By analysing previous disasters, lessons learnt can be incorporated into policies and plans to manage the effects of future disasters. A recent study examining the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake in Italy suggests that although the national response effectively dealt with the emergency, longer-term measures to help local populations cope with the aftermath of the disaster need to be set out more clearly.

Extreme and catastrophic floods in Europe, such as those seen in 2013, currently occur approximately once every 16 years, but this may increase to once every 10 years by 2050, according to new research. The study also suggests that annual average economic losses caused by extreme floods could reach almost five times higher than 2013 values.

A new class of drugs called HIF-2 inhibitors is more effective and better tolerated than the standard of care drug sunitinib in treating kidney cancer, researchers with the Kidney Cancer Program at Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.

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A recent study compares the effects of organic, ‘natural’ fertilisers, such as compost, with mineral, synthetic fertilisers, such as urea, on N2O emissions from Mediterranean soil. It suggests that there is little difference between the fertilisers, but that pig slurry offers the best overall balance in terms of emissions and crop yield.

A new combination of three models has explored the future dynamics of European livestock distribution. The results indicate that, without environmental policy, livestock density will increase both inside and outside current livestock hotspots. This will also occur to a certain degree with regulation, but the risk of negative impacts will be less likely.

People exposed to fine particle (PM2.5) and ozone pollution are at increased risk of suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, according to a recent Finnish study. Cardiac arrest is more likely within 24 hours after exposure to PM2.5 and up to several days after exposure to ozone.

Dry soils and a lack of cloud cover help explain a major heatwave in France, concludes new research. The study indicates that the two drivers were separate, unlinked events that came together at the same time to worsen the 2006 heatwave. Its findings could allow heatwaves to be predicted more accurately to protect public health.

Published to mark the 20th anniversary of the Habitats Directive, this latest Thematic issue examines the challenges and successes in managing and restoring biodiversity in the Natura 2000 network.

Brownfield regeneration and land use planning are complex issues which encompass many different environmental, economic and social dimensions. This Thematic Issue brings together quality research into brownfield regeneration, which highlights insights and successful strategies from across Europe and beyond.

Ecosystems are not only essential to human life but can help us face changing conditions in the future. This Thematic Issue brings together the latest research on how the protection of ecosystems, and the services they provide, can form an important part of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

During the last century, large areas of the seafloor have been damaged by human activities such as fishing, sand and gravel extraction and navigational dredging. This Thematic Issue presents quality research exploring the physical damage to the seafloor, new methods for providing seabed information and pressures on marine ecosystems from activities such as deep-sea mining.

Linking land and the sea, coastal zones are unique areas, highly diverse in species, habitats and ecosystems and very important to human activities. But there is a mounting stress on these valuable ecosystems from economic, social and environmental pressures. This Thematic Issue presents key pieces of research that demonstrate tools and experiences for achieving more sustainable coastal ecosystems, and highlights that policy action must continue to strive for significantly improved management.

Exposure to excessive noise is recognised as a major environmental health concern. This Thematic Issue examines the impact of noise on human health and outlines how policy initiatives may limit health effects from noise annoyance - and improve wellbeing.

Nanomaterials – at a scale of one thousand times smaller than a millimetre – offer the promise of radical technological development. Many of these will improve our quality of life, and develop our economies, but all will be measured against the overarching principle that we do not make some error, and harm ourselves and our environment by exposure to new forms of hazard. This Thematic Issue explores recent developments in nanomaterials research, and possibilities for safe, practical and resource-efficient applications.

Energy efficiency is at the centre of EU policy for achieving a fundamental transformation of Europe’s energy systems by 2030. This Thematic Issue reveals the complexity of the issue of energy efficiency, its links with resource efficiency and the wide range of factors influencing it, from technology to social practices.

A new study by European researchers highlights the important contribution of greenhouse gases (GHGs) other than carbon dioxide to climate change and suggests policy measures to help reduce their impact. The study provides improved estimates of the current GHG balance of Europe, taking nitrous oxide and methane into account.

