UKBMS volunteers have walked a total of >1.5 million kilometres since 1976 at more than 7,600 sites to produce this incredible dataset.
That’s the equivalent of walking 40 times around the world – or to the moon and back twice.
Latest annual results: www.ukbms.org
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The show takes place from 19-23 May 2026. You'll find us in the GreenSTEM zone of the Great Pavilion
Please pop by and say hello if you are visiting the show!
#RHSChelsea 🧪
🔗 www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med...
P schreberi moss and text: Monitoring moss reveals widespread deposition of airborne microplastics across the UK
Close-up of Glittering woodmoss and text 52 rural sites across the UK were surveyed for microplastics
Particles in moss fronds captured under powerful microscope, plus text 94% of these sites contained microplastics above our limits of detection
The first national-scale study of its kind, led by UKCEH, has found detectable microplastics in moss at 94% of UK rural sites surveyed.
Lead author @richardkcross.bsky.social discusses the findings & importance of such surveys as production/use of plastics increases.
🔗 tinyurl.com/yc2acct4
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This could pose potential water security issues at high latitudes. The study suggests that direct forest expansion focused on carbon or temperature also needs to consider water impacts.
See the full paper in @natcomms.nature.com:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Diagram linking lifestyle domains (food, transport, housing, goods) to biodiversity loss drivers and resulting impacts on nature.
What we eat, how we travel and the things we buy all shape our impact on nature, driving growing pressures on land, water, species and climate 🍽️ ✈️ 🛍️
A new global study makes clear that protecting biodiversity requires transforming the systems behind our everyday lifestyles.
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As environmental science took shape in 1950s–60s Britain, women at our old Merlewood research station had key roles in labs, fieldwork & offices.
UKCEH builds on this legacy and is committed to advancing gender equality as we shape the future of environmental science today.
#InternationalWomensDay
🌧️🌳 How does Amazon deforestation reshape rainfall patterns in the region?
New research using process‑based modelling attributes at least 50% of rainfall decline to the loss of rainforest cover within the basin and upstream regions.
See our new blog post: www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med...
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My hand making an important contribution to our little orthoptera series with the brilliant Robin Hutchinson. Also see the UKCEH Instagram and YouTube channels today 🦗
Illustrations of grasshopper, cricket and earwig on the front cover of a book called Field Guide to the Grasshoppers and Allies of Great Britain and Ireland
🦗 This #WorldWildlifeDay, discover Britain's grasshoppers, crickets & allied species in a brilliant new field guide!
It's co-written by our former colleague Björn Beckmann with recording scheme coordinator Peter Sutton.
Allied species are earwigs, stick insects, mantids and cockroaches 🪳
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🌧️ Has there been enough rain to replenish rivers and groundwater levels after last year's drought? Steve Turner spoke to Radio 4's Farming Today about how water resources in different regions have responded to winter rainfall.
📻 Listen again from ~8m 45s
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Prefer to get it straight to your inbox every month?
Sign up here to never miss an issue www.ceh.ac.uk/ukceh-newsle...
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Terrible headline (this is NOT what the new research - link below - shows!), terrible AI image! Argh!
Here’s the actual research:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Where do I start?! 1/4
What if river monitoring didn’t have to be expensive? 🤔
Here are some reactions from last week's open hardware workshop from the Floods and Droughts Research Infrastructure (FDRI). Participants learned how to build and use low-cost technology to monitor rivers.
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Group of seven stand in front of meteorological station at UKCEH Wallingford, plus text detailing 2026 summer student internship information
📣 2026 Student Summer Internships are OPEN for applications!
We’re recruiting SEVEN interns across our National Capability programmes at our Bangor, Lancaster & Wallingford sites.
Superb opportunity for hands-on experience in environmental science & applied research.
Details ⬇️
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The map shows the threat of Chikungunya virus transmission may last several months of the year in warmer parts of Europe where the tiger mosquito is already established.
See the full study: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...
