Surface urban heat island (SUHI) effects are intensifying in arid desert cities due to rapid urban expansion, limited vegetation, and increasing impervious and barren land surfaces. This leads to serious ecological and socio-environmental challenges in cities. This study investigates the relationship between landscape composition and land surface temperature (LST) in Phoenix and Tucson, two rapidly growing cities located in the Sonoran Desert of the southwestern United States. Landsat-9 OLI-2/TIRS-2 satellite imagery was used to derive the LST value and calculate spectral indices. A multi-resolution grid-based approach was applied to assess spatial correlations between land cover and mean LST across varying spatial scales. The strongest positive correlations were observed with barren land, followed by impervious surfaces, while green space showed a negative correlation. Furthermore, the Urban Thermal Field Variation Index (UTFVI) and the Ecological Evaluation Index (EEI) assessments indicated that over one-third of both cities are exposed to strong SUHI effects and poor ecological quality. The findings highlight the critical need for ecologically sensitive urban planning, emphasizing the importance of the morphological structure of cities, the necessity of planning holistic blue–green infrastructure systems, and the importance of reducing impervious surfaces to decrease LST, mitigate SUHI and SUHI impacts, and increase urban resilience in desert environments. These results provide evidence-based guidance for landscape planning and climate adaptation in hyper-arid urban environments.

Tourism contributes to national and local economies especially in the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts of Turkey including the study area, Fethiye-Göcek, Muğla in southwest Turkey. The study evaluates land use/land cover (LULC) changes driven by tourism development as a case considering the past (1995–2020) and future environmental impacts on the area. High-resolution remote sensing and some socio-economic data were employed to monitor the situation and causes of LULC changes using Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST). The results show a decrease in the size of water surface, forest and maquis lands due to tourism development together with an increase in urban fabrics and bare lands due to urbanisation and forest fires. A significant positive correlation was detected between the urbanisation rate, population size and built-up area as well as air temperature and LST. Rapid and unplanned tourism development boosted investments for infrastructure and facilities and thus increased the demands for lands. Such lands were mostly gained by filling the sea or transforming agricultural and greenhouse areas, forest and maquis-covered lands. The unplanned development of tourism and urban areas caused serious hazards to the natural and cultural areas which threaten the sustainability of tourism. Planning suggestions are proposed to decision makers like coordination works for sustainable and responsible tourism development.

Flooding, one of the most destructive and recurrent natural catastrophes, causes severe loss of life and property. The destructive effect of floods has increased with climate change and unplanned urbanization. To prevent this devastation and find solutions to potential flooding, it is important to improve engineering, ecological, hydrological, and hydrogeological precautions, as well as potential flood simulations. Using hydraulic models to perform flood simulations is a common and successful approach globally. In this study, HEC-RAS (1D) was used to simulate three different flood scenarios on the Boğaçay sub-basin in Antalya, the most important tourism destination of Türkiye. Flood scenarios were developed based on the data of the floods that occurred in the region in 2003 and 2006, with measured flow rates of 1899.9 m³/s and 1450 m³/s, respectively, and with the maximum flow rate (2408 m³/s) determined by the relevant ministry. Then, the landscape composition of the region at the sub-basin scale was determined and the impacts of flood scenarios on the landscape composition around the riverbed were evaluated. The results of the analysis show that the water height will increase, ranging from 1.4 m to 3.6 m, and the landscape composition of the region will be significantly affected by this increase in water height in the three different flood scenarios. Especially in the part where the river meets the sea, 580.74 ha of urban settlement is estimated to be damaged by flooding, according to the worst-case scenario. Finally, the study will guide decision-makers to take the necessary measures under the relevant scenarios.

Arazi örtüsünün yanlış kullanımlar sonucunda hızlı bir şekilde değişmesi önemli çevre sorunlarının başında gelmektedir. Özellikle orman, mera ve tarım alanlarının yok edilmesi ve amaç dışı kullanımından dolayı bu alanlar doğal özelliklerini kaybetmektedirler. Kentsel alanların hızla artması sonucunda bitki örtüsü ve biyoçeşitlilik de bu değişimden etkilenmektedir. Bitkisel yüzeylerin değişmesi ile birlikte geçirimsiz yüzeyler artmakta ve kent ikliminde bölgesel ölçekte değişiklikler meydana gelmektedir. Türkiye’nin önemli bir turizm destinasyonu olan Fethiye’de, Kayaköy, I. derece kentsel sit ve III. derece arkeolojik sit alanı olarak korunan bir alandır. Hisarönü ve yakın çevresindeki Ovacık ve Belcekız yerleşimleri de otel, pansiyon ve yabancıların konutlarının yoğunlukta olduğu bir bölgedir. Genellikle müstakil konutların olduğu bu bölgeye olan talep her geçen gün daha da artmaktadır. Kayaköy-Hisarönü (Fethiye) ve yakın çevresinde arazi kullanımı/arazi örtüsü ile arazi yüzey sıcaklığını tespit etmek amacıyla yapılan bu çalışmada, 10x7 km boyutlarındaki alan çalışma alanı olarak seçilmiştir. Çalışmada 2018 yılı Temmuz ayına ait Landsat 8 uydu görüntüsü ve CORINE arazi örtüsü verisi kullanılmıştır. Coğrafi bilgi sistemleri desteği ile arazi yüzey sıcaklığı değerleri çalışma alanından alınan doğu-batı ve güney-kuzey kesitleri ile arazi kullanımı/arazi örtüsü üzerinden değerlendirilmiştir. Sonuç olarak doğu-batı ve güney kuzey kesitlerinde yerleşim yüzeyleri ve ekili olmayan tarım alanlarına denk gelen alanlarda arazi yüzey sıcaklığı değerleri daha yüksek, orman örtüsünün bunduğu alanlarda arazi yüzey sıcaklığı değerleri daha düşük değerde bulunmuştur.

