Global change

How to reduce water fragility in a context of drought

Why can the drought that Catalonia is experiencing today not be blamed solely on climate change? Could the situation of persistent drought be a foreshadowing of what Europe will experience in the coming years? To what extent does the situation have to do with water management policies? What are the steps we need to take from now on? We are trying to provide a summary to answer these questions, about a case that is not isolated and may be the prelude to situations that will arise over the next 50 years.

Catalonia Catalunya Drought Europa Europe Gestió Global change Management Water

CREAF visits the European Parliament to advocate the urgent need to manage Mediterranean forests

On 7 November, the European Parliament was the venue for an unprecedented seminar entitled "The need for forest management. The case of Mediterranean forests", organised by Catalan MEP Jordi Solé, vice-president of the Greens/EFA parliamentary group. The seminar opened with a welcome address by Jordi Solé, who presented the critical context of forests in Catalonia. The event was attended by leading figures in the field from various research centres and institutions, including CREAF.

Biodiversitat Climate change Drought Europa Forest Forest management Global change

Let’s talk about risks: if your forest were a country, which one would it be?

Japan is among the countries that are best prepared for natural disasters, those with the most hospital beds, the highest levels of education, prevention plans, adapted urban designs and so forth. Why, then, is it also one of the countries whose inhabitants are most at risk from such disasters?

Climate change Forest Forest Global change Jordi martínez vilalta Judit lecina @en Mireia banqué

New proposals to understand how the planet's vegetation works

An international team -where Josep Peñuelas has participated- explores the factors that most affect plant behavior and how they can be included in predictive models to improve them. The result, published in Nature Plants wants to improve understanding of the global carbon cycle and ecosystem services and their future if forests change due to climate change.

Climate change Forests Global carbon cicle Global change Plants Predictive models Vegetation Vegetation dynamics