Owing to the effect on people, livestock, and materials, air pollution is a hazard globally. To this end, stakeholders have taken on the challenge of quantifying the environment with the use of tools and eventually using the data produced to provide solutions to the problems. However, low-cost sensors and IoT have come to the rescue due to the high cost and operational complexity of equipment and methodologies in environmental monitoring. They are relatively inexpensive and reliable. It is on this assumption that we have decided to use the World Air Quality satellite data supplied by air matters.com. This study is a 40-day preliminary work in which air quality (AQI, PM_2.5, PM10, NO₂, CO, SO₂, and O₃) and meteorological (temperature, humidity, and wind speed) parameters were monitored. The data collected was for five locations in Lagos State, Nigeria (Ojodu, Opebi, Ikeja, Maryland, and Eti-Osa). The data obtained were subjected to basic descriptive, multivariate and time series statistical analyses. The findings showed that the AQI of all locations presented the levels of contamination as 'Unhealthy for Vulnerable Groups', there were relationships between the parameters monitored and meteorological influences, and the effects of natural and man-made activities may be the sources of the elevated pollutants throughout the locations.

Groundwater can be considered as a non-polluting renewable energy source. It can be used as a fluid in the industrial, commercial, and residential building heating and air-conditioning systems. Usually, the water table is deep enough, so the atmospheric conditions have a negligible influence on the water temperature. For that reason, the annual variation in the temperature is minor, therefore, the groundwater can also be considered a reliable energy source. This paper presents some aspects of the heat pump wells design and addresses specific problems that can occur during their exploitation. The heat pump system consists of two types of wells: exploitation and drainage well. It is shown that the distance between the two is a crucial parameter that affects the whole system efficiency. An example of wells design for a production hall heat pump is given. The wells are constructed is in the northern part of Croatia. The geological and hydrogeological conditions at the site are highly favourable regarding the water temperature and soil hydraulic conductivity. Because of the insufficient distance between the wells, the temperature in exploitation well rose, which reduced the heating system efficiency.

Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world with around 718000 deaths in the past fifty years. This country is especially in danger for cyclones because of its locations at the triangular-shaped Bay of Bengal. The scientific scenario suggests that enlarged sea surface temperature will intensify cyclone movement. Tropical cyclone generates storm surge. Storm surges drastically alter the coastal environment, damaging coastal structures, destroying forests, crops, inundating the coastline with saltwater and loss of lives. Due to overcrowding in the mainland in Bangladesh, poor and landless people live in the coast and they face frequent cyclones and associated surges. They affect to have food and drinking water; in danger the transmission risks of infectious diseases, such as diarrhoea, malaria, eye infections, skin diseases, etc. Some problems following a cyclone usually create for their low literacy rate and poor knowledge of the environment. The tangible monitoring and warning of the cyclones and associated surges should be given more priority for the region.

The main objectives of this paper are to highlight the existing activities as the model in storm surges and related areas in the Bay of Bengal. We would explain the progress of location-specific real-time standpoint prediction system for providing effective and timely surge forecasts. We would also introduce a model through numerical experiments with severe cyclone April 1991 to predict the storm surges that would be used to reduce economic losses and the number of death tolls during a strong storm surge in the coastal area of Bangladesh.

Water has always been a critical resource for human groups and climate change could aggravate supply problems.

In this context, groundwater could be an important reservoir of water, especially given the dispersion of places where it can be obtained (namely springs).

Historically, places where groundwater is available have been marked by humans using built structures, with stone materials having a historically major role. These cultural objects tend to become a part of the collective memory and the historical record (when available) and frequently they stay on the original site along time (hence "marking a spot" for groundwater).

However, the development of major water supply structures, especially in the 20th century, promoted an overlook of these ancient water sources.

We present a general defence of the importance of recording and preserving cultural stone related to water sources, preferably in the original sites. Cultural stone could be seen as a potential exploration tool for groundwater. This should converge with historical information on the fountains’ discharge, with geological studies of the terrains and geochemical features of the groundwaters involved, in order to characterize the hydrogeological systems and their potential future use (including the preservation of water quality and properties). These issues should be vital factors in urban planning for the future.

The current pandemic situation has created havoc in the regular workings of many institutions such as those dedicated to teaching and, therefore, the urge for alternatives to traditional face to face teaching has raised.

However, for certain subjects, such as the Earth Sciences, distance teaching approaches could be seen as counterintuitive to the essential foundations of the subject (where empirical information, especially from fieldwork, was paramount for its foundation and growth).

We consider in this work the advantages of remote operations, which could complement, improve and perhaps even replace the traditional approach for Earth Sciences teaching, potentially producing better learning outcomes, even in relation to laboratory and fieldwork, including work concerning studies in locations out of planet Earth.

Additionally, we consider the possible advantages for other professional settings related to this area, such as those concerning terrain characterization for Engineering works, mineral resources and environmental studies, as well as possible support for space missions and stations in other astronomical bodies (where mineral exploration and extraction could be developed and, hence, especially benefit from remote operations).

Crystallography concepts are usually among the most demanding subjects for Mineralogy students.

