When you see videos of cute raccoons on Instagram, you wouldn’t think that this furry animal is one of the 1,500 most problematic invasive species in Europe today. But it is. Around 13,000 alien species currently live on the continent, and studies predict a significant increase in that number by 2050.

This poses serious threats to Europe’s endemic species. In order to address this, a group of European researchers have developed different scenarios of the realities we could face in 2050. Based on these, it is easier to establish what actions should be taken to safeguard the continent’s biodiversity.

Methane emissions are a major factor in our current climate crisis, and while cows tend to take the blame, the fossil fuel industry also emits huge amounts of it. Much of these harmful emissions come from leaks. Detecting and fixing them could help reduce global warming.

And it is only a few days until - perhaps - some athletes dive into the River Seine during the Paris Olympics, just as some French politicians have recently done to prove its cleanliness. Today we look back to the good old days, when cities had clean rivers and allowed their citizens to bathe in them.