Greece ranks 19th globally in terms of water scarcity risk, primarily due to climate change, according to the World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct 4.0 rankings and a recent Deloitte report prepared for the Greek government. The risk stems from both supply-side challenges, like reduced rainfall, and increasing demand driven by irrigation and general consumption. The Deloitte…
The use of animal manure in agriculture appears to be the best choice in terms of metal contamination of our soils Metals and hormone-disrupting substances such as oestrogens present a genuine risk to the sustainability of agriculture and water management in Europe. This is the conclusion of doctoral research conducted by Chinese environmental scientist Yuwei…
A new study led by scientists in the Schmid College of Science and Technology at Chapman University provides the first comprehensive global estimates of the amount of water stored in Earth’s plants and the amount of time it takes for that water to flow through them. The information is a missing piece of the puzzle…
In recent years, frequent and long-lasting droughts have caused severe water shortages and threatened farming production. This occurred in the complex context of climate change and its effects, in which the water crisis plays a key role.Regenerating soil benefits not only the agriculture sector but the whole community. Every farmer can immediately start doing it by…
Around 90 % (4.5 trillion) of cigarettes consumed globally are improperly discarded, making cigarette butts one of the most common waste types. They contain harmful chemicals such as metals, nicotine, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which leach into water and threaten aquatic life. Nicotine dissolves readily in water, with approximately half leaching out from cigarette butts…
Today the perilous state of the environment is often in the news. Many stories describe how Earth is being damaged by human beings and discuss ways to prevent this. These concerns are not new. Millennia ago, people in ancient Greece and Rome already knew humans were damaging the natural world. Literature from these ancient times…
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…
Water contamination by the chemicals used in today’s technology is a rapidly growing problem globally. A recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control found that 98 percent of people tested had detectable levels of PFAS, a family of particularly long-lasting compounds also known as “forever chemicals,” in their bloodstream. A new filtration material developed…
Conservation agriculture (CA) is the key agricultural soil management approach for Mediterranean rainfed systems facing extreme droughts and soil degradation. Yet, CA uptake and applicability is still marginal and disputed in the Mediterranean region, where smallholder farmers are most representative. Lack of widespread adoption of CA in the Mediterranean region despite international efforts is perplexing….
Dry periods in semi-arid regions constitute one of the greatest hazardous features that agriculture faces. This study investigates the effects of using a new device called ‘Hydroinfiltrator Rainwater Harvesting System (HRHS) on the water balance of soils. It was designed for arid and semi-arid zones affected by long periods of drought punctuated by heavy rainstorms….