A research update on climate change has indicated that many global risks are now assessed as stronger than predicted by the 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). The risk of large sea-level rise, extreme weather events and ocean acidification are all thought to be underestimated by the AR4.

One method that has been proposed for removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere is to ‘fertilise’ the ocean to encourage phytoplankton (algae) blooms. A recent study has outlined the environmental, legal and social implications of large-scale fertilisation of the sea with urea in the Sulu Sea off the coast of the Philippines.

A recent study has examined the implications of CO2 leaking from storage sites under a variety of scenarios over 100,000 years. The findings suggest that ocean storage of CO2 (prohibited in the EU) would lead to long-term warming of the atmosphere, higher sea levels and acidification and dead zones in the ocean. In contrast, geological storage with low-leakage rates (1 per cent per 1000 years) would lead to conditions similar to a low-emissions future. This implies that

There are no technical or economic barriers to providing all of the world’s energy from renewable sources, according to a recent study. With a concerted effort, including reduced demand and international cooperation, the researchers suggest that the world could be entirely reliant on renewable energy for electric power, transportation and heating/cooling by 2050.

New research has compared the hot summers of 2003 and 2010 in Europe. The results indicate that the extreme temperatures in 2010 affected an area that was about twice as large as the area affected in 2003. Climate change projections for Eastern and Western Europe suggest that such mega-heat waves will become more frequent in the upcoming decades.

Renewable technologies could supply 77 per cent of the world demand for energy by 2050, according to a report recently published by the IPCC. However, strong and flexible national and international policies are needed to stimulate investment and encourage accelerated use of renewable energy. The most pessimistic scenarios see the renewables share remaining almost static until mid-century.

Technological advances in European cement production could reduce energy consumption by up to 10% and CO2 emissions by 4%, according to a new analysis. The research suggests that initial costs of some of the pending technological improvements could be recouped in as little as a year.

Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is likely to cause some soils to release large quantities of two potent greenhouse gases (GHGs), nitrous oxide and methane, according to a recent analysis. The results suggest that the contribution of soils and terrestrial ecosystems to slow climate change has been overestimated.

A different picture of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be achieved if responsibility for emissions from different economic sectors is placed with the end energy users, according to a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). This approach makes sectors such as households responsible for many emissions that would otherwise be attributed to the energy industry.

Implementing energy efficiency measures in existing housing stock could save 10% of current heating consumption by 2020 and 20% by 2030, according to a recent study of nine European countries. Planning authorities can play a major role by providing support and unbiased information to all stakeholders involved in the renovations.

The world’s ocean ecosystems will suffer warming, increased acidity, low oxygen and reduced primary food supply as a result of rising CO2 and this is likely to have dramatic environmental and social impacts, a new study concludes. It predicts that the most vulnerable low-income countries, where 870 million people are dependent on marine ecosystems, would be affected if CO2 emissions are not tackled.

Deep-water fish living along the Irish-UK continental slope remove more than a million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year, according to a recent study. Continental slope ecosystems play an important role in carbon sequestration, which should be considered before exploiting deep-water resources, say the researchers.

Rising levels of atmospheric CO2 will increase the severity of wheat diseases, reducing yields and threatening food security, a new study suggests. Researchers found that levels of two common wheat diseases increased significantly when plants were grown with elevated CO2. Furthermore, disease levels were even worse when the plants and pathogens had been acclimatised to the higher concentrations of CO2 beforehand.

The benefits of CO₂ cuts made now, such as avoided floods and droughts, will be felt within the lifetimes of most people alive today, new research indicates. The study’s authors say their work dispels myths that the main effects of CO₂ emissions will not be felt for many decades. They estimate that it could take 10 years for the maximum warming effects of a one-off CO₂ emission to occur.

There is a large potential to improve the global efficiency of energy, land and phosphorus use, finds new research which modelled the effects of four worldwide scenarios between 2010 and 2050. An ‘ambitious resource strategy’ could moderate the increases in energy use (+25% globally instead of +80% in the baseline scenario), phosphorus use (+9% instead of +40%) and arable land (-9% globally, instead of + 4%).

