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Leakage of reactive nitrogen (N) from human activities to the environment can cause human health and ecological problems. Often these harmful effects are not reflected in the costs of food, fuel, and fiber that derive from N use. Spatial analyses of damage costs attributable to source at management-relevant scales could inform decisions in areas where anthropogenic N leakage causes harm. We used recently compiled data describing N inputs in the conterminous United States (US) to assess potential damage costs associated with anthropogenic N. We estimated fates of N leaked to the environment (air deposition, surface freshwater, groundwater, and coastal zones) in the early 2000s by multiplying watershed-level N inputs (8-digit US Geologic Survey Hydrologic Unit Codes; HUC8s) with published coefficients describing nutrient uptake efficiency, leaching losses, and gaseous emissions. We scaled these N leakage estimates with mitigation, remediation, direct damage, and substitution costs associated with human health, agriculture, ecosystems, and climate (per kg of N) to calculate annual damage cost (US dollars in 2008 or as reported) of anthropogenic N per HUC8. Estimates of N leakage by HUC8 ranged from <1 to 125 kg N ha−1 yr−1, with most N leaked to freshwater ecosystems. Estimates of potential damages (based on median estimates) ranged from $1.94 to $2255 ha−1 yr−1 across watersheds, with a median of $252 ha−1 yr−1. Eutrophication of freshwater ecosystems and respiratory effects of atmospheric N pollution were important across HUC8s. However, significant data gaps remain in our ability to fully assess N damages, such as damage costs from harmful algal blooms and drinking water contamination. Nationally, potential health and environmental damages of anthropogenic N in the early 2000s totaled $210 billion yr−1 USD (range: $81-$441 billion yr−1). While a number of gaps and uncertainties remain in these estimates, overall this work represents a starting point to inform decisions and engage stakeholders on the costs of N pollution.

Significant global investments are being made into smart urban mobility technologies but there is limited evidence of the potential co-benefits for reducing carbon emissions, environmental pollutants and human health impacts at scale and over the long-term. We use conservative estimates of vehicle electrification and grid decarbonisation to focus specifically on information and communication technology (ICT) interventions. In doing so, we develop a smart mobility framework focusing on more efficient road networks and driving behaviour enabled by rapid ICT deployment. Our scenarios suggest that a combination of ambitious policy measures aimed at smoothing traffic speeds as well as improving driver behaviour in urban areas could reduce carbon emissions for cars ∼29% saving ∼7 MtCO2 and for vans ∼33% saving ∼3 MtCO2 by 2050. Potential reductions in nitrogen oxides and particulate matter 2.5 for cars are ∼22% and vans ∼10% and ∼16% respectively. We use human toxicological classification of air pollution (HCA) to assess the potential damage on human health and our scenarios suggest an upper range of ∼23% and ∼30% reductions in HCA by 2050 for cars and vans respectively. Using conservative cost values, we estimate damage costs could be avoided from car emissions range from ∼£42–£130 million and vans ∼£89–£163 million per year. However, our baseline projections indicate that emissions and damage costs avoided from passenger cars could be partially offset by growing demand for urban van delivery and freight services that are currently outpacing improved fuel and emissions performance of the vehicle stock. This may reflect broader lifestyle and consumer trends towards on-line shopping, food and delivery services, which warrants further investigation.

Rodents are among the most notorious invasive alien species worldwide. These invaders have substantially impacted native ecosystems, food production and storage, local infrastructures, human health and well-being. However, the lack of standardized and understandable estimation of their impacts is a serious barrier to raising societal awareness, and hampers effective management interventions at relevant scales. Here, we assessed the economic costs of invasive alien rodents globally in order to help overcome these obstacles. For this purpose, we combined and analysed economic cost data from the database-the most up-to-date and comprehensive synthesis of reported invasion costs-and specific complementary searches within and beyond the published literature. Our conservative analysis showed that reported costs of rodent invasions reached a conservative total of US$ 3.6 billion between 1930 and 2022 (annually US$ 87.5 million between 1980 and 2022), and were significantly increasing through time. The highest cost reported was for muskrat (US$ 377.5 million), then unspecified spp. (US$ 327.8 million), followed by specifically (US$ 156.6 million) and (US$ 150.4 million). Of the total costs, 87% were damage-related, principally impacting agriculture and predominantly reported in Asia (60%), Europe (19%) and North America (9%). Our study evidenced obvious cost underreporting with only 99 documents gathered globally, clear taxonomic gaps, reliability issues for cost assessment, and skewed breakdowns of costs among regions, sectors and contexts. As a consequence, these reported costs represent only a very small fraction of the expected true cost of rodent invasions ( , using a less conservative analytic approach would have led to a global amount more than 80-times higher than estimated here). These findings strongly suggest that available information represents a substantial underestimation of the global costs incurred. We offer recommendations for improving estimates of costs to fill these knowledge gaps including: systematic distinction between native and invasive rodents' impacts; monetizing indirect impacts on human health; and greater integrative and concerted research effort between scientists and stakeholders. Finally, we discuss why and how this approach will stimulate and provide support for proactive and sustainable management strategies in the context of alien rodent invasions, for which biosecurity measures should be amplified globally.

