To date, it has been difficult to collect data that are robust enough to demonstrate specific effects of chemical pollution in rivers on aquatic wildlife. However, a recent study combining detailed chemical, toxicological and ecological data in three European river basins now provides evidence linking cause and effect by revealing significant differences in the effects of differently polluted sediments on the organisms living in the river basins and the riverbed biodiversity.

Researchers in Berlin have demonstrated that urban wasteland areas can be used as suitable habitats for a range of grassland species. Using simple and cost-effective measures to sow grassland seed mixtures, they found that such areas flourished despite poor soil conditions and high levels of impact from people.

Using data gathered by satellites, scientists have monitored changes in fishing activity around Italy in the Mediterranean Sea for the period 2007-2010. From this, they developed new ecological indicators that gave a more detailed pattern of fishing activity in the Italian seas. In addition, the new indicators suggest that fish stocks on the seabed around Italy are continuing to decline.

Current knowledge on the availability of mineral resources is explored in a recent study, which focuses on phosphorus as a key example. Static measures of availability, such as the consumption-to-production ratio, are useful as early warning signals, the researchers suggest, but more dynamic indicators that consider technological development and population change are needed to better inform policy.

Blue-green algae, or ???aquatic cyanobacteria???, can produce harmful toxins and present a serious health hazard when they bloom in large numbers. Researchers from Germany have now identified plant species that could be used to sustainably treat water by removing such cyanobacterial toxins.

A recent study has described a simple method to screen the toxicity of materials used in consumer products. Using utility meter products as examples, the study found, for example, that stainless steel and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) had high toxicity potentials and suggests less toxic, but equally effective and priced, alternatives that could be used instead.

A new tool to improve the measurement of waste management performance has been presented by a recent study. The researchers applied it to three high consuming cities aspiring to ???zero waste???, finding San Francisco to be closer to achieving zero waste than Stockholm and Adelaide, due to its emphasis on reusing solid waste.

A recent study has revealed how water use has changed across the world over the last 60 years. Growing populations and economic development, particularly in newly-emerging countries, have increased water demand, but technological developments have led to water efficiencies and savings, which moderate these demands.

Research into mercury has identified two genes in bacteria that appear to be required for turning the metal into its most toxic form, methylmercury. The study adds to a growing body of research that helps us to understand the transformations that mercury undergoes in the environment and the microbes involved in these transformations.

Green roofs can cool buildings in summer and prevent heat loss in winter. A new study suggests, however, that in the warm climates of southern Europe the additional cost of watering means that 'cool roof coatings??? may be more cost effective.

Marine litter is a major issue in deep sea ecosystems in the Mediterranean Sea, new research confirms. A recent study shows that the total weight of litter found in these sensitive areas often equals, and even exceeds, that of the animals that live there. This work can provide a baseline for assessments of the impact of deep sea marine litter and to inform future policy reforms, the researchers suggest.

Density in the urban environment can encompass a multitude of factors such as population or dwelling density or the density of green areas. A new study surveyed professionals regarding how decisions on urban density are made, and has revealed that many feel that developers make most of these decisions, but that local authority planners should have more influence.

Tourism businesses operating in protected conservation areas in Europe engage in a high number of sustainable practices, a recent survey of over 900 small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) reveals. Reasons for their sustainable behaviour include cutting costs, improving company image and lifestyle choices.

The world’s marine ecosystems are at risk of sudden and damaging changes. The authors of a recent study say that co-ordinated management of the many drivers of marine changes, such as overfishing and pollution, is needed across international, national and local scales to help avoid the ‘regime shifts’ that affect ecosystem services and human wellbeing.

Increases in the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere can be beneficial to crops, by providing a source of carbon for growth. However, very high levels of CO₂ have the reverse effect, decreasing the yield and quality of vegetable crops, a new study has shown. The researchers say atmospheric CO₂ concentration should be kept below 5 000 ppm to enhance the yield of leafy vegetables such as cabbage and lettuce.

The global production, trade and use of goods and services has a significant impact on the environment — and rates of consumption are rising. A new study combines two assessment methods to quantify the impact of European trade on the environment. It finds that, overall, the EU was a net importer of environmental impact from 2000 to 2010, that machinery, equipment and vehicles contributed most to the EU’s export impacts and that the EU’s trade balance (import impact minus export impact) is increasing over time. The two assessment methods complement one another well and could form the basis for future country or region-wide studies, suggest the researchers, by enabling a detailed analysis of individual steps within a product’s trade flow, while also providing a larger picture of the overall process.

