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Exclusive: Some scientists say many detections are most likely error, with one high-profile study called a ‘joke’
High-profile studies reporting the presence of microplastics throughout the human body have been thrown into doubt by scientists who say the discoveries are probably the result of contamination and false positives. One chemist called the concerns “a bombshell”.
Studies claiming to have revealed micro and nanoplastics in the brain, testes, placentas, arteries and elsewhere were reported by media across the world, including the Guardian. There is no doubt that plastic pollution of the natural world is ubiquitous, and present in the food and drink we consume and the air we breathe. But the health damage potentially caused by microplastics and the chemicals they contain is unclear, and an explosion of research has taken off in this area in recent years.
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Wildfires now destroy twice as much tree cover per year as two decades ago – a crisis fuelled by climate change
The world is losing forests to fire at an unsustainable rate, experts have warned.
Wildfires have always been part of nature’s cycle, but in recent decades their scale, frequency and intensity in carbon-rich forests have surged.
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Seven out of 10 targets have little likelihood of being met by 2030, Office for Environmental Protection says
The government will not meet its targets to save wildlife in England and is failing on almost all environmental measures, the Office for Environmental Protection watchdog has said.
In a damning report, the OEP has found that seven of the 10 targets set in the Environment Act 2021 have little likelihood of being met by 2030, which is the deadline set in law.
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Exclusive: ClimatePartner analysis shows how move would risk plunging Earth further into climate catastrophe
US plans to exploit Venezuela’s oil reserves could by 2050 consume more than a tenth of the world’s remaining carbon budget to limit global heating to 1.5C, according to an exclusive analysis.
The calculation highlights how any moves to further exploit the South American nation’s oil reserves – the largest in the world, at least on paper – would put increasing pressure on climate goals, and risk plunging the Earth further into climate catastrophe.
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‘Historic’ moment in biggest coal-consuming countries could bring decline in global emissions, analysis says
Coal power generation fell in China and India for the first time since the 1970s last year, in a “historic” moment that could bring a decline in global emissions, according to analysis.
The simultaneous fall in coal-powered electricity in the world’s biggest coal-consuming countries had not happened since 1973, according to analysts at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, and was driven by a record roll-out of clean energy projects.
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A deadly fungus has already wiped out 90 species and threatens 500 more but Anthony Waddle is hoping gene replacement could be their salvation
Standing ankle-deep in water between two bare cottonwood trees on a hot spring day, eight-year-old Anthony Waddle was in his element. His attention was entirely absorbed by the attempt to net tadpoles swimming in a reservoir in the vast Mojave desert.
It was “one of the perfect moments in my childhood”, he says.
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Blacka Moor, South Yorkshire: The very cold daytime temperatures should be welcomed, and the reason is right beneath our feet
At the edge of the moor, there’s a knot of birch that over the years has become familiar to me – not for the trees themselves, but for the earth that nourishes them. Here the ground turns to a peaty gloop and the path braids as walkers explore different ways to keep their boots out of the mud. Not today, though. Today the ground is iron-hard and has been for a week, with daytime temperatures remaining at or below freezing. I can walk where I want.
Freezing soil has lots of benefits, some of them magical. For example, the earth beneath my feet has become a kind of time machine, preserving the foot and hoof prints of animals and people that came this way days ago. Among the prints are those of red deer; looking up, I see two hinds 50 metres away, breath condensing against the cold air. I’m tempted to ask: “Was this you?”
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Professional mermaids risk hypothermia, seasickness and the cling of skin-tight silicone, but the reward is becoming an ‘ocean ambassador’ – and a bit more colour in the world
Propelled by a shimmering silicon tail, Katrin Gray spins underwater, blowing kisses to the audience as her long, copper hair floats around her face. Her seemingly effortless movement is anything but – a professional mermaid’s free diving and performance skills require training, practice and total concentration.
Mermaiding has become a global cottage industry, with pageants, conventions, retreats and meet-ups, where people gather in “pods” to practise their dolphin kicks. Makers create bespoke tail flukes, bejewelled bras, mermaid hair and even prosthetic gills for professional and hobbyist “seasters”. There is even a Netflix reality series called MerPeople, which documents the occasionally perilous journey of several aspiring professional merfolk. “No dead mermaids,” is the motto of one business featured.
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Cyclists prepare for Australia’s big race by training in extreme temperatures – and they have noticed a contradiction in the relationship with Santos
The first time Maeve Plouffe trained in the heat, she was in Paris in the lead-up to the Olympics. It was supposed to be an easy ride to help get used to the conditions. When she returned, she fainted from heat sickness.
“That’s how badly I was affected,” she says. “Racing in extreme heat is like playing chicken with your environment.”
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‘I don’t think anyone realised how bad it would get,’ says one resident, who says she might need a boat or a helicopter
Ashleigh Brieffies is standing on the front steps of her home in central Queensland on Monday afternoon as knee-deep water sweeps over the grounds of her property.
“If it comes up another 2ft we’ll probably be underwater,” says Brieffies, who lives in Clermont. “I think we’ll be looking for a boat or a chopper.”
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