Waves hitting Europe’s Atlantic coast during the winter of 2013–2014 were the most powerful in nearly 70 years, reports a new study. They caused significant coastal erosion and the study found examples of beaches which are now several metres lower. The study’s authors say that coastal planners should consider increasingly stormy conditions in the north-east Atlantic, as predicted by some climate change models.

Researchers have proposed a global roadmap for decarbonisation over the coming decades. The roadmap is based on the idea of a simple heuristic, described by the researchers as ‘carbon law’, of halving carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions every decade from 2020 to 2050. The researchers say that, if combined with the development of new technologies and efforts to reduce CO2 emissions from land use, this target could lead to a carbon-neutral global economy by 2050.

Most emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) are linked to the use of nitrogen (N) fertiliser in agriculture, highlighting a need for agricultural management practices that reduce emissions while maintaining agronomic productivity. A new study has assessed the long-term impact of conventional tillage (CT — where soil is prepared for agriculture via mechanical agitation) and no-tillage (NT) systems on soil N2O emissions and crop productivity in rain-fed Mediterranean conditions. The findings show that, over a period of 18 years, mean yield-scaled (i.e. per unit grain yield) soil N2O emissions (YSNE) were 2.8 to 3.3 times lower under NT than CT. The researchers therefore recommend NT as a suitable strategy by which to balance agricultural productivity with lower soil N2O emissions in rain-fed Mediterranean agroecosystems.

Recycling green waste as compost could match the environmental benefits of converting it into renewable energy, in terms of CO₂ savings, according to new German research. It suggests that the two forms of waste management should be seen as complementary and both should receive subsidies.

Over a third of all food waste in Sweden is avoidable, according to new research. If such waste minimisation were achieved, there would be less potential for biogas production, but the researchers suggest that this does not represent a compromise because it is currently performed on only a very small amount of waste food.

A new method of processing food waste into fertiliser has been outlined in a recent study. The process uses a digester system with microorganisms to break down organic waste into fertiliser. The resultant fertiliser was used in a low-energy greenhouse to produce a range of food crops. The method is a potential way to utilise food waste and reduce the energy consumption of food production as part of a circular economy.

The development of future recycling technologies must be informed by data about products and materials that will enter the waste stream, but such forecasts are subject to a high level of uncertainty. In this study, researchers have proposed a methodology for predicting emerging waste materials, applying it to silicon-based photovoltaic (PV) panels. The findings show that closed-loop recycling — when post-consumer waste is recycled to make new products — of PV panel materials could mitigate up to 0.2% of the annual environmental impact of Flanders1, Belgium, if suitable technology was developed.

The EU-27 have committed to a strategic goal of developing an innovative economy based on biotechnology and renewable resources — a so-called ‘bioeconomy’. To achieve this, however, the EU must successfully mobilise resources such as residual biomass — or waste products from organic matter resources. A new study1 has quantified the potential of key residual biomass streams in the EU-27. The results show that residual biomass has a theoretical energy potential equivalent to the annual energy consumption of Italy and Belgium combined, with straw and forestry residues comprising the two most productive potential sources. The findings also reveal specific opportunities for regions including Paris (France) and Jaen (south-central Spain).

India saw a 62 per cent decline in job hiring in the month of April, led by hotel/restaurant/travel/airlines industries that saw a massive -90 per cent less hiring activity that the same month last year.

Sixty-four per cent of organizations in India and Europe invested in cloud technologies in the last two years, followed by IoT, where 51% firms made investments.

With the latest deal, Jio Platforms is set to net a combined Rs 60,596 crore for the unit of Reliance Industries which comprises mainly its telecom business under Reliance Jio Infocomm

As Indian firms realign their focus on revenue growth, they need to leverage customer and market behaviour to place their bets on long-term, sustainable growth, a new report said.

In 2008, the injection of CO2 started at Ketzin in Germany, Europe’s first onshore carbon storage site. A recently published paper has reported on the findings of experiments conducted on the rocks at Ketzin, which contributed important information about their safety and feasibility for storing CO2. No significant changes to the rocks were observed 15 months after they had been injected with CO2.