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Chikungunya poses a greater health threat in Europe than previously thought because it can be spread at air temps as low as 13°C, a new study finds.
Researchers produced a risk map showing the threat of virus transmission, spread by the Asian tiger mosquito.
www.ceh.ac.uk/press/debili...
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Brushwood fascines at Suffolk Yacht Harbour to increase sedimentation and allow expansion of the existing marsh.
BESE mats (biodegradable 3D structures made out of potato starch) are trialled at Two Tree Island to test their effectiveness for sediment accumulation and plant establishment.
Rock rolls installed parallel to the shore at Hebburn, Tyne to trap sediment.
🔓 Exploring quick wins to unlock #saltmarsh potential
Saltmarsh restoration in the UK is dominated by managed realignment, which is costly and slow to deliver. A new report explores small-scale methods that could provide quicker options and help habitat recovery.
www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/...
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Peering into the borehole
Two people in the fenced enclosure by the COSMOS station and cameraman outside filming
Looking at results on the laptop
Amid ongoing wet weather, ITV News featured our hydrological monitoring, visiting UKCEH's Wallingford site and one of our @cosmosuk.bsky.social soil moisture monitoring stations in Lambourn.
👀 Report by Martin Stew from Friday's 6.30pm news starts 43min
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJAb...
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Forensic approaches to microplastic detection in bodies of humans and animals will boost confidence in results, says UKCEH pollution scientist @richardkcross.bsky.social.
He was part of a team proposing a new approach after scrutiny of some high-profile studies.
www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med...
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Land-atmosphere feedbacks mean that major Amazon deforestation is causing substantial downstream rainfall reductions.
New analysis in @natcomms.nature.com combines novel theoretical understanding with data to quantify feedbacks.
Read the open access paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The LicheN app includes species details and a step-by-step guide to carrying out surveys using 5 tree trunks and branches. By recording the presence or absence of lichens, users can estimate how polluted their local area is.
See our short trailer for more details 👀
youtube.com/shorts/WbFRc...
View across Kenyan landscape to herd of livestock
Many tropical regions sit close to dangerous heat thresholds, yet heat stress awareness remains low across sub-Saharan Africa.
A new study sparked by the intense Feb 2024 heat in Kenya shows daily max temps & Heat Index values were 3–4°C above normal, driven by dry heat, not humidity.
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Our Counting the Earth podcast has a new episode! 🎧
Celebrate #WomenInScience Day with senior hydrologist Lucy Barker in conversation with Sue Nelson and Alice Hope, as they explore the UK’s whiplash weather.
Available now on all good podcast providers. 1/ 🧪
From drought to downpour, 2025 brought the UK
whiplash weather 🌦️
New on our Counting the Earth podcast, we delve into the UK's weather extremes.
After a dry spring & four heatwaves we had
significant rainfall later in the year. By December, total
rainfall reached ~90% of the UK average.
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Sharing the podcast trailer again for the YouTube thumbnail. Pleased with this - albeit the preview is showing it darker than it should be! youtu.be/IzJlHLUarE4
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
We need to talk about drought. Yes, that's right, drought! Our weather is experiencing extremes – from flooding to drought – so on the next episode of Counting the Earth, we'll be delving deeper into this whiplash weather.
🎧 Subscribe now and never miss an episode: www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med...
Recent algal blooms on Lough Neagh have highlighted the urgent need for tools to better identify the sources and movement of #pollution across the lake and the rivers that are linked to it.
Read more about the new UKCEH-led CLEAR-Neagh project: www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 💧🧪
We're excited to lead the new CLEAR-Neagh project, a collaborative effort to support the restoration of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, one of the UK’s most important #freshwater systems 💧🧪
A nice aerial view of our Whim Bog site for #WorldWetlandsDay!
At this site in the Scottish Borders, we study the effects of different levels and combinations of elevated nitrogen on the peatland bog vegetation and on ecosystem services such as carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions.
