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Incredible close-up of spider silk wins science photo prize

Duelling prairie chickens, a snake-mimicking moth and a once-a-year sunrise at the South Pole feature in the best images from the Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition 2025

Spider silk threadsMartin J. Ramirez/Royal Society Publishing These twisting threads wrapped in thinner, looping strands are the silk of an Australian net-casting spider (Asianopis subrufa), a consummate ambush predator. Instead of building a web and waiting for prey to fall into it, this spider holds its net in its front four legs and throws it over a hapless insect. As this electron microscope image shows, its silk is specially adapted for this unusual hunting technique: it consists of an elastic core encased in a sheath of harder fibres of varying sizes, making it both strong and exceptionally stretchy. The photo, taken by Martin J. Ramirez at the Argentinian Bernardino Rivadavia Museum of Natural Sciences and his colleagues, is the overall winner of the Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition 2025. Jumping prairie-chickensPeter Hudson/Royal Society Publishing The winning photo in the behaviour category shows a fight between two male greater prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido), snapped by Peter Hudson at the Pennsylvania State University. Like many grouse species, males gather at a so-called lek during the breeding season, where they compete for mates by leaping into the air and attempting to strike their opponent. TadpolesFilippo Carugati/Royal Society Publishing Filippo Carugati at the University of Turin, Italy, won in the ecology and environmental science category with this photo of tadpoles, taken during fieldwork in Madagascar. The tadpoles, thought to be the young of a Guibemantis liber frog, are swimming in a gelatinous substance hanging from a tree trunk. Atlas mothIrina Petrova Adamatzky/Royal Society Publishing This image by Irina Petrova Adamatzky, a UK-based photographer, is the runner-up in the behaviour category. It showcases the masterful mimicry of the Atlas moth (Attacus atlas), one of the largest moths in the world, with a wingspan of up to 30 centimetres. The tips of its wings resemble snake heads: a disguise that helps it avoid being eaten by birds. Fog in the Atacama desertFelipe Rios Silva/Royal Society Publishing In Chile’s Atacama desert, stratocumulus clouds drifting in from the coast are a valuable resource. Felipe Ríos Silva at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and his colleagues are exploring techniques for catching the fog and turning it into drinking water for communities living in one of the driest places on Earth. Ríos Silva’s photo was the runner-up in the earth sciences and climatology category. South Pole sunriseDr. Aman Chokshi/Royal Society Publishing The return of the sun after six months of darkness at the South Pole is captured in this image by Aman Chokshi at McGill University in Canada, the runner-up in the astronomy category. Chokshi had to heat up his camera and contend with the icy wind at -70°C (-94°F) for several minutes to take a 360-degree panoramic shot of the horizon as the sun rose. He then turned it into a stereographic image resembling a small planet, fringed by a green and purple aurora with the Milky Way above.

Science
Water

UK farmers lose £800m after heat and drought cause one of worst harvests on record

Many now concerned about ability to make living in fast-changing climate after one of worst grain harvests recordedRecord heat and drought cost Britain’s arable farmers more than £800m in lost production in 2025 in one of the worst harvests recorded, analysis has estimated.Three of the five worst harvests on record have now occurred since 2020, leaving some farmers asking whether the growing impacts of the climate crisis are making it too financially risky to sow their crops. Farmers are already facing heavy financial pressure as the costs of fertilisers and other inputs have risen faster than prices. Continue reading...

