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- Black gold
- The world runs on oil. It is by far our biggest energy source, and is an increasingly global business. A report cofinanced by the European Commission looks at where the oil industry is heading, and what its inevitable effects on geopolitics will be over the next twenty years.
- The first word in a new language
- How can we improve on our current one-sided measures of welfare? The ecological footprint offers a simple, understandable eco-index which may help build a common language for industrialists, politicians and environmentalists.
- A balanced diet
- The olive grove defines the Mediterranean landscape, and the olive its cuisine. But the more olives we grow, the worse damage we do to the landscape. The EU is still paying farmers to grow ever more olives, but everyone knows this cannot continue.
- What farming reaps
- It is not possible to farm without affecting the environment. The very act of ploughing a field or letting cattle loose on pasture inevitably alters the ecosystem. Now the OECD has developed a set of indicators that illustrate the impact - both positive and negative - that agricultural practices have on the land.
- At the weather forefront
- On the morning of 22 September 1992 a squall line formed over the Gulf of Lions. A few brief hours later 35 people died in a flood at Vaison-la-Romaine in Provence. Could 'nowcasting' prevent such tragedies in the future?
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