The current study attempts to assess the effect of community preparedness on property damage costs during wildfires. The focus is primarily on how various aspects of community preparedness, such as early warning systems, early risk assessment, emergency response plans, and fire-resistant landscaping, influence the extent of property damage costs during wildfires. For this purpose, data were collected from 384 Greek residents from different regions of the country using an online questionnaire. In this case, analysis was performed utilizing SPSS version 22.0. According to the findings, survey respondents replied that fire suppression was the most common property cost associated with wildfire. The study contributes to existing knowledge by providing insights into the specific factors that affect property damage expenditure during wildfires, specifically the intricate relationship between the expenses of property loss caused by wildfires and community preparation. The study’s findings can be utilized by policymakers and communities to improve preparedness plans and consequently decrease the impact of wildfires on property and people.

Purpose The food industry should evolve towards new business models which take into account the damage cost in decision making, considering the impact that its products generate on the natural and human environment. Hence, the present study aims to calculate the damage cost caused by the production of whole fresh (as average of potatoes, aubergines, and broccoli), and processed vegetables (fresh-cut and pre-cooked). Methods The environmental life cycle approach was carried out per kilogram of assessed products (from cradle to the entrance of the market). The foreground Life Cycle Inventory was obtained from engineering procurement and construction projects of the whole fresh and processed vegetables industries. The Ecoinvent 3.8 and Agribalyse 3.0.1 databases were used for the background inventory. The ReCiPe 2016 method was used with a hierarchical perspective, evaluating eighteen midpoint categories as well as the endpoint categories (human health, ecosystems, and resources). The monetisation of these environmental impacts was then calculated using the endpoint monetisation factors developed by Ponsioen et al. (Monetisation of sustainability impacts of food production and consumption. Wageningen Economic Research, Wageningen,  2020 ) for each product. It should be noted that this study does not include a comparative assessment. This study does not intend to compare the results for the three vegetable groups. Results and discussion The damage costs were 0.16 €/kg for whole fresh vegetables, 0.37 €/kg for fresh-cut vegetables and 0.41 €/kg for pre-cooked vegetables. The agricultural production stage contributed most to these total damage costs due to the impact produced on land use and global warming in midpoint categories and human health and ecosystems in endpoint categories. In addition, the damage cost due to fossil resource scarcity (midpoint) and resource scarcity (endpoint) was mainly caused by the plastic packaging of fresh-cut and pre-cooked vegetables. The total cost was 1.02 €/kg for whole fresh vegetables, 2.99 €/kg for fresh-cut vegetables, and 3.43 €/kg for pre-cooked vegetables. Conclusions These results suggest that some efforts should be made to reduce both environmental impacts and damage costs. For instance, to improve agricultural production, special attention should be paid to fertilisation and water consumption. Additionally, new packaging options should be explored as well as the inclusion of renewable sources in the electricity grid, and finally, on transporting the finished products to the market, by using trucks that run on cleaner fuels. Graphical abstract

The ever-increasing number of introduced species profoundly threatens global biodiversity. While the ecological and evolutionary consequences of invasive alien species are receiving increasing attention, their economic impacts have largely remained understudied, especially in France. Here, we aimed at providing a general overview of the monetary losses (damages caused by) and expenditures (management of) associated with invasive alien species in France. This country has a long history of alien species presence, partly due to its long-standing global trade activities, highly developed tourism, and presence of overseas territories in different regions of the globe, resulting in a conservative minimum of 2,750 introduced and invasive alien species. By synthesizing for the first time the monetary losses and expenditures incurred by invasive alien species in Metropolitan France and French overseas territories, we obtained 1,583 cost records for 98 invasive alien species. We found that they caused a conservative total amount ranging between US $ 1,280 million and 11,535 million in costs over the period 1993–2018. We extrapolated costs for species invading France, for which costs were reported in other countries but not in France, which yielded an additional cost ranging from US$151 to 3,030 millions. Damage costs were nearly eight times higher than management expenditure. Insects, and in particular the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus and the yellow fever mosquito Ae. aegypti , totalled very high economic costs, followed by non-graminoid terrestrial flowering and aquatic plants ( Ambrosia artemisiifolia , Ludwigia sp. and Lagarosiphon major ). Over 90% of alien species currently recorded in France had no costs reported in the literature, resulting in high biases in taxonomic, regional and activity sector coverages. To conclude, we report alarming costs and even more alarming knowledge gaps. Our results should raise awareness of the importance of biosecurity and biosurveillance in France, and beyond, as well as the crucial need for better reporting and documentation of cost data.