This study focuses on determining the thermal comfort conditions of seasonal agricultural workers during the hot periods of the year when agricultural production is intense in the Aksu/Türkiye region, which is characterized by the Csa climate type according to the Köppen–Geiger climate classification. In this study, the thermal comfort conditions of seasonal agricultural workers working on open farmlands were evaluated in ten-day, monthly, and seasonal periods for 6 months between 5:00 and 21:00 h using the modified Physiological Equivalent Temperature (mPET) index in the Rayman Pro software according to their activity energy during work. The results of the study reveal that increased activity energy leads to a decrease in thermal comfort conditions of agricultural workers, mPET values of agricultural workers engaged in soil cultivation (Group II) are 2.1 to 2.9 °C higher than the mPET values of workers engaged in plant care and harvesting (Group I), and the agricultural workers in Group II are exposed to more heat stress. The thermal comfort conditions of agricultural workers in Group I deteriorate between 09:00 and 16:00 h with mPET values between 34.1 and 35.3 °C and those of agricultural workers in Group II deteriorate between 08:00 and 17:00 h with mPET values between 34.3 and 37.7 °C. In this context, the daily comfortable working time in the morning and afternoon was found to be 9 h for Group I and 7 h for Group II. Overall, determining the comfortable working hours of agricultural workers in regions with different climate types in future studies will be an important resource for decision-makers in developing strategies to protect the health and increase the productivity of agricultural workers.

Natural resources which human beings used for fulfilling their basic needs in the past have considerably started to be consumed especially because of the industrial evolution based on fossil fuels and technological developments. Unconscious overconsumption of natural sources has resulted in an increase in environmental problems. These increasing problems and their sensible effects on living creatures have led people to protect the environment and to raise their environmental awareness. Within this scope, in recent years, lessons dealing with environment have started to be given in every phase of the Turkish Educational System from preschool education to university. Within this scope, in recent years, lessons dealing with environment have started to be given in every phase of the Turkish Educational System from preschool education to university. In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the opinions of associate students, who actively study at Ortaca Vocational High School, dealing with the necessity of environment and nature protection and with the scenarios which might happen as a result of the environmental disruption. In this context, a survey consisting of 21 questions was conducted and the answers of 284 students were analysed by using arithmetic mean(X), percentage, frequency analysis, two independent samples “t” test and One-way Anova. As a conclusion, it is found that environmental consciousness of the participants increases along with their ages, levels of income and education and it is also found that consciousness of the female participants is higher than the male participants. Özet İnsanoğlunun ilk zamanlar temel gereksinimlerini karşılamak için kullandıkları doğal kaynaklar, özellikle fosil yakıtlara dayalı sanayileşmenin başlaması ve teknolojinin ilerlemesiyle birlikte önemli oranda tüketilmeye başlamıştır. Doğal kaynakların bilinçsizce tüketilmesi, beraberinde çevresel sorunlarının büyümesi sonucunu doğurmuştur. Bu sorunların her geçen yıl artış göstermesi ve canlılar üzerine etkilerinin hissedilir olması, insanların yaşadıkları çevreye sahip çıkmalarına ve çevresel bilinç düzeylerini geliştirmesine neden olmuştur. Bu kapsamda da son yıllarda okul öncesinden yükseköğretime kadar eğitim-öğretim dönemlerinin her aşamasında çevreyle ilgili dersler verilmeye başlanmıştır. Bu çalışmada, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman Üniversitesi Ortaca Meslek Yüksekokulu’nda aktif olarak eğitim alan önlisans öğrencilerinin, çevre ve doğa korumanın gerekliliği ve çevrenin bozulması sonucunda ortaya çıkabilecek senaryolarla ilgili görüşlerinin sosyo-ekonomik göstergelerine göre değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Bu bağlamda 21 soruluk anket çalışması yapılmış ve ankete katılan 284 öğrencinin sorulara verdiği cevaplar, aritmetik ortalama (X), yüzde, frekans, bağımsız iki örnek t testi ve tek yönlü varyans analizi (One-way Anova) kullanılarak değerlendirilmiştir. Sonuç olarak katılımcıların yaş, gelir düzeyi ve eğitim düzeyi arttıkça çevresel duyarlılıklarının da arttığı ve kız öğrencilerin çevresel duyarlılıklarının da erkek öğrencilerden daha yüksek olduğu bulunmuştur.