26.10.2020

The environmental effects of offshore produced water discharges

A new overview article on produced water describes Norwegian environmental research in the area over the past 30 years. The article looks at, among other things, whether fish and other animals are harmed by produced water discharges, and whether the ecosystems in the Barents Sea may be extra vulnerable to discharges.

21.10.2020

New NIVA studies on environmental effects of a green bioeconomy

The green shift implies that society will rely more on renewable biomass resources for the provision of food, fodder, fibre and fuel. Such a transition will have benefits but also trade-offs. In a special issue from the Nordic Centre of Excellence Biowater, NIVA has contributed with studies on the role of forests and forestry in the context of the green shift. 

09.07.2020

Ocean Acidification and Human Health

While ocean acidification was initially perceived as a threat only to the marine realm, the authors of a new publication argue that it is also an emerging human health issue.

16.06.2020

Need for better approaches to tackle multiple stressors in European lakes and rivers

A newly released Nature paper with several NIVA co-authors highlights a continued management need for reduction of nutrient stress in lakes. It also shows that river management requires more complicated approaches to tackle several stressors simultaneously.

15.06.2020

Wastewater treatment boom changes nutrient balance in lakes

A vast number of new wastewater treatment plants in developing countries has led to an imbalance between phosphorous and nitrogen in surface waters. The result could be excessive growth of potentially poisonous algae with a preference for nitrogen. A new study calls for better nutrient reduction in order to maintain ecosystem biodiversity.

08.06.2020

New study calls for joint effort to address ocean acidification problem

A new study shows that ocean acidification is a global problem with profoundly negative environmental, social and economic consequences. Researchers call for a coordinated effort to address the problem – and points to Norway as a good example on how to combat ocean acidification.

27.02.2020

Bottled water is not only for drinking

In today’s world, where pollution and contamination frequently have a negative impact on our natural resources, it is vital to maintain regular and regulated testing of chemicals, toxins, or other forms of contamination. However, in order to do this properly, we need the correct tools and methods so that we can recognize when conditions aren’t ideal.

03.02.2020

Top Priority to Curb Plastic Pollution: Empowering Those at the Bottom

In the January issue of Cell Press journal OneEarth, NIVA scientist Luca Nizzetto and co-writer Satish Sinha of Toxic Links argue that further empowering marginalized waste pickers in developing countries (already involved in the efficient recovery of value and materials from recyclable plastic waste) is key to curbing plastic inputs to the ocean and tackling several sustainable development goals. Financial mechanisms aimed at valuing also the non-recyclable plastic waste can trigger these workers' spontaneous engagement to curb plastic releases, with an expenditure lower than that of pollution impacts.

18.11.2019

The global distribution of freshwater plants is controlled by catchment characteristics

Unlike land plants, photosynthesis in many aquatic plants relies on bicarbonate in addition to CO2 to compensate for the low availability of CO2 in water. A study in SCIENCE by Iversen and co-authors from among others NIVA shows that the abundance of plant species with the ability to use bicarbonate increases in hard water lakes with greater bicarbonate concentrations. In streams, where the CO2 concentration is higher than in air, bicarbonate users are few.

18.11.2019

Silver and titanium nanomaterials present in wastewater have toxic effects on crustaceans and fish cells

New research shows that silver and titanium nanoparticles in present in treated wastewater may have toxic effects on algae, crustaceans and fish gill cells, and the effects seem to be species dependent.

15.09.2019

Unpacking uncertainty in times of climate change

Climate change undoubtedly is one of the most significant development challenges of our times. Research over the last few decades has demonstrated clearly the links between anthropogenically induced emissions and climatic changes. Despite these scientific advancements, uncertainties persist at multiple scales; with respect to future societal emissions, predictions of accuracy, frequency and scale of climatic events, or possible feedback loops.

28.08.2019

Ecosystem Functioning in Rivers and Riparian Zones - Water Special Issue

NIVA research manager Nikolai Friberg guest edits a Special Issue of Water, a peer-reviewed open access journal on water science and technology, including the ecology and management of water resources, and is published monthly online by MDPI. This special issue is now open for submission with deadline August 30 2020.

24.06.2019

Destructive insect outbreaks and cod collapse: Why didn’t the management measures help?

When fundamental changes started to happen in three ecosystems in North America, people reacted: They completely stopped pollution, forestry and fishing. But the attempts were futile. It was impossible to bring the ecosystems back to their original state. Why didn’t the management efforts have any effect?

11.04.2019

It is all in the genes: Decoding the effects of multiple stressors

Genomic markers are the key in a new approach for assessing the toxic effects arising from exposure to multiple stressors.

