From degradation to restoration: Remote sensing tracks Asia’s struggle for sustainable drylands

Journal of Remote Sensing

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Study area overview of Asian drylands showing (A) national and provincial boundaries, (B) elevation in meters, and (C) current land cover classification (2020).

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Credit: Journal of Remote Sensing

Across Asia's vast drylands, a new study reveals a critical imbalance between degradation and recovery. Researchers analyzed two decades of satellite data and developed an integrated ecohealth-neutrality framework to track how land ecosystems have changed from 2000 to 2020. The findings show that while ecohealth began improving after 2012, degradation still dominates, with about 22% of the region's land (196 million hectares) remains degraded, compared to only 13% (119 million hectares) showing recovery. This 8% “land debt” indicates the fragile balance between human activity and ecosystem resilience. The study calls for tailored restoration strategies to close this gap and achieve land degradation neutrality (LDN) across Asia by 2030.

Drylands, covering over 40% of Earth's surface, sustain billions of people who depend on them for food, water, and livelihoods. Yet these ecosystems, especially in Asia, are rapidly losing their vitality due to overgrazing, deforestation, and climate stress. One in three hectares of Asian dryland is now degraded, with crop yields projected to drop by half by mid-century. Despite major restoration programs like the Great Green Wall and Landscape Partnership Asia, progress has remained fragmented. Facing these persistent challenges, scientists recognized the urgent need for a continent-wide monitoring approach to quantify ecohealth changes, understand their drivers, and determine whether restoration efforts are keeping pace with degradation.

A team from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with partners from Rwanda, Belgium, and New Caledonia, has mapped the ecological health of Asia's drylands. Their research, published (DOI: 10.34133/remotesensing.0897) on October 10, 2025, in Journal of Remote Sensing, integrates the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) framework with a regional ecohealth assessment model to track ecosystem vitality, soil moisture, and land use dynamics over 20 years. The results reveal a compelling story of recovery and degradation, showing that Asia's drylands remain in fragile equilibrium between continued decline and measurable improvement.

The study examined dryland regions stretching from Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, to East Asia, encompassing Mongolia and China’s arid provinces of Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia, and Nei Mongol. Using high-resolution satellite data, researchers quantified ecosystem vitality and land provisioning capacity by combining indicators such as vegetation indices (NDVI), soil moisture, topography, and land cover. They found that ecohealth declined steadily until 2012 but began improving thereafter, especially in East Asia, where large-scale afforestation and conservation programs took effect. Gansu, Ningxia, and Nei Mongol emerged as “bright spots” of recovery, while Central Asia, particularly Kazakhstan, remains the most degraded. Within the LDN framework, about 22% of land showed signs of degradation and 13% improvement, leaving a “land debt” of 76.9 million hectares that must be restored to achieve balance. The research identifies land use change, urbanization, and mismanaged water systems as major drivers of degradation, while reforestation and sustainable rangeland management offer promising paths toward recovery.

“LDN is more than a target; it's a test of our ability to coexist with the land,” said Dr Yaning Chen, corresponding author of the study. “Our satellite-based framework reveals that while East Asia’s drylands are bouncing back through science-driven restoration, Central Asia's ecosystems remain vulnerable to unsustainable irrigation and land use. Achieving neutrality means more than offsetting losses, it requires understanding local realities and strengthening cooperation across borders. Only by aligning human activity with ecological resilience can we restore the health of Asia's drylands.”

The findings provide a practical blueprint for achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 15.3 on LDN. By identifying where and why ecohealth declines, the framework helps policymakers target interventions such as drought-tolerant afforestation, efficient water management, and climate-smart agriculture. The study's “avoid-reduce-reverse” pyramid offers a stepwise strategy: prevent new degradation, rehabilitate affected areas, and enhance ecosystem resilience. This approach can be applied to other arid regions worldwide, linking scientific monitoring with community action. Ultimately, restoring Asia's drylands is not only about reclaiming lost land; it's about securing the ecological foundation for sustainable development and human well-being.

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References

DOI

10.34133/remotesensing.0897

Original Source URL

https://doi.org/10.34133/remotesensing.0897

Funding information

Study area overview of Asian drylands showing (A) national and provincial boundaries, (B) elevation in meters, and (C) current land cover classification (2020).

About Journal of Remote Sensing

The Journal of Remote Sensing, an online-only Open Access journal published in association with AIR-CAS, promotes the theory, science, and technology of remote sensing, as well as interdisciplinary research within earth and information science.

