Research from partners organisations in CCAFAF II

Research on CC

Each team worked in a theme for research and the themes are represent here.

Moldova Team Research

Cyprus Team

Circular Economy and Wastes

Introduction:

For most people, the idea of a circular economy is still an abstract, if not extremely grandiose, concept. While there is a growing interest among citizens around the world in strengthening the environmental dimension, many people have not yet realized the wider changes that need to be made to our way of life in order to ensure a sustainable future and our long-term prosperity. Crucial to the implementation of the circular economy in practice is the development of the necessary knowledge, the monitoring of progress and ensuring that policy makers have at their disposal the findings, data and information they need to contribute to supportive and flexible policies.

1. What is a circular economy?

Looking beyond the current take-make-waste extractive industrial model, a circular economy aims to redefine growth, focusing on positive society-wide benefits. It entails gradually decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources and designing waste out of the system. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, the circular model builds economic, natural, and social capital. It is based on three principles:

Design out waste and pollution
Keep products and materials in use
Regenerate natural systems

2. Origins of the circular economy concept

The notion of circularity has deep historical and philosophical origins. The idea of feedback, of cycles in real-world systems, is ancient and has echoes in various schools of philosophy. It enjoyed a revival in industrialized countries after World War II when the advent of computer-based studies of non-linear systems unambiguously revealed the complex, interrelated, and therefore unpredictable nature of the world we live in - more akin to a metabolism than a machine. With current advances, digital technology has the power to support the transition to a circular economy by radically increasing virtualization, de-materialization, transparency, and feedback-driven intelligence.

3. What are the effects on the environment of increased use?

Some of the types of pollution that occur are:

"Greenhouse effect". It occurs globally and increased greenhouse gas emissions are held responsible for global warming, i.e., the gradual increase in the average global temperature, also called climate change and global warming. The main greenhouse gases are CO2, methane, nitrogen oxides, chlorofluorocarbons and ozone in the troposphere. The burning of fossil fuels is responsible for most of the CO2. Energy is also responsible for part of methane emissions.
Pollution of water resources (e.g., nuclear, or other liquid waste in groundwater, locally) and degradation of lake and ocean rivers.
Oil spills in the sea or rivers and leaks in surface waters.

· How can we reduce these effects-Alternative ways not to use?

The best way to reduce the environmental impact of waste is to avoid it in the first place. Many things we throw away could be reused, while others could be recycled and converted into raw materials.

Consider how to avoid creating waste already during your purchases.
Repair and reuse the products. Buy used and sell or give away things you don't need.
Separate, recycle and compost.
Try to reduce the waste dumped into the landfills.
Some waste can be converted into energy.

· How do we recycle and how does this contribute to the circular economy?

Initially recycling is carried out either by the direct reuse of a product or by indirect reuse that needs partial processing in factories.

The recycling of many raw materials, such as paper, plastic, etc., contributes to the circular economy by reusing a raw material or product after the end of its life.

· Circular economy in Cyprus

The Cyprus Energy Agency aims, through trainings and meetings, to contribute to the co-formation of policy proposals, in order to adopt the circular economy in legislation. In addition, it will promote "Cyclical Public Procurement" and "Life Cycle Cost Evaluation" as tools for the supply of products and services by public authorities and local authorities, with basic evaluation criteria the principles of the circular economy.

The concept of circular economy meets the ambition for sustainable development in the context of increasing pressure from the production and consumption of resources of the planet's environment. Until now, the economy was largely based on the "take-make-throw" model, a linear model in which each product inevitably reaches the end of its useful life.

The transition to a circular economy requires a change in focus on reuse, repair, renewal and recycling of existing materials and products. That previously considered "waste" can be converted into raw material.

Addressing the opening of the conference titled "Challenges for the Islands in the era of the Circular Economy - CirClE 2019" and the "6th Sustainable Mobility & Intelligent Transport - SMile 2019" conference, Minister of Agriculture said that the goal is to reduce by 2035 the total quantities of municipal waste going to landfills to 10% of the total quantities produced.

Georgian Team

Research on the Climate Change (by the Georgian Team)
The Concept of Climate Change

Before diving deep and concentrating on the climate change specifics in Georgia, we believe that is important to shift our focus on the general concept of the climate change and its threat on the world.

It is important to mention that climate change deals with the changes in the environmental conditions and circumstances of the Earth, such as global warming, raise of the sea levels and temperatures, glaciers melting, deforestation, CO2 level raising because of the emissions in the atmosphere, etc.