Estimating the expected annual damage (EAD) due to flooding in an urban area is of great interest for urban water managers and other stakeholders. It is a strong indicator for a given area showing how vulnerable it is to flood risk and how much can be gained by implementing e.g., climate change adaptation measures. This study identifies and compares three different methods for estimating the EAD based on unit costs of flooding of urban assets. One of these methods was used in previous studies and calculates the EAD based on a few extreme events by assuming a log-linear relationship between cost of an event and the corresponding return period. This method is compared to methods that are either more complicated or require more calculations. The choice of method by which the EAD is calculated appears to be of minor importance. At all three case study areas it seems more important that there is a shift in the damage costs as a function of the return period. The shift occurs approximately at the 10 year return period and can perhaps be related to the design criteria for sewer systems. Further, it was tested if the EAD estimation could be simplified by assuming a single unit cost per flooded area. The results indicate that within each catchment this may be a feasible approach. However the unit costs varies substantially between different case study areas. Hence it is not feasible to develop unit costs that can be used to calculate EAD, most likely because the urban landscape is too heterogeneous.

Purpose In order to train new professionals and researchers in the area, among other purposes, it is necessary to have knowledge about the operationalization of life cycle tools. The objective of this study is to formulate a proposal for conducting environmental life cycle costing (ELCC) from the approach of this content in the scientific literature. Methods To this end, we developed a review with the analysis of studies that performed the tool in various productive contexts, between 2008 and 2022, published in journals indexed in the Web of Science. The application of keywords defined for the search allowed the retrieval of 4007 documents. Non-peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers, review articles, editorial materials, meeting abstracts, letters, and book chapters were excluded. The abstracts and methodologies were also read to further exclude articles that were not classified using the ELCC. With the application of these procedures, we obtained 133 articles, which were analyzed in detail. Results and discussion A proposal for conducting the ELCC was formulated to guide the execution of the tool. This was composed of procedures, challenges, and opportunities. The main procedures identified included the delimitation of a perspective, goal, scope, internal and external cost categories, application of economic indicators, and uncertainty analysis. The main identified challenges refer to the ELCC execution reproducibility, the difficulty in standardizing cost categories, and the limited vision regarding the tool use. The opportunities mapped out encompass the exploration of the thirty-two gaps pointed out for ten research segments, emphasis on the service sector, government programs, creation of databases, and approach to ELCC concepts in educational training. Conclusions and recommendations The proposal made it possible to systematize knowledge from the way ELCC has been conducted in the last decades in different segments. In the practical field, this study serves to guide researchers, professionals, or students who wish to use the tool to achieve professional goals. Future research can also refine and explore the proposed structure, as well as the identified gaps and other opportunities.

In recent years, the intensity and frequency of droughts have been increasing with the advent of the climate crisis. Agricultural droughts have a significant economic and social impact. Agricultural drought is not only a natural disaster but also leads to food security threats and reduced economic activities, such as decreased productivity. Therefore, it is very important to specify the scale of agricultural drought and quantitatively estimate the economic damage. In this study, we developed an analytical methodology to quantitatively assess the economic damage of agricultural drought and estimated the damage of agricultural drought in 2018 and 2019 for the Republic of Korea. The 2018 agricultural drought was estimated to have caused USD 4.438 million in damage cost and USD 5.180 million in recovery cost. The 2019 drought was less damaging than the previous year, with an estimated damage cost of USD 286,000 and recovery costs of USD 218,000. The results suggest that the economic impact of agricultural drought varies by region depending on the frequency and intensity of the drought and confirm the importance of regional strategies for effective drought management and response. The impacts of agricultural drought go beyond short-term agricultural losses and lead to long-term economic burdens. Therefore, the results of this study are expected to be used as a basis for understanding the impacts of agricultural drought on national economies and for developing policies and strategies to minimize impacts.

Invasive alien species (IAS) affect natural ecosystems and services fundamental to human well-being, human health and economies. However, the economic costs associated with IAS have been less studied than other impacts. This information can be particularly important for developing countries such as Argentina, where monetary resources for invasion management are scarce and economic costs are more impactful. The present study provides the first analysis of the economic cost of IAS in Argentina at the national level, using the InvaCost database (expanded with new data sources in Spanish), the first global compilation of the reported economic costs of invasions. We analyzed the temporal development of invasions costs, distinguishing costs according to the method reliability (i.e. reproducibility of the estimation methodology) and describing the economic costs of invasions by invaded environment, cost type, activity sector affected and taxonomic group of IAS. The total economic cost of IAS in Argentina between 1995 and 2019 was estimated at US$ 6,908 million. All costs were incurred and 93% were highly reliable. The recorded costs were mainly related to terrestrial environments and the agricultural sector, with lack of costs in other sectors, making it difficult to discuss the actual distribution of invasion costs in Argentina. Nevertheless, the reported costs of IAS in this country are very high and yet likely much underestimated due to important data gaps and biases in the literature. Considering that Argentina has an underdeveloped economy, costs associated with biological invasions should be taken into consideration for preventing invasions, and to achieve a more effective use of available resources.