Document emphasizes from the beginning that Climate change is exacerbating existing pressures on EU water resourcesThese pressures include structural mismanagement, unsustainable land use, hydromorphological (more…)

The European Environment Agency and the Joint Research Centre have published reports on zero pollution monitoring and the outlook to 2025, providing an update on the EU's progress (more…)

European countries face serious threats due to the potential crossing of Earth System Tipping Points (ESTPs). The new document stresses the urgent need (more…)

New research shows that the global costs associated with the slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) may exceed previous estimates. The study found that the weakening of the AMOC reduces (more…)

On 26 February 2025, the European Commission presented the Clean Industry Agreement ('Clean Industrial Deal"), which follows on from the Green Deal. Its purpose is to accelerate the transition to a decarbonised economy (more…)

The young generation can contribute to disaster risk reduction and building community resilience to climate change through various activities and approaches. "Greening Curriculum Guidance.": Teaching and Learning for Climate Action” highlights the importance of youth education and engagement in this area. Here are some ways young people can get involved:

• Education and awareness raising:
  • Gaining knowledge about climate change, its impacts and possible solutions.
  • Spreading information and raising awareness among family, friends and the community.
  • Combating climate disinformation and fraud.
• Active participation in community projects:
  • Engaging in projects aimed at reducing disaster risk in the local community, such as mapping climate vulnerability or implementing energy saving projects.
  • Collaborate with scientists and experts to monitor and analyze local climate conditions.
  • Promoting sustainable practices in schools and communities, such as reducing the consumption of single-use plastics.
• Advocacy and political engagement:
  • Expressing concerns and proposing solutions to local authorities and politicians.
  • Supporting policies and measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience to climate change.
  • Participation in youth climate conferences and initiatives such as Mock COPs.
• Lifestyle change and promotion of sustainable consumption:
  • Reducing energy and water consumption in households.
  • Promoting responsible consumption and recycling.
  • Choosing sustainable modes of transport, such as walking, cycling or public transport.
  • Promoting sustainable eating habits, such as reducing meat consumption and supporting local foods.
• Building psychological resilience and supporting mental health:
  • Developing strategies for coping with climate anxiety and stress.
  • Promoting open discussion about emotions related to climate change and mutual support in communities.
  • Engaging in activities that strengthen mental resilience, such as spending time in nature and mindfulness.
• Use of technology and social media:
  • Using social media to spread information about climate change and mobilize for action.
  • Using new technologies, such as augmented reality (XR) and artificial intelligence, to educate about environmental issues.
• Engaging in informal learning:
  • Participation in youth organizations and initiatives such as Fridays for Future.
  • Using social media to exchange information and coordinate actions.
• Taking climate justice into account:
  • Realizing that the impacts of climate change are not evenly distributed and that some groups are affected more than others.
  • Supporting equitable solutions that take into account the needs and rights of marginalized communities.

Engaging the younger generation in these activities not only contributes to disaster risk reduction and building community resilience, but also strengthens their skills, knowledge, and values needed to create a more sustainable future. Spring

The long-known negative effects of air pollution on the lungs and cardiovascular system are just the tip of the iceberg. More and more scientific studies are pointing out that substances and particles (more…)

Document stresses the need for better monitoring of climate change in the middle and upper atmosphere. Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have a significant impact on the middle and upper atmosphere, causing cooling, shrinkage, and affecting the structure of the atmosphere.This shrinkage affects the lifespan of objects in low Earth orbit, radio communications and GPS signals, as well as the altitude of meteoroids entering the atmosphere.

Key points:

• Further research is needed on the impact of climate change and anthropogenic emissions on the middle and upper atmosphere.
• Lack of observational skills prevents better understanding and monitoring of long-term trends.
• The accumulation of space debris is a problem that anthropogenic emissions are exacerbating.

Impacts of climate change on the upper atmosphere:

• Changes in the thickness of the layers of the atmosphere, including the expansion of the troposphere.
• Changes in energy modes and baroclinicity of the middle atmosphere.
• Cooling and shrinkage of the stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere.
• Decrease in thermosphere density.
• The complex role of ozone, where its concentration can be affected by falling temperatures, and changes in ozone concentration affect temperature trends.
• Changes in the Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC) are related to the expansion of the troposphere and the contraction of the stratosphere.

