Research School for Socio-Economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment
Research School for Socio-Economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment
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Veni-grant for Jouke Dykstra (WUR): “Removal of toxic anthropogenic solutes in drinking water treatment by electrochemical polishing”
The presence of anthropogenic components in surface water, sometimes already toxic at very low concentrations, challenges the applicability of conventional technologies to produce safe drinking water. The chemical charge of some components, such as boron, arsenic and some organic micropollutants, is affected by the solution pH, and effective removal is challenging with conventional technologies. An innovative, chemical-free, electrochemical technology will be developed to polish, after conventional treatment, water, and to remove these harmful components. A physical-chemical transport model will be developed, which will aid the design of this innovative process
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Immediate acceleration of global climate action needed to meet the 1.5-degree target
The Paris climate agreement's goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees is slipping beyond the horizon unless countries show an increased joint ambition to take urgent action. Thus state the five Dutch climate experts who contributed to the latest IPCC report that was released on 5 April.
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Finger on the climate pulse
In the Climate Agreements, countries stated their intention to do everything they can to stop global warming. But what are those promises leading to in practice? Wageningen professor Niklas Höhne is the man behind the Climate Tracker, which shows whether governments are doing what they said they would do for the climate. “Some countries don’t have any plans at all for implementing the measures. This is very worrying.”
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Permafrost thawing faster than expected due to extreme summer rainfall
In the past 50 years, the Arctic region has been warming three times faster than the average rate of global warming. This warming thaws the permafrost, the permanently frozen Arctic soil. New research published in Nature Communications has revealed that extreme summer rainfall is accelerating this process. As extreme rainfall events become more frequent thanks to a warmer climate, the permafrost may thaw even faster than under the influence of rising temperatures alone.
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Rivers retain plastic for decades
‘Between one and four million plastic items flow through Dutch rivers every year’, says researcher Tim van Emmerik. And not just that: contrary to the general assumption, the plastic is not carried to the sea, it stays in the rivers.
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Funding from the Dutch Research Agenda for two Utrecht University projects
We are incredibly pleased to announce that two of the four Utrecht University projects to receive funding from the Dutch Research Agenda programme ‘Research along Routes by Consortia’ (NWA-ORC) are led by Copernicus researchers.
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WIMEK’s Climate Stories magazine online
WIMEK decided to publish three online magazines with stories referring to case studies of WIMEK researchers connected to the three Grand Challenges: (i) Climate Action, (ii) Managing our future biosphere and (iii) Advancing circular systems.
Since the IPCC published part II of the sixth assessment report on 28 February 2022 and part III on 5 April, we kicked of with a magazine with Climate Stories.
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WUR Education Innovation Award for the course ‘Transformative Research for Global Social-Environmental Challenges
The course ‘Transformative Research for Global Social-Environmental Challenges’ is coordinated by the Forest and Nature conservation Policy group, with active participation from a range of teachers from five different departments and including international partners such as the Stockholm Resilience Centre.
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Micro-organisms are gamechangers in ecosystem restoration
Soil provides a variety of services that are indispensable to life on Earth. The global decline in soil quality is therefore a major concern. One solution may lie in the hands of tiny organisms that can direct ecosystem recovery: microorganisms. They are so small that they cannot be seen by the naked eye, but they can make a big difference to restoring soils and ecosystems. This is argued by scientists from Wageningen in the scientific journal Science.
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IPCC report: climate change is a threat to our planet; urgent action is needed
Inaction is no longer an option, as climate change is already disrupting the vulnerable environment and human life. This is stated in the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) about climate impact, adaptation and vulnerabilities.
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This is how a Dutch city may look in 2120
Floating houses, self-driving cars, deer in the floodplains, streams with waterfalls, and greenery instead of asphalt. Welcome to the city of 2120. Contrary to what doomsday scenarios would have you believe, you can also work towards an attractive and prosperous city in a world of climate change. Research associates of Wageningen University & Research designed a scenario for the city of the future with Arnhem as the example. Their aim is to challenge cities to start thinking about their climate resistance for the long term.
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