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Glacier in the Fitz Roy Mountain Range, Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina.

Thin glaciers suggest Andes faces 'peak water' sooner than thought

7 February 2022

A new global analysis suggests glaciers in the Andes contain less ice than we thought – but the glaciers of the Himalayas are thicker
W57KD8 Panting happy dog sitting in a beautiful wildflower patch at St Abbs Head Nature Reserve, Scotland on a hot summer's day

Dog waste may harm nature reserve biodiversity by fertilising the soil

7 February 2022

Dogs’ urine and faeces bring large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus into suburban nature reserves, which could be harmful to plant biodiversity
On September 26, 2017, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite captured these natural-color images of a large phytoplankton bloom in western Lake Erie. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the bloom contains microcystis, a type of freshwater cyanobacteria. These phytoplankton produce toxins that can contaminate drinking water and pose a risk to human and animal health (skin irritant, respiratory distress) when there is direct contact. A few days earlier, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA?s Terra satellite captured a wider view of the lake. Blooms tend to thrive in Lake Erie during summer, sustained by warm water temperatures and nutrients from farm runoff. This year, the bloom has been ongoing since mid-July. NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Caption by Kathryn Hansen.

Algal blooms in freshwater lakes are becoming more common worldwide

3 February 2022

Lakes across the world have seen an increase in algal blooms that strangle freshwater ecosystems, according to an analysis of satellite images from 1982 to 2019
gas boiler

England’s gas boiler ban for new homes should begin next year, say MPs

3 February 2022

A committee of MPs says the UK government should update plans to ban gas boilers from new homes, introducing the move next year rather than in 2025

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