Pollution

The stark reality of air pollution for all of us

What is going on here?  The World Health Organisation’s top environmental health expert, Maria Neira, has warned that delays in addressing the impacts of air pollution will have dire consequences for global health. On the eve of COP28, she gave the following warning: “Whether they like it or not – whether they know it or not – the negotiators at Cop are…

Vaping vs. Smoking vs. Planet: Should we ban all nicotine use?

Silver vape lying discarded on the floor of a forest

Disposable vapes look set to be banned in the UK, due to concerns backed by the Local Government Association about teenage addiction, fire risk, and plastic pollution. Whilst factors such as the health risks and addictiveness of vaping are bad enough, the environmental impacts must also be considered. The scale of the waste they produce is staggering, with eight disposable vapes being…

Fishy issues – The curious case of coral bleaching

The importance of coral Corals are arguably one of the coolest creations of nature. They are often referred to as the “rainforests of the sea” due to their high levels of biodiversity. Although corals only represent 1% of the world’s oceans, they support 25% of all marine species.  Coral reefs host a wide range of marine life, including fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and…

Wishcycling: when rubbish ends up at the recycling centre

What’s going on here?  If only all our waste problems were solved by dropping things in the recycling bin and saying, “that’ll do” and then walking away thinking we’ve done something good today. This (very) common behaviour is known as wishcycling. It refers to the act of putting incorrect items into the recycling waste stream in the hope that they will end…

Air quality filters accidentally collecting biodiversity data

A badger in the wild

Whatʼs going on here? Air quality monitoring stations dotted around the planet have been inadvertently collecting airborne environmental DNA (eDNA) without anybody noticing, finds a new report. The remarkable discovery reveals that thousands of filters routinely testing for pollutants are unintentionally breathing in trace eDNA shed by animals, plants, and fungi. What does this mean? In recent years, researchers have discovered eDNA…