In 1989, researchers dragged a plough harrow across the seafloor of the Peru Basin to recreate some of the effects of deep-sea mining. Twenty-six years later, a new team of researchers returned to the site to assess whether there were any long-term ecological effects. They found that the seabed ecosystem remained disrupted, with significantly fewer suspension feeder species, such as anemones and sea sponges, than in undisturbed areas of seafloor. This suggests that deep-sea mining could cause irreversible changes to marine food webs in highly disturbed areas.

Invasions of alien species are rising at an alarming rate, largely due to growing global trade and transport routes. Preventing the successful establishment of alien species by better understanding the factors determining success is a step toward limiting the threat of future biological invasions. Statistical modelling using observed bird invasion data — including location, event and species-level factors showed which factors were key to successful establishment by the alien species.

Demonstration projects can represent a critical intermediate step between research and development (R&D) and large-scale commercialisation; yet many involving new sustainable technologies fail. In order to map the internal and external factors that enable or prohibit demonstration projects from reaching their goals, a case study of 21 projects was conducted. Qualitative data collected from funding applications and interviews were analysed to identify key themes. Based on these findings, the study proposes a process model outlining the key activities for setting up a new demonstration project.

How can we grow more crops without taking too much water away from freshwater ecosystems for irrigation? A new study indicates that it is possible to double crop production by 2050 without exceeding set limits for water extraction if more crops are grown in regions with higher rainfall and with corresponding shifts in international trade and agricultural management. However, without appropriate safeguards, and if we follow the current business-as-usual scenario, this could come at the ecological cost of converting natural land and forest into cropland. This research provides a ‘first-step’ in analysing potential trade-offs in the global food-trade-water nexus.

In Sweden, 63% of areas designated as Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for endangered birds are impacted by major roads or train lines, according to a new study. The research showed that 126 000 hectares (ha), or 4.2% of the SPAs, fall within 1 km of a road or train line, leading to a predicted 1% loss in bird abundance. The problem is greater in the south of the country, where 25.8% of land designated as SPA falls within 1 km of a road or rail line, representing an estimated 4 to 7% reduction in birds’ abundance within SPAs.

Current knowledge on the availability of mineral resources is explored in a recent study, which focuses on phosphorus as a key example. Static measures of availability, such as the consumption-to-production ratio, are useful as early warning signals, the researchers suggest, but more dynamic indicators that consider technological development and population change are needed to better inform policy.

A new tool to improve the measurement of waste management performance has been presented by a recent study. The researchers applied it to three high consuming cities aspiring to ‘zero waste’, finding San Francisco to be closer to achieving zero waste than Stockholm and Adelaide, due to its emphasis on reusing solid waste.

Relatively simple, low-cost measures, such as insulating walls and installing solar collectors and efficient heaters for hot water can significantly reduce energy consumption in housing developments, according to a recent study from Portugal. Energy-efficient homes not only benefit the environment, but were found to potentially reduce residents’ energy bills by over half in an apartment block studied by the researchers.

Researchers have developed a method to identify the parts that contribute the most to a product's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and evaluate alternative design solutions. When applied to a LCD television, it showed that GHG emissions could be cut by 36 per cent by using alternative parts to those currently used.

The qualities of sustainable design and the obstacles that Design for Sustainability (DfS) faces are explored by a new study which provides recommendations on how to overcome these challenges. It suggests that design education needs to change and provides advice on how to improve our understanding of consumer behaviour.

Scientists in the US have found a way to make a 'biorenewable' plastic from wood by-products. Their fossil fuel-free plastic is similar to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) - a material used to make plastic bottles and packaging. Such green chemistry approaches could help reduce reliance on dwindling fossil fuel resources.

A recent study has concluded that the green infrastructure concept has been successful in integrating green space policy with economic development policies in the north-west region of the UK, by emphasising the links between the economic benefits of green spaces and growth policies.

There is a need to broaden the debate on sustainable food security from a straight comparison between organic and conventional farming to a consideration of a variety of farming techniques. This is the conclusion of a new review of research that indicates, for some crop types, organic yields can nearly match conventional yields under good management practices and growing conditions.

The EU Joint Research Centre has produced a new part of the handbook that provides guidelines for developing and using Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), which evaluate the environmental impacts of products, focusing specifically on life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). It recommends that assessments should be comprehensive, accessible and easy to apply in order to make LCA a more mainstream concept in decision-making.

There is a wide range of systems for assessing and communicating the sustainability of buildings, but the variation can be confusing. Recent research has analysed the elements needed for effective assessment and examined the needs of stakeholders to inform the presentation and communication of assessment results.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) can enhance the design of a building, reduce costs and save energy. However, little research has been carried out on its impact on sustainable practices. A US survey illustrates that many practitioners do not see sustainability as a primary application, suggesting that more effort is needed to encourage the integration of ‘green’ design and construction into BIM.

