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Every Winter the Floods Come – What Can the UK Do Besides Flood Barriers?

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 Every Winter the Floods Come – What Can the UK Do Besides Flood Barriers? Every winter it feels depressingly familiar. Heavy rain. Rivers burst their banks. Homes flooded, roads closed, fields underwater. And every year the response sounds the same: “We need higher flood barriers.” Flood barriers do have a place – but they are only sticking plaster solutions. If we’re serious about reducing flooding in the UK, we need to think upstream, underground, and long-term . So what else can we do? 1️⃣ Stop Treating Rivers Like Drainage Ditches For decades, rivers have been: Straightened Deepened Forced between high banks This speeds water downstream , where it floods towns instead. Better approach: Re-meander rivers Reconnect rivers to their natural floodplains Allow controlled flooding where it does the least harm Floodplains are nature’s shock absorbers – we’ve just built on too many of them. 2️⃣ Work With Farmers, Not Against Them Flooding starts ...
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Australia: the hottest place on Earth right now?

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  Australia: the hottest place on Earth right now? Australia has always been hot . But in recent years it’s been record-breaking, headline-grabbing hot — the kind of heat that bends rail lines, closes schools, and turns bushland into tinder. So… is Australia actually the hottest place in the world right now? And more importantly — what does it tell us about where the climate is heading? 🔥 Just how hot is Australia getting? Australia regularly records temperatures above 45 °C , especially across inland regions. During recent summers, several areas have pushed towards 50 °C , placing them among the hottest inhabited places on the planet. According to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology , the country has: Experienced its hottest years on record Seen longer, more intense heatwaves Broken hundreds of local temperature records in a single season This isn’t just “a hot summer”. It’s a systemic shift . 🌡️ Is Australia the hottest place? It depends how you define “hot...
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Is Rain Enough to Clean Solar Panels – or Should You Pay for Professional Cleaning?

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 Is Rain Enough to Clean Solar Panels – or Should You Pay for Professional Cleaning? If you’ve invested in solar panels, you’ve probably asked this at some point—usually while staring out of the window during a downpour: “Surely this rain is doing the cleaning for me?” Short answer: sometimes… but not always. Longer answer: it depends on where you live, how your panels are mounted, and what’s landing on them. Let’s separate the myth from the data. ☔ What Rain Actually Does (and Doesn’t) Do Rainwater does help with: Light dust and airborne pollution Pollen in spring Salt spray (coastal areas) But rain does not reliably remove: Bird droppings (the worst offender) Sticky pollution films from traffic and industry Algae, lichen, and moss (very common in the UK) Dust baked on during dry spells Worse still, light rain can redistribute grime , creating streaks that block light more effectively than evenly spread dirt. 📉 How Much Efficiency Is Really L...
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Let Farmers Farm: Food, Not Fallow Fields

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  Let Farmers Farm: Food, Not Fallow Fields Read what you will into the global economy, but one thing is blindingly obvious: it makes far more sense for British farmers to grow food at a fair price than to be paid to leave productive land fallow . In an increasingly uncertain world—climate shocks, fragile supply chains, geopolitical tensions— food security matters . Yet UK farmers often find themselves tangled in layers of government schemes that reward not producing rather than producing well. While environmental stewardship is vital, blanket incentives to take land out of food production risk undermining both farming livelihoods and national resilience. British farmers are not the problem. They are skilled land managers who already balance yields, soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare—often on wafer-thin margins. What they need is fair pricing, stable policy, and trust , not constant interference that changes with every political wind. Pay farmers properly for the fo...
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“Natural” Cleaning Products: Marketing Myth or Evidence-Based Win?

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 “Natural” Cleaning Products: Marketing Myth or Evidence-Based Win? Scroll through social media for five minutes and you’ll be told that traditional cleaning products are poisoning your home , while “natural” alternatives will somehow save your lungs, your drains, your children and the planet. But once you strip away the green leaves on the label and the soft pastel branding, what does the evidence actually say? Let’s separate chemistry, health, and environmental impact from marketing hype. 🧪 What Do “Traditional” Cleaners Actually Contain? Conventional cleaners often include: Surfactants – loosen dirt and grease Solvents – dissolve oils Acids or alkalis – break down limescale or fats Disinfectants – kill bacteria and viruses Fragrances & dyes – mostly cosmetic Many of these substances sound scary when listed chemically, but that doesn’t automatically make them dangerous. Dose, exposure, and ventilation matter far more than the name on the bottle...
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New Filtration Technology Could Be a Game-Changer in Removing PFAS “Forever Chemicals”

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New Filtration Technology Could Be a Game-Changer in Removing PFAS “Forever Chemicals”  PFAS – often called “forever chemicals” – have a nasty habit of doing exactly what their nickname suggests: they don’t break down , they build up in the environment, and they accumulate in our bodies. Used for decades in non-stick cookware, waterproof clothing, firefighting foams, food packaging and industrial processes, PFAS are now found in rivers, groundwater, drinking water – and even rain . The scale of the problem has felt overwhelming. Until now. A breakthrough from the lab Researchers at Rice University have developed a new filtration material that could dramatically change how we deal with PFAS pollution. Their peer-reviewed research describes a layered double hydroxide (LDH) material made from copper and aluminium that can: Absorb long-chain PFAS up to 100× faster than current filtration systems Target the most persistent and dangerous PFAS compounds Potentially destr...
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Wood Burners vs Heat Pumps: What’s Really Heating Our Homes?

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 Wood Burners vs Heat Pumps: What’s Really Heating Our Homes? There’s something undeniably appealing about a wood burner. The glow. The crackle. The sense of comfort on a cold winter evening. But when you compare wood burners with heat pumps , the difference isn’t just about energy efficiency or carbon — it’s about what you’re breathing . And that’s where the data gets uncomfortable. Wood Burners: Old Tech, New Problems Wood burners are often marketed as natural , renewable , even eco-friendly . The reality is more complicated. Burning wood produces: PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ particulates Nitrogen oxides Carbon monoxide Volatile organic compounds These particulates are tiny enough to: Penetrate deep into the lungs Enter the bloodstream Increase risks of asthma, heart disease and stroke Monitoring indoor air quality shows something striking: short, intense spikes in particulate levels every time a stove is lit, refuelled, or the door is opened. You don’t ...
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