Current Research on Geography, Earth Science and Environment Vol. 5

A Critical Analysis of Challenges and Opportunities for Circular Economy Adoption in Solid Waste Management: The Case of Garissa Township, Kenya

2026-01-14T12:33:20+00:00

Background: Globally, the transition toward circular economic systems is regarded as essential for addressing resource depletion and climate change. Solid waste management continues to pose major challenges in developing countries due to rapid urbanisation and population growth. Although circular economy strategies have been successfully implemented in many developed countries, smaller municipalities like Garissa lack the necessary infrastructure, policy frameworks, and institutional support to facilitate the transition to circular waste management systems.

Aim: This study examines determinants of circular-economy adoption and their collective influence on sustainable solid-waste management in Garissa Township, Kenya.

Methodology: The study was conducted in Garissa Township, Kenya, specifically across the four administrative wards of Iftin, Township, Galbet, and Waberi. A descriptive research design using a mixed-methods approach was adopted. Data collection was carried out among households, private solid waste collectors, and officials from the Department of Environment and Waste Management. The fieldwork took place over a six-month period, between April and September 2019. The study included a total of 330 respondents from the four wards, comprising adult household heads, county waste management officials, and registered private waste collectors. Individuals below 18 years, non-residents, and those not directly involved in waste management were excluded. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS, with descriptive statistics such as frequencies and means, and supplemented with inferential tests like chi-square to explore variable relationships. Qualitative data from interviews and discussions were analysed thematically to identify key patterns and insights.

Results: Results show a largely female-headed household profile (60.3%) with low formal education (28.9%), while private collectors were predominantly male, aged 31–40 and tertiary educated. Technology was seen to improve recycling efficiency (50%), safety (25%) and cost reduction (25%), but adoption remains under 20% due to financial and technical constraints. Critical service gaps include 49.8% of households without dustbins, 40% of collection routes becoming impassable, and one landfill serving ~80,000 residents. Perceived opportunities scored highly for health (4.68) and employment (4.06), whereas major barriers were inadequate infrastructure (4.42), limited funding (4.35) and weak policy enforcement (2.18).

Conclusion: Garissa has significant potential for circular-economy transition, but success requires targeted infrastructure investment, stronger policy frameworks, technology support and community education to convert attitudes into scalable practice.

Earthworm Species Identification for Effective Vermicomposting of Municipal Organic Waste

2026-01-14T12:36:59+00:00

Globally, municipal organic waste is creating a bigger environmental problem. By turning garbage into nutrient-rich compost, vermicomposting provides a sustainable alternative. The selection of earthworm species for efficient large-scale vermicomposting of municipal organic waste is optimised in this study. Vermicompost quality, reproduction rates, waste reduction efficiency, and adaptability to different waste kinds were assessed using a combination of case studies, experimental trials, and literature reviews.

Four earthworm species were tested: Perionyx excavatus, Eudrilus eugeniae, Eisenia fetida, and Eisenia andrei. Eisenia fetida and Eisenia andrei had higher reproduction rates (3.7 and 3.5 cocoons/adult/week, whereas Eudrilus eugeniae and Perionyx excavatus attained the highest waste reduction rates (68.0% and 65.6%) and biomass gains. All species had comparable levels of vermicompost nutrients (N, P, and K), with E. eugeniae and P. excavatus having somewhat higher levels. Case studies from various geographical areas demonstrated that climate, waste composition, and operational size all have a significant impact on species performance.

A decision-making approach is suggested to help Urban Local Bodies identify the most effective earthworm species for their particular conditions. The results demonstrate the critical role of species selection in maximising vermicomposting effectiveness and ensuring sustainable municipal waste management.

