Category Archives: Water
Climate Change and Eutrophication in Lakes
With their large surface-to-volume ratios, shallow lakes are prone to environmental change, and clear, biodiverse waters can become turbid and less biodiverse relatively easily. It has long been known that shallow lakes might therefore be vulnerable to global warming trends, … Continue reading
UK Climate Change Projections 2009
Today (18th June) the UK Climate Projections 2009 report (UKCP09) was launched by Hilary Benn MP (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). The primarily Defra-funded report allows us to understand how the UK’s climate (temperature, rainfall, sea-level, … Continue reading
England’s Most Famous Lakes to Receive New Attention
At the ‘Lakes for Living, Lakes for Life’ conference being held on the shores of Lake Windermere this week, the Environment Agency has announced that it will assess the 730 most important lakes in England & Wales which need to … Continue reading
RSPB Launches ‘Our Rivers’ Campaign
The Our Rivers campaign has recently been launched by the WWF, RSPB, Angling Trust and the Association of Rivers Trusts and is calling on the Government to be more ambitious if it is to deliver the positive change needed to … Continue reading
Urban Waterways Can Be Wildlife Rich Too
Despite the frequent public preconception that urban waterways such as canals and ditches are polluted eyesores, devoid of almost all wildlife, recent research has shown that they can have more macroinvertebrate diversity than similar water systems in rural areas. They … Continue reading
Down by the River: Public Encouraged to Record Wildlife by Canals and Streams
British Waterways has today launched its sixth annual wildlife survey, encouraging members of the public to visit canals, rivers and streams and record the wildlife found there. This year’s survey will focus particularly on the bumblebee and is supported by … Continue reading
‘Save the Albatross’ Campaign a Remarkable Success
The outlook for endangered albatross species has dramatically improved, thanks to the success of an international conservation programme implemented by the RSPB and Birdlife International. The Albatross Task Force (ATF) was established in 2006 in order to reduce the number … Continue reading
A Million Ponds by 2059
Yesterday evening, the BES Science Policy Team attended the launch of the Million Ponds Project. The ambitious project is a national initiative to reverse the long-term decline in ponds; from around a million 100 years ago, to 500,000 now. Of … Continue reading
Frog Decline Linked to Agri-Chemicals
The global decline in frog populations has been attributed to an increase in infectious diseases. However findings in Nature reveal a link between parasitic infection and local interaction between phosphate fertilisers and herbicides. The study focused on leopard frogs from … Continue reading
New System Improves River Basin Health Assessment for Water Framework Directive
Scientists have recently developed a new computer modeling system that will improve the way in which river basins are assessed for the European Water Framework Directive. The system has been named the Elbe decision support system, (Elbe-DSS), after the river … Continue reading