Geographical

Official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

Pollution

Against a backdrop of blue sky and sea, female hands squeeze sunscreen onto the palm

Sunscreen’s impact on marine life needs urgent investigation, new study reveals

ByVictoria HeathFeb 18, 2025
A single beach with 1,000 visitors can accumulate more than 35kg of sunscreen deposits each day - scientists call for more research into sunscreen's impacts
Ghost nets and their effects

AI is helping to clear out ‘ghost gear’ from oceans – here’s how

ByVictoria HeathFeb 17, 2025
New platform uses AI to detect where abandoned fishing gear is likely to be found on seabed floor, replacing time-consuming manual searching
Asian woman wearing PM2.5 dust mask and using phone on the street.

Why are so many non-smokers getting lung cancer in the UK?

ByVictoria HeathFeb 10, 2025
New study reveals 1,100 people in UK are diagnosed with most prevalent form of lung cancer per year due to air pollution
A patient displays one of the many symptoms of arsenic poisoning: skin lesions

The arsenic-contaminated water flowing through Bangladesh and India

ByBryony CottamFeb 10, 2025
Tens of millions of people are still drinking arsenic-contaminated water 30 years after ‘the greatest mass poisoning in history’
An aerial view taken from a helicopter of the a sewage treatment works in East London. The huge facility on the banks of the river Thames processes waste from a large part of the capital city.

England’s water industry is misleading public and Government, study finds

ByVictoria HeathJan 30, 2025
Major water & sewage companies across England using deception tactics to deflect blame for sewage pollution, new research reveals
A girl carries freshly baked bread through the streets of Cairo’s ‘Garbage City’, where the Zabbaleen, Cairo’s informal garbage collectors, sort and recycle the city’s waste

The coptic recyclers of Cairo’s ‘Garbage City’

ByGeographical ContributorJan 29, 2025
The remarkable story of Cairo's Zabbaleen, who turn the city's rubbish into valuable resources in a stunning example of sustainability
Entrance to Los Alamos

Living in the shadow of the world’s first atomic bomb at Los Alamos

ByBryony CottamDec 4, 2024
Chernobyl levels of plutonium pollution found around Los Alamos, despite the area being opened to the public after cleaning programmes
Aerial view of Bakersfield CA.

The worst US cities for air pollution – and why they are on the West Coast

ByVictoria HeathNov 12, 2024
Discover the top five US cities with the worst air pollution – according to year round particle pollution – and exactly why their air quality is so poor
Business jet airplane flying on a high altitude above the clouds

How do we tackle the toll of private jet emissions?

ByVictoria HeathOct 7, 2024
Private jet emissions are set to triple by 2050. Here's the ugly truth behind luxury travel and how global efforts can curb its impact
Playing little boy on the river coast in front of metallurgy plant

Outdoor air pollution linked to differences in children’s brain development

ByVictoria HeathOct 3, 2024
Air pollution impacts children's brain development including level of white brain matter used for cognitive function, and risk for disorders
Milky Way over Exmoor

The UK’s dark sky reserves

ByStuart ButlerJul 26, 2024
Staring up at the night sky can inspire wonder so go on a celestial adventure this summer at one of the UK's dark sky reserves.
Child looks out the window at smog

Two thousand children a day die from air pollution

ByStuart ButlerJun 27, 2024
A new report by Unicef says that an average of 2000 children under 5 years of age die every day from health impacts linked to air pollution.
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