Water conservation

Effective management of urban water resources under various climate scenarios in semiarid Mediterranean areas

Climate change has a significant impact on water resources, making it essential to re-evaluate water management strategies and incorporate climate scenarios in assessments. The Municipal Department of Aigeiros is located in the northern part of Greece. Water consumption is high in Aigeiros and the increased future temperatures projected during the summer period will create significant…

Why ‘leaky’ plants could accelerate climate change

Why ‘leaky’ plants could accelerate climate change

Plants play a key role in regulating Earth’s climate, but recent research suggests that rising temperatures could disrupt this balance, because plants are leaking more water than previously thought. UBC assistant professor Dr. Sean Michaletz, a newly minted Sloan Research Fellow in the department of botany, studies how plants respond to heat. His findings challenge…

Water scarcity poses risk to Mediterranean marine life and economy

Water scarcity poses risk to Mediterranean marine life and economy

There is a critical link between reduced river flow into the Mediterranean and the health of the Mediterranean marine ecosystems. New research underscores the urgency of integrating water resource management to properly safeguard the rich biodiversity of seas and ocean and the economies it supports. Climate change impacts such as more frequent and more severe…

Teams Of Mollusks With Little Sensors Are Used To Test The Water Quality In Warsaw

Teams Of Mollusks With Little Sensors Are Used To Test The Water Quality In Warsaw

In a delightful piece of information that has so far escaped our attention; a small team of mollusks are used to monitor the water in Warsaw, Poland. Monitoring the water for pollutants is of course important work. Modern-day equipment is used to do so. But for one part of the job, in part to protect…

5 Lessons To Learn From Southern Europe’s Climate Change Strategies

5 Lessons To Learn From Southern Europe’s Climate Change Strategies

Extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods, unseasonal heavy rain and droughts have been increasingly common in Europe in the last few years. As such, southern European countries like Spain, Italy and Portugal have been focusing more on implementing climate change strategies to meet these changing conditions. Here are the top five lessons to be…

‘Not a single drop’

‘Not a single drop’

The dried out Lake Picrolimni is seen from above, near the village of Mikrokampos, northern Greece, August 19. A severe drought in northern Greece, worsened by successive heatwaves and low rainfall, is causing water shortages that are threatening agriculture, drying up lakes, and stressing local communities dependent on tourism. [Giannis Papanikos/AP] We talk on the…

Water challenges — worsened by climate change — threaten the world’s crops

Water challenges — worsened by climate change — threaten the world’s crops

A new report finds that one-quarter of the world’s crops are grown in places facing high levels of water stress, water unreliability, or both. The analysis comes from the research nonprofit World Resources Institute, or WRI, and highlights the difficulty of growing enough food to meet rising demand on a warming planet.  One out of…

Sustainable and Low-Input Techniques in Mediterranean Greenhouse Vegetable Production

In the modern agricultural landscape, numerous challenges, such as climate change, diminishing arable lands, and the reduction of water resources, represent significant threats. The Mediterranean greenhouse farming model relies on low-input strategies to maximize both yield and quality. Its protected horticulture is essential for the year-round cultivation of high-value crops, ensuring efficient and sustainable production….

Influence of cover crops and tillage on organic carbon loss in Mediterranean olive orchards

Olive (Olea europaea L.) is one of the main crops in the Mediterranean area, with Spain leading its production. The majority of the plantations are on rainfed land, poor soils with steep slopes. Regarding to soil, tillage (T) is the main management system used by farmers. Consequently, erosion and the resulting soil organic carbon (SOC)…

Optimizing Agroecological Measures for Climate-Resilient Olive Farming in the Mediterranean

In order to evaluate the potential of climate change mitigation measures on soil physiochemical properties, an experiment based on the application of five agroecological practices such as the addition of composted olive-mill wastes, recycling pruning residue, cover crops, organic insect manure, and reduced soil tillage, solely or combined, was conducted over two years (2020 to…