Council: New Legislation Needed
A report published in February by the European Academies Science Advisory Council announced that new legislation was needed to protect Europe's environment. Additionally, the council urged Europeans to consider the threats of urban growth, climate change, and widespread agriculture to their natural environment.
Though Europe has long relied upon largely human-supported agriculture, the council said that this "single purpose" land use has often harmed the natural processes that humans rely upon, such as pollination and climate regulation. The report states that this "single purpose" system will be strained as global food prices rise for the first time in 100 years and locally-produced agriculture will become more predominant. Likewise, other threats to the European ecosystems will also rise in the future at a far higher rate, as cities sprawl and water supplies dwindle.
To combat these dangers, the council recommends a new bevy of legislation by the European Union that helps lawmakers and governments to safeguard the natural potential of ecosystems. Among the processes the council sees as essential but threatened are the storing of carbon in soil and the control of diseases and pests.
-Equatorial Press Staff Report. Photo Courtesy of Dysturb/Flickr.