Sumburgh Head lies at the southern tip of mainland Shetland. This dramatic 100-metre-high rocky spur has a reputation for being one of the biggest and most accessible seabird colonies in Britain. Thousands of puffins, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars gather there every spring to breed. Or at least they used to – for this year Sumburgh […]
The Dutch government has announced plans to build three more windfarms off the Noord-Holland coast and north of the Wadden Islands, in addition to five new windfarms already agreed upon. A Dutch energy network also has plans for an island of wind turbines on the Dogger bank. Local fishermen claim that 25% of Dutch fishing […]
An EU project led by the German Geomar Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research is looking for jellyfish with a talent for catching microplastics. The objective is to develop, test and promote a gelatinous solution to microplastic pollution by developing a microplastics filter (GoJelly) for commercial and public use. The main raw material would be jellyfish […]
New ‘State of the Environment’ reports from the Environment Agency have been published, covering: water resources – how much clean water we have available water quality – including rivers, estuaries, coasts and groundwater The reports include status and trends, as well as current and future pressures. According to the water resources report, rivers and wildlife […]
Defra has published its Water abstraction plan 2017. This sets out how the government will reform the way it manages water abstraction, to protect the environment and improve access to water. It has been updated to include the first four Initial Priority Catchments: Idle & Torne in East Midlands, The South Forty Foot in Lincolnshire […]
The European Environment Agency (EEA) reports that 85% of swimming sites across Europe monitored in 2017 met the European Union’s highest and most stringent ‘excellent’ quality standards for waters mostly free from pollutants. The results give a good indication where holiday makers can find the best quality bathing waters this summer. Nearly all 21.801 bathing […]
We recently reported on George Monbiot’s attack on natural capital, an approach he describes as “morally wrong, intellectually vacuous, emotionally alienating and self-defeating”. The backlash is now well and truly underway, led by (who else?) the Natural Capital Coalition. According to the Coalition, “he continues to fundamentally misrepresent the approach, leads a named attack on […]
It is reported this week that the Norfolk Rivers Trust is using a pollution solution including buffer strips and silt traps to help curb run-off from a 1,000-pig farm in West Acre, Norfolk. The sediment run-off came from an outdoor pig unit. During heavy rainfall events, suspended sediment came off the field and onto a […]