News Alert

Global forest disturbance patterns — or events which disrupt the structure and composition of forests — are altering as a result of climate change. Changes, such as more severe insect outbreaks, can negatively impact forests and the ecosystem services they provide to society. This study presents a new model that simulates the impacts of forest disturbance from biotic agents such as fungi, insects or large mammals. Click here to read more

Food waste has serious economic, environmental, and social impacts. To meet the EU’s commitment to reduce food waste by 2030 — accurate, baseline data are needed for all Member States (MS). This study considers two models for estimating food waste to assist the EU in identifying a consistent methodology for collating food-waste data by 2022 — to help defining mandatory targets outlined in the Farm to Fork Strategy. Click here to read more

In a new overview of air quality in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK), researchers have revealed downward trends in key pollutant emissions from 2000 to 2017. Despite significant progress, they found that urban exposure to fine particulate matter and ozone — which have some of the greatest health impacts — still exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) limit values in 2017, suggesting that intensified actions are urgently needed. Click here to read more

Urban wastewaters contain a number of chemical contaminants — including plasticisers, flame retardants, pharmaceuticals and pesticides. These chemicals are often ecotoxic — for example, those which disrupt hormones in organisms — and are a potential threat to aquatic life. This study aimed to establish a large-scale, environmental risk assessment (ERA) on emerging chemical pollutants continually released in effluent into local watercourses from 10 urban waste-water treatment plants (WWTP) in France. Click here to read more