High levels of antibiotics and other drugs have been found in water in the country’s most treasured and protected landscapes, raising concerns over antimicrobial resistance
Photographs by Christopher Thomond
Nestled within the Peak District national park, the stream known as Brook Head Beck meanders between undulating green hills. It is mossy and dank by the river, surrounded by the gentle trickling sound of water, the smell of leaves starting to rot underfoot, and a weave of branches overhead with leaves turning golden in the autumn chill. This place is renowned for its quaint English beauty, and the government has designated it an ecological site of special scientific interest, meaning it holds some of the country’s most precious wildlife.
Yet within this pristine-looking stream flows a concoction of chemicals that could pose a threat to the freshwater organisms and humans who come into contact with it. Recent testing found it had the second highest levels of chemical pollution in the UK – after a site in Glasgow – with concentrations of pharmaceuticals higher than inner-city rivers in London, Belfast, Leeds and York.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
09/27/2024 - 03:00
09/27/2024 - 02:00
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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09/27/2024 - 02:00
We should be celebrating the revival of the bluefin tuna – but a ravenous fishing industry, backed by government and ‘science’, is already licking its lips
Over the past three weeks, I’ve been watching one of the greatest natural spectacles on Earth, here in south Devon. At a certain station of the tide, within a few metres of the coast, the sea erupts with monsters. They can travel at 45mph. They grow to 2.5 metres (8ft 2in) in length and 600kg in weight. They herd smaller fish – saury and garfish in this case – against the surface, then accelerate into the shoal so fast that they overshoot sometimes 2 or 3 metres into the air. Bluefin tuna. They are here, on our southern coasts, right now.
When I’ve mentioned this on social media, some people refuse to believe me: you must be seeing dolphins, they say. Yes, I often see dolphins too, and it’s not hard to spot the difference. They don’t believe it because we have forgotten that our coastal waters were once among the richest on Earth. Bluefin and longfin tuna were common here. So were several species of whale, including sperm, fin, humpback and Atlantic grey, and a wide range of large sharks. Halibut the size of barn doors hunted the coastal shallows. Cod reached almost 2 metres in length, haddock nearly a metre, turbot were the size of tabletops, oysters as big as dinner plates, shoals of herring and mackerel were miles long.
George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
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09/27/2024 - 01:53
Why are so many settler Australians haunted by this almost mythical bird? Why?
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09/27/2024 - 00:00
Network includes derogatory profiles of figures such as UN experts and food writer Michael Pollan, and is part of an effort to downplay pesticide dangers, records suggest
In 2017, two United Nations experts called for a treaty to strictly regulate dangerous pesticides, which they said were a “global human rights concern”, citing scientific research showing pesticides can cause cancers, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s and other health problems.
Publicly, the pesticide industry’s lead trade association dubbed the recommendations “unfounded and sensational assertions”. In private, industry advocates have gone further.
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09/26/2024 - 23:00
Project asks people to make ‘promises to nature’ after ‘rollercoaster’ year for the Northumberland landmark
Its illegal felling brought feelings of grief, distress and anger but after a “rollercoaster” 12 months custodians of the Sycamore Gap tree say they want its legacy to become one of hope.
The National Trust and Northumberland national park have announced an initiative inviting the public to request one of 49 saplings from the tree.
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09/26/2024 - 21:30
At least 46 people, most of them children, drowned in the eastern state of Bihar while bathing in rivers swollen by recent floods in observance of Jivitputrika Vrat.
At least 46 people have drowned, most of them children, while bathing in rivers and ponds swollen by recent floods, during the observance of a Hindu religious festival celebrated by millions in India.
The dead include 37 children and seven women who drowned in the eastern state of Bihar in scattered incidents across 15 districts, authorities said on Thursday.
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09/26/2024 - 13:35
The south-east of England could also see lightning, winds of up to 50mph and even ‘isolated, brief tornadoes’
Parts of the UK have been hit by further flash floods and the Met Office has warned of more heavy rain throughout the evening and into Friday morning.
The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (Torro) is also forecasting that much of the south-east of England could see lightning, winds up to 50mph and even “isolated brief tornadoes”. This includes much of East Anglia, the south-east Midlands and central southern England.
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09/26/2024 - 12:19
Researchers have studied how nanoplastic affects aquatic organisms in lakes and rivers. The results are surprising and the researchers are the first to show that some species are being wiped out, while others -- such as cyanobacteria that contribute to algal blooms -- are completely unaffected.
09/26/2024 - 12:19
Squinting into the treetops won't reveal the tiny organisms up there. But these creatures leave clues, in the form of DNA, on the leaves and branches. Now, researchers report that they have developed a way to collect this genetic material: a drone with a specialized fabric probe. The team flew the drone above the rainforest and, based on DNA collected by the probe, identified the invertebrates in the canopy.