Having directly changed and altered our everyday lives, ecosystem & ecology, it has become a great concern over the years. It especially became noticeable in the last centuries because of the industrial revolution - since it is the exact time gas emissions started to drastically evolve, therefore it has heavily influenced increase of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

As it was mentioned above, causes of climate change can be both manmade or caused by the nature. The latter includes tectonic plate movement, volcanic eruption, solar radiations, etc. However, it is important to note that the impact made by humans is undoubtedly more devastating, disastrous and thus hazardous. Cutting down forests, destroying natural habitats of hundreds of animal species, whereas some of them might be still undiscovered, littering and neglecting sea sides, forests, river banks and polluting atmosphere, etc. are the reasons why climate changes as fast as fashion (arguably, even faster...)

Young Europeans have conducted important researches in their respective countries, concentrating on the voice of the youth and their engagement as well. You can read them on History Campus Blog: https://historycampus.org/

Difference between Climate Change and Global Warming

Sometimes these two terms are used interchangeably, as synonyms, which is incorrect. "Global warming" refers to the rise in global temperatures mainly because of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, as it has been already mentioned above; whilst "Climate change" alludes to the growing changes in the measures of climate over a long period of time - including precipitation, raise of temperature, etc.

Important sources: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/global-warming-effects ;

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/topic/climate-change .

Climate Change in Georgia

Climate change has had an impact on all over the world, including Georgia, the country in Caucasus on the border of Europe and Asia. The situation, in fact, is worsening. Citizens of the big cities in Georgia, including the capital Tbilisi, claim that they have not seen the snow in years, as they used to.

Rising temperatures and unpredictable seasonal rains have negative implications for Georgia's agriculture sector (which is employing 50 percent of the population). Advances in energy production are at risk from climate influences such as reduced river flows that impede hydropower productivity and landslides the cases of which increase. It is important to note that since Georgia is located in the Caucasus region, it is famous for its rich mountainous regions. Therefore, glaciers are common and significant source of water, thus rising temperatures threaten their firmness and solid form.

According to "Annals of Agrarian Science", edition of March 2017, based on mean temperature and precipitation decadal trend geo-information maps for 1936-2012 years period, Georgian territory zoning has been carried out and for each areas climate indices main trends have been studied. The research indicates that the trends of temperature indices are statistically significant.

In the scope of the climate change, On the Black Sea coastline and Colchis lowland, cold and hot days and tropical nights number changes are statistically significant. On eastern Georgia plains at high level of statistical significance, the change of all considered temperature indices has been fixed except for the number of hot days. In mountainous areas only hot day number increasing is significant. Trends of most moisture indices are statistically insignificant. If current trend is kept, to the end of 21th century, precipitation amount on the Black Sea coastline, Colchis lowland & in some parts of Western Caucasus will increase by 50%. The latter will respectively boost and strengthen humidity. Besides increasing of rainy period duration may cause flooding and high waters. On the eastern Georgia plains, annual precipitation amount will decrease by 50% or more, becoming only 150-200 mm, which will result in increasing the intensity of desertification of steppe & semi-desert landscapes - the latter are mostly found in the eastern part of Georgia, such as Qvemo Qartli, Shida Qartli and Kakheti.

We tried to gather as many information and summaries from the websites which provide information as possible about the climate change in Georgia. They are accessible here:

Important Sources: https://www.climatelinks.org/resources/climate-risk-profile-georgia ;

https://www.adaptation-undp.org/explore/western-asia/georgia ;

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1512188717300118 ;

https://nala.ge/climatechange/uploads/RoadMap/TheRoadMapEngPre-design_reference191_Final.pdf ;

https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/21837 ;

https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/georgia ;

https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/climate-risk-country-profile-georgia.pdf ;

https://eiec.gov.ge/%E1%83%97%E1%83%94%E1%83%9B%E1%83%94%E1%83%91%E1%83%98/%E1%83%99%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98%E1%83%9B%E1%83%90%E1%83%A2%E1%83%98%E1%83%A1-%E1%83%AA%E1%83%95%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98%E1%83%9A%E1%83%94%E1%83%91%E1%83%90/Project/Ended-Projects/Nap-English.aspx .

Water and Fire: Friends or Enemies of Georgia?

As a result of activities, conducted within the first National Communication, the systems most vulnerable to climate change in Georgia have been identified. In conclusion, the most vulnerable system is the west side of Georgia, located on the Black Sea coastline, which has a strategic importance for the rehabilitation of the country's economy.

