It is recognized that conventional farming practices may lead to increased GHG emissions compared to more sustainable farming systems. Therefore, the aim of this study is to research the GHG...

Going green ... So many projects to reduce environmental impact start this way and continue with the first task being to eliminate printed communication and go paperless and digital. All this is not driven by thoughtful environmental considerations, but by an aversion to paper-based communication that is wrongly anchored in the social consciousness. The authors draw attention to the misconceptions that people have about paper-based communication, showing that they are untrue and that they are often used to greenwa...

In recent years, the maritime industry was shifting towards sustainable practices, focusing on minimising environmental impact and maximising energy efficiency. Fishing vessels are increasingly adopting hybrid energy systems to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. However, finding the optimal hybrid energy configuration specifically determined for a certain vessel type, its technical specifications, and operational requirements remains a complex challenge. This paper presents the development of an user-friendly...

The application of nitrogen fertilizers in the form of urea tends to increase acidity, especially on low pH soils, and as a result can lead to increased aluminum toxicity, which can adversely affect not only soil properties such as microbial activity, but also productivity. Application of different types of urea with inhibitors to reduce nitrogen losses would result in a different carbon response to fertilizers applications for the same soil type because of differences in soil micro-environment, including microbia...

Decomposition of solid waste in landfills causes global air pollution with methane, the most dangerous of the greenhouse gases. The emission potential of this gas is 28-36 times greater than that of CO2. With the help of methane-reducing Biocover, can find a solution to this problem. In this study, a biocover was developed in the laboratory to reduce methane emissions. When measuring the methane emissions of this biocover, data on the amount of carbon dioxide emissions were also obtained in parallel. The purpose o...

Landfills of municipal waste are important sources of methane emissions. The surface of the landfill area is the interface between the waste layer and the atmosphere. By creating a biocover cover layer, it is possible to reduce methane emissions that would refer to air quality. This innovative biocover technology aims to curtail methane emissions from various sources. The research delves into the effectiveness of this biocover in not only mitigating methane emissions but also its potential influence on nitrous oxi...

The purpose of this work is to identify some meteorological risk indicators that most accurately express the extreme nature of the manifestations of atmospheric phenomena in the western part of the country, and for this we analyzed a period of four years, between the years 2019-2022. Most of the basic meteorological parameters of these years were presented for the town of Timisoara, for which we took into account the thermal regime, the pluviometric regime, the atmospheric pressure, the duration of the glow. For t...

The Mediterranean basin is distinctly vulnerable to climate change and its associated effects. This vulnerability is noticeably observed in the southern Mediterranean territories, where a perceptible outcome of climate change is the increase of the average temperatures over time, accompanied by water scarcity due to reduced precipitation. Although recent technological advancements have achieved to mitigate to some extend climate change impacts, particularly in stabilizing temperatures and enhancing water resource ...

Given the ubiquity of limonene in cleaning and cosmetic products, investigating its gasphase oxidation products from reactions with OH radicals and ozone has become important for human health. The present study investigates limonene gas-phase reaction with OH radicals under controlled NOx or NOx-free conditions using facilities from the 760 L Environmental Simulation Chamber made of Quartz (ESC-Q-UAIC) together with state-of-the-art instruments such as proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR...

In an era of globalization and interconnections, addressing environmental challenges requires effective communication and collaboration on a global scale. This abstract highlights the critical role that modern languages and translations play in promoting sustainable environmental practices. By facilitating the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and best practices across linguistic and cultural boundaries, modern languages and translation services empower individuals, organizations, and governments to work together towa...

The research was carried out between the 2020 and 2022 growing seasons, in six different wine-growing regions of Romania, including the west, central, south, and east. The grapevine growing technology and production process were investigated, which were carried out differently depending on the soil and environmental resources in each growing area. The climatic conditions were also analyzed, as well as the influence on the production and quality of two grape cultivars for superior red wines grown in the researched ...

Green development is a kind of development that considers two factors- social and environmental impacts of development. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are tools that can be used in monitoring of the impacts of climate change. They can demonstrate the effects of climate change and they can contribute to the proper management of urban green via their role as decision-making tools. Urban areas have an important role in urban ecosystems through multifunctional role of trees, such as the reduction of...

The effects of climate change are already visible through rising air temperatures, melting glaciers and shrinking polar ice caps, rising sea levels, increasing desertification, as well as more frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, floods and storms. Climate change is not uniform globally and affects some regions more than others. Climate changes directly affect Romania and lead to intense heat waves or extreme weather phenomena (floods due to heavy rains, wind intensifications). In terms of...

The impact of climate change is felt by people all over the world, but this change is more pronounced in Europe. In Slovakia, which is in Central Europe, we feel these changes in all areas of the economy, but most significantly in agriculture. We experience extremely high temperatures more and more often, and frequent periods of drought alternate with extreme intensity of precipitation. The aim of this paper is to compare these changes in temperature and precipitation with a reference period - the sixty-year clima...

