Environmental Damage is Putting European Way of Life at Risk, Says Report (theguardian.com)
- Reference: 0179591114
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/29/191252/environmental-damage-is-putting-european-way-of-life-at-risk-says-report
- Source link: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/29/environmental-damage-is-putting-european-way-of-life-at-risk-says-report
> The continent has made "important progress" in cutting planet-heating pollution, according to the European Environment Agency, but the death of wildlife and breakdown of the climate are ruining ecosystems that underpin the economy. The seventh edition of the report, which has been published every five years since 1995, found:
>
> 1. More than 80% of protected habitats are in a poor or bad state, with "unsustainable" consumption and production patterns driving loss of wildlife.
> 2. The EU's "carbon sink" has declined by about 30% in a decade as logging, wildfires and pests damage forests.
> 3. Emissions from transport and food have barely budged since 2005, despite progress in other sectors.
> 4. Member states have failed to adapt to extreme weather as fast as risk levels have risen.
> 5. Water stress already affects one in three Europeans and will worsen as the climate changes.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/29/environmental-damage-is-putting-european-way-of-life-at-risk-says-report
Same all over the world (Score:2)
Not just a european problem but probably the monitoring here is more in depth than elsewhere other than north america.
Re: (Score:3)
It's an EU report, so they're just reporting on the people of whom they have a responsibility to.
Europe is learning (Score:3, Insightful)
European Union declares nuclear fission and natural gas as "environmentally sustainable" energy sources.
[1]https://apnews.com/article/eur... [apnews.com]
US and UK sign deal to build more nuclear power plants.
[2]https://www.aljazeera.com/news... [aljazeera.com]
Big plans in Eastern Europe for more nuclear power plants.
[3]https://www.graphicnews.com/en... [graphicnews.com]
If the goal is to minimize land lost to development then it would be best to use energy sources that produce the most with the least land occupied. Consider the chart here: [4]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
I'd like to find some updated data on energy consumption per area for European nations, and have that charted against the power density of varied energy sources. This should show just how much land would need to be set aside if Europe chose to walk away from nuclear fission and natural gas. I'm not exactly a fan of natural gas but it would be an improvement over Germany pushing over windmills to mine the brown coal beneath them.
I'm seeing Europe learning that they need to rethink their energy policy. I'm optimistic about them getting on the right track soon.
[1] https://apnews.com/article/europe-nuclear-energy-natural-gas-renewables-finance-26c575d819e15ec686ec7e3e8e8e22fc
[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/18/us-and-uk-sign-major-nuclear-power-deal-what-does-it-include
[3] https://www.graphicnews.com/en/pages/46053/energy-eastern-europe-planning-new-nuclear-plants
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_power_density#Surface_power_densities_of_energy_sources
Low carbon shipping too (Re:Europe is learning) (Score:1)
An addendum to the above are plans to move to nuclear powered cargo ships to lower CO2 emissions and reduce air pollution.
[1]https://www.energyconnects.com... [energyconnects.com]
[2]https://interestingengineering... [interestin...eering.com]
Europe is making other decisions to lower CO2 emissions and reduce damage to the environment but I'm pointing out how minds have changed on nuclear fission as that's the most profound shift. There's nothing really new to say about building onshore windmills or pumped hydro energy storage.
[1] https://www.energyconnects.com/news/renewables/2025/june/nuclear-powered-cargo-ships-promise-cleaner-faster-transport/
[2] https://interestingengineering.com/transportation/hyundai-plans-nuclear-powered-cargo-ship
Re: (Score:2)
Learning what? Learning how to kick the can down the road for 30 years while providing no meaningful improvements in the interim? All the while the countries most committed to nuclear projects happen to be the ones most politically aligned to Russia (fun fact, Europe just went through an energy crisis due to dependence on other nations, also fun fact Europe has no meaningful uranium reserves).
This isn't even a global warming issue. The fundamental problem with your post is that it repeats the fucked up gas
Blame Canada (Score:2)
n/t
What way of life? (Score:2)
What "way of life" is being referred to here? SPECIFICALLY? Are we talking 50 days a year of paid holidays and 2 hour lunches, or what? I mean, specifically, what is being referred to here?
it's not just europe (Score:2)
people across the planet are being put at risk by unrestrained pollution at the behest of shareholders
Re: (Score:3)
I hate to tell you this, but the "shareholder" narrative is too limited. If you persist with that you miss the point.
The bigger issue is that too many countries rely almost entirely on oil exports for their country to function. Iraq, Kuwait, Brunei, and Venezuela all have oil exports as over 90% of their countries' GDP. Algeria, Azerbaijan, Libya, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, the Russian Federation, heck even Norway; their countries are heavily dependent on oil exports; it's difficult to find an exact count
Re: (Score:1)
> people across the planet are being put at risk by unrestrained pollution at the behest of shareholders
If low cost and polluting energy is a problem then I'd suggest working on creating low cost and nonpolluting energy to price them out of the market.
If the cheerleaders for wind and solar energy are correct that fossil fuels cost more then renewable energy options then we are already on the path to cleaning up the air. A problem I'm seeing is a disturbing trend of arable croplands being paved over with solar panels. I mention this trend and I get the usual BS replies. One claim is that I'm lying about ara