Georgia occupies the southeastern part of Europe, lying between the Black and Caspian Seas. Total area of the country is 69,700 km 2, 46% of which is located at the altitude of 0-1000 m a.s.l. The Likhi Range, crossing the country almost meridionally in the middle of territory, divides the country into 2 regions that is reflected mainly in the climate - which is why western Georgia is humid almost always unlike the eastern part of the country.

Western Georgia is rich in rivers, the biggest of which are Rioni and Enguri. The biggest river in Eastern Georgia is Mtkvari with its several confluents flowing down from the Great Caucasus. There are numerous lakes in Georgia. However, the friendship with water is not always a so-called "flow of daisies". In June 2015, a disastrous flood took place in the capital Tbilisi, resulting in casualties.

Each summer and autumn, forest fires are raging in almost every green area and forests of Georgia, thus resulting in hundreds of burnt acres and impacts on climate change.

"The lower layer of forests is dry due to the dry weather in the autumn which carries high risks of spreading fires easily. That is why we urge those entering forests be as careful as possible to not cause fires," said the Georgian Emergency Management Service.

Important information: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33125879 ;

https://agenda.ge/en/news/2017/1811 .

What Do Georgians Think About The Climate Change?

We are glad to present the very up-to-date research: The first nationwide opinion poll about climate change conducted by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Georgia reads that Georgians see climate change as one of the top three challenges facing humanity, including poverty and infectious diseases.

The poll presents the results of the first nationwide opinion poll on public awareness about climate change, which was carried in August-September 2020.

The poll is based on face-to-face interviews with 1,100 people from all regions of Georgia.

The main findings of the research are as the following:

98% of those interviewed had heard of climate change;
94% said climate change affected Georgia, not just faraway countries;
91% affirmed climate change was a reality and not a myth;
85% heard news on climate change on at least a monthly basis;
72% said the impact of climate change was already being felt, and not still in the future.

Important sources: https://www.ge.undp.org/content/georgia/en/home/library/environment_energy/eu4climate-climate-change-survey.html ;

https://agenda.ge/en/news/2021/389 .

How to Stop Climate Change: Useful Tips and Approaches

Even though the damage is already done, ALL OF US, by doing good deeds together, can at least have some positive impact over Climate Change.

1) Plant the trees, flowers, bushes. Wherever it is possible. Exploit the ground that is dead and dry. Let the earth breathe. Do not be lazy to water and take care of them.

2) ● Learn how to be creative and re-use old things instead of buying something new every day. Look up DIY videos, after all!

If you find it impossible to re-use old items, do not throw them away. Give them to those who are in need.

3) Do Not Litter! Pick it up.

4) Save water and energy (e.g. Turn the water and light off when you are not in need of them).

We are sharing the tips we found the most useful to keep in mind and follow. See them below:

DOWNLOAD Resea...eam).pdf

Armenian Team

Amulsar Case: Mining operation in Armenia

In addition to the environmental impacts of mining processes, a prominent criticism pertaining to this form of extractive practice and of mining companies are the human rights abuses occurring within mining sites and communities in close proximity to them.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACTS OF MINING

Perhaps the most significant impact of a mining project is its effects on water quality and availability of water resources within the project area. Key questions are whether surface and groundwater supplies will remain fit for human consumption, and whether the quality of surface

waters in the project area will remain adequate to support native aquatic life and terrestrial wildlife.

Erosion of soils and mine wastes into surface waters

For most mining projects, the potential of soil and sediment eroding into and degrading surface water quality is a serious problem.

"The types of impacts associated with erosion and sedimentation are numerous, typically producing both short-term and long term impacts. In surface waters, elevated concentrations of particulate matter in the water column can produce both chronic and acute toxic effects in fish.

Impacts of mining projects on air quality

The largest sources of air pollution in mining operations are:

Particulate matter transported by the wind as a result of excavations, blasting, transportation of materials, wind erosion (more frequent in open-pit mining), fugitive dust from tailings facilities, stockpiles, waste dumps, and haul roads. Exhaust emissions from mobile sources (cars, trucks, heavy equipment) raise these particulate levels; and

Gas emissions from the combustion of fuels in stationary and mobile sources, explosions, and mineral processing.

Impacts of mining projects on wildlife

Wildlife is a broad term that refers to all plants and any animals (or other organisms) that are not domesticated. Mining affects the environment and associated biota through the removal of vegetation and topsoil, the displacement of fauna, the release of pollutants, and the generation of noise.