28.11.2018

Pollutant-ban has made snails healthy again

The environmental pollutant TBT can mimic hormones to the extent that it sterilizes female snails and make them grow non-functional penises and vas deferens. But for the first time since monitoring started up in 1991 and the total ban of TBT entered force in 2008, only fertile dogwhelk have been found along the Norwegian coastline.

21.11.2018

The long road from Arctic science to international law

The road to the Minamata Convention on mercury took almost 15 years and has been significantly influenced by Arctic research and Norwegian efforts. Why and in what way did Arctic research play such a significant role in this road towards the convention?

30.05.2018

Chemicals are leaching from Norwegian roads and tunnels

Despite national objectives of reduced use and substitution of hazardous substances, more than two hundred tons were still in use in transport related products in Norway in 2012. Which chemicals are they, how exposed are we humans, and do they leak out to the environment? Newly published research provides some answers.

24.05.2018

Wildlife in the ditches need a detox cure

When it´s raining on the roads, slops of road dust and contaminants drain into the road trenches. What does it do to wildlife living by the road?

07.02.2018

Sea ice algae blooms in the dark

Researchers from Aarhus University have measured a new world record: Small ice algae on the underside of the Arctic sea ice live and grow at a light level corresponding to only 0.02% of the light at the surface of the ice. Algae are the primary component of the Arctic food web and produce food far earlier in the year than previously thought.

01.02.2018

Microplastics in agricultural soils: A reason to worry?

Microplastics are increasingly seen as an environmental problem of global proportions. While the focus to date has been on microplastics in the ocean and their effects on marine life, microplastics in soils have largely been overlooked. Researchers are concerned about the lack of knowledge regarding potential consequences of microplastics in agricultural landscapes from application of sewage sludge.

31.01.2018

What time is it? The Arctic charr’s inner clock meets the midnight sun

Below ice and snow, in pitch dark, Arctic charr’s circadian clock still ticks with precision. The exception comes during the darkest and brightest weeks of the year, when daily activity rhythms break down.

23.01.2018

How are river ecosystems affected by regulation?

More and more rivers are regulated to serve human needs such as flood protection, transport, irrigation, hydropower generation or drinking water supply. Do altered flow dynamics affect organisms that inhabit the river bottom? And how does river flow interact with other ecosystem stressors like acidification or nutrient enrichment? A recent research project combined a flume experiment with findings from 64 regulated and unregulated river sites in Norway and Germany to find the answers.

17.01.2018

Turf Wars: The New Battle Front of Globally Declining Kelp Forests

For decades in Norway, the species rich kelp forests have been grazed down by sea urchins, leaving behind nothing but naked rocks. As a result of climate change, sea urchins along parts of the Norwegian coast are now on retreat, while the same climate changes are probably the cause of the new, big threat towards the global kelp forests: the rise of turf algae.

29.12.2017

Effects of multiple stresses hydropower, acid deposition and climate change on water chemistry and salmon populations in the River Otra, Norway

In order to predict and manage the long-term health and status of the Otra river's salmon populations, a new study has considered acidification as part of a multiple stress combination affecting the river alongside hydropower and climate change.

21.12.2017

Mapping the global impact of shrinking glaciers on river invertebrates

River invertebrates react the same way to decreasing glacier cover wherever in the world they are, say scientists who have evaluated more than one million of them in diverse regions with shrinking glaciers, to determine the impact of global environmental change.

12.12.2017

European restoration and habitat preservation

Several important marine habitats in the European oceans are about to disappear. No complete mapping of existing or threated marine habitats in Europe are available, nor a full overview of the restoration potential of degraded habitats. These are the objectives of the EU financed four-year MERCES-project.

07.12.2017

DNA analyses reveal secrets about the Pacific oyster

Since the millennium, water masses in the Skagerrak sea have become sufficiently warm for Pacific oyster larvae to survive the journey to Norway from the coasts of Sweden and Denmark. In the same period, the occurrence of wild oysters has exploded along the Norwegian coast. Is oyster larvae drift across the Skagerrak the cause of this great increase? New DNA analyses provide insight into the origin of the first wild Norwegian sea oyster populations.

23.10.2017

Caged blue mussels as environmental detectives

May 2015, Kristiansand, Norway. Two researchers in a boat loaded with thousands of blue mussels, collected from a mussel farm in Lillesand. The boat heads out the Kristiansand fjord, and the researchers deploy the blue mussels in the sea. Why are they doing this?

12.07.2017

Chinese lakes less polluted after sanitation clean-up

Pollution levels in many Chinese lakes have declined somewhat from high levels in the past decade, helped by billion-dollar investments in urban sewers and waste water treatment.