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Journal

Journal of Remote Sensing

DOI

10.34133/remotesensing.0897 

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Asian Dryland Ecohealth Progress for Land Degradation Neutrality

 

Can Israel feed itself? Economic model to rethink food self-sufficiency unveiled

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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A new Hebrew University study reveals that while Israel could technically sustain itself through local vegetative food production, the economic price would be staggering. The model shows that complete self-sufficiency would demand massive farming subsidies and major shifts in agricultural output, making it an impractical goal. Instead, the researchers argue, a balanced approach, combining agricultural innovation, diversified import sources, and strategic food storage, offers the most sustainable path to national food security.

When wars, pandemics, and trade disruptions shake global markets, one question becomes urgent for every nation: can we feed ourselves? A new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem offers an answer—and a warning. According to researchers Prof. Iddo Kan, Prof. Israel Finkelshtain, PhD student Yehuda Slater, and Prof. Aron M. Troen, achieving full food self-sufficiency in Israel is technically possible—but only for plant-based foods intended for human consumption, not for livestock feed. In other words, during a severe import blockade, Israel’s food system could sustain a vegetarian population, but not maintain its current levels of animal-based production.

The research team developed an advanced partial equilibrium model, named VALUE (Vegetative Agriculture Land Use Economics), to assess how much of Israel’s dietary needs could be supplied locally by the agricultural sector. Applying the model to Israel’s 2019 agricultural data, the researchers found that the country could meet the EAT–Lancet Commission’s recommended vegetative diet, but only with major shifts in production- and at a significant welfare cost.

“Food self-sufficiency is often viewed as a symbol of national resilience,” explains Prof. Iddo Kan, the study’s lead author from the Department of Environmental Economics and Management. “But our findings show that pursuing full autarky would demand vast public subsidies, reduce farm diversity, and severely impact the economic welfare of producers and consumers alike.”

The study shows that increasing self-sufficiency would require diverting agricultural resources away from Israel’s strengths, fresh fruits and vegetables, toward storable crops such as cereals, oils, and legumes. While these crops require less water and labor, they are land-intensive, making arable land the key limiting factor.

Under current conditions, reaching full self-sufficiency would result in an annual welfare loss of approximately $1.5 billion, with farmers bearing most of the burden. Subsidizing such a policy, the authors warn, would require government spending exceeding the sector’s total annual profits.

The researchers also found that while Israel could self-supply the plant-based food needs of its current population, it will not be able to do so for future generations without expanding agricultural land, boosting productivity, or developing substantial food storage capacities. This finding underscores the urgency of forward-looking planning as Israel’s population grows.

Beyond the economic findings, the study provides a framework for policymakers to weigh trade-offs between self-sufficiency, food security, and sustainability. It suggests that a balanced strategy, combining local production, storage of staple crops, agricultural innovation, and diversified imports, offers the most viable path forward.

The research comes at a crucial moment. Recent global and regional crises, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the ongoing disruptions in Red Sea shipping, have exposed Israel’s vulnerability to external shocks. The authors note that their model has already been incorporated into the National Plan for Food Security 2050, initiated by Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, serving as a key decision-making tool for future food policies.

As Prof. Kan concludes, “Our goal isn’t to argue against local agriculture, far from it. It’s to help design smarter policies that strengthen national food security without undermining the very farmers we depend on.”

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Journal

Food Policy

DOI

10.1016/j.foodpol.2025.102979 

Article Title

Economic analysis of food self-sufficiency: modeling and application to the case of Israel

 

Psilocybin outside the clinic – public health challenges of increasing publicity, accessibility, and use

JAMA Psychiatry

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About The Study: 

The expanding use of unregulated psilocybin mushrooms, combined with high variability in composition and common co-use with other substances, raises urgent public health concerns. Existing clinical data are insufficient to guide harm reduction or policy. There is a pressing need to pivot from controlled efficacy trials to real-world research on psilocybin use, including public education, potency testing, and age-specific risk assessment. 

Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Kent E. Hutchison, PhD, email kent.hutchison@cuanschutz.edu.

To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/

(10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.3038)

Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

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Journal

JAMA Psychiatry

 

Proposed all-climate battery design could unlock stability in extreme temps

A team of researchers at Penn State introduce a novel design approach that optimizes battery performance for extreme climates

Penn State

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A new battery design, proposed by researchers at Penn State, could allow lithium-ion batteries to perform well in any climate by using optimized materials and an internal heating system.

