Water reservoirs and the war in Ukraine: environmental problems

The aim of this article is to analyze the consequences of the military invasion of the Russian Federation on February 24, 2022 on the water bodies of Ukraine. In particular, this article presents an analysis of the consequences of military operations on reservoirs. In order to prevent the enemy from reaching the dam of the Kyiv Reservoir and to protect Kyiv from the aggressor in late February-early March of this year, the sluice of the pumping station on the Kozarovychi Dam was blown up. Because, the possible destruction of this dam could have enormous destructive consequences for the entire cascade of reservoirs and the territories adjacent to them. As a result, a huge area of about 2,500 hectares of the Irpin’ floodplain was flooded, fundamentally changing both the military and the environmental situation. Also, Russian troops launched a missile attack on the dam of the Karachuniv Reservoir near the Kryvyi Rih city. The water level in the Ingulets River rose sharply by 2 meters, flooding the territories near the river, including part of the Kryvyi Rih city. The ecological condition of this territory was significantly damaged, private buildings were heavily flooded. Water quality in this river has deteriorated, the content of nitrogen and other elements has increased in it. The Oskol Reservoir in the east of Ukraine was also destroyed. As a result of the leakage of a significant amount of water, the muddy bottom has been exposed to water and is subject to wind erosion. The hydrological regime of the coastal area has changed. Rare species of flora and young fish population have been lost. Destruction of reservoirs and damage to the environment will continue until the war ends. And it is necessary to do everything possible so that it ends as soon as possibl

Effects of urbanization and Kaniv Reservoir on the thermal characteristics in the region

This study contributes to understanding the effects of urbanization and a large body of water, Kaniv Reservoir, on thermal characteristics in the region. This was done by recording trends in air and surface temperatures in the growing seasons in the period 1985–2022. Specifically, the study’s objectives were to 1) detect and quantify changes in built-up areas using Landsat satellite data, and 2) analyse trends in land surface temperature (LST) in several shoreland zones of the reservoir with different land covers. To identify built-up areas, Landsat data was processed. LST was calculated using Google Earth Engine for the period studied for three shoreland zones and six types of land cover, including sites with substantial, partial and no change in land use. The built-up area increased unevenly over time and differently in each of the shoreland zones. The growth in built-up area was greatest, increasing by 3.7 times, in a zone close to the city of Kyiv. The highest mean LST values were recorded in the zone that was mainly agricultural. Positive LST trends were recorded throughout the entire period of the study, albeit with different trend slopes in individual months. Statistically significant trends were recorded only in August and September

Impact of climate change on biodiversity loss of entomofauna in agricultural landscapes of Ukraine

Analysis of long-term data on the state of populations of entomofauna in agricultural landscapes is of practical importance for determining the feasibility of chemical protection of agroecosystems. Through the example of species of a harmful entomological complex of winter wheat in different natural and climatic zones of Ukraine, the dynamics of the population size of insects under global warming and the indicator of the living planet index (LPI) have been studied. Indicators of long-term insect’s population size were used as input data based on the results of state phytosanitary monitoring. According to the analysed data on the state of indicator populations during 2009-2017, the indicators of the population size and weighted LPI were constantly decreasing. The correlation between the size of an insect’s population and the course of natural warming does not make it possible to unambiguously explain the state of populations by the effect of an increased amount of heat