Drought is one of the natural hazards that have negatively affected the agricultural sector worldwide. The aims of this study were to track drought characteristics (duration (DD), severity (DS), and frequency (DF)) in South Africa between 2002 and 2021 and to evaluate its impact on wheat production. Climate data were collected from the South African Weather Service (SAWS) along with wheat yield data from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (2002–2021). The standard precipitation index (SPI) was calculated on 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month time scales, and the trend was then tracked using the Mann–Kendall (MK) test. To signify the climatic effects on crop yield, the standardized yield residual series (SYRS) was computed along with the crop-drought resilience factor (CR) on a provincial scale (2002–2021). The output of the SPI analysis for 32 stations covering all of South Africa indicates a drought tendency across the country. On a regional scale, western coastal provinces (WES-C and NR-C) have been more vulnerable to meteorological droughts over the past 20 years. Positive correlation results between SYRS and wheat yield indicate that the WES-C province was highly influenced by drought during all stages of wheat growth (Apr–Nov). Historical drought spells in 2003, 2009, and 2010 with low CR = 0.64 caused the province to be highly impacted by the negative impacts of droughts on yield loss. Overall, drought events have historically impacted the western part of the country and dominated in the coastal area. Thus, mitigation plans should be commenced, and priority should be given to this region. These findings can assist policymakers in budgeting for irrigation demand in rainfed agricultural regions.

Egypt is highly exposed to flash flood hazards, particularly in Sinai Peninsula and along the Red Sea coast, causing sudden and huge damages to constructions and huge losses in human lives during a very short time. This paper investigates the dominant characterization of morphometrical features and their relationships with the hydrological behaviors along an important strip of the western Red Sea coast. The study focuses on analyzing the October 2009 and 2019 storm events along the coastal area between EL-Qussier and Marsa Alam in order to intiate a preliminary flood risk assessment model. Morphometric features along the entire study zone provide a complete scenario of the nature of the catchments and sub-catchments development. Numerous morphometric indexes such as catchments geometry, areal indexes, linear indexes, and relief indexes were examined through processing different sets of data. Modern techniques such as remote sensing and geospatial analysis were applied to process different spatial and spectral data. The hydrological model (HEC-HMS) in the WMS software was run to delineate the catchments and sub-catchments and extract the peak flow hydrograph curves for the main catchments. The results of the water amounts and peak flow were calculated using the SCS unit hydrograph approach. The hydrological characteristics of the major catchments reveal conditions for moderate levels of flash flooding. The study ended with a number of recommendations that could minimize the negative effects of the flash flood hazards.

Maintaining and enhancing the quality of civil defense services are of importance to citizens’ life in any city. During the past few decades, the expansion of settlements in Al-Riyadh City has led to a shortage in the distribution of the civil defense centers (CDCs) there. The main aim of this study is to implement the Weighted Sum Method (WSM) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate the distribution of the CDCs in Al-Riyadh City. Eight criteria (i.e., distance from the existing civil defense center, accident density, population density, distance from the road, distance from commercial centers, distance from educational services, distance from industrial areas, and distance from residential areas) were used. The areas under the curve (AUC) of the Prediction Rate Curve (PRC) show that almost all of the AHP models are better than the WSM model. We suggest establishing five CDCs in Al-Riyadh City in areas that are lacking CDCs and characterized by a high population density and consequently a high rate of accidents. We recommend highly long-term planning for establishing new CDCs in cities where there is rapid areal expansion (e.g., Al-Riyadh City).

In this paper, we apply an effective method to evaluate relative tectonic activity by applying several morph-tectonic indices that are useful in evaluating topography and tectonics. These indices include stream length-gradient, asymmetric factor, hypsometric index, hypsometric curves, valley floor width to valley height ratio, drainage basin shape, and mountain front sinuosity. The study region of Wadi Al-Arish in northern Sinai Peninsula in northern Egypt is a natural laboratory to examine relative tectonic activity levels for calculating morpho-tectonic indices of several catchments and sub-catchments rather than an individual catchment. Northern Sinai, comprising the Waid Al-Arish area, is characterized by several large inversion anticline folds. The cumulative results extracted from morpho-tectonic indices ae presented as a new index, namely relative tectonic activity level (RTAL), which we classified into four levels: low, moderate, high, and very high relative tectonic activity. Therefore, the study region provides different levels of relative tectonic activity resulting from fault patterns affecting the northern Sinai inversion forms. The paper examines the concept that regions with various levels of tectonic activity are associated with specific values of RTAL.

The Gulf of Suez area represents one of the most famous tectonic structures in the Red Sea, with a long history of low-, moderate-, and high-intensity earthquakes. This paper provides geomorphic analytics of the fault-initiated mountain front sinuosity (S_mf) and the stream gradients that cross various segments of the fault scarps. The results from the mountain front sinuosity index (S_mf) and the valley floor width to valley height ratio index (V_f) suggest different levels of activities along the different fault segments. The analysis of the stream gradient index reflects that streams running through the fault segments mostly have higher river gradient values identified by knickpoint spots. With regard to the strike variation in the mountain front sinuosity, valley floor width to valley height ratio, and stream river gradients, the results are compatible with the predominant mountain front’s relief. Finally, the calculated geomorphic results show that the eastern segments might reflect higher seismic signals with respect to the central and western segments of the entire Wadi Araba basin. Thus, more careful studies are required to investigate seismic hazard possibilities.

One of the primary difficulties we have recently is environmental degradation. The deterioration of the environment was visible in the rise in carbon dioxide emissions, which has a detrimental impact on various life matters. A variety of factors caused this growth. Inappropriate human behaviors caused the majority of them. This study aimed to ascertain how energy consumption and economic growth with its components in the Czech Republic, affected ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ emissions. The relationship between ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ emissions, economic growth, agriculture, and energy consumption was studied using econometric analysis, specifically the Johansen, Vector Error Correction (VEC) Model, and granger causality. The findings revealed that all variables are cointegrated. Economic growth, agricultural, and energy consumption output are all positively correlated with ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ emissions. There is a unidirectional Granger Causality between economic growth, and Agriculture towards carbon dioxide emissions. A unidirectional Granger Causality agriculture towards economic growth, and energy consumption. In addition, there is no Granger Causality between energy consumption and ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ emissions, and economic growth. This is the first study to use the most recent data to empirically evaluate the environmental impact of economic growth and energy use in the Czech Republic. This study includes pertinent advice for reducing emission ns and supporting the environment by increasing renewable energy sources and adhering to the Czech Ministry of Environment’s strategy.