Impacts of mining projects on social values

Impacts of migration According to the International Institute for Environment and Development: "One of the most significant impacts of mining activity is the migration of people into a mine area, particularly in remote parts of developing countries where the mine represents the single most important economic activity

Impacts on public health EIAs of mining projects often underestimate the potential health risks of mining projects. Hazardous substances and wastes in water, air, and soil can have serious, negative impacts on public health. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a "state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

Impacts to cultural and aesthetic resources Mining activities can cause direct and indirect impacts to cultural resources.. Potential impacts include: Complete destruction of the resource through surface disturbance or excavation; Degradation or destruction, due to topographic or hydrological pattern changes, or from soil movement (removal, erosion, sedimentation); Unauthorized removal of artifacts or vandalism as a result of increased access to previously inaccessible areas;

Mining. Definition and types

Mining is a process of extracting useful minerals from the surface of the Earth, including the seas.

There are four types of mining that are most common.

Surface mining

Surface mining is best suited to extract minerals that are close to the surface of the earth. It is also usually a more cost-effective mining method compared to underground mining. Common minerals extracted using surface mining are some of the most mined including coal, iron and bauxite.

Underground mining (or subsurface mining)

Underground mining is best suited to extract minerals that are located deep under the surface of the earth. Common minerals extracted using underground mining include gold, lead and silver. It is important to remember that many minerals can be extracted using either surface or underground mining.

Placer mining

Placer mining is the method of separating valuable metals from sediments through sifting. Placer mining often takes place in riverbeds, sands and environments where there is a natural accumulation of sediments. Common minerals gathered using placer mining include platinum, tin and diamonds.

In-situ mining

In-situ mining is the method of recovering minerals from earth without extracting the mix of rocks and ore to the surface for processing. The most common mineral extracted using in-situ mining is uranium.

For miners, four of the considerations that impact the choice between these mining methods are the location of the mineral, financial value of the deposit, environmental considerations and the chemical composition of the mineral.

The mine that we are focused on in our research is Amulsar. This mine is categorised as a high sulphide, epithermal-type gold silver deposit. The property is bedded in a sequence of volcanic and volcano-sedimentary rocks. These rocks, formed during the Eocene-Oligocene period, have basaltic to dacitic composition. The environmental knowledge of the Amulsar gold mining task evolved by "Geoteam" CJSC has been accomplished with some violations of the Armenian legislation. In this research you can find details about the Amulsar mine and its long and short term consequences. As well as the overall situation of Armenians on the mining operations and the decision making processes about Amulsar.

The Amulsar Case

What is Amulsar?

A British-registered company, Lydian International, began building mining facilities in Armenia, in August 2016. The construction process has been frozen since several dozen protesters began blocking all roads leading to Amulsar in June 2018. The protesters say that gold production there would inflict serious damage on the environment, a claim strongly denied by Lydian.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian indicated that his government will enable Lydian to restart the controversial project. Pashinian cited findings of an environmental audit conducted by a Lebanese consultancy, ELARD. It essentially concluded that the project does not pose serious environmental risks.

According to Deputy Economy Minister Avag Avanesian, Lydian has invested $350 million in Amulsar and will spend another $130 million before launching mining operations there. Citing his ministry's estimates, Avanesian said the U.S.-headquartered company will initially produce $250 million worth of gold annually.

Now let's understand Amulsar's long and short term consequences:

Amulsar's case is one of the most challenging topics among Armenians. There have been so many complaints to the Government. However some scientists try to convince people that Amulsar would not be harmful and they try to provide guarantees. In 2018 protesters blockaded Amulsar and tried to force the government to stop the process. Some scientists believe that Armenians, especially those living in Jermuk and near directions will feel the short term consequences and it would be super harmful for their health. Other Armenian scientists present statistics that only some years after the processes, people will see long term consequences which would be more severe than the short term consequences.

The harmful impact and more details about Amulsar:

Amulsar mine is located at a distance of seven km from Jermuk in a city well-known for its precise mineral water. Article 21 of RA Land Code says that sanitary conservation zones are set withinside the inn areas, wherein carrying out explosions and any commercial enterprise sports polluting surroundings are banned.

Article ninety nine of RA Water Code says that the water assets in Armenia are challenged to conservation and unique necessities are set for his or her conservation. Nevertheless, the files submitted for the know-how display that the stability of the vicinity environment may be disturbed in Amulsar vicinity, which may also reason the lack of mineral water in Jermuk, in addition to the drainage basin of mineral water might be polluted. Besides, Article 108 of Water Code bans the region waste burial sites, landfill sites, cemeteries and different items having oblique dangerous effects at the first-class of water assets. Meanwhile water wanted for technological methods might be taken from the Arpa River and the polluted water will penetrate into groundwater basin after which to Kechout and Spandaryan reservoirs.

