Articles from Science for Environment Policy

Innovative and effective landscape design to decontaminate and add value to polluted sites
Transforming public spaces with plants that decontaminate soils can add functional, ecological, economic and social value to derelict areas. A new study calls for consideration of social and environmental factors, as well as remediation needs, to produce effective and innovative landscape design.
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Probability of rapid increase in trans-Arctic shipping routes is confirmed
New research on climate-driven reductions in Arctic sea ice has predicted that, by 2040 to 2059, new shipping routes will become passable across the Arctic, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. An increase in traffic has implications for the ecosystems of this fragile area.
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New barrier to stop invasive crayfish
New barriers have been developed to prevent invasive American signal crayfish from moving upstream and colonising important European crayfish habitat. The barriers, designed to stop crayfish but allow fish to pass, have been found to be effective where water flow rates are sufficiently high.
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New map of global groundwater depths
Despite groundwater´s importance to ecosystems, little is known about its global distribution. Researchers have now developed a model to map groundwater, revealing that ecosystems covering 22-32% of the Earth´s surface rely on this important resource.
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The cost of air pollution impacts on health
Researchers have developed a new model to assess the health-related external costs arising from air pollution from ten major emission sectors. Applying the model at national and Europe-wide levels, they suggested that the major contributors to costs were industrial power production, agriculture, road traffic and domestic combustion.
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Urban greening reduces noise pollution
Green roofs have the potential to significantly reduce road traffic noise in the urban environment, according to a new study. The results suggest that greening of roofs and walls with materials suitable for growing plants softens the urban environment keeping sound levels low, whereas hard, manmade structures tend to amplify traffic noise.
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