During the last decade, environmental issues have gained saliency in Turkish politics, especially after the 2013 Gezi Park demonstrations. This article is on the relationship between politics and deforestation in Turkey. It combines possible major drivers—political, economic, and climatic—of deforestation in Turkey with high-resolution satellite data on deforestation to conduct a systemic empirical analysis. The results show that districts in which Justice and Development Party mayors are in power have higher deforestation. The effect is around an average combined area of forty-two football fields in a given district. The article also shows that increased mining activities and newly built hydropower plants positively correlate with deforestation.

Considering climate change, the risk of natural disasters requires a comprehensive approach on the part of all entities dealing with crisis management. Despite the advanced technologies available to predict weather phenomena, it is often unmanageable to take remedial measures, and the best solution is to suitably prepare for, and efficiently operate after, the occurrence of any given crisis. Nevertheless, it is imperative to implement the latest techniques and solutions which will allow for better preparation and responsiveness in the event of natural disasters. This manuscript presents results of initial analysis concerning the currently tested project, which is aimed at, among other things, improving safety in the event of natural disasters in Poland. There were two reasons for creating the manuscript. First, to present the potential of the system currently being built in Poland, which aims to reduce the risks associated with natural disasters and minimize the problems related to crisis management in Poland. And second, to open discussions and create grounds for information exchange between countries implementing similar solutions, especially neighboring countries, with which joint actions could be taken in the event of disasters in border areas.

Although forest removal has been well documented at a global level, knowledge of how major forest processes such as photosynthesis have been affected remains poor. Global forest change between 1986 and 1993 was assessed using the NOAA/AVHRR satellite data converted to terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP). Forest loss was a dominant feature in tropical regions, with the most severe destruction in Latin America followed by southeast Asia and Africa. Loss of high-productivity forests over wide areas was observed for countries such as Brazil and Bolivia. Further analysis showed that approximately 12% (9100999 km2) and 19% (2 600000 km2) of the low-NPP regions (<500 g m−2yr−1, e.g., deserts, tundra) and the high-NPP regions (> 2000 g m−2yr−1, e.g., tropical rain forests), respectively, were transformed to intermediate-NPP regions (500–1500 g m−2yr−1, e.g., savanna, grassland, or cultivated land), between 1986 and 1993. The extent of global forest degradation or fragmentation may be more severe than the deforestation itself. Low-latitude ecosystems were more prone to decline in NPP than mid- and high-latitude ecosystems. The NPP method offers insight into global forest change in a timely, practical and consistent manner.