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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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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“Introduction to Open Science – Concepts, benefits, and practices”, new course to be developed with SENSE funds
A key goal of science is to help society solve today’s wicked challenges and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Most of these challenges are urgent and require reliable, trustworthy, and high-quality research. The benefits of Open Science (OS) strongly overlap with these requirements since OS aims to make research more verifiable, transparent, and reusable. However, OS is currently not the norm in academia due to cultural and technical obstacles. This course aims to overcome these obstacles through a conceptual and a practical overview of OS principles.
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Professor Dano Roelvink recognized for global leadership in coastal engineering and research
Dano Roelvink, IHE Delft Professor of Coastal Engineering and Port Development, has received the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS) in recognition of his global leadership in coastal engineering and research.
Website IHE Delft
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Podcast Kamonashish Haldar (WUR): Circular Economy – Shaping the way forward?
We speak to Dr. Kamonashish Haldar (Wageningen University) about 'Circular Economy,' a model of production and consumption that involves sharing, leasing, refurbishing, and recycling of materials and products. This is not just an ethical choice - in the current scenario of scarce resources and environmental degradation, it also makes good business sense.
TheWaterChannel Productions
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