Amulsar's case is an important example to present some facts about scientific research and the circular economy. However, as we can understand from the facts mentioned above.Based on the aforementioned it can be concluded that the expertise of Amulsar mining project has been carried out not in depth, many provisions and requirements of the Armenian legislation have been violated, which resulted in issuing an illegitimate expertise opinion.

Due to the facts we can see that Article 10 of the Armenian Constitution has additionally been violated, which says "The kingdom shall ensure the safety and duplication of the surroundings and the affordable usage of herbal resources." While in keeping with 31 Article of the Armenian Constitution, "Everyone shall have the proper to freely own, use, get rid of and bequeath the belongings belonging to him/her. These analyses are provided by EcoLur Armenia, which has done massive research.

Way to make mining more suitable for both the environment and the economy!!!

Reuse the mining waste (tailings, rocks and water)
Eco-friendly equipment (electric equipments instead of diesel)
Rehabilitating mining sites

References

Journal: https://www.evnreport.com/politics/the-european-green-deal-and-its-implications-for-armenia

Book: https://www.eiti.am/file_manager/Useful%20materials/StrategicEng.pdf

Article: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/4ed56abf-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/4ed6abf-en

Overview https://www.elaw.org/files/mining-eia-guidebook/Chapter1.pdf

Mining in Armenia: https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/w-014-5093?transitionType=Default& ontextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true

Amulsar: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/1/31/mining-vs-the-environment-the-battle-over-armenias-amulsar-gold-mine

Suitable mining: https://empoweringpumps.com/5-ways-to-make-mining-more-sustainable/

Article: https://www.britannica.com/technology/mining

Croatia Research

Climate change research

Introduction

Day by day sea levels are rising, there are more and more floods, droughts, forest fires and heat waves. Every day the earth shows us that we are trampling and destroying it. This is called climate change. Climate change has been the biggest problem in the world for years. Earth's climate behavior is comprised of relationships among the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biogeochemical cycles intra-acting with the behavior and activities of all lifeforms, including humans. The main sources of greenhouse gases that are the result of human activity are:combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) in electricity generation, transport, industry and households (CO2), agriculture (CH4) and land use changes such as deforestation (CO2), waste disposal (CH4), use of industrial fluorinated gases.Human behavior and practices co-shape the climate; what we do matters for the habitability and livability of all life on Earth.

Climate change in Croatia

Croatia is getting warmer and warmer. At the beginning of the 21st century there was an increase in the mean annual temperature, which changed the climate. According to the 2040-2050 climate change scenario for Croatia, the temperature, especially the ground-level temperature (up to a height of 2 m), is forecast to rise regardless of the season. Warming will be higher in summer than in winter, in some places even exceeding the seasonal mean by more than 2.5 degrees. The prevailing parts of hot summer days will cause prolonged heat waves, which will have particularly serious consequences for agriculture, the economy and the population. This will cause severe risks of heat strokes and other heat-related illnesses posing a major threat to public health in the countries of the region.

Climate change: between tourist season and agriculture

Croatia is a country of opposites. It is located on the border of Eastern and Western Europe. Part of Croatia belongs to the Mediterranean climate, and part to central continental Europe climate. The Mediterranean part of the country relies on tourism for life and economy, while the continental part relies on agriculture. In this way, climate change is a "favor" to a part of Croatia and damage to another part. Due climate changes and rising of temperature number of tourists is increasing. Short- term result of increasing number of tourists is increasing of income for local economy which is benefit for citizens. However, tourists are coming to the Adriatic Coast by cars, trains, planes and buses, and due to increased traffic, CO2 emissions increase, which eventually leads to a rise in temperature. This is a kind of vicious circle where Mediterranean residents pay the price of air pollution to make more money in the tourist season. Continental Croatia has almost no benefits from tourist season. High temperatures in continental Croatia are harder to bear due to the lack of sea and places for refreshment. Agriculture in continental Croatia is the main source of income and heat shocks lead to reduced agricultural yield, poorer quality of arable land and less rain which decreases income for local citizens. In conclusion, climate change has benefits for one part of Croatia, while for another part of Croatia it does great harm. But climate change does more harm than good, and each of us needs to do everything we can to prevent them.