A new concrete-reinforcement system, used by the LIFE INSU-SHELL1 project, replaces steel rods with non-corrosive textile structures to reduce the amount of concrete needed in construction. This nearly halves the global warming potential of traditional steel-reinforced concrete which is the largest producer of CO2 emissions in the building industry.

A bug is making it so users are unable to enable HDR video streaming after upgrading to Windows 10 1903 or later if they previously disabled the setting. [...]

DEF CON and Black Hat announced today that their upcoming security conferences in Las Vegas this summer will no longer be in-person and are instead moving to an all-virtual event. [...]

A new study of attitudes towards transport and mobility has identified five groups of travellers. The groups differ significantly in their choice of transport, distance travelled and the impact their transport choices have on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

According to new research, improved communications and financial assistance could encourage private forest owners to engage more willingly in forest management. Personal economics, moral obligations, traditional ideas of how a forest should look and fear of forest fires were found to influence whether forest owners participate in management activities.

People who are committed to reducing their environmental impact at home do not necessarily behave in the same way when on holiday, according to a new study. The study presents a more complex view of consumer environmental behaviour than is often used to inform policymaking.

A new study from Denmark has indicated that a substantial proportion of farmers may place professional values above cost savings when making decisions about how much pesticide to use. This implies that agricultural policy should consider a broad array of policy instruments to reduce pesticide usage.

A recent Swiss-US study of a short-term water saving campaign found that, although the programme successfully reduced water use, there was also an overall increase in electricity consumption by participants. The researchers suggest a ‘moral licensing’ effect may be in action, whereby people ‘trade’ a positive behaviour for a negative one.

There is an ongoing debate over exploitation of the Dutch Wadden Sea, over issues including gas extraction and cockle fishing. According to a review analysing interactions between scientists and policymakers during these debates, the productivity of such discussions is substantially influenced by the policy setting, i.e. the level of government involved and the key decision-makers.

Campaigns which remind individuals of the environmentally-friendly actions they already perform may motivate them to even more pro-environmental behaviours, new research suggests. If people identify themselves as environmentally-friendly, they are more likely to carry out green actions, even in the absence of any incentive.

A new framework to help decide whether to translocate species that are threatened by climate change has been developed. The framework provides a simple method of assessing different strategies and ensuring that limited budgets are used effectively.

An early warning system to predict the overfishing of individual species, far in advance of severe population decline, has been developed by researchers. The ‘eventual threat index’ was applied by the researchers to historical data on tuna and billfish populations, and accurately predicted their current declines as early as the 1950s.

Effective ‘knowledge exchange’ - the process of producing, sharing, understanding and using knowledge - is vital to good environmental management. New research has uncovered five principles for this process which could help researchers, decision makers and other parties work together to better manage environmental change.

A new tool to help environmental managers make faster, more evidence-based decisions on how to eradicate alien aquatic species has been developed. The tool is a statistical model based on over 140 management case studies in the scientific literature. Packaged as a user-friendly computer program, it allows different management options to be easily compared.

Simply supplying more scientific information on the environment may not be enough to persuade urban planners to give greater consideration to the environment, suggests new research. The Dutch study suggests that environmental values also need to be made more important to municipal decision makers.

The views of organisations and industries affected by marine protected areas (MPAs) have been gathered by a new survey. 36 organisations from the UK and France responded to the survey, which asked about the perceived socio-economic and environmental impacts of multiple-use MPAs. Environmental NGOs, managing agencies and research centres gave a largely positive response, while fishers’, shipping, and other industrial organisations perceived an overall negative impact on them. Gathering stakeholders’ views on MPAs may help improve socioeconomic outcomes through informing the planning and management of these marine areas, the researchers say.

Integrated environmental modelling (IEM) is an organised approach to streamlining the movement of scientific information from its research sources to its application in problem solving, according to a study that envisions a global-scale IEM community. The researchers present a roadmap for the future of IEM, describing issues that could be addressed to develop its potential even further, such as how best to integrate diverse stakeholder perspectives and appropriate guidelines for ‘problem statements’.

The Deepwater Horizon accident raised concerns about the safety of deepwater drilling. From an analysis of risk assessments in the Norwegian Oil & Gas (O&G) Industry, a new study suggests that current safety approaches and indicators are limited and more extensive monitoring of drilling operations is needed to avoid events similar to Deepwater Horizon.