Long-term changes in the middle and upper atmosphere have practical consequences, such as impact on global positioning systems (GPS) and radio communications. Increasing water vapor and ice crystal content in the mesosphere causes a positive trend in polar mesospheric summer echoes, which can interfere with radar and military operations. Decreasing atmospheric density may lead to greater penetration of meteoroids into the atmosphere.

The most significant problem caused by climate change in the middle and upper atmosphere is the impact on space debris.. Increasing cooling and shrinkage leads to a decrease in density in the thermosphere, which prolongs the lifetime of satellites in orbit and increases the risk of collisions. Collisions can cause disruption to global satellite services and produce additional debris, which can lead to Kessler syndrome, a cascading effect of collisions.

Observation and data limitations:

• Lack of knowledge about the connections between atmospheric layers and how climate changes in the middle and upper atmosphere affect the troposphere.
• Missing information on global long-term changes in the upper atmosphere, such as composition, dynamical variables, winds, and gravity waves.
• The loss of some satellite missions designed to monitor this region of the atmosphere, such as ICON, AIM, and the potential loss of AURA and TIMED.
• Many existing satellite missions are already beyond their expected lifetimes, and new missions may not allow for long-term and homogeneous measurements.
• Lack of missions to monitor dynamic variables in the upper atmosphere.

Addressing knowledge gaps and challenges:

• The need to expand and maintain existing observational capabilities to ensure long-term and homogeneous data.
• Focus on stability, calibration, and implementation of cross-calibration within the observation system.
• Design new observations specifically to measure trends in temperature, density, and other parameters.
• Support the development of geospatial data records (GDRs) to determine variability and changes in geospace.
• Improved monitoring can contribute to reducing uncertainty in estimates of aerosol loading from volcanic eruptions and allow monitoring of the testing or deployment of climate intervention techniques.
• Improved monitoring would provide a better understanding of polar mesospheric clouds and their relationship to CH4, increasing water vapor concentrations, and decreasing mesospheric temperatures.
• It is essential to better predict the potential impacts on the future environment of space debris in low Earth orbit (LEO) and to predict the impacts on the probability of Kessler syndrome.
• Satellites release various materials directly into the middle and upper atmosphere during reentry, which can affect O3 concentrations and temperature trends.
• The planned increase in the number of satellites in low Earth orbit could cause up to half of stratospheric sulfuric acid particles to contain metals from reentry.

The document emphasizes that Data shortages and declining observational capabilities pose a serious challenge to understanding and monitoring changes in the middle and upper atmosphere., which has potentially far-reaching implications for space activities, communications and future climate change. Spring