What we can do as individuals to help the earth and reduce climate change?

As humans we have a huge impact on the Earth and we can do a lot to reduce climate change.

As individuals we can:

reduce the amount of car use, walk if it's possible, do carpools
use electric cars which reduce the amount of greenhouse gases
save the water
recycle workable materials (paper, plastic, glass, cans ...)
reduce the use of plastic waste
repair and reuse the products

Sources:

Research from Poland group

IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON ANIMAL MIGRATION IN POLAND

Rapidly rising air and water temperatures contribute to drastic changes in the habitats of plants and animals which, thanks to the ongoing climatic modifications, are able to survive in previously unfriendly areas. The once-shocks that are happening today would take thousands of years to be felt. This gave different species time to adapt to the new situation. For many animal species, the previous climate of Poland was too harsh and the temperatures too low, but as a result of rising average temperatures on Earth, this situation is changing relatively quickly.

MIRATING ANIMALS

A perfect example of a new species migrating to Poland is the common praying mantis (Mantis religiosa).

This thermophilic insect significantly increases its range as it moves north. The species once appeared sporadically in the warmest regions of Poland. It turns out, however, that for at least several years it has also been found in more central provinces, and even in the north of the country. Parrots, like praying mantises, are associated with us as very exotic animals. Collar alexandretta (Psittacula krameri), brought as pets to Europe from Africa and Asia, have perfectly adapted to a colder climate, breed without any problems and are able to survive the winter months.

Behind our western border, the populations of these birds have been maintaining and growing for several years. In Poland, alexandretta has been observed for several years. These birds cause serious damage to the ecosystem, occupying hollows earlier than the native woodpeckers and the blacksmiths. Along with the warming of the climate, golden jackals also came to Poland. Predators slightly larger than foxes and smaller than wolves have so far been found in southern Europe. However, since the winters in Poland became milder, they began to occupy new territories. In recent years, two new species of reptiles have also been found in our country, the appearance of which may be related to warming.
These are the osprey dice snake (Natrix tessellata) and the wall lizard (Podarcis muralis).

Both species occur in our southern neighbors and have been observed in southern Poland. It is very likely that with the advancing climate change, they will face expansion to the north, and thus the settlement of the territory of our country. It is currently difficult to estimate the environmental impact of the emergence of these species, but it is possible that they will compete with native lizards and snakes and disrupt existing ecosystems.

THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ON ANIMAL MIGRATION in THE WORLD

Many scientists are concerned that migration may be disrupted by the development of the human economy and climate change. Here are some examples:
• Several hundred Malian elephants shown in the film "Great Migrations. Feast or starvation "are the last members of their species. The threat to their existence is not poaching (the tusks of this species of elephants are thick and short), but lack of access to water. In the dry season, the last hope of the elephants is Lake Banzena. If the area is inhabited, elephants will lose their only source of water for much of the year, an elephant without water is a dead elephant.

• The likely effect of global warming is that the ice floes on which the Pacific walrus lives and reproduces are shrinking at an alarming rate, putting these animals at risk for their feeding, reproduction and livelihoods.

• The spring arrivals of many songbirds in both Europe and North America coincide with the development of leaves on trees and the appearance of the caterpillars they feed on. If, as some researchers suspect, the caterpillars arrive earlier due to the rise in temperatures at this time of year, and the songbirds do not speed up their arrivals because they follow different directions, they may face a severe food shortage during the migration or breeding season.

• The almost complete absence of tuna in many traditional tuna habitats, such as the waters off the Azores coast, is a particularly worrying phenomenon. Tuna are among the largest predators in the ocean food chain, and without them, the biological balance is disturbed. Tuna stocks are declining rapidly in many areas due to over-commercial exploitation of fisheries.

References:

ARTICLES:

https://climatechangeresponses.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40665-015-0013-9

https://www.cbd.int/cop/cop-10/doc/unep-cms-cop10-cc-en.pdf

https://ochronaprzyrody.gdos.gov.pl/files/artykuly/5478/climate_change_invertebrates_PL_MO_CLS1.pdf

https://www.radiolodz.pl/broadcast_posts/62823-migracja-owadow-przez-ocieplenie-klimatu-jestem-eko

We did interview with scientists too: prof. dr hab Jacek Twardowski : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHqcZVnKlm8 ( it is in Polish).
We organized an event about climate changes : https://www.liceum.salez-wroc.pl/2021/06/06/akcja-dla-klimatu-salez-dla-klimatu/.

Research and Climate Change in Portugal