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Credit: Illustrated by Wen-Ke Zhang/Provided by Chao-Yang Wang

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Despite lithium-ion (Li) batteries’ role as one of the most widely used forms of energy storage, they struggle to operate at full power in low temperatures and sometimes even explode at high temperatures. Researchers at Penn State, however, have proposed a design that could hold the key to effective and stable power storage in a variety of climates.  

The research, which was published today (Nov. 5) in Joule, investigated a state-of-the-art Li battery design known as an all-climate battery (ACB). Previous design approaches have proven incapable of simultaneously improving efficiency at lower temperatures and increasing stability at higher temperatures — there has always been a tradeoff. Refining and building upon a decade of battery research, the team devised a novel development method that allows ACBs to offer stable and efficient performance over a wide range of temperatures.  

According to Chao-Yang Wang, professor of mechanical engineering, of chemical engineering and principal investigator on the project, Li batteries were never intended to operate in the wide range of applications they support today. The devices were originally designed for personal electronics at moderate temperatures, specifically around 25 degrees Celsius (C), or slightly above room temperature. 

“Now that these batteries have been integrated into electric vehicles, data centers and large-scale systems that can run very hot, this stable operational temperature has become awkward for manufacturers to work around,” Wang said. “To continue enhancing society with the large-scale systems powered by Li batteries, we need to address this fundamental design flaw.” 

Although external heating or cooling mechanisms are used to help keep the batteries operational today, these bulky, power-intensive systems are inefficient and require frequent maintenance, according to Wang. Even with external temperature management, Li batteries lose performance at cold temperatures and experience reduced capacity and stability at high temperatures — maintaining reliable operation only at external temperatures ranging from -30 to 45 C, which severely limits their implementation into devices stationed in extreme environments, like satellites or solar farms in deserts. 

To address this issue, the team improved the traditional battery design used in the previous ACB research, proposing the implementation of a heating element inside an ACB. This novel approach optimizes the materials in battery construction for high stability and safety in hot environments, while using the internal heating to support battery operation in cold environments. According to Wang, this synergy, which is supported by observations made from existing research, will allow researchers to avoid compromising stability and safety in one climate to improve performance in another. 

“This is the key aspect of our research — other teams have approached improving performance in both hot and cold environments solely by adjusting the materials used,” Wang explained. “By optimizing the materials used for hot temperatures and implementing an internal heater to warm the battery, in turn improving performance at low temperatures, you can address this thermal roadblock.” 

The researchers will adjust the material makeup of the electrodes and electrolytes in the ACB — the mechanisms that facilitate the movement of electricity internally — to better handle hot environments, with Wang noting how the liquid electrolyte used in traditional Li batteries, while efficient, is simply too volatile to reliably operate at high temperatures. The internal heating structure the team plans to implement is composed of a thin film of nickel foil, only about 10 microns thick — slightly larger than a red blood cell, according to Wang. This structure, which is powered entirely by the battery, will allow the system to self-regulate temperature, while adding virtually no weight or volume to the ACB. 

Wang said this synergy will increase the number of environments batteries can reliably operate in, widening their operational temperature range to -50 to 75 C and allowing researchers to implement ACBs into applications that previously proved infeasible for traditional Li batteries. In addition to improved versatility, Wang explained how removing external thermal management systems offers performance benefits. 

“By incorporating thermal management into the battery itself, we significantly cut down on both the space the batteries take up, as well as the other variables associated with external heating or cooling,” Wang said. “The cost, power consumption and need for maintenance are significantly reduced, which translates to incredible savings in systems like data centers that utilize thousands of Li batteries.” 

Looking forward, Wang said the team plans to deploy their ACBs. According to Wang, ACBs could be further optimized to operate at temperatures as high as 70 to 85 C with proper development and testing, which will be necessary to support the growing scale of systems that rely on batteries for power storage. 

“Our society is only growing more power-dependent, and shows no sign of slowing down,” Wang said. “As we continue to develop technology like artificial intelligence data centers or highly advanced drones and electric vehicles that require tons of power, we will have to continue improving the batteries that power them.” 

Additional members of the research team include Kaiqiang Qin, a postdoctoral student at Penn State, and Nitesh Gupta, a mechanical engineering doctoral candidate at Penn State. This research is supported by the William E. Diefenderfer Endowment. 

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Journal

Joule

DOI

10.1016/j.joule.2025.102178 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Article Title

All-Climate Battery Energy Storage

Article Publication Date

5-Nov-2025