12.04.2017

Over Half of Fish Stocks Worldwide Are Missing the Opportunity to Maximize Sustainable Yields

New research published today in Conservation Letters finds that over half of fish stocks are below levels that would yield greater long-term catches, enhance food security and avoid overfishing. Of those fish stocks, over a third are at 80 percent below sustainable catch.

30.03.2017

A new approach to amplifying DNA; A small paradigm shift within molecular photocopying

Analyzing DNA is useful for a number of vital applications. This includes diagnosis and monitoring of diseases, identification of criminals, and studying the function of a targeted segment of DNA. However, methods used for analyses often require more DNA than may be available in a typical sample. ‘Therefor, amplification is necessary, but not always straightforward. The most widely used amplification or photocopying method is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A new PCR method could help the amplification process, and thus develop robust assays that previously would not have been possible.

03.02.2017

Environmental effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: A review

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill constituted an ecosystem-level injury in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Much oil spread at 1100–1300 m depth, contaminating and affecting deepwater habitats. In this review, NIVA and American partners summarize the environmental research literature on the accident.

03.02.2017

Effective restoration of aquatic ecosystems

Despite having increased human wellbeing in the past, intense modifications by multiple and interacting pressures have degraded ecosystems and the sustainability of their goods and services. For ecosystem restoration to deliver on multiple environmental and societal targets, the process of restoration must be redesigned to create a unified and scale-dependent approach that integrates natural and social sciences as well as the broader restoration community.

19.01.2017

Evolution in real time on Bear Island

Researchers tracked the northern-most freshwater fish over an entire year with surprising results.

19.01.2017

Anti-Sea lice drugs may pose hazard to non-target crustaceans

To treat sea lice infections in aquaculture, veterinary medicines are widely used. However, these medicines may cause collateral damage.

01.07.2016

The first lead measurements from the Amundsen Sea

Efforts to reduce industrial emissions of lead have been ongoing for several decades. The near-global phase-out of leaded automobile gasoline has showed decreases in environmental lead contamination. A reasonable expectation is that industrial lead concentrations have also measurably decreased in the Southern Ocean. Since lead also has natural sources, a group of scientists decided to examine the relative importance of anthropogenic lead in the Amundsen Sea, a shelf region of West Antarctica, in the first measurements of this sort.

27.06.2016

A new “high-resolution” computer simulator to predict future environmental pollution scenarios

Where do chemical pollutants go after they have been emitted to the environment? For how long will these dangerous substances be present in air, water, soil and sediments? Can we assess in advance whether they will reach concentrations capable of causing adverse effects on plants, animals, and humans?

27.10.2015

Despite dead zones and algal blooms – the Baltic Sea is recovering

The improvements are according to a study carried out by Danish, Swedish and Finnish scientists a direct result of reduced inputs of nutrients.

02.10.2015

Caution on the use of aquaculture medicines

Current environmental risk assessment data requirements are not sufficient for all aquaculture medicines.

17.09.2015

Expanding mountain forest promotes climate warming

Birch forest is currently expanding in mountain regions and far north. This trend is related to climate warming and reduced grazing pressure. A recent study shows that increased birch forest cover at high elevations promotes climate warming.

17.09.2015

Water Research Across Borders in the Balkans

For the first time, biologists from Albania and Macedonia have worked together to improve ecological status in Lake Ohrid.

17.09.2015

Welcome to MARS

The Vansjø-Hobøl catchment in Østfold County has particular problems with water quality. The catchment has been heavily studied by several EU-projects and as a pilot project for the Water Framework Directive in Norway. To help understand and predict the impact of multiple stressors on freshwaters, the MARS-project uses their most recent models for water quality in a totally new way.

09.07.2015

A Call for Deep Ocean Stewardship

The world’s deep ocean spans more than half the planet. Humankind needs and depends upon many of the deep ocean’s treasures, and the race is already on to exploit them.

22.06.2015

Pesticides in China

Researchers at NIVA have recently published a review on pesticide levels and environmental risk in aquatic environments in China.

03.03.2015

Risk Assessment of Veterinary Medicines Considerably Underestimated

In Norway, the aquaculture industry is economically very important, therefore possible threats, such as parasitic infections from sea lice, are important to control.

05.09.2014

First Report of a Chinese PFOS Alternative Overlooked for 30 Years

Researchers from the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), in collaboration with their Chinese colleagues, recently found a new chemical compound which has evaded the attention of environmental research and regulation for several decades.

10.10.2013

Used silicone breast implants can reveal our polluted bodies

Researchers from the Norwegian institute for Water Research (NIVA) have discovered that used breast implants can be used to measure persistent environmental pollutants in human bodies.