News
The Director-General marks 50 Years of Science for the Future
On 6 October, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, took part in an event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy.
The Director-General opened the conference, entitled "50 Years of Science for the Future," together with Yukiya Amano, Director-General of IAEA, Hamadoun Touré, Secretary General of ITU, Romain Murenzi, Executive Director of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, as well as Mr. Mario Giro, Under-Secretary of State of the Foreign Affairs of the Government of Italy.
Third UNESCO World Forum on Culture and Cultural Industries - Culture works for sustainable development
Valued at over $620 billion, the global trade in cultural goods and services has doubled over the past decade, demonstrating that culture is a powerful force for both economic and social development.
Cultural goods and services are not just ordinary merchandises that generate jobs, income, innovation and growth, they also contribute to social inclusion and justice.
UNESCO Focus on Climate Science at the Climate Change Summit in New York
Initiated by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, the UN Climate Summit brought together a hundred Heads of Governments, alongside the financial world, business and civil societies to give new momentum to the search for answers to the challenges posed by climate change.
The event opened with speeches by the UN Secretary-General, Mayor Bill de Blasio, as well as former Vice President Al Gore and actor Leonardo de Caprio, followed by interventions from Heads of State, including President Obama of the United States and President Hollande of France. The Director-General of UNESCO attended the Summit throughout the discussions.
Global change: Trees continue to grow at a faster rate
Trees have been growing significantly faster since the 1960s. The typical development phases of trees and stands have barely changed, but they have accelerated – by as much as 70 percent.
This was the outcome of a study carried out by scientists from Technische Universität München (TUM) based on long-term data from experimental forest plots that have been continuously observed since 1870. Their findings were published recently in Nature Communications.
How to estimate energy footprint in highways
Researchers at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid have developed an application to estimate energy footprint in highways.
This application software, HERA, was developed by researchers of The Transport Research Centre (TRANSyT) at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. This application consists of a methodology and a software tool to estimate energy consumption and green house gas of the traffic demand linked to a highway.
Greenhouse gas levels in atmosphere hit new high, UN reports
Surging levels of carbon dioxide sent greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to a new record in 2013, while oceans, which absorb the emissions, have become more acidic than ever, the UN said on Tuesday.
"We know without any doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels," said Michel Jarraud, the head of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) that released a report on the issue on Tuesday.
Ozone layer recovering but remains threatened – UN reports
The Earth’s protective ozone layer is on track to recover by the middle of the century, the United Nations today reported, urging unified action to tackle climate change and curb continued fluctuations to the composition of the atmosphere.
That is according to the assessment of 300 scientists in the summary document of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2014, published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Researchers suggest reforestation around urban areas to reduce ozone levels
A team of research conservationists with members from several universities in the U.S. is suggesting in a paper they've had published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that urban areas could benefit by investing in cost effective reforestation efforts around urban areas that currently suffer from high ozone levels.
Planting trees, they suggest could help cities bring those levels down.
