More evidence does not move a skeptical public; often, it makes them sit tighter. Prof Dietram A. Scheufele, an expert in science communication at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, explains why science communication often fails on polarized topics and how AI may worsen the problem.     Science communication...

Extreme weather events such as heatwaves are no longer merely an environmental concern; they are recognised as a global public health emergency. According to the WHO, approximately 175,000 deaths annually in the European region are linked to extreme heat.   As these harmful events become more frequent,...

“We should treat extreme weather events as an important health issue in Europe,” says Prof. Roel Vermeulen, professor of Environmental Epidemiology and Exposome Science at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences at Utrecht University, the Netherlands.   Across Europe, we’re seeing more extreme weather...

Dr Paulo Morgado is associate professor at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning of the University of Lisbon (Portugal). He studies smart cities and how city design affects the human brain and health.     We often talk about the physical health effects of extreme weather. How does it also affect...

Plant pests can have severe consequences for the economy, environment and food security, as was seen with a bacterial pathogen that has already killed millions of olive tress across Southern Europe. Experts Sarah Hackfort and Chiel Scholten (Technolopis Group, Germany and The Netherlands) wrote a study...

How can we make the European landscape more resilient to wildfires? Experts are testing out different prevention strategies on different areas through predictive models and computer simulations. One of them is Prof. Juan Picos from the University of Vigo (Spain), co-coordinator of the cross-border EU-funded...

Fuelled by climate change and a shift in land-use practices, wildfires are increasing in number and intensity across Europe. In fact, last year was the worst year for wildfires in Europe in 20 years, according to an EUMETSAT report. Its authors contribute the intensity of the fires to factors like increasingly...

In 2009, a team, led by the climate scientist Prof Johan Rockström, identified nine natural processes that regulate Earth’s biosphere and keep it stable. These include climate change, biosphere integrity, land-system change, freshwater change, biogeochemical flows, novel entities, ocean acidification,...