The paper was published in AGU Advances

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Key Terms – Glossary

• Baroclinicity: A state of the atmosphere in which isobars (lines of equal pressure) are not parallel to isotherms (lines of equal temperature).
• Thermosphere: The layer of the atmosphere above the mesosphere, characterized by increasing temperature with height.
• Ionosphere: A layer of the atmosphere that contains ions and free electrons.
• Gravitational waves: Waves in the atmosphere that transfer energy and momentum.
• Space debris: Artificially created objects in Earth orbit that are no longer functional.
• Stratopause: The boundary between the stratosphere and the mesosphere.
• Reanalysis: Combining model and observational data to create a comprehensive picture of the state of the atmosphere.
• Climate intervention: the deliberate and large-scale manipulation of the Earth's climate system to mitigate the effects of climate change.
• Anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: Greenhouse gas emissions from human activity.
• Middle and upper atmosphere: The part of the atmosphere above the troposphere, including the stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and ionosphere.
• Thermal shrinkage: Reduction in the volume of the atmosphere due to cooling.
• Stratopause: The boundary between the stratosphere and the mesosphere.
• Ionosphere: A layer of the atmosphere that contains ions and free electrons.
• Thermosphere density: The number of particles in the thermosphere.
• Low Earth Orbit (LEO): Orbits that are relatively close to Earth (usually less than 2000 km above the surface).
• Space debris: Artificially created objects in Earth orbit that are no longer functional.
• Global Positioning Systems (GPS): Satellite navigation systems.
• Scintillation: Rapid changes in the intensity of radio signals caused by ionospheric irregularities.
• Maximum usable frequencies: The highest radio wave frequencies that can be used for communication between two points through the ionosphere.
• Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC): Global air circulation in the stratosphere.
• Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO): Periodic change in wind direction in the stratosphere.
• Gravitational waves: Waves in the atmosphere that transfer energy and momentum.
• Polar mesospheric summer echoes: Radio reflections from ice crystals in the mesosphere during polar summer.
• Kessler syndrome: A theoretical scenario in which the density of space debris in low Earth orbit would become so high that collisions between objects would create more debris, leading to more collisions, and so on.
• Reanalysis: Combining model and observational data to create a comprehensive picture of the state of the atmosphere.
• Geospatial data records (GDR): Time series of measurements with sufficient length, consistency, and continuity to determine variability and changes in geospace.
• Ozone depleting substances: substances that damage the ozone layer.
• Climate intervention: the deliberate and large-scale manipulation of the Earth's climate system to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Document addresses the growing impact of environmental risks on the European Union's crisis management. It points out that extreme weather events and environmental degradation undermine stability, increase migration and threaten food security. Despite the EU's recognition of these risks, the integration of environmental aspects into security policy has been slow due to unclear mandates and a lack of expertise. The document highlights the need for better anticipation and preparedness and suggests strategic ways to integrate environmental issues into EU monitoring, analysis and early warning systems. It also points out that proactively addressing environmental risks is more effective than reactive measures. Spring

Remember when 2°C of global warming was a doomsday scenario? Well, now we're looking at something much worse. From the fish on your plate to the weather outside your window, everything is about to change. (more…)

Climate Policy Explorer provides data accessible to policymakers and anyone interested in climate policies around the world. The dashboard allows for sector-by-sector overviews and country-by-country data visualization. This tool helps identify success stories and ultimately design better policies.

EEA assessment , which assesses progress towards the objectives set out in the so-called 8th Environmental Action Programme (EAP) It sets out the framework for EU environmental policy until 2030. Progress is assessed against a set of 28 headline indicators and corresponding targets in areas that include climate neutrality, a resource-efficient economy, reversing biodiversity loss and reducing pollution.

The report found that the EU is not yet on track to meet many of the targets, with overall progress limited compared to the last report in 2023. This is evidenced by the need for decisive measures to ensure their fulfilment by 2030 by fully implementing the policies under the European Green Deal.

Study examines the resilience of the Atlantic Meridional Oscillating Circulation (AMOC) to climate extremes and greenhouse gases. The study uses 34 climate models (more…)

Welcome to the NOAA Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases group information website! The central site for global greenhouse gas monitoring and is in charge of operating the global air sampling network that continues to monitor the air we breathe.

February 23 425.09 ppm

Safe concentration: 350 ppm

ppm – the number of particles of carbon dioxide per million particles of air.

More on gml.noaa.gov

Aviation is a significant contributor to global CO2 emissions and climate change. As passenger numbers grow, aviation's environmental impact is expected to increase. (more…)

This document represents first study of methane emissions from glacial rivers in Spitsbergen and suggests that summer methane flushing from beneath the approximately 1,400 continental glaciers in Spitsbergen may represent a significant seasonal source of emissions. (more…)

Global water gaps are widening due to climate warming, leading to worrying water shortages in many regions of the world. (more…)

Documents provides a preliminary estimate of the climate change mitigation potential through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plans in 18 EU Member States (EU-18) over the period 2018-2020. (more…)

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published its second annual report on progress towards the objectives of the 8th Environment Action Programme (EAP). The report provides a comprehensive overview of how well the EU is doing. (more…)

The EU executive has presented a new vision for Europe's agri-food system by 2040, scaling back its previous, more environmentally ambitious policy in response to growing protests from farmers. The new approach to agri-food policy, presented by the European Commission on Wednesday, focuses more on simplifying regulations and making farming an attractive profession than on raising environmental standards.

With this move, the Commission is moving away from its controversial farm-to-fork strategy, which was the agri-food component of the previous mandate's flagship policy, the European Green Deal. (Gerardo Fortuna, more at euronews.com)