Earth, Vol. 5, Pages 110-132: Land Use Land Cover (LULC) Change Dynamics Associated with Mining Activities in Kitwe District and Adequacy of the Legal Framework on Mine Closure in Zambia Earth doi: 10.3390/earth5020006 Authors: Kawisha Mutimba Teiji Watanabe Mohan Bahadur Chand Land use land cover (LULC) changes resulting from copper exploration in Kitwe District, Copperbelt Province has adversely impacted the environment. To understand LULC change dynamics associated with mining activities, this study mapped LULC changes using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) from 1990 to 2020. In addition, the ..read more

Earth, Vol. 5, Pages 90-109: Projected Heat Waves in Ecuador under Climate Change: Insights from HadGEM-RegCM4 Coupled Model Earth doi: 10.3390/earth5010005 Authors: Diego Portalanza Carlos Ortega Liliam Garzon Melissa Bello Cristian Felipe Zuluaga Caroline Bresciani Angelica Durigon Simone Ferraz This study examines heat wave projections across Ecuador’s Coastal, Highlands, and Amazon regions for 1975–2004 and 2070–2099 under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) scenarios 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5. Employing dynamic downscaling, we identify significant ..read more

Earth, Vol. 5, Pages 72-89: Resilience of an Urban Coastal Ecosystem in the Caribbean: A Remote Sensing Approach in Western Puerto Rico Earth doi: 10.3390/earth5010004 Authors: Yadiel Noel Bonilla-Roman Salvador Francisco Acuña-Guzman Utilization of remote sensing-derived meteorological data is a valuable alternative for tropical insular territories such as Puerto Rico (PR). The study of ecosystem resilience in insular territories is an underdeveloped area of investigation. Little research has focused on studying how an ecosystem in PR responds to and recovers from unique meteorological events ..read more

Earth, Vol. 5, Pages 45-71: Assessing Post-Monsoon Seasonal Soil Loss over Un-Gauged Stations of the Dwarkeswar and Shilabati Rivers, West Bengal, India Earth doi: 10.3390/earth5010003 Authors: Ankita Mukherjee Maya Kumari Varun Narayan Mishra This study employs the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model to evaluate soil loss within the Shilabati and Dwarkeswar River Basin of West Bengal, serving as a pilot investigation into soil erosion levels at ungauged stations during the post-monsoon season. Detailed data for temperature, precipitation, wind speed, solar radiation, and relative humi ..read more

Earth, Vol. 5, Pages 20-44: Assessing Groundwater Recharge in the Wabe River Catchment, Central Ethiopia, through a GIS-Based Distributed Water Balance Model Earth doi: 10.3390/earth5010002 Authors: Gideon Tadesse Muralitharan Jothimani The utilization of groundwater has emerged as an indispensable asset in facilitating economic advancement, preserving ecological integrity, and responding to the challenges posed by climate change, especially in regions characterized by aridity and semi-aridity. The sustainable management of water resources requires an assessment of the geographical and tempora ..read more

Earth, Vol. 5, Pages 1-19: Features of Degassing from Overburden Rock Massifs: A Case Study Using Radon Earth doi: 10.3390/earth5010001 Authors: Timofey Leshukov Aleksey Larionov Ekaterina Nastavko Philipp Kaizer Konstantin Legoshchin Overburden rock massifs resulting from open-pit coal mining are very common objects in the world’s mining regions. These locations pose a significant challenge as the global mining industry expands. These dumps are capable of self-burning for quite a long time. The displacement and sliding of these massifs can cause catastrophic consequences. In add ..read more

Earth, Vol. 4, Pages 845-858: Exposure to Climate Change Information on Affect and Pro-Environmental Behavioural Intentions: A Randomised Controlled Trial Earth doi: 10.3390/earth4040045 Authors: Samantha Greaves Caroline Harvey Yasuhiro Kotera Climate change and its impact are being acknowledged through extensive media coverage. Knowledge gaps between mental health and climate change have been highlighted, which is an increasingly prevalent issue. Furthermore, mental health impacts such as climate anxiety and its implications on behaviour remain unclear. The study aimed to investigate the eff ..read more

Earth, Vol. 4, Pages 823-844: Agro-Pastoral Expansion and Land Use/Land Cover Change Dynamics in Mato Grosso, Brazil Earth doi: 10.3390/earth4040044 Authors: Sayaka Yoshikawa Large-scale land use/land cover changes have occurred in Mato Grosso State (hereafter MT), Brazil, following the introduction of extensive mechanized agriculture and pastoral activities since the 1980s. Author investigated what kind of agro-pastoral activities which are both cattle ranching and top five crops (soybean, sugarcane, corn, cotton and rice) that are closely related to land use change on lands experiencing conv ..read more

Earth, Vol. 4, Pages 806-822: An Assessment of the Epicenter Location and Surroundings of the 24 January 2020 Sivrice Earthquake, SE Türkiye Earth doi: 10.3390/earth4040043 Authors: Mehmet Tekin Yurur Sultan Kocaman Beste Tavus Candan Gokceoglu The Sivrice earthquake (Mw 6.8) occurred on 24 January 2020 along the East Anatolian Fault (EAF) zone of Türkiye, and epicentral information and focal mechanism solutions were published by two national and six international seismic stations. Here, we analyzed epicentral locations and the major fault trace using aerial photogrammetr ..read more

Earth, Vol. 4, Pages 776-805: Evaluation of Groundwater Potential Using Aquifer Characteristics in Urambo District, Tabora Region, Tanzania Earth doi: 10.3390/earth4040042 Authors: Athuman R. Yohana Edikafubeni E. Makoba Kassim R. Mussa Ibrahimu C. Mjemah In developing countries like Tanzania, groundwater studies are essential for water resource planning, development, and management. Limited hydrogeological information on groundwater occurrence, availability, and distribution in Urambo District is termed a key factor that hinders groundwater development. This research was aimed at the evaluati ..read more