Mediterranean: main environmental issues and concerns

• Published in: Euro-Mediterranean journal for environmental integration Vol. 7; no. 4; pp. 477 - 481
• Main Authors: Papamichael, Iliana, Voukkali, Irene, Zorpas, Antonis A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.12.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Air pollution; Animal manures; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Biodiversity; Biodiversity loss; Biogas; Carbon; Carbon dioxide; Cereals; Climate change; Climatic conditions; Consumption; Cow's milk; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Editorial; Emissions; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental effects; Environmental Management; Environmental Science and Engineering; Farm buildings; Fertilization; Fertilizers; Food contamination; Food products; Greenhouse gases; Infertility; Intensive farming; Life cycle analysis; Life cycle assessment; Life cycles; Milk; Nitrates; Outdoor air quality; PCB; Pesticides; Plastic pollution; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Polyethylene terephthalate; River ecology; Soil contamination; Soil degradation; Soil pollution; Soil water; Soils; Sustainable development; Trace elements; Waste Management/Waste Technology; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water pollution; Water Pollution Control; Water scarcity; Turkey; Nile River; Italy; France; Tunisia; Mediterranean Sea; Malta; Mediterranean Area
• ISSN: 2365-6433; 2365-7448
• DOI: 10.1007/s41207-022-00336-0

Agricultural intensification combined with changing climate conditions due to decreased precipitation often has negative effects on the environment through the intensified use of irrigation and nitrogen fertilization leading to increase of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) emissions, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, water scarcity and nitrate contamination (Luis Moreno et al. 2022; Vanino et al. 2022). Through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, the GHGs emissions ranged from 1.5 to 2.5 kg of CO2 eq/kg of Energy Corrected buffalo Milk (ECM), slightly higher than the ranges for cow milk. According to Aksay and Tabak (2022), biogas potential from agricultural activities in Turkey amounts to 17 billion m3/year while at the same time, animal manure needs to undergo proper treatment due to GHGs emissions, soil infertility and water pollution. [...]the electricity generation potential from biogas is 39 GWh/year while the reduction of carbon emissions will be approximately 174 million tons of CO2/year