On 20 May, I'll be part of a webinar on pollution from historic landfill across Europe We'll be discussing the joint investigation on old landfill by @watershed-i.bsky.social + @investigate-europe.eu If you'd like to join us, please follow the link below 👇🏾 eu01web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

- Cancers - unexplained scarring on the lungs - impaired fetal growth - premature birth - heart disease Canadian doctors warn of alarming health trends near fracking sites: share.google/Y3bkaYqgOUfb...

B.C. Doctors Flag Alarming Health Trends Near Fracking Sites

Researchers met with the city of Dawson Creek in British Columbia to share insights about how fracking in the region is affecting public health.

share.google

After a decade as a de facto poop correspondent, it was great to see the sewage scandal brought together in Channel 4’s brilliant drama Dirty Business. Even if you think you know the story, watch it. I’ve tried to sum up the whole malodorous affair here: watershedinvestigations.com/a-decade-ins...

#HPV awareness day. HPV driven throat cancers are increasing in 40-50 year olds. With early detection they respond well to treatment so know the symptoms - neck lump, change in voice/swallow, change in appearance of tonsils. Even better get vaccinated and vaccinate your kids. #HPVawareness #cansky

Anson Mackay 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈@ans.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Today is HPV Awareness Day. 80% of people will get a high-risk #HPV infection at some point in their lives. Unfortuinately for a small minority like myself, the virus will go onto cause cancer. But it can be prevented through vaccination. #HPVawareness #cansky oraclehnc.org.uk/get-involved...

Map of parts of the UK with potential for fracking exploration (British Geological Survey). There's a current pause on fracking in the UK & the government is considering making it illegal. Reform, however, have pledged to license fracking if elected. nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/51...

Leana Hosea@leanahosea.bsky.social · 7mo ago

The site was suspended in 2022 following 120 tremors - that's from just 2 wells. In 3 years, the company failed to completely clean up the site + return it to farmland. If firms are either unwilling or unable to clean up 2 wells, what hope if fracking were expanded? share.google/n0qUyFjr7uaY...

Evidence for large-scale #microplastic pollution of the human body is pretty weak. Biological pathways are implausible and analytical protocols still under development. But this doesn’t address the media’s role in hyping claims - often ignoring research caveats www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘A bombshell’: doubt cast on discovery of microplastics throughout human body

Exclusive: Some scientists say many detections are most likely error, with one high-profile study called a ‘joke’

theguardian.com

Still a few days to submit your abstract to #EGU26. Join our session if you work at the intersection of pollution and climate change

Josh Ahmed@geomorphicjosh.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Join @profkatespencer.bsky.social, John MacDonald & I in Vienna at @egu.eu for our session on Chemicals and Climate Change where we want to consolidate our knowledge on how changes in hydrology & hydrodynamics will impact future contaminant mobility @egu-gm.bsky.social ⬇️ www.egu26.eu/session/56805

If you didn’t catch their reporting first time around - @watershed-i.bsky.social have done some really comprehensive and eye opening work mapping Europe’s waste sites. @qmulsse.bsky.social

WATERSHED Investigations@watershed-i.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Current & historic landfills across the UK & Europe are sited near rivers, on coasts, in flood risk zones, explains @profkatespencer.bsky.social - climate change means extreme rainfall events & flooding are happening more often, increasing risk of pollutants entering waterways. 🧵 1/3

Come to Birmingham and do a PhD with myself and @wvschaik.bsky.social!

IDDjobs@iddjobs.org · 8mo ago

PhD position (Birmingham, UK) Environmental modelling of microbial dynamics in river and flood-impacted environments with Johanna Rhodes, Willem van Schaik, Marie Chattaway, Claire Jenkins at University of Birmingham More details: http://iddjobs.org/jobs/2433

Join @profkatespencer.bsky.social, John MacDonald & I in Vienna at @egu.eu for our session on Chemicals and Climate Change where we want to consolidate our knowledge on how changes in hydrology & hydrodynamics will impact future contaminant mobility @egu-gm.bsky.social ⬇️ www.egu26.eu/session/56805

Modeling indicates that buoyant plastic can persist at the ocean surface for over a century, gradually fragmenting and sinking, with long-term impacts on marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles. doi.org/g97r6d

Plastic pollution could linger at ocean surfaces for over a century, new research finds

Scientists from the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Queen Mary University of London have developed a simple model to show how buoyant plastic can settle through the water column and they predict it could take over 100 years to remove plastic waste from the ocean's surface.

phys.org

[1/8] DEs chercheurs de l'Université Queen Mary de Londres présentent un modèle inédit pour comprendre le destin des plastiques flottants. Leur étude relie la fragmentation en microplastiques et leur lente descente vers les fonds marins. #geography #ocean #pollution #plastic

Coupling fragmentation to a size-selective sedimentation model can quantify the long-term fate of buoyant plastics in the ocean | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physi...

Plastic pollution in the ocean is a global environmental issue, with buoyant debris accumulating at the surface and posing long-term ecological threats. Although sediments are the ultimate sink for pl...

royalsocietypublishing.org

[1/8] Kate Spencer et Nan Wu (Queen Mary University of London) étudient le devenir des plastiques dans l’océan. Leur modèle explique le mystère du "plastique manquant" en montrant comment il migre lentement vers les grands fonds. #geography #pollution #microplastics #ocean

Scientists have puzzled over what happens to plastic as it breaks down in the ocean – our new study helps explain the mystery

Some plastic pollution lingers at the ocean’s surface for more than a century.

theconversation.com

UK and Europe’s hidden landfills at risk of leaking toxic waste into water supplies - Rising flood risks driven by climate change could release chemicals from ageing sites – posing threats to ecosystems Story by @leanahosea.bsky.social and Juliet Ferguson www.theguardian.com/environment/...

