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Expansion of arid lands due to climate change, particularly in water stressed regions of the world can have severe implications on the economy and people’s livelihoods. The spatiotemporal trends in aridity, the shift of land from lower to higher arid classes and the effect of this shift on different land uses in Syria have been evaluated in this study for the period 1951–2010 using high-resolution monthly climate data of the Terrestrial Hydrology Research Group of Princeton University. The trends in rainfall, temperature and potential evapotranspiration were also evaluated to understand the causes of aridity shifts. The results revealed an expansion of aridity in Syria during 1951–1980 compared to 1981–2010. About 6.21% of semi-arid land was observed to shift to arid class and 5.91% dry-subhumid land to semi-arid land between the two periods. Analysis of results revealed that the decrease in rainfall is the major cause of increasing aridity in Syria. About 28.3% of agriculture land located in the north and the northwest was found to shift from humid to dry-subhumid or dry-subhumid to semi-arid. Analysis of results revealed that the shifting of drylands mostly occurred in the northern agricultural areas of Syria. The land productivity and irrigation needs can be severely affected by increasing aridity which may affect food security and the economy of the country.
Mohammad Rajab Houmsi; Mohammed Sanusi Shiru; Mohamed Salem Nashwan; Kamal Ahmed; Ghaith Falah Ziarh; Shamsuddin Shahid; Eun-Sung Chung; Sungkon Kim. Spatial Shift of Aridity and Its Impact on Land Use of Syria. Sustainability 2019, 11, 7047 .
AMA StyleMohammad Rajab Houmsi, Mohammed Sanusi Shiru, Mohamed Salem Nashwan, Kamal Ahmed, Ghaith Falah Ziarh, Shamsuddin Shahid, Eun-Sung Chung, Sungkon Kim. Spatial Shift of Aridity and Its Impact on Land Use of Syria. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (24):7047.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMohammad Rajab Houmsi; Mohammed Sanusi Shiru; Mohamed Salem Nashwan; Kamal Ahmed; Ghaith Falah Ziarh; Shamsuddin Shahid; Eun-Sung Chung; Sungkon Kim. 2019. "Spatial Shift of Aridity and Its Impact on Land Use of Syria." Sustainability 11, no. 24: 7047.
Recent climate change has resulted in the reduction of several surface water bodies (SWBs) all around the globe. These SWBs, such as streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, reservoirs, and creeks have a positive impact on the cooling of the surrounding climate and, therefore, reduction in SWBs can contribute to the rise of land surface temperature (LST). This study presents the impact of SWBs on the LST across Bangladesh to quantify their roles in the rapid temperature rise of Bangladesh. The moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) LST and water mask data of Bangladesh for the period 2000–2015 are used for this purpose. Influences of topography and geography on LST were first removed, and then regression analysis was conducted to quantify the impact of SWBs on the LST. The non-parametric Mann–Kendall (MK) test was used to assess the changes in LST and SWBs. The results revealed that SWBs were reduced from 11,379 km2 in 2000 to 9657 km2 in 2015. The trend analysis showed that changes in SWBs have reduced significantly at a 90% level of confidence, which contributed to the acceleration of LST rise in the country due to global warming. The spatial analysis during the specific years showed that an increase in LST can be seen with the reduction of SWBs. Furthermore, the reduction of 100 m2 of SWBs can reduce the LST of the surrounding regions from −1.2 to −2.2 °C.
Najeebullah Khan; Shamsuddin Shahid; Eun-Sung Chung; Sungkon Kim; Rawshan Ali. Influence of Surface Water Bodies on the Land Surface Temperature of Bangladesh. Sustainability 2019, 11, 6754 .
AMA StyleNajeebullah Khan, Shamsuddin Shahid, Eun-Sung Chung, Sungkon Kim, Rawshan Ali. Influence of Surface Water Bodies on the Land Surface Temperature of Bangladesh. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (23):6754.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNajeebullah Khan; Shamsuddin Shahid; Eun-Sung Chung; Sungkon Kim; Rawshan Ali. 2019. "Influence of Surface Water Bodies on the Land Surface Temperature of Bangladesh." Sustainability 11, no. 23: 6754.