The main goal of the analysis presented in the paper is to contribute to a clearer understanding of climate changes in Bulgaria, assessing the long-term changes in annual characteristics of surface temperature and precipitation in the period 1961-2020 and providing climate projections to the end of the 21st century. During the last decades of the 20th century, a tendency towards warming occurred in Bulgaria. Since the 1990s, only four years have had negative temperature anomalies compared to the reference period 1...

Global warming caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a global problem. Solid municipal waste landfills are the third largest source of artificial methane emissions. Methane is one of the greenhouse gases contributing to global warming. The net zero emissions target was set to strike a balance between emissions and anthropogenic GHG disposal by 2050. Methane emissions from active or closed landfills may be reduced by methane oxidation, which is developed as a coating over these landfills. Methane (CH4) is an ...

Every year, cities are becoming more populated and urban traffic more intense. Urban air quality is deteriorating and causes for pollution are being sought and solutions to improve the quality of life in urban areas. Atmospheric deposits, vehicles, traffic and de-icing products are the main sources of snow pollution in cities. Snow, located near roads and streets with intense traffic, is a very useful tool for identifying the risks of traffic-related metals in the environment. In many countries, in winter, they us...

This paper examines sustainability reporting trends of 50 NZX-listed companies, focusing on their effectiveness, transparency, and accountability. As sustainability reporting remains largely voluntary, unregulated, and inconsistent, this study investigates the current status quo in ESG/sustainability reporting in New Zealand. As a result, it provides managerial advice on what currently constitutes effective sustainability reporting. This paper of qualitative nature explores reporting practices across five key crit...

Climate change affects everyday life, especially extremely high temperatures and longterm droughts alternating with intense rainfall. Changes in rainfall distribution and increasing temperatures force farmers to adapt to new conditions. In our contribution, we compared temperature deviations from the climatic normal and the percentage of precipitation from the climatic normal. For the complexity of the data comparison, a 60- year normal was created for 81 stations in Slovakia. Data interpolation created maps were ...

Climatic variability from year to year and even within the same growing season has a significant impact on the composition of the grapes and the resulting wines. This study covered several vineyards along a 400-km route in western Romania to empirically describe the influence of climate on berry concentration in titratable acidity (TA), pH and anthocyanins of two wine varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc) during 2021-2022 growing seasons. The results showed that at a sugar level of 23o Brix total solu...

Global heating is happening at an unprecedented speed. As a result, both human society and natural ecosystems are facing significant challenges. Numerous tools and policies are being implemented both for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Substantial amount of funding has been pledged by international governments and private corporations to support these efforts. One of particularly promising tools that tends to gain popularity for addressing climate change are Nature-based Solutions. These tools can be use...

The work analyzes the rights of future generations in a perspective of solidarity within Italian-European environmental law, in a similar way to what was done in the German legal system. The analysis is conducted through a survey of the Italian-European regulatory framework, also with specific reference to the objectives of European social policies and through the jurisprudential comparative analysis with the legal system of the Federal Republic of Germany. In particular, with specific reference to a recent enviro...

The number of transport units in cities is increasing every year. This trend contributes to air pollution problems in many rapidly urbanizing countries. Various heavy metals and other chemical elements, including aluminum, have been related to air quality degradation. Poor air quality affects people, especially young children, the elderly, and people with chronic illnesses, causing health problems and aggravating existing problems. The aim of the research is to find out which parts of the city of Jelgava have the ...

Climate change may increase the frequency and severity of floods in many regions of the world, including Poland and Slovakia. Crises may be caused by, among others: increased rainfall, rapid melting of snow, river floods, and floods in urban areas. The article focuses on the problems occurring in Poland and Slovakia, which will have to adapt their infrastructure and policies to cope with the changing climate and increased flood risk. The article concerns aspects of crisis management using geo-informatic tools in f...

Globally, there have been significant efforts to develop new means of assessing progress beyond GDP in recent years. The recent publication by the UN Secretary-General of a policy brief (UN, 2023) is inviting member states to move beyond GDP by measuring what truly matters for sustainability and prosperity. The policy brief outlines the shortcomings of GDP as an indicator of summarizing everything too much and revealing too little to be able to adequately inform policy (UN, 2023; pp. 12). This paper will present a...

This study explores the intricate relationship between Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) and landslide vulnerability within the context of Iasi City, Romania. UHIs are characterized by elevated temperatures in urban areas compared to their surrounding rural areas, primarily resulting from human activities and urbanization. The combination of these two factors, UHI and landslide vulnerability, poses critical challenges for urban planning, environmental sustainability, and public safety. The research employs a multi-discipl...

Urtica dioica L. is a multi-functional plant commonly known as stinging nettle, which has been used as wild vegetable for centuries. Stinging nettle is a highly nutritious vegetable due to its increased use in different food products and its health-promoting properties. Nettles are highly adaptable occurring in most common areas from unpolluted to highly polluted areas, along stream banks, farmland and also in highly disturbed areas. In hot areas, they prefer sites in partial shade, but accept to grow also in full...

The second half of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first century are marked by two processes that pose a serious threat to the sustainable development of the world in the near future. These are the population explosion in certain parts of the world and climate change. At the beginning of the second millennium the world population was only 300 million, today it exceeds 8 billion and by the middle of this century it will reach 10 billion. At the same time, throughout human history, people have lived an...