COVID-19 Lockdown as a Natural Experiment: Environmental and Atmospheric Responses Across India Using Multi-Sensor Data

2026-01-14T12:41:12+00:00

The COVID-19 lockdown in India constituted an unprecedented large-scale reduction in human mobility, industrial activity, and energy use, offering a unique geographic natural experiment to evaluate how abrupt emission controls influence atmospheric conditions across diverse environmental regions. This chapter examines spatial and regional variations in aerosol optical depth (AOD), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and ozone over India during March–June 2020, using MODIS, OMI, and MERRA-2 datasets relative to a 2014–2019 climatological baseline. By integrating satellite observations with reanalysis meteorology, the study emphasizes the geographic heterogeneity of atmospheric responses across six major regions: the Indo-Gangetic Plain, Northern, Western, Eastern, Central, and Peninsular India.

The results reveal substantial improvements in air quality across most regions, particularly over the Indo-Gangetic Plain and major urban–industrial corridors, where sharp declines in AOD, NO₂, and SO₂ were observed. These regions, characterized by dense population, intensive energy use, and constrained dispersion, showed the strongest response to reduced anthropogenic activity. In contrast, parts of Central India exhibited localized increases in aerosol loading despite overall emission reductions, illustrating the critical influence of regional meteorology. Weak winds, elevated humidity, and boundary-layer conditions in these areas promoted aerosol persistence and secondary formation, demonstrating that emission controls alone do not uniformly translate into improved air quality.

Ozone exhibited a distinctly non-uniform vertical response. Tropospheric ozone decreased across much of northern and western India, reflecting reductions in precursor emissions, while total column ozone increased modestly. This apparent divergence highlights the complexity of ozone chemistry under low-NOₓ conditions and the importance of distinguishing between surface-relevant and column-integrated ozone metrics in geographic and environmental assessments.

From a geographic and policy perspective, the findings underscore that air-quality responses to emission reductions are strongly region-dependent and closely linked to local meteorological regimes. The lockdown experience demonstrates that significant short-term improvements are achievable, but also reveals the limitations of uniform mitigation strategies across India’s diverse landscapes. Effective air-quality management must therefore integrate emission control policies with explicit consideration of regional meteorology, land-use characteristics, and atmospheric transport processes. By framing the lockdown as a spatially heterogeneous environmental experiment, this chapter contributes to broader Earth-science discourse and provides evidence-based insights to support geographically differentiated and meteorology-aware environmental policy frameworks in India.

Climate Trends in the Semi-Arid and Arid Region of Kapoeta in South Sudan

2026-01-14T12:43:41+00:00

Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions is occurring at an alarming pace in the Kapoeta region of South Sudan. Currently, the Kapoeta region is faced with stiff competition over access to grazing resources within and with neighbouring groups, such as the Karamojong of Uganda and the Turkana of Kenya, culminating in increased migration to water and pasturelands during dry seasons. Accordingly, the study ascertained historical (1984-2016) and projected future (2021-2050) climate trends in the Kapoeta region. Rainfall and temperature data were sourced from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) Climatology Resource, along with the Global Weather Data for Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) data. Descriptive and non-parametric statistics, including the Man-Kendall-tau and Sen's s-Slope estimator, were used in XLSTAT 2016 to project historical (1984-2016) and future (2021-2050) climate trends in the Kapoeta region of South Sudan. The study was conducted in Greater Kapoeta, Eastern Equatoria State, South Sudan, in 2016. The Norwegian Earth System Model One (NorESM1) was used to project rainfall and temperature trends under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 for the period from 2021 to 2050. The results demonstrate that annual rainfall amount declined (P=0.05) by 0.32 mm between 1984 and 2016, and its monthly patterns changed from unimodal (1984-1994) to bimodal patterns (1995-2016). Similarly, the maximum annual temperature significantly (P=0.05) increased by 0.061 °C, and the monthly temperature increased significantly (P=0.05) in March, April, May, July, and October from 1984 to 2016. The annual rainfall projection shows a non-significant (P=0.06) rise of 2.912 mm under RCP8.5 and a decrease of 3.080 mm under RCP4.5 from August to December between 2021 and 2025. The peak average monthly rainfall amounts of 111 mm and 89 mm were anticipated to occur in November under RCP8.5 and RCP4.5 from 2021 to 2050. The study projected a significant (P=0.05) increase in annual temperature by 0.016 °C and 0.028 °C, and average monthly temperature increase from January to May under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 between 2021 and 2050. The peak maximum average monthly temperature will reach 28.4 °C and 28.3 °C in March under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 between 2021 and 2050. Ultimately, the climate trends increased during (1984-2016) with an anticipated future increase in climate trends (2021-2050) that requires awareness of the pastoral and agropastoral communities on climate anomalies in the Kapoeta region. Future research should focus on identifying the adaptation and mitigation strategies to improve the overall resilience of local communities in the region.