Traditional onsite teaching of Mineralogy starts with physical models of crystal polyhedra and frequently also includes the observation of models of crystal structures. These teaching strategies could be difficult to implement under pandemic situations like the present one. But they have also other disadvantages under the usual access conditions as their use by the students is restricted by the number of students in relation to the number of models and by the availability of the models and teaching staff. Additionally, onsite teaching can pose challenges to both students and teachers with temporal or permanent disabilities.

We consider here some possibilities of teaching with virtual models of crystal polyhedra, twinning and crystal structures, based on some of the available freeware options and considering the main concepts taught in the usual Mineralogy syllabus.

In this work, I present the geopolygons - test sites, under the historical view of a series of practical research-and-educational activities. In this sense, STEM learning on-site, specifically related to the Earth sciences, is important.

The Research Station RAS in Bishkek is a part of Bishkek Geodynamic Proving Ground of the International Research Center (IRC BGPG) with the Multiple-Access Geosciences System (MAGS) (http://ckp-rf.ru/ckp/500801/) is studying geodynamics, stressed and deformed state and deep structure of Tien Shan, seismotectonic, geoenvironmental and engineering-geological aspects. At the Research Station RAS in Bishkek we lead a mentorship program within the organization for mentees. However, COVID-19 quarantine forced us to make mostly online seminars for organization staff and provide online educational training for the students of American University of Central Asia (AUCA) and Kyrgyz Russian Slavic University (KRSU). Under the support of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) the agreement on scientific and technical cooperation between the Kyrgyz National University named after Jusup Balasagyn (KNU) and the Research Station RAS in Bishkek was signed on September 30th, 2020.

All data storage from on-site stationary monitoring points of BGPG has been still offline. All field activities have been continued and have been made by special groups of maximum 3 persons. I admit that the new remote technologies should be included in future development because the accessible geophysical equipment degrades rather quickly and especially because of daily use and temperature changes.

The Biosphere Reserves are laboratories of sustainability that provide local solutions to global challenges such as climate change or the conservation of biodiversity. They promote research, education and the creation of communities of practice that jointly generate knowledge that may be applicable to cooperative decision-making at local scales.

The context of global COVID-19 pandemic posed a great challenge to all teaching and learning processes and so to the co-creation of knowledge. To counteract it, we developed an online teaching environment (webinar) to enhance the value of ecosystems and analyze the perception of youth, a key interest group in participatory governance of the territory, in relation to the provision of ecosystem services in the Biosphere Reserve in Indonesia.

We took the experience of the Programme "Ecosystem Services of Euskadi" as a reference and developed a questionnaire on the perception of the provision of ecosystem services. The results showed that the highest evaluation corresponded to “cultural services” and the most valued environmental unit was “primary and secondary forest”.

Our results contribute to establish a baseline to understand the relationship of youth with the territory within the framework of the MAB Programme and in addition, to set up an international scientific cooperation.

This experience showed that the promotion of online solutions can help counteract the global pandemic negative effects on teaching processes and also empower local actors, specially the youth which have a key present and future role in global sustainability processes, as well as in shared local management of the Biosphere Reserve.

Groundwater is considered as one of the essential natural resources stored beneath the earth surface by infiltration through various rock layers. Groundwater potential supplies almost 30% of fresh water in the world, and in general, 65% of groundwater is used for agricultural irrigation, 25% as drinking water, and the remaining 10% is utilized as industrial water. The main aim of this study is to delineate groundwater potential zones in the central Antalya province, Turkey using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and frequency ratio (FR). Seven thematic layers including lithology, slope, drainage density, landcover/landuse, lineament density, rainfall, and soil depth were considered as influencing parameters to run these models. The preparation of all geospatial datasets was carried out in GIS environment and Google Earth Engine. Besides, some authorized relevant web portals were also tried for obtaining the required spatial data. The findings of analysis by AHP and FR models show that Muratpasa, Kepez, and eastern Dosemealti in the eastern part of study area are characterized by high potentiality of groundwater, while the regions in southern, western parts covered by igneous rocks and other less permeable sediments, also featured by high and steep slopes are followed by low or very low groundwater potential. Consequently, the results from both models were assessed using receiver operating curve (ROC) and area under curve (AUC) for validation. The validation in this study confirms the higher effectivity of results achieved by FR than the AHP model.

Drought is defined as an insidious hydrometeorological hazards with a potential to negatively impacts on society, economy and environment. The current study aimed at analysing the drought potential risks in the study area for the protection of economy, environment and human lives. A 42-year long rainfall/precipitation data were collected from an online database. Dataset was subjected to quality check, where outliers were detected, removed and replaced by Expectation Maximum algorithm aided by SPSS. A non-parametric Mann Kendall’s test for trends was applied to detect monotonic trends present in the dataset. XLSTAT software was used in fitting annual data for a suitable probability distribution. The annual data fitted normal probability distribution with parameters, s=183.143, m=530.451 using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test criterion. The spectral analysis showed that the study area is expected to experience drought events every 2 years. The government and other relevant stakeholder authorities are therefore cautioned to put measures in place for the protection of property, environment and human lives and agricultural activities against adverse effects of droughts.