Thursday, January 20th, 2011
Soil is the earth’s living skin and provides us with essential services for life in our planet: production of food; infiltration and cleansing of water and protection against flooding; habitat for plants; areas for recreation and mental health; micro climate regulation, etc. It is such a crucial resource that it can’t be ignored. However, particularly
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
The number and impacts of disasters have increased in Europe in the period 1998-2009, a new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) concludes. The report assesses the frequency of disasters and their impacts on humans, the economy and ecosystems and calls for better integrated risk disaster management across Europe. Read More
Thursday, January 6th, 2011
In recent decades, the EU has introduced a range of policies to improve air quality by controlling pollutant emissions. A new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) evaluates three key instruments and finds that they have significantly improved Europe’s air quality and reduced pollution-induced health effects. There is scope for even more progress, however,
Friday, December 17th, 2010
The Water Framework Directive (WFD) intends to protect and restore clean surface waters and groundwater across Europe. According to the WFD, Member States (MS) have to prepare management plans for their river basins. The maps display statistics at country or river basin district level and allow users to zoom in and check the state of major
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010
EEA – The European Environment Agency (EEA) released today its fourth Environment State and Outlook report — SOER 2010 — a comprehensive assessment of how and why Europe’s environment is changing, and what we are doing about it. SOER 2010 concludes that a fully integrated approach to transforming Europe to a resource-efficient green economy can not
Thursday, November 11th, 2010
EEA – The impacts of unwanted noise can range from mild disturbance to serious disease. At a prestigious ceremony in London last night, the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the Noise Abatement Society (NAS) announced a new European noise award, which will recognise innovative solutions to noise problems. Today, the EEA also publishes a set of
Saturday, September 25th, 2010
In 2010, around half of the European Union’s Member States expect to surpass one or more of the legal limits set by the National Emission Ceilings Directive (NEC Directive). The annual status report released today by the European Environment Agency (EEA) confirms that 11 countries anticipate an exceedance of their ceilings for NOx — some
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
Europe is committed to obtaining 20 % of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. But how is the responsibility for reaching this common target shared among EU countries? And how will individual countries achieve their targets? The European Environment Agency (EEA) provides answers to such questions via a database, which facilitates the comparison of
Thursday, August 26th, 2010
Europe’s coastal zones are under increasing pressure from erosion, pollution, climate change, urbanisation and tourism. Such pressures threaten entire ecosystems — vital not only for wildlife but also for the economy and human well-being. The European Environment Agency (EEA) takes a closer look at the state of coastal ecosystems and policy responses to the pressures
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
EEA – Snow-capped peaks, rocky inclines, rich forests and sloping meadows provide recreation and economic opportunities for humans and a home to many plants and animals. The European Environment Agency’s new assessment of mountain ecosystems sheds light on their state and the pressures they face. Read More