Found 10360 publications. Showing page 415 of 415:
2026
A Global Compendium of Nature-based Solutions in Small-Medium Islands
Small and medium-sized islands (SMI) combine high ecological value with limited resources and vulnerability to climatic and environmental risks. Nature-based solutions (NbS) can contribute to addressing some of these challenges, but studies on the uptake and effectiveness of NbS in SMI remain scattered, with few systematic syntheses. Here, we introduce the SMI-NbS compendium, a comprehensive and open-access dataset compiling 280 NbS case studies implemented across SMI worldwide, developed through a systematic review of published and grey literature. Each SMI-NbS case study includes information on the location, NbS category, ecosystem types, societal challenges addressed, associated co-benefits, and links to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SMI-NbS compendium provides practical information on NbS implementation and identifies current research trends and gaps, such as the dominance of ecological and climate-focused NbS, with limited integration of other socio-economic challenges, thereby supporting further research and enabling knowledge exchange across the science-policy-practice interface to inform sustainable development pathways in SMI.
2026
Scaling number concentration measurements from bioaerosol monitors using Hirst-type samplers
The instruments used for routine pollen monitoring are gradually changing from traditional impactors with manual data processing to automated pollen monitors using deterministic and/or machine-learning algorithms for data analysis. This manuscript compares pollen number concentration of Alnus sp., Betula sp., Corylus sp., and Poaceae measured by Hirst-type bioaerosol samplers and the SwisensPoleno automated bioaerosol monitor in Switzerland and Norway. Due to physical particle losses and the classification rate of the algorithms being well below unity, scaling factors had to be applied to the measurements of the SwisensPoleno to match those of the Hirst impactor. These scaling factors depended on the geographic location, i.e. differed significantly between Switzerland and Norway. The importance of adjusting the scaling factors according to the location of the monitoring network and the need for reporting the numerical values of these scaling factors in future scientific publications is emphasized.
2026
Fluoropolymers are widely used across sectors, but their production is associated with emissions of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), which are mobile, persistent, and toxic. In this work, we compiled a global inventory of fluoropolymer production plants (FPPs) and assembled PFAS concentration measurements for various media in their vicinity. We identified 52 currently operating FPPs across 11 countries and 41 cities. For 12 FPPs, in 12 different cities, there are peer-reviewed site-specific PFAS measurements specifically attributed to the FPP. At these 12 sites, at least 236 individual PFASs have been detected across multiple environmental media, including surface water, groundwater, air, dust, soils, sediments, plants, animals, and humans, with reported detections at distances of up to approximately 150 km from FPPs. Perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and perfluoroalkyl ether carboxylic acids (PFECAs) were most frequently measured, often at concentrations two to three orders of magnitude higher than those measured in regions without nearby FPPs. Using high-resolution population data, we estimate that approximately 14 ± 2 million people (uncertainty reflecting ± 10 km uncertainty in facility locations) live within 10 km of an FPP. These people are potentially affected by FPP-associated contamination, with the largest population shares in China (≈52%), Japan (≈24%), Europe (≈13%), and the United States (≈9%). These regional proportions largely mirror differences in population density and the number of identified production facilities. This inventory reveals the large and complex global scale of PFAS contamination from fluoropolymer production, underscoring the need for expanded systematic monitoring and risk management efforts, including regulation.
2026
2026
Bioaerosols interact with society and environment in a multi-faceted way. Information about biological aerosols in the atmosphere is at high demand for medical practitioners and allergy sufferers, climate change researchers, agriculture and forestry industries, air quality forecasters, a variety of information added-value businesses, and many other stakeholders. However, the monitoring practices established over 70 years ago and barely changed since then are country-specific, with varying data availability and usage policy. These roadblocks slow down cross-disciplinary research and development of measures to understand and, upon necessity, control societal and environmental impacts of bioaerosols.A series of technological breakthroughs during last 10 years introduced a variety of automatic particle counters capable of bioaerosol monitoring in real time. They paved the way to the volunteering consolidation of European aerobiologists to establish the EUMETNET AutoPollen Programme (www.autopollen.net), laid down the foundation for the bioaerosol monitoring infrastructure with the EU Horizon SYLVA project (A SYstem for reaL-time obserVation of Aeroallergens, https://sylva.bioaerosol.eu), initiated developments of European standards and guidelines for the automatic bioaerosol measurements with the EURAMET project BioAirMet, and started the European standardization effort with CEN WG 39.The new technologies allow to observe bioaerosol concentration in real time, analyze vertical concentration profiles via remote-sensing, perform metagenomic analysis of bioaerosols with the 3rd generation DNA sequencing technique, and combine these observations with atmospheric composition models. Newly established regional networks have been connected to regional atmospheric composition models, which assimilate the real-time regional data to improve the forecasts. It changes the existing paradigm of bioaerosol observations as the new monitoring networks involve large-scale data handling infrastructure, which also includes numerical models as an interface between the different technologies and a bridge to users of information.The new observations heavily rely on sophisticated technologies, such as high-resolution image analysis, holography, multi-band scatterometry and fluorescence spectrometry, lidar-based remote sensing, and nanotechnology for DNA sequencing. A particle recognition task, the key challenge for the new devices, is solved via machine learning approaches. Technological complexity of the new instruments and large amounts of raw data they produce have been recognized, and a European-scale solution has been proposed by AutoPollen/SYLVA. AutoPollen is being converted into a EUMETNET operational programme with the SYLVA infrastructure as its technological backbone. The programme, with support of Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu), ACTRIS aerosol monitoring network, and other stakeholders, will become operational from 2027. The central processing system will be hosted by Finnish Meteorological Institute with support of MeteoSwiss, Technical University of Munich, and all SYLVA partners. The pre-operational work of AutoPollen/SYLVA started already in 2025, owing to the efforts of the SYLVA consortium, its sister projects and collaborators. The programme is open for all European (and from outside Europe) groups performing automatic bioaerosol monitoring. AutoPollen offers technological and organizational support, community-developed bioaerosol monitoring solutions, and a motivated team of experts advancing the relevant research and applications.
2026