The everyday efforts of the scientists at ICOS stations make a big impact on data quality. Two ICOS stations were awarded in May 2024 as the “ICOS Ecosystem Stations of the year.” The purpose of the award was to recognise the efforts made by the individuals in the community and highlight the importance of good cooperation.
According to a new study involving researchers from around Europe, including Italy’s CMCC and the National Research Council (CNR), urban areas across Europe are home to high levels of social inequality when it comes to granting acces
Faced with all too frequent crises induced by climate change like droughts, wildfires and floods, the need for high-quality science that serves society is more acute than ever. Over the past 15 years, ICOS has developed from an implementation phase to today’s operational phase facilitating frontier research on greenhouse gas (GHG) observations. ICOS provides advanced services and scientific evidence for knowledge-based policy decisions in Europe. Beyond Europe, ICOS is a globally recognised environmental Research Infrastructure within the ESFRI framework.
We need to drastically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. The latest issue of FLUXES, The European Greenhouse Gas Bulletin by ICOS, sheds light on an essential tool to help decision-makers assess progress towards a net zero world: science-based Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems.
Almost weekly, we hear about floods, droughts, heat waves and the related loss and damage including public health emergencies. Climate change is progressing and the time to act is now.
Keeping tabs on carbon removals and emissions from managed land, forests and soils is key for the European Union, not only for the reports it sends to the United Nations, but also to inform EU actions pushing forward with the Green Deal.
Scientists across Europe are developing effective Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems, relying on high-quality data. New projects showcase tools to monitor emissions from human activities, and develop methods to monitor soil organic carbon under different local climate conditions and climate change scenarios.
The fight against climate change calls for accurate data on greenhouse gas emissions. The ICOS network of observation stations, spread across diverse environments in Europe, addresses the challenge by providing near-real-time greenhouse gas data for research and climate models. This helps shed light on how human actions drive climate change.
In the labyrinth of climate data, where every number tells a story, the national greenhouse gas inventories serve as an important information source for the Global Stocktake. The inventories typically rely on estimations, but ground-based measurements can contribute to the verification of these.
A global effort is under way to provide near real-time data on greenhouse gas concentrations covering all continents. Launching in 2028, the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch (G3W) initiative brings together a global network of satellite operators, surface-based observation systems and modelling expertise to gather the best existing knowledge and technology. In Europe, Copernicus and ICOS are providing the blueprints for the monitoring system.
