As of today, the EU Digital COVID Certificate Regulation enters into application. This means that EU citizens and residents will now be able to have their Digital COVID Certificates issued and verified across the EU. 21 Member States as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein had already started to issue certificates ahead of today’s deadline, […]
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Average car emissions kept increasing in 2019, final data show
Average emissions from new passenger cars in Europe increased for the third consecutive year in 2019, reaching 122.3 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre (g CO2/km), according to the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) final data. Data about newly registered vans show a stable trend. New EEA data set baseline for emission reductions in heavy-duty vehicles. The EEA […]
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European aircraft fleet for the 2021 forest fire season
To be prepared for any large-scale wild fires this season, the European Commission has set up a European fleet* of 11 firefighting planes and 6 helicopters hosted across Member States under the rescEU system. The Commission also issued guidelines to Member States to strengthen their fire prevention measures. Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said: […]
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Colourful plastics to increase greenhouse production
Increasing the productivity of greenhouses is the objective of a project of the University of Almeria that uses colored plastic and ventilation to change the climatic conditions of greenhouses and play with the radiation that reaches the crop. The aim is to increase humidity and temperature conditions and increase productivity with clean energy without impacting […]
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Accelerated rates of change in Earth’s vegetation go back thousands of years
According to a new study, the world’s plant communities are changing at least as fast today as they did when the planet was coming out of the last ice age about 11 000 years ago. Climate changes and human activities have transformed our planet’s ecosystems over the last 18 000 years. While scientists know a […]
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Major drop in EU’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, official data confirms
Greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union (EU) decreased by almost 4 % in 2019, according to latest official data, published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA). These data confirm the EEA’s preliminary estimates, published in October 2020. The large decline in emissions, achieved before the COVID-19 crisis, was mainly due to reduced coal […]
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European Commission and European Committee of the Regions launch Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform
The European Commission and the European Committee of the Regions have launched a Stakeholder Platform to help implement the EU Action Plan: “Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil”. The Action Plan – a key deliverable of the European Green Deal and the main topic of this year’s EU Green Week – was adopted on 12 May 2021. […]
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The curious incident of Swarm and sprites in the night-time
We are all familiar with the bolts of lightning that accompany heavy storms. While these flashes originate in storm clouds and strike downwards, a much more elusive type forms higher up in the atmosphere and shoots up towards space. So, what are the chances of somebody taking photographs of these rarely seen, brief ‘transient luminous […]
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Spain wins the Environment category of the LIFE Awards
The three winners of the LIFE 2021 awards, which recognise the most innovative, inspiring and effective projects funded by the European Commission’s LIFE programme, were announced on 2 June. This year, a project from the Balearic Islands was the winner in the Environment category. Slovakia won in the Nature category and France in the Climate […]
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