Paulette Burns

An oak tree with two trunks like legs that grow together about halfway up before branching out into outstretched arms.

Today I found an Ent

Farming Today - 30/10/25: An uncomfortable transition? The buzz about Asian hornets. Cosmic ray neutrons and soil moisture - BBC Sounds The boss of one of the UK's biggest farming companies says a painful transition is ahead.

Despite recent rain, soils in many areas remain drier than normal for the time of year. UKCEH uses cosmic ray neutrons to monitor soil moisture to depths of 20–30 cm at @cosmosuk.bsky.social sites across the UK.

📻 Hear Jonathan Evans on BBC R4’s Farming Today: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

🧪 1/

Map of UK with dots indicating river flow stations and colours indicating number of years data available in UK-Flow15

📣 Great news for UK hydrology!

The UK Floods and Droughts Research Infrastructure (FDRI) has announced release of two new datasets: UK-Flow15 and CAMELS-GB v2. They provide access to sub-daily river flow and hydrometeorological data across 100s of UK catchments

🔗 fdri.org.uk/news/new-hyd...

1/ 🧪

Tracking river pollution: a novel approach to sampling River pollution is a major threat to water quality and ecosystems, and understanding pollution sources and how they mix is vital to creating effective pollution management. Alex O’Brien from UKCEH des...

Most river monitoring focuses on fixed points, missing how pollution moves downstream 🌊

UKCEH’s Alex O’Brien describes an approach combining multiple survey methods to reveal how pollutants mix and travel, which is key for better water quality management.

🔗 www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 🧪

A team from UKCEH, @metoffice.gov.uk, @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social and @ecmwf.int used satellite observations & advanced modelling to identify and investigate the causes of wildfires from Mar24-Feb25 fire season and the role played by climate & land use change.

🎥 Co-lead Dr Doug Kelley

2/

Cover of The State of Wildfires 2024-2025 report

Infographic with ten points titled Unpacking the wildfire season

Flames continuing to burn in charred remains of buildings

🔥 Human-driven global warming made recent wildfires in South America & Southern California much larger & more destructive, the latest State of Wildfires report reveals.

🔸 LA wildfires 25× larger, 2× as likely
🔸 Pantanal–Chiquitano fires 35× larger
🔸 Global CO₂ from fires >8 bn tonnes

🧪 1/

YouTube video by UKCEH Introducing UKCEH. Our Planet. Decoded.

Our Planet. Decoded.

UKCEH makes sense of environmental complexity to power decisions that shape a better future.

We don’t just examine our planet, we decode it – working out how to build a better tomorrow.

🎞️ youtu.be/s9fBwN5-kxM

#UKCEH #EnvironmentalScience 🧪

HRH The Prince of Wales and UKCEH's María Jarquín at the Natural History Museum with Hope, the blue whale skeleton in the background

At the Countdown to #COP30 event, our International Relations Manager María Estelí Jarquín spoke to HRH The Prince of Wales.

María highlighted pollinator monitoring with our automated system, and wildfire research helping volunteers in Brazil access loss and damage funds.

📸 Kensington Palace

Global Tipping Points | understanding risks & their potential impact Harmful tipping points in the natural world threaten humanity by disrupting life support systems and societal stability.

Ahead of #COP30, a new report outlines:

⚠️ Rapidly approaching Earth system #TippingPoints

💡 Priority interventions via #PositiveTippingPoints

Chapter co-authors include UKCEH's Bryan Spears (2.2) and Chris Huntingford (2.3)

Read the report: global-tipping-points.org/resources-gt...

🧪#GTPR2025

Coming soon on Counting the Earth...

🔥 We discuss the changing nature of wildfires with UKCEH fire scientist Dr Doug Kelley. And we're at Holt Heath in Dorset, scene of a devastating wildfire in August, to talk to Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Service.

🎧🧪 Subscribe on your favourite #podcast provider!

We highly recommend this upcoming talk at @linneansociety.bsky.social for compelling, evidence-based perspectives on the decline of woodland birds from Dr Richard Broughton 🌳⬇️

Have you seen lots of ladybirds flying around? Maybe some have come into your house?

At this time of year, ladybirds are moving around looking for a good place to spend the winter. On warmer, sunny days, large numbers may be seen flying in search of a suitable habitat 🐞

1/

Five people sitting on a panel in front of a Newsweek banner

Notebook and pen in front of a name sign saying Angus Garbutt Salt Marsh Breakthrough

The Nat sign on a hedgerow panel

Angus Garbutt on a sidewalk with the Empire State Building in the background

🌍 Raising saltmarsh's profile at #ClimateWeekNYC

Angus Garbutt, UKCEH coastal ecologist and saltmarsh expert, was busy at New York Climate Week highlighting the value of saltmarshes.

He spoke with government ministers, finance companies, and the UN Oceans team at panels & UN roundtables.

1/

South Today - Evening News: 23/09/2025 The latest news, sport and weather for the South of England.

Bumper apple harvests this summer but what does a warming climate mean for crops in the future? 🍎🍇

📺 Catch Dr John Redhead on BBC South Today discussing those crops that might be grown in coming years, and those that may struggle (expires 6:58pm today)

From 9m 30s: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Navigating science careers: Strategic pathways for the future - International Science Council How can early- and mid-career researchers shape meaningful careers in a changing world?

