Social risk is an interdisciplinary concept used with various meanings in the social and in the natural sciences. The article presents some of the social insights into this concept, particularly in connection with the global environmental research project and with geography. The special dimension of social risks, as well as some current methodological aspects regarding models and the main indicators used in the multidimensional assessment of social risks are analysed at local, regional and national levels. Of special interest is the link between social risks and a series of key-concepts, such as: hazard, impact, social vulnerability, resilience, adaptive capacity.

In Romania, excessive fragmentation of croplands remains persistent in areas of significant agricultural potential as a consequence of combined factors involving both land governance and farms’ characteristics. This paper examines the fragmentation of agricultural land use in the Romanian Plain, focusing on the impact of land policies implemented in Romania during the past three decades. The analysis relies on a survey of local policies that helps to distinguish three phases that marked the evolution of the fragmentation of agricultural land during 1990–2020. Additionally, metrics derived from remote sensing time series further assist in capturing the fragmentation levels during the identified phases and the spatial differences for the analyzed period. The fragmentation levels appear strikingly contrasting between the western part of the Romanian Plain and the Danube alluvial areas; this has been attributed as being the joint result of various land governance components which both enabled and constrained proper utilization of agricultural land, and concurrent factors related to economic and sociodemographic changes. We find excessive fragmentation emerged in plain field areas, triggered by the high overall rates of institutional change. The findings underscore the importance of jointly considering the fragmentation phenomenon in its evolution, intensity and spatial differences for effective land use policy formulation, emphasizing the need for proactive governance to support the efficient use of agricultural resources.

Drought and related climate features (aridity, water balance) in Romania since 1961 are well documented, but studies spanning longer periods are limited and typically rely on modelled or sparse observational data. This study presents an analysis of drought, water balance and aridity in Romania over 123 years (1901–2023), using monthly data from 156 weather stations included in the RoCliHom dataset. Drought evolution is analyzed using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Aridity is examined with the De Martonne Aridity Index. The non-parametric Mann–Kendall test is used for trend detection, which allows a fair comparison with previous studies on drought and aridity in Romania. Trend magnitude is calculated with Sen’s slope estimator. Our results show a clear increase in evapotranspiration as a sign of climate warming over the country since the beginning of the 20th century. Annual precipitation amount presents no major changes. Water balance has decreased in July and August at 40% and 85% of the locations, respectively. During the growing season, drought has intensified within the last seven, six and five decades, but there are no significant changes over the full period of study in this respect. We found strong negative correlations between SPEI and North Atlantic Oscillation, Northern Annular Mode and Arctic Oscillation teleconnection indices. The evolution over the 123-year period shows that the drought episodes that occurred in recent decades are not without precedent in the long-term climatic context.

Drought assessment in Romania since 1961 is well documented. However, studies coveringing longer time intervals in the region are scarce, and employ either modeled or sparse observational data. This study presents a 123-year analysis of water balance, drought and aridity over Romania using monthly, homogenized data from 156 meteorological stations belonging to the RoCliHom dataset. Drought is analyzed by means of two well known indices, namely the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Changes in aridity are investigated with the De Martonne Aridity Index. The non-parametric Mann-Kendall test is used for trend detection – which allows a direct comparison with the vast majority of studies on aridity and drought over the Romanian territory. Trend magnitude is computed with Sen's slope estimator (also known as Kendall-Theil robust line).

The paper presents a trend analysis in monthly precipitation, air temperature (average, minimum and maximum), air temperature range, potential evapotranspiration, drought and water balance over Romania using data from 156 weather stations. The recently released, freely available RoCliHom dataset has been used for this purpose. Trend analysis was conducted with the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test, as it allows a direct comparison with the vast majority of previous studies on climatic changes in Romania. Our results indicate that, since 1951, air temperature has increased over the entire country in all months (to a lower extent in autumn and December), showing a consistent warming signal over the 73-year period. In contrast, precipitation amount looks stable in most months. Air temperature range presents predominantly increasing trends, unlike previous findings on longer periods. Potential evapotranspiration has increased in all months, especially in spring and summer, when all stations present upward trends. Water balance shows declining trends for August at more than half of the stations. Most patterns of change are clear, without mixed trends.