Global warming has already reached 1°C above the pre-industrial level, due to past and current greenhouse gas emissions. There is overwhelming evidence that this is resulting in profound consequences for ecosystems and people. The ocean is warmer, more acidic and less productive. Melting glaciers and ice sheets are causing sea level rise, and coastal extreme […]
North Sea cod was awarded a certificate of sustainability by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) two years ago, but the latest news is these certificates are going to be suspended because of stocks dropping below the safe biological level. The latest scientific advice from ICES is that the stock is below the safe biological level […]
How might fishing and farming policies be created to protect employment opportunities and the environment after Brexit? Scientists and key figures present their ideas in a paper for the British Ecological Society. The paper highlights the need for UK policy makers to adopt an “ecosystem based” approach, which prioritises the protection of natural assets and […]
The UK has announced a new global alliance to help drive urgent action to safeguard the world’s ocean and protect its precious wildlife. The Global Ocean Alliance will push for the trebling of existing globally-agreed targets so at least a third of the ocean is safeguarded in Marine Protected Areas over the next decade. It […]
The Royal Research Ship (RRS) Sir David Attenborough, formally named last week, was commissioned to replace the James Clark Ross and the Ernest Shackleton, which between them gave almost 50 years’ service in support of UK polar science. It was commissioned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) – part of UK Research and Innovation, […]
This article appeared in New Civil Engineer (19 Sep) The water industry should not fear a no-deal Brexit, a senior Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) figure has claimed. Following revelations of the details of Operation Yellowhammer, the codename used by the UK Treasury for cross-government civil contingency planning for the possibility of a […]
The Met Office, Defra, BEIS and the Environment Agency have launched the highest-ever resolution of climate projections produced for the UK: for the first time on a par with the resolution used for weather forecasting. The launch complements the other products already unveiled last year as part of the UKCP18 suite of climate projections. Dr Lizzie […]
Ofwat has published a report on customer satisfaction with Portsmouth Water and Anglian Water coming out as top performers, following strong results the year before too. The bottom performers are Thames Water and Hafren Dyfrdwy, and with Thames taking last place consistently over four years, it will have to return £100m to customers under Ofwat’s […]