News

The Sino Norwegian Cooperation Project to Reduce Plastic and Microplastic Pollution (SINOPLAST) was officially kicked off May 20th in the form of an online conference.

A bilateral initiative on exchange of experience and knowledge of remote sensing techniques for the mapping of coastal biological communities through unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has recently been funded through the EEA-grants. The partners are The Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) and Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), University of Porto.

NIVA Chile has had a very good development the last years, with five full time employees and a result of 0,9 mill. NOK in 2019. They outgrew their current offices, and after a thorough search, ended up purchasing a field 10-15 minutes outside of Puerto Varas last year. After six months of construction, the new offices are now finished.

A new research project has looked at microplastics in marine bivalves from 100 sites spread throughout much of the Nordic waters. Microplastics were found in 4 of the 5 bivalve species investigated, and there was a huge variation in the occurrence and type of microplastics.

In an application to the Research Council of Norway’s emergency call for proposals in the fight against the Coronavirus, scientists from NMBU, NIVA, Karolinska Institutet and The Veterinary Institute wants to analyze samples from the sewer in the hunt for COVID-19.

In today’s world, where pollution and contamination frequently have a negative impact on our natural resources, it is vital to maintain regular and regulated testing of chemicals, toxins, or other forms of contamination. However, in order to do this properly, we need the correct tools and methods so that we can recognize when conditions aren’t ideal.

NIVA is a leading research partner in the newly funded H2020 project, FUTUREmares, that will provide socially and economically viable nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation to safeguard these ecosystems’ natural capital, biodiversity and services.

NIVA will lead a new Joint Project Initiative Climate and Oceans project that will provide a greater understanding of global change effects on ocean and coastal ecosystems and services at regional to local levels.

In the January issue of Cell Press journal OneEarth, NIVA scientist Luca Nizzetto and co-writer Satish Sinha of Toxic Links argue that further empowering marginalized waste pickers in developing countries (already involved in the efficient recovery of value and materials from recyclable plastic waste) is key to curbing plastic inputs to the ocean and tackling several sustainable development goals. Financial mechanisms aimed at valuing also the non-recyclable plastic waste can trigger these workers' spontaneous engagement to curb plastic releases, with an expenditure lower than that of pollution impacts.

NIVA has made a strong presence at The UN Climate Change Conference COP 25 (2 – 13 December 2019). Senior Research Scientist Richard Bellerby has taken part in and hosted events on ocean acidification (Arctic Council and The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme) as well as contributed to the ICCI-report "Cryosphere 1,5 degrees", launched during the conference.

The shared vision for Europe’s seas is a healthy marine environment where human-induced eutrophication is minimised. However, the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) assessment, published December 11th shows that eutrophication still remains a large scale problem in Europe’s regional seas. The assessment shows some positive effects from better nutrient management but the overall target of healthy seas will not be met by 2020.

NIVA is contributing in a new EU-project that will provide new insight into making ocean observation more efficient.

Unlike land plants, photosynthesis in many aquatic plants relies on bicarbonate in addition to CO2 to compensate for the low availability of CO2 in water. A study in SCIENCE by Iversen and co-authors from among others NIVA shows that the abundance of plant species with the ability to use bicarbonate increases in hard water lakes with greater bicarbonate concentrations. In streams, where the CO2 concentration is higher than in air, bicarbonate users are few.

New research shows that silver and titanium nanoparticles in present in treated wastewater may have toxic effects on algae, crustaceans and fish gill cells, and the effects seem to be species dependent.

Speaking of Aurora, most people will think of the Northern Lights, the spectacular celestial displays frequently seen in the Arctic. Scientists in the HACON-project travelled to the northernmost part of the world, searching for Aurora. But not the one in the sky: They were gazing into the vast depths of the Arctic Ocean to figure out what exotic creatures live in the cold waters close to the North Pole.

The results of seven years’ wastewater analysis have been compiled in an article published in the prestigious journal Addiction. An international group of researchers, the SCORE group (Sewage analysis CORe group Europe), analysed the wastewater of more than 60 million people in 120 cities in 37 countries.

On Friday the 20th of September, over 40 participants from the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) world congress visited Gaustadbekkendalen and Oslo Science City for a walk and talk. The fully booked tour was one of several options the conference attendees could choose from in the Oslo area, and was led by NIVA.

Climate change undoubtedly is one of the most significant development challenges of our times. Research over the last few decades has demonstrated clearly the links between anthropogenically induced emissions and climatic changes. Despite these scientific advancements, uncertainties persist at multiple scales; with respect to future societal emissions, predictions of accuracy, frequency and scale of climatic events, or possible feedback loops.

NIVA research manager Nikolai Friberg guest edits a Special Issue of Water, a peer-reviewed open access journal on water science and technology, including the ecology and management of water resources, and is published monthly online by MDPI. This special issue is now open for submission with deadline August 30 2020.