UK and Europe’s hidden landfills at risk of leaking toxic waste into water supplies

Exclusive: Rising flood risks driven by climate change could release toxic waste from ageing sites – posing threats to ecosystems

theguardian.com

1000s of historic landfills across Europe - many in groundwater protection zones and highly vulnerable to flooding and erosion. We are just not adequately assessing the potential risks of climate change on our waste legacy.

Leana Hosea@leanahosea.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Watch @itvnews.bsky.social tonight, as Martin Stew covers our joint report with @investigate-europe.eu on pollution from landfills in the UK + Europe - many so old they're not lined or filtered - in flood risk, coastal erosion or drinking water protection zones. www.itv.com/news/2025-12...

Watch @itvnews.bsky.social tonight, as Martin Stew covers our joint report with @investigate-europe.eu on pollution from landfills in the UK + Europe - many so old they're not lined or filtered - in flood risk, coastal erosion or drinking water protection zones. www.itv.com/news/2025-12...

Not only do these waste criminals avoid landfill tax, but they are also avoiding all the checks and balances that protect people and the environment from the pollutants it contains. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

At least 8,000 illegal waste sites in UK, research suggests

Exclusive: Concerns over impact on health and environment, as well as £1.63bn in avoided landfill tax

theguardian.com

This is pretty unbelievable - I really thought landfill leachate was better managed.

Leana Hosea@leanahosea.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Liquid oozing from landfill + industrial waste + sewage - treated for pathogens then split, the solid part spread on farmland, the liquid part released into rivers - what could go wrong? Our latest article out now: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Does anyone in the South of England have a wasp nest in their garden they would wish removed anytime in the next five weeks? This research led by Dr Bob Brown @dr-bob-brown.bsky.social, is helping with control of invasive wasps in New Zealand.

Under the right conditions - such as landfills - plastics could take millennia to degrade. Potentially forming future ‘techno fossils’. Fascinating read from Sarah Gabbot. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Understanding environmental impacts of plastic requires a palaeontological lens - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Growing evidence suggests that timescales for plastic degradation have been vastly underestimated. The fossil record of plastic-like biopolymers might provide a perspective on plastic fossilization in...

nature.com

How can we assess whether microbial degradation of plastic pollution has occurred? Our new systematic review, led by Jennifer Scott, assesses a multitude of methods & makes recommendations to improve study design @heriotwattuni.bsky.social authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0048-9697(25)01917-5

What a mess we have made of this #PoisonedPlanet, and #PublicHealth. "Research found connections among Pfas-related gene changes and biological pathways involved in leukemia, bladder, liver, thyroid and breast cancers, Alzheimer’s, lupus, asthma & tuberculosis" www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Exposure to some common Pfas changes gene activity, new study finds

Findings help decipher mechanisms through which ‘forever chemicals’ cause disease, aiding in treating health problems

theguardian.com

We're just starting to understand the #biodiversity we are fast trashing. "Cryoconite granules - frozen rainforests”. Each is a self-sustaining ecosystem, containing diverse bacteria, fungi, viruses, protists & even tiny animals like tardigrades & worms" www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Arctic glaciers face ‘terminal’ decline as microbes accelerate ice melt

Scientists in Svalbard in race to study polar microbes as global heating threatens fragile glacial ecosystems

theguardian.com

Are you ready for a leadership role where science meets impact? If you see yourself as the next Head of Advice at ICES Secretariat, make sure you get your application in soon! The deadline to apply for this position is Sunday 17 August 2025! 🔗 Apply here www.ices.dk/about-ICES/J...

Wow - really interesting trial for treating people with advanced head and neck cancer casued by #HPVcancer (like my own) - 'A cancer vaccine using mRNA technology will help the immune system recognise and kill cancer cells containing HPV proteins' #cansky 🧪 bit.ly/4m2LghH

NHS England » NHS to fast-track patients with head and neck cancer into cancer vaccine trial

NHS England » NHS to fast-track patients with head and neck cancer into cancer vaccine trial

bit.ly

A great few days in #LymeRegis collecting sediment samples to assess the impact and risk posed by an eroding coastal landfill - 80+ samples retrieved and excited to see what they tell us once we get them in the lab! #RACC @profkatespencer.bsky.social @sgrieve.bsky.social @qmul.bsky.social

What a great few days. Smiles all round, ALL the weather, lots of sampling and all on film! @geomorphicjosh.bsky.social @sgrieve.bsky.social

An excellent piece out today by @phoebeweston.bsky.social at the Guardian on our NERC ECOMIX project which is exploring chemical pollution in Yorkshire's rivers. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Pesticides, antibiotics, animal medicines: the chemical cocktail seeping into our rivers

The list of everyday pollutants is a long one, and they could be as damaging to our water ecosystems as sewage spills

theguardian.com

It's #NationalFestivalOfFieldwork in June & have a read of Fiona Sheriff's blog for @geographicalassoc.bsky.social "Fieldwork is such an important part of the geography curriculum for all age groups and we need to ensure it stays firmly on the map." ga-blog.org/2025/05/30/g...

Get outside! Take part in the National Festival of Fieldwork - The GA Blog

Fiona Sheriff introduces the National Festival of Fieldwork and encourages everyone to take part with their students this June!

ga-blog.org

The inter-linked risks of climate change and our waste legacy will be felt along our eroding coastlines. Nice interview of @andyrussell.bsky.social at @egu.eu. www.newscientist.com/article/2480... @newscientist.com. Details of our @qmul.ac.uk @ukri.org project at www.ukcoastalandfillresilience.org

Toxic waste is spilling onto beaches as rising seas erode landfills

Waste from old landfill sites is spilling onto beaches as rising seas erode coastlines - and some of it is toxic

newscientist.com