Agnese and her blog

How does humanity relate to rubbish? Pollution is considered as "the introduction of harmful materials in the environment” called pollutants (Boudreau 2023). They can be both natural or anthropogenic the latter being the biggest driver of pollution globally. Pollution spreads in the water, air and soil directly impacting the health and livelihood of all living things on Earth and degrading common resources. The moral and ethical question arises: why do we pollute if the consequences are proved to be highly detrimental to our lives? Pollution is an activity that inherently promotes selfish and unethical behaviour due to the procedural steps in public waste management which allow the parties involved to transfer the responsibility towards the final discharger of waste (Rabbito 2018). There is a need to enforce more strategic policies which address the need for collective scientific research prioritising the needs of the public as a whole rather than the values of polluting industrie...

The Vajont Dam is one of the tallest dams in the world built in 1950s in the North of Italy under Monte Toc just a few kms outside of Venice by Societa Adriatica di Elettricita. In 1963 a landslide from Monte Toc caused a tsunami in the dam lake resulting in an overspilling of massive water volumes causing flooding and destruction to the nearby villages with up to 2,000 deaths (Petley 2008). Only afterwards, it was found that the government and ENEL, the electrical plant with ownership of the dam, concealed sensitive documents highlighting potential geological risks and possible tectonic problems (Hardenberg 2011). Moreover, during the construction of the dam itself builders ignored soil conservation requirements which led to an overfilling of the reservoir (Hardenberg 2011). Several environmental impacts were identified in the construction as well as the disruption of this large scale work of engineering. Starting with the deforestation of the surrounding area, which also led to the g...

During Summer 2023, Japan communicated that it would soon start releasing in the Pacific Ocean treated nuclear waste from the Fukushima power plant as a result of the meltdown which occurred 12 years ago. Since then, water has been pumped into the reactor to cool it down gradually and consequently producing a regular contaminated water waste. This news was met with lots of contradictory criticism: how would local fishermen communities be impacted? How will the waste affect marine pollution level? Is it even safe to discard this remains? Although the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) gave the green light for the release, it is scientifically proven that a radioactive element of hydrogen called tritium cannot be removed (yet) from the water as there exists no technology able to do so. The scientific community is at a disagreement, some say the levels of tritium are not significant enough for an environmental impact to occur, others claim there is no sufficient evidence to back th...

The European Alps represents one of the regions in Europe with the most complex topography and highest altitudes. They house a variety of species including several endemism and are considered important retreat areas for many large carnivores and raptors due to the remote and unfragmented isolated areas from human disturbance. Traditional farming practices are quickly disappearing and thus impacting as well the ecosystem of the region. Furthermore, due to the increase in tourism and impacts of climate change the geological risks of the territory are at exponential risk. A serious problem arising from the cryosphere of the Alpine region lies on the melting of the glaciers which releases all the frozen pollutants and pesticides transported at higher altitudes by the atmosphere. "Glaciers are known to accumulate pollutants by acting as cold traps for organic compounds. Because of their physicochemical characteristics, contaminants can travel long distances from emission sources and co...