"Be brave about coming to this national policy or global conversations because I am certain that you’re going to diversify the discussion, because you’re going to bring new perspectives..."
Our own María Estelí Jarquín with insights from her career in science diplomancy!
🎧 Listen:

at #BESAG2025 we had great lightning talks from amazing #ECRs.. telling us all about their #marine #freshwater #aquatic research! 🧪🌍💧💦🔬🦠🪱🐟🐳🐬🐡🦐🦞🪼

We're hiring!
Could you help us support & grow the community of botanists across Northern Ireland?
Manage our @daera-ni.gov.uk-funded Botanical Skills Training Project?
Help boost participation in @npms.bsky.social across NI?
Please apply by midnight this Sunday, 21 Sept:
bsbi.org/botanical-sk...

A National Vegetation Plot Database for Great Britain UKCEH has brought together, for the first time, a diverse range of high-quality vegetation plot datasets to form a new National Vegetation Plot Database for Great Britain – the GBNVPD.

We've brought together a diverse range of high-quality vegetation plot datasets to form a new National Vegetation Plot Database for Great Britain!

Read more:
www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 🌱🌿🧪

Illustration showing water cycle and biodiversity in a mountainous lake setting

Jetty on Windermere in the Lake District National Park under blue skies

Future visions for the lakes of the Lake District word cloud

How do we secure healthy, resilient lakes for the future? 🌊

The #PLURALAKES project is combining science and community perspectives, using the @ipbes.net Nature Futures Framework to shape new visions for our lakes

Dr Heather Moorhouse explains more: www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 🧪

📢 New paper! Events like the winter 2023/24 floods are wetter with higher river flows due to climate change.

A worst-case “storyline” shows flows could be even higher - anticipating UNSEEN extremes is vital for adaptation.

🔗: doi.org/10.1088/1748...

@ukceh.bsky.social @climatecocentre.bsky.social

⌛HURRY! Deadline tomorrow to register your session proposal for this year's National Environment Monitoring Conference!

More details: www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/nati...

@britishecologicalsociety.org @ukeof.bsky.social

Screengrab of newsletter with image of Land Cover Map on top and image of a river on bottom

Back from holiday? Catch up on recent UKCEH news with our August newsletter!

🏞️ Latest UK Land Cover Map
🌳 The role of tree disease on woodland soil carbon loss
🪰 Biodiversity improvements masked by poor river scores
🌼 10 years of national plant monitoring

and more!

🔗 🧪 buff.ly/BkNZqzN

Bubble chart denoting relative size difference of seven named UK lakes, from Lough Neagh at 38,000ha, Loch Lomond, Loch Ness, Loch Morar, Windermere, Rutland Water to Llyn Tegid under the heading How do UK lakes compare? Surface area

💧🐟 Lakes support wildlife, drinking water & livelihoods, but they're changing with a warming climate and human activity.

With our decades of freshwater research, we welcome today’s first ever UN World Lake Day!

To celebrate, explore facts & visual comparisons of UK lakes ⤵️

🧪 buff.ly/1E4UU8w

Left to right: Richard Cross, Sam Harrison, Heidrun Feuchtmayr, M. Glória Pereira observing the negotiations

Observers listening to plastics treaty negotiations

🌍 A UKCEH team were observers at the latest UN talks on a global treaty to end plastic pollution.

Negotiations ended without consensus after 2 intense weeks, but there are glimmers of hope

🔗 tinyurl.com/mrxmfm87

🧵🧪 1/
@samharrison.science @richardkcross.bsky.social @feuchtmayr.bsky.social #INC5

Person wearing headphones stretches his leg in the rain

Want a recommendation? One of our most popular episodes so far explored the secrets of the saltmarsh...

Listen to discover the amazing benefits of these complex coastal ecosystems – from providing wildlife habitat to storing carbon.

➡️ audioboom.com/posts/847888...

#podcast #summer

Dr Glenn Watts interviewed on BBC News

Dr Glenn Watts spoke to BBC News about current drought impacts.

He said: "The outlook for the rest of August is for mostly dry weather so flows will continue to become lower...expect to see more of those algal blooms, fish rescues, and the knock-on effects to wildlife and to farmers."

💧🧪 1/

Israel kills Al Jazeera journalists in targeted Gaza City airstrike - Committee to Protect Journalists New York, August 10, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is appalled to learn of the killing today of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and M...

An entire news crew working for Al Jazeera was killed by Israel as they sought to bring the world firsthand reporting from #Gaza.

Among them was prominent journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who had been previously smeared and threatened by the IDF.

#NotATarget

Full statement: cpj.org/2025/08/isra...

The latest UK Hydrological Outlook forecasts river flows and groundwater levels for August to October.

Though recent rainfall helped ease drought pressures in some parts of the country, river flows elsewhere remain unusually low.

📽️ Hear from UKCEH hydrologist @wilsonchan.bsky.social

🧪 1/

As someone who uses Bluesky regularly, I am a little worried that engagement has noticeably dropped. Not that our content on Twitter/X is doing any better. Do I really need to dip back into Threads?

Low water levels at Pontsticill reservoir, south Wales, in July 2025.

Graph showing unprecedented low summer rainfall found in one example realisation of the ECMWF hindcast archive (in red) compared to observed summer rainfall (in black). The light grey shading indicates the highest and lowest rainfall in the observations over this period.

Series of maps of UK illustrating four storylines of river flows given a dry or wet July combined with sustained settled or unsettled conditions as a result of a shifted jet stream to the north or south of the UK.

💧 How can we plan for future droughts when past observations are limited?

UKCEH hydroclimatologist @wilsonchan.bsky.social explains how ‘hindcasts’ and the UNSEEN method can help us explore rare but plausible scenarios, filling gaps in observations.

New blog post: www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 🧪