Natural environment

UN: Wildfires getting worse globally, governments unprepared

A warming planet and changes to land use patterns mean more wildfires will scorch large parts of the globe in coming decades, causing spikes in unhealthy smoke pollution and other problems that governments are ill prepared to confront, according to a U.N. report being released Wednesday.

Balkan Insight’s Week in Pictures

Serbia's Damir Rastic (L) and Ukraine's Artem Tyshchenko (R) in action during the men's 10km Sprint race at the IBU Biathlon World Cup i​n Hochfilzen, Austria. Photo: EPA-EFE/Christian Bruna.

CSKA Sofia fans light flares during the UEFA Europa Conference League group C football match against AS Roma in ​the Bulgarian capital on December 9, 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/Vassil Donev.

Relatively warm weather concerns experts

A relatively warm spell that has been pervading Istanbul and Turkey's western coasts for months, despite the fact that it's the middle of winter, concerns experts.

According to the models of climate researchers and experts, there is an average temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius in Turkey until 2035, which indicates that a serious drought threat is at hand.

Microplastics found in 75% of Slovenian rivers

Ljubljana – To highlight the problem of plastic pollution, over 1400 students in 100 Slovenian schools joined forces with scientists within the EU’s Plastic Pirates project. Over the course of one year, young people helped scientists to sample microplastics in rivers, which contaminated more than three-quarters of the rivers analysed.

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