A Preliminary Conceptual Framework for Integrating Inclusive Development into Urban Flood Resilience

2026-01-21T07:27:10+00:00

Cities located in low-elevation and other flood-prone zones continue to grapple with recurrent pluvial flooding and the looming risk of more extreme flood events driven by climate change. These hazards disproportionately affect socially vulnerable populations, and their impacts are often intensified by urban governance models that prioritise exclusive approaches. While flood resilience emerged as a well-intentioned, ecologically friendly solution, it usually inherits these exclusionary practices. This chapter explores the intersection of inclusive development and urban flood resilience to understand how principles of inclusive development can be systematically integrated into flood resilience thinking and practice. Drawing on an extensive review of both bodies of literature, the discussion reveals that, although inclusive development has gained traction across development research, and urban flood resilience has become a prominent theme in climate adaptation studies, the deliberate synthesis of these concepts has remained underdeveloped. We argue that while there are no metrics for measuring inclusive development as articulated by scholars, its guiding principles offer practical entry points for application and assessment. Building on these insights and on established approaches for evaluating flood resilience, the chapter proposes a preliminary conceptual framework for integrating inclusive development into urban flood resilience. This framework is intended to stimulate further scholarly refinement and to support practitioners working in flood-prone urban settings to transition from exclusionary planning toward more integrated, socially responsive, and socio-ecological approaches that promote and strengthen inclusive flood resilience.

Sustainable Treatment of Alluvial Mining Wastewater Using Okra Seed–Based Natural Coagulants

2026-01-21T07:30:59+00:00

Alluvial mining activities represent a significant source of surface water pollution in many developing regions, particularly due to the discharge of fine clay-rich suspensions that generate persistent turbidity in rivers and streams. These suspended particles are difficult to remove by natural settling, leading to degradation of drinking water sources, ecological imbalance, and increased treatment challenges for downstream users. Conventional water treatment methods commonly employ chemical coagulants, which, although effective, are often costly, environmentally burdensome, and associated with health and sludge disposal concerns, especially in resource-limited settings. In response to these challenges, this chapter investigates the potential of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) seed extract as a sustainable, plant-based coagulant for the treatment of clay-laden alluvial mining wastewater. The study demonstrates that biopolymers present in okra seeds can effectively destabilise and aggregate fine clay particles, thereby enhancing settling behaviour and improving water clarity under favourable operating conditions. The chapter provides a conceptual discussion of the underlying coagulation mechanisms, including charge neutralisation and polymer bridging, and examines the influence of key operational parameters such as pH adjustment and treatment time. Beyond technical performance, the environmental and socio-economic advantages of using biodegradable, locally available coagulants are highlighted, particularly their suitability for decentralised and community-based water treatment systems. The findings presented in this chapter underscore the potential of okra seed–based natural coagulants as a low-cost, environmentally friendly alternative to conventional chemical treatments, offering practical insights for sustainable water management in mining-affected communities and contributing to the broader advancement of green water treatment technologies.

