Environment

Faced with resistance to their energy-intensive data centres in northern Europe, Big Tech companies are looking south. Can Spain take this gamble?

During communism, irrigation systems made the Romanian Plain agriculturally robust, but have since collapsed. Droughts are the new reality.

Water wars are not inevitable but the result of bad management.

Over-exploitation, pollution, and land consumption are exacerbating the effects of climate change in Italy’s Pianura Padana.

Rivers can be used to combat the risks of flooding or drought, particularly in urban areas. But schemes can negatively impact the environment and water quality.

Drought and torrential rain exposed Italy to devastating floods last May. Inefficient administration, short-sighted politics, and an unstoppable appetite for urban sprawl are to blame.

A year since a toxic algae bloom killed millions of fish in the Odra, Poland’s river restoration efforts remain insufficient. But the demands of citizens to democratise water management are becoming impossible to ignore.

Climate pessimists bend scientific evidence to their narrative of “collapse”, overlooking the complex, unpredictable nature of social processes.

The health of the ocean is central in the protection of the planet. But a rushed green light to deep-sea mining can put it at risk.

AI specialist Kate Crawford uncovers the earthly underpinnings of the digital realm.