Topics: Water/Ocean environment

Student Amber Cummins examining microfibers collected on the dryer lint filter

“Sustainable” condenser tumble dryers create hundreds of tonnes of waterborne microfiber pollution

A new study has revealed that drying laundry using a condenser tumble dryer leads to hundreds of tonnes of potentially harmful microfibers being released into waterways and oceans across the UK and Europe.

The Solar2Water team, L-R: Muhammad Wakil Shahzad, Muhammad Ahmad Jamil, Mohammed Sanjid Thavalengal, Muhammad Mehroz, Nida Imtiaz (not pictured).

New portable system produces drinking water from just air and sunlight

Scientists at Northumbria University have developed a sustainable solution for clean drinking water, that can be deployed to rural communities and set up easily without scientific know-how.

After capturing attention with Flipflopi dhow expeditions around East Africa, the Flipflopi project continues to find ways to inspire communities, governments and businesses to take action against environmental pollution. Photo by Umber Studios.

World tour for model boat inspiring citizen science against environmental pollution

A model sailing boat which represents a key part of a project working to banish single use plastics has embarked on a global tour that will help its message reach thousands more people and communities across the planet.

Areas in red highlighting changes to the thickness of Greenland's ice sheets between 1992-2020

Polar ice sheet melting records have toppled during the past decade

The seven worst years for polar ice sheets melting and losing ice have occurred during the past decade, according to new research led by IMBIE - part of Northumbria University's Centre for Polar Observations and Modelling - with 2019 being the worst year on record. The findings are published today in the journal Earth System Science Data.

Dr Jan de Rydt being interviewed while on fieldwork in Antarctica

Research fellow receives £1.5m award to study climate change impacts on the Antarctic Ice Sheet

A researcher from Northumbria University has received a prestigious fellowship award worth £1.5 million to study Antarctica’s future contribution to rising global sea level.

Researchers collecting radiocarbon samples on the Lindsey Islands, Pine Island Bay, Antarctica

Present Antarctic deglaciation may be unprecedented in last 5,000 years, study finds

Two major glaciers in West Antarctica may be losing ice faster than they have in at least the last 5,000 years, finds a study involving researchers from Northumbria University.

Dr Kelly Sheridan and PhD student Chimdia Kechi Okafor with a test load in a tumble dryer

Thousands of tonnes of air pollution could be reduced by changing the way we dry our laundry

Tumble drying a load of laundry releases almost the same amount of potentially harmful microfibres into the air as those released down the drain during machine washing of the same load, finds new research from Northumbria University and Procter & Gamble.

EXPERT COMMENT: Conger ice shelf has collapsed: what you need to know, according to experts

EXPERT COMMENT: Conger ice shelf has collapsed: what you need to know, according to experts

East Antarctica’s Conger ice shelf – a floating platform the size of Rome – broke off the continent on March 15, 2022. Since the beginning of satellite observations in the 1970s, the tip of the shelf had been disintegrating into icebergs in a series of what glaciologists call calving events.

Dr Kate Winter undertaking a radar survey to identify subglacial lakes in Antarctica in 2020

Almost 800 subglacial lakes catalogued for first time in new global inventory

The world’s first inventory of subglacial lakes has been compiled, providing researchers with a comprehensive directory of where the lakes are and how they are changing in a warming climate.

Pine Island Glacier

Evidence of Antarctic glacier’s tipping point confirmed for first time

Researchers have confirmed for the first time that Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica could cross tipping points, leading to a rapid and irreversible retreat which would have significant consequences for global sea level.

Dr Sebastian Breitenbach exploring possible passages in an ice-filled cave in Siberia

Examining the impact of climate change on Siberia’s stores of permafrost

Northumbria University is to play a leading role in a major study to assess the long-term impact of global warming on Siberia’s thawing permafrost.
Permafrost is frozen ground that stores vast amounts of fossil carbon. Given that permafrost holds twice as much carbon as the atmosphere, and that almost a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere is covered in permafrost, this frozen land plays an essen

Thousands of tonnes of ocean pollution can be saved by changing washing habits

Thousands of tonnes of ocean pollution can be saved by changing washing habits

A new study has revealed that almost 13,000 tonnes of microfibres, equivalent to two rubbish trucks every day, are being released into European marine environments every year – but this could be reduced by as much as 30% if we made a small change to our laundry habits. The ​findings have been published by the scientific journal ​PLOS ONE for ​World Oceans Day on Monday 8 June.

Artists' impression of West Antarctica 90 million years ago. Alfred-Wegener-Institut/J. McKay. This image is available under Creative Commons licence CC-BY 4.0

New discovery: Evidence for a 90-million-year-old rainforest near the South Pole

Researchers have found unexpected fossil traces of a temperate rainforest near the South Pole 90 million years ago, suggesting the continent had an exceptionally warm climate in prehistoric times. Their findings are published today (1 April) as the lead story in the scientific journal Nature.

The Getz Ice Shelf (credit: Anna Wåhlin)

Antarctic ice walls protect against rising sea levels

A vital role that floating Antarctic ice shelves play in preventing catastrophic sea level rises has been proven for the first time in a new study, published in the scientific journal Nature.

Northumbria University’s Dr Muhammad Wakil Shahzad receiving the global water award from His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Unlocking desalination with solar energy

A mechanical engineer from Northumbria University has won a prestigious award after developing an innovative process to turn sea water into clean, safe drinking water, using solar energy.

A detailed view of changes in ice flow around the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, due to thinning ice shelves. Pine Island Glacier is at the top right, with changes seen almost 100 miles inland.

First evidence that Antarctica's thinning ice shelves are causing more ice to move from the land into the sea

Researchers have produced the first physics-based quantifiable evidence that thinning ice shelves in Antarctica are causing more ice to flow from the land into the ocean. Their findings have been published in Geophysical Research Letters.

Reconnaissance flight over the Thwaites glacier (U.S. National Science Foundation)

Northumbria scientist embarks on ambitious mission to Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier

A Northumbria University researcher is one of almost 100 scientists and support staff who have travelled to Antarctica this week (15 November 2019) for the most ambitious mission to date for Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica.

£4m study to investigate if climate change will drive the Antarctic Ice Sheet towards a tipping point

£4m study to investigate if climate change will drive the Antarctic Ice Sheet towards a tipping point

A major £4 million EU-funded study to investigate how changes in Antarctica’s ice sheets and shelves may lead to a large and irreversible rise in global sea level over the coming decades is about to begin. Experts from the UK, Norway, Germany and France will work together to investigate the likelihood of abrupt changes in the movement of ice in the Antarctic region over the next 100 years.

Dr Kate Winter at Keteler's Glacier in Antarctica earlier this year

Global channel broadcasts academics’ Antarctic footage

The international news channel Bloomberg is broadcasting stunning footage of Antarctica’s landscape captured by a Northumbria University academic who was undertaking research on the continent.

Chasm 1 in the Brunt Ice Shelf (credit: Jan De Rydt)

Large Antarctic Ice Shelf, home to UK research station, is about to break apart

Glaciology experts have issued evidence that a large section of the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica, which is home to the British Antarctic Survey’s Halley Research Station, is about break off.

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