Climate Thoughts with Brian

Tag: environment

Pollution pours into England’s rivers more than 290,000 times in 2025

‘An unacceptable amount of sewage’ still going into our waterways, despite an unusually dry 2025 Annual data released today by the Environment Agency indicated an appalling- though not surprising- picture of England’s waterways. Nationally, there were 291,492 sewage spills in 2025, with these spills lasting for over 1.8 million hours. This national data reflects a…
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Earth’s climate swings increasingly out of balance

‘Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits’ UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The State of the Global Climate 2025 report, published today by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), confirms that 2015-2025 were the hottest 11 years on record and highlights that the Earth’s energy imbalance is at its highest in sixty five-year record. With 2025…
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PFAS pollution in Bentham, Yorkshire is revealed in new environmental report

Bentham, Yorkshire is a small picturesque town on the edge of North Yorkshire, close to the iconic Ribblehead Viaduct. In the past few years however, the media spotlight has focused on the PFAS contamination there and, to find out more, some local residents formed a campaign group- ‘Cleaner Bentham’- to attempt to discover the extent…
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Rushcliffe Borough Council move forward with housing development on former RAF Tollerton site

Provided by Rushcliffe Borough Council Rushcliffe Borough Council’s Cabinet met this evening and moved ahead with their Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) as part of the Masterplan for future housing developments on the former RAF Tollerton site. Campaigners had gathered outside Rushcliffe Borough Council this evening, in an effort to remind the Cabinet of the essential…
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Review of ‘Plastic Inc.’ by Beth Gardiner

Let’s start with a visual experiment. Look around the room which you are in and see how many objects you can spot which are made of plastic. The television? The television remote? Your laptop? Your phone? Those pesky pieces of Lego? Which plastics are in your television remote? When you upgrade to a new tv,…
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Will Rushcliffe Borough Council’s upcoming decision force campaigners to seek judicial review?

Tollerton Airfield housing development reaches significant moment This coming week will see Rushcliffe Borough Cabinet meet again to discuss and decide on a planning decision which will allow for around 4,000 houses to be built on around the former Tollerton Airfield site. The Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and its implementation was paused earlier this year,…
Read more: Will Rushcliffe Borough Council’s upcoming decision force campaigners to seek judicial review?
Human- caused climate change increases rain intensity in Western Europe

Humans are now ‘fighting a humanitarian crisis driven by a changing climate.’ Key findings from a recent World Weather Attribution study concludes that human-caused climate change has increased the intensity of the torrential rain that led to flooding across Western Europe. Researchers identified a clear trend showing the wettest days are now around a third…
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Review of ‘Despite It All. A Handbook for Climate Hopefuls.’ by Fred Pearce

‘With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.’ In ‘Despite It All’, Pearce offers us a more hopeful narrative to counter the daily deluge of climate crisis stories from around the world. Pollution of our seas, pollution of our atmosphere, extreme weather, droughts, biodiversity in crisis- it is all…
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Yorkshire Water Bills Rise Again as Customers Pay for Upgrades

The lack of outrage over water companies raising customer bills again, reflects the stranglehold they have on the nation. The annual bill for Yorkshire Water customers is set to rise this April by over 5% for the average household bill. This would mark a rise on the average property from £602 to £636 per year.…
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Woodburners Linked to Highest Air Pollution Exposure in Welsh Children, Study Finds

https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=46552&picture=wood-burning-stove Woodburners identified as trebling the risk of indoor pollution exposure A recent study in the Journal of Environmental Management identified woodburners as the highest source of exposure to air pollution in Welsh primary aged schoolchildren. The study measured exposure to air pollution in the participants’ homes, in their schools, and in their daily commute,…
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