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Why geologists can’t agree on when the Anthropocene Epoch began

Why geologists can’t agree on when the Anthropocene Epoch began

19 February 2025

Nobody doubts that human activities have dramatically transformed Earth, so why has there been no official recognition of the Anthropocene?


Cooks petrel

Threatened seabirds are foraging at plastic pollution hotspots

4 July 2023

Location trackers show migratory seabirds spend much of their time looking for food near ocean garbage patches, highlighting the need for action on pollution


Raw sewage floods UK rivers with faecal bacteria after heavy rainfall

9 June 2023

Water samples from the river Ouseburn in Newcastle upon Tyne during a rainstorm reveal high levels of faecal bacteria caused by raw sewage discharges


Inside the Tideway 'super sewer' near Fulham, London

Inside the huge London super sewer designed to fight river pollution

2 June 2023

A monstrous concrete pipe with a capacity of 1.6 million cubic metres is being built under London to reduce the frequency of sewage discharges into the Thames


A sign on the Huron river in Michigan warning of high levels of PFAS

Reusable granules suck harmful PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ out of water

31 May 2023

UK start-up Puraffinity has created a method of removing pollution from water using a material that selectively binds to PFAS chemicals


Many US wetlands have now lost protections from the Clean Water Act

US Supreme Court slashes protections for wetlands

25 May 2023

Around half of all wetlands in the contiguous US will now lose their protections under the Clean Water Act, exposing them to pollution and development


Chemicals used to make decaf coffee are contributing to ozone damage

25 May 2023

A group of unregulated polluting gases known as very short-lived substances are partly responsible for depleting the ozone layer in the tropics


Common compostable plastic fails to break down after a year at sea

24 May 2023

A leading "bioplastic" used in single-use cups and containers degrades in the ocean just as slowly as the oil-based stuff, and must be broken down in commercial facilities to be composted


Wild African primates have flame retardants in their faeces

23 May 2023

Four primate species in Uganda have been found to have 97 chemical pollutants in their faeces, which are associated with hormonal changes that can disrupt development and reproduction


Modern urban wastewater treatment plant

Toxic PFAS can be broken down by bacteria found in wastewater

15 May 2023

Certain kinds of "forever chemicals" can be dismantled using bacteria found in wastewater. This points to a possible way of making more of these compounds biodegradable


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