First patient infected by tick-borne encephalitis virus For the first time, a person in the Netherlands has fallen ill after a bite from a tick carrying the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBE virus).
Less air pollution from traffic and industry but increased contribution from agriculture International air policy has shown good results in Europe: in the past 35 years the air has become cleaner. Nevertheless air pollution is still an important cause of premature death.
Need for circular use of materials in construction Construction and demolition waste are being recycled on a large scale to use as a foundation for e.g. roads, but recycled building materials are hardly ever used in the construction of buildings.
Flu season in the winter of 2014 / 2015 more severe and longer than preceding years The flu epidemic in the winter of 2014 / 2015 lasted 21 weeks and as such was the longest epidemic ever recorded in the Netherlands. Nearly two million people suffered from flu-like symptoms.
Icy air measurements Bernice Notenboom’s Arctic March expedition team has reached the summit of Greenland. She has conquered the 3500-metre high summit on Greenland with functioning air measuring equipment.
Climate reporter Bernice Notenboom arrives in Greenland for continuation of climate expedition Climate reporter and expedition leader Bernice Notenboom and her team left for Greenland on 4 May 2015 for the second part of the Arctic March.
New insights on ammonia emissions Calculated ammonia emissions in the Netherlands are still declining. However, emissions overall are greater than previously assumed.
Big Data gives more insight into the health impacts of air pollution Long-term exposure to particulate air pollution and nitrogen dioxide has been found to be associated with total mortality and mortality from respiratory diseases and lung cancer in the Netherlands.
Risk of degradation of European ecosystems by air pollution is decreasing The number of natural areas in Europe that are threatened by air pollution will decrease between 2005 and 2020.
RIVM involvement in UN/EU missions RIVM-experts from the Environmental Assessment Unit (EAU) have undertaken two missions involving an emergency situation in the Solomon Islands and an environmental assessment in Georgia.