The JRC, in collaboration with the Italian coast guard service, has developed a new method to verify whether ship positions reported with the Automatic Identification System (AIS) are correct. This effective method does not need any additional sensors or technologies and it makes it possible to validate reported data and detect unintentionally incorrect, jammed or deliberately falsified information reported by ships.
2015 – The International Year of Soils
On 20 December 2013, the 68th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a resolution which declared 2015 the first ever International Year of Soils (IYS). The IYS 2015 aims to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of soil for food security and essential ecosystem functions. It was officially launched on 5 December 2014, the first official UN World Soil Day.
Looking at regional poverty from a multidimensional perspective
JRC scientists in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy have built a composite index (MPI-reg) that measures non-income related poverty by studying three dimensions: education, health and living standards.
New thematic report: Science for disaster risk reduction
The JRC has released a new report providing a comprehensive overview of its work in relation to disaster risk reduction and response including their policy background and context. As a leader in natural disaster research and automated warning systems, the JRC contributes to minimising the impact of disasters in Europe and around the globe.
The JRC recently published an article on the use of pan-tropical biomass maps to report greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
The 3rd Neutron Resonance Analysis School
The 3rd Neutron Resonance Analysis School was hosted at the EC-JRC-IRMM in Geel, Belgium from 15 to 19 December 2014. The school was organised within the FP7 project CHANDA (Solving Challenges in Nuclear Data for the Safety of European Nuclear Facilities), and in collaboration with the University of Manchester, IAEA, OECD/NEA and CEA.
EU fishing fleet – annual economic report
Higher market prices and the recovery of some fish stocks helped the EU fishing fleet to again improve its profitability in 2012. Despite the economic crisis and less fish being landed, economic performance has more than doubled over the last 5 years, from 3.2% net profit in 2008 to 6.6% in 2012.
EURL ECVAM releases its strategy to improve acute systemic toxicity assessment with fewer animals
The European Union Reference Laboratory for Alternatives to Animal Testing (EURL ECVAM) of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has just released a strategy on how to reduce, refine and ultimately avoid the use of animals for acute mammalian systemic toxicity testing. The strategic aims and associated objectives identified are intended to progress the field on multiple fronts and to provide a framework for prioritisation of alternative methods submitted for validation.
Guidelines for better water reuse in Europe
The JRC has recently published a report which provides guidelines to implement water reuse in Europe, and analyses the associated technical, environmental, health and socioeconomic challenges to such reuse.
Given the lack of formal guidelines at European level to address the reuse of treated wastewater, the report compares relevant national and international measures. It also provides a risk-based management approach, and identifies needs for and barriers to technological innovation and regulation.
Launch of joint FAO/JRC e-learning course for crop monitoring and food security
The JRC produced the contents of the joint FAO/JRC e-learning course on: “Remotely Sensed Information for Crop Monitoring and Food Security – Techniques and methods for arid and semi-arid areas” which is part of the EU-FAO Programme on “Improved Global Governance for Hunger Reduction”.
Global CO2 emissions increase to new all-time record, but growth is slowing down
2013 saw global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use and cement production reach a new all-time high. This was mainly due to the continuing steady increase in energy use in emerging economies over the past ten years. However, emissions increased at a notably slower rate (2%) than on average in the last ten years (3.8% per year since 2003, excluding the credit crunch years).
News Date: 8th January 2015 – 9:02am
This article was last updated on: February 2, 2017