Securing Water in Himalayan Towns in the Context of Rapid Urbanisation and a Changing Climate

2026-01-21T07:33:14+00:00

Towns and cities in the Himalayan regions of India and Nepal, and the Asian continent in general, which is home to over a fifth of the world’s population, are undergoing rapid expansion and urbanisation. The population in this region is increasingly becoming concentrated in urban and peri-urban areas. Population growth, changing lifestyles, rising economic status, and the effects of climate change are all coalescing to cause acute water shortages, particularly during the dry season, leading to a situation of water insecurity in the region. This chapter examines the factors leading to water stress in the central and western Himalaya of Nepal and India, respectively, in view of the potential future impacts of climate change. The four towns of Dhulikhel and Dharan in Nepal, and Mussoorie and Haldwani in India, representative of urban areas in the lower Himalaya that are dependent on springs, streams, rivers and groundwater for meeting domestic and commercial water needs, facing a multitude of challenges in securing water, were chosen for this study. The most important cause of water scarcity in the study cities is the rapid population increase. In the cities, population growth and interlinked factors such as migration from rural areas, tourist influx, unscientific construction and degradation of recharge zones are causing serious threats to water security, disasters and pollution. Land-use change has further contributed to declining water availability in streams, springs, and groundwater reserves. The final factor that is influencing water availability, and can be expected to impact future water supply, is a change in climatic patterns. The present circumstances and trends indicate that ensuring adequate supplies of acceptable quality water for these cities will become ever more challenging in the decades to come unless city-specific climate-adaptive and equitable water supply measures are employed effectively. Moreover, certain segments of city dwellers face greater difficulties in gaining access to potable water due to socio-cultural and economic factors. Therefore, to achieve sustainable, equitable and climate resilient water management, measures such as, protection of critical urban water zones, stream bank and gully stabilization, water harvesting and groundwater recharge will be needed along with augmentation of infrastructure, increased storage capacity, appropriate policies and institutional arrangements at local, state, and national levels for effectively addressing the issues of equitable water access to each of the households in the cities. Strategic engagements with the private sector and innovative solutions, as well as policy measures, are key imperatives to meeting the challenges in securing water for these Himalayan towns.

Hydro-climatic Dynamics and Water Resource Vulnerability: The Case of Nabatieh Governorate, Lebanon

2026-01-21T07:35:37+00:00

Climate variability and ongoing warming in the eastern Mediterranean are increasingly reshaping water availability and demand in Lebanon. This study aims to assess how key climatic elements (precipitation regime, snow cover, temperature, wind, solar radiation, and cloudiness) influence water-resource vulnerability in Nabatieh Governorate, and to identify priority vulnerability hotspots and feasible adaptation options. Methods and materials combined (i) high-resolution observations from a digital meteorological station, (ii) analysis of historical station rainfall records and spatial precipitation classes to estimate annual precipitation volumes, (iii) field questionnaire data on household water consumption by season and elevation, and (iv) evaporation measurements, alongside standard climatic indices (e.g., Gaussen) to delineate dry months and examine daily wind temperature interactions relevant to irrigation timing. Results show that although the governorate receives an average annual precipitation volume of about 969.6 million m³ (semi-humid conditions), water security is undermined by a long dry season, strong interannual variability, and rising temperatures that intensify evaporation and evapotranspiration, producing annual losses of roughly 414 million m³ (≈43% of precipitation). Warming also increases demand: per-capita daily consumption rises from winter to summer and is projected to increase by ~5% under a ~2°C warming scenario, while higher temperatures accelerate snowmelt on Mount Hermon, shifting runoff toward winter and reducing summer water availability. Wind and solar radiation exacerbate dry-season evaporation but also offer operational opportunities: economically viable wind speeds (~6 m/s) occur for several continuous hours midday, and the lowest combined wind temperature window (about 5:00–7:00 AM) minimises irrigation losses. Conclusions indicate that scarcity is driven less by absolute rainfall shortage than by warming-amplified losses, seasonal supply demand mismatch, and limited adaptive infrastructure. Prioritise integrated adaptation, optimise irrigation scheduling (early morning), expand storage/ recharge and demand management, and pilot renewable energy-supported pumping with carefully conditioned cloud-enhancement assessments where meteorologically justified.