Raw sewage that scientists say is “laced with microplastic” is being released into UK rivers routinely, according to a study by scientists at the University of Manchester. The researchers found that one site on the River Tame in Greater Manchester was the most plastic-polluted riverbed in the UK. Read more: Wastewater is ‘polluting rivers with […]
The ISS is the largest orbiting laboratory ever built. The first stage was launched in November 1998 by Roscosmos. Since then, the US, the European, Japanese and Canadian space agencies have contributed more modules, robotic arms and giant solar arrays. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57106618
While the water company, United Utilities, declined to be interviewed, Jo Harrison, the company’s director of environment said in a statement: “We understand that wastewater will be a contributing factor to microplastics pollution. We are involved in a wider two-year study, beginning this summer… to understand the sources and consequences of microplastics in the environment.” […]
“They were going to burn our boat,” says Ms Towns who was at sea at the time, testing vaquita-friendly nets. “When I arrived back, other fishers that work with this alternative gear, they were protecting our boat, telling them [the rioters], ‘This is not your enemy! Don’t burn this boat’.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-57070814
“To realise the potential of forests as a climate solution, we need support for regeneration in climate delivery plans and must tackle the drivers of deforestation, which in the UK means strong domestic laws to prevent our food causing deforestation overseas.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57065612
The social enterprise company that makes Atomik is run by scientists who work in the 4,000 square kilometre Chernobyl exclusion zone – an area abandoned after the catastrophic 1986 nuclear disaster. Their studies have included growing experimental crops to find out if grain, and other food grown in the zone, could be used to make […]
Prof Euan Nisbet, from the greenhouse gas group at Royal Holloway, University of London, said: “The actions it suggests, like cutting gas leaks and landfill emissions, are sensible, cost-effective and economically realistic. If fully implemented, these relatively inexpensive measures will help avoid nearly 0.3C of warming by mid-century.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56933443
“The next oldest grave in Africa is about 74,000 years old,” explained Dr Louise Humphrey from the Natural History Museum in London. “Interestingly, that was also a young child, but it was poorly excavated about 50 years ago, so we don’t know much about it.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56986457
In our monthly feature, Then and Now, we reveal some of the ways that planet Earth has been changing against the backdrop of a warming world. Here, we look at the effects of global heating on Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world – and how Sub-Saharan Africa is learning to cope […]
Prof Jonathan Grigg, who sits on the UK Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution, told the BBC that unless new technologies were developed to reduce harmful air pollution from wood fires, then wood should not be burnt in areas where exposure to pollution from fossil fuel emissions is high. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56949426
Prof Charles Wellman, of the University of Sheffield, said: “The origins of complex multicellularity and the origin of animals are considered two of the most important events in the history of life on Earth, our discovery sheds new light on both of these. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-56917272
In a review of surveys and data on the role of nature and green spaces in the past year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said shifts in personal behaviour and corporate attitudes could mean that the UK, post-lockdown, will value and interact with nature on a much greater scale than before the pandemic. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56889322