Record heat and drought cost Britain’s arable farmers more than £800m in lost production in 2025 in one of the worst harvests recorded, analysis has estimated.Three of the five worst harvests on record have now occurred since 2020, leaving some farmers asking whether the growing impacts of the climate crisis are making it too financially risky to sow their crops. Farmers are already facing heavy financial pressure as the costs of fertilisers and other inputs have risen faster than prices.This year Britain had the hottest and driest spring on record, and the hottest summer, with drought conditions widespread. As a result, the production of the five staple arable crops – wheat, oats, spring and winter barley, and oilseed rape – fell by 20% compared with the 10-year average, according to the analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU). The harvest in England was the second-worst in records going back to 1984.Supercharged by global heating, extreme rainfall in the winters of 2019-20 and 2023-24 also led to very poor harvests, as farmers were unable to access waterlogged and flooded fields to drill their crops.“This has been another torrid year for many farmers in the UK, with the pendulum swinging from too wet to too hot and dry,” said Tom Lancaster at the ECIU. “British farmers have once again been left counting the costs of climate change, with four-fifths now concerned about their ability to make a living due to the fast-changing climate.”He added: “There is an urgent need to ensure farmers are better supported to adapt to these climate shocks and build their resilience as the bedrock of our food security. In this context, the delays [by ministers] to the relaunch of vital green farming schemes are the last thing the industry needs.” The sustainable farming incentive was closed in March.Many farmers are struggling to break even and some blame environmental policies, but Lancaster said: “The evidence suggests that climate impacts are what’s actually driving issues of profitability, certainly in the arable sector, as opposed to policy change. Without reaching net zero emission there is no way to limit the impacts making food production in the UK ever more difficult.”David Lord, an arable farmer from Essex, said: “As a farmer, I’m used to taking the rough with the smooth, but recent years have seen near constant extreme rainfall, heat and drought. It’s getting to the point with climate change where I can’t take the risk of investing in a new crop of wheat or barley because the return on that investment is just so uncertain.“Green farming schemes are a vital lifeline for me, helping build my resilience to these shocks whilst providing cashflow to help buffer me financially.”Green farming approaches include planting winter cover crops. These increase resilience by boosting the organic content of soil, meaning it can retain water better during droughts. Cover crops can also help break up compacted soil, allowing it to drain better during wet periods.The ECIU analysis used production data for England published in October and current grain prices and then extrapolated it to the UK as a whole, a method shown to be reliable in previous years. Since 2020, which was the worst harvest on record, lost revenue associated with the impact of extreme weather is now more than £2bn for UK arable farmers. Grain prices are set globally, so low harvests in the UK do not translate in the market to higher prices.The link between worsening extreme weather and global heating is increasingly clear. The Met Office said the UK summer of 2025 was the hottest in more than a century of records and was made 70 times more probable because of the climate crisis. Global heating also made the severe rainfall in the winter storms of 2023-24 about 20% heavier.“This year’s harvest was extremely challenging,” said Jamie Burrows, the chair of the National Farmers’ Union combinable crops board. “Growing crops in the UK isn’t easy due to the unpredictable weather we are seeing more of. Funding is needed for climate adaptation and resilient crop varieties to safeguard our ability to feed the nation.”The price of some foods hit by extreme weather are rising more than four times faster than others in the average shop, the ECIU reported in October. It found the price of butter, beef, milk, coffee and chocolate had risen by an average of 15.6% over the year, compared with 2.8% for other food and drink.Drought in the UK led to poor grass growth, hitting butter and beef production, while extreme heat and rain in west Africa pushed up cocoa prices and droughts in Brazil and Vietnam led to a surge in coffee prices.A spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said farmers were stewards of the nation’s food security. “We know there are challenges in the sector and weather extremes have affected harvests,” she said. “We are backing our farmers in the face of a changing climate with the largest nature-friendly farming budget in history to grow their businesses and get more British food on our plates.”

Climate
Crisis
Energy

Panda Express pays fine for failing to train employees on handling hazardous materials

Panda Express has agreed to pay $1 million for failing to train employees on how to safely handle carbon dioxide in soda machines.

Panda Express has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it failed to train its employees on how to handle its soda machines. The parent company of the Rosemead-based fast-casual Chinese American food chain had to pay a penalty for failing to educate its employees on handling carbon dioxide used for carbonated fountain beverage systems.The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Carbon dioxide is typically stored in tanks and is widely used by restaurants. California’s hazardous materials law requires that employees receive training on the storage and handling of carbon dioxide. Leaks that displace oxygen can result in serious harm or even death. Restaurants are required to certify employees and file reports with local regulators confirming such training.The lawsuit was filed after an investigation by Riverside County alleged that Panda Express failed to train its restaurant personnel on safe handling of carbon dioxide, and did not disclose employee training information as required by state law. Panda Express, the originator of the orange chicken, operates more than 500 locations in California, including 30 in Riverside County.“We don’t see a lot of these violations, so I would assume this would be a wake-up call for restaurants in general,” said Richard Shank, senior principal at Technomic, a research and consulting firm for the food services industry. “Typically, beverage stations are leased from a beverage supplier and serviced by third parties, including the CO2, so this may have identified a gap in training that was unknown to Panda.” “Panda’s workplace culture is built on a strong training foundation,” he added, “so I’m inclined to believe that this settlement possibly identifies a need to clarify roles between the beverage supplier and the restaurants.” The Riverside County district attorney’s office said the settlement was reached after Panda Express took steps to comply with California law regarding training and updating reporting and training records.Panda Express has been ordered to pay $881,925 in civil penalties, $100,000 in supplemental environmental projects, and $75,000 in cost reimbursement.

CO2
Culture
Food

The Scientific American Staff’s Favorite Books of 2025

Here are the 67 books Scientific American staffers couldn’t put down this year, from fantasy epics to gripping nonfiction

Each year around this time, we ask the staff of Scientific American to recommend the best books they read this year. Here are the 67 new favorites and old classics that kept us turning the pages in 2025.Happy reading! Jump to your favorite section here:On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.NonfictionIn alphabetical orderApocalypse: How Catastrophe Transformed Our World and Can Forge New Futuresby Lizzie WadeHarper(Tags: History)“This was such an upbeat book about apocalypses! I learned a ton and got a much smarter sense of what people really experienced during these extreme scenarios.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterBad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining Americaby Elie MystalThe New Press(Tags: Policy)“A clearly structured and compellingly argued takedown of 10 terrible laws that could easily be fixed by simply revoking them. It will make you mad but in the most clarifying way.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterThe Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneersby Cheryl McKissack Daniel, with Nick ChilesAtria/Black Privilege Publishing(Tags: Memoir)“The author’s great-great-grandfather, an enslaved person brought from Africa, started a construction/engineering company in North Carolina and Tennessee that is still in the family and is now run by her. An intimate view of courageous Black lives in the midst of ongoing white prejudice and violence.” —Maria-Christina Keller, Copy DirectorCareless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealismby Sarah Wynn-WilliamsFlatiron Books(Tags: Memoir)“When I finished the prologue of Careless People, I immediately looked up who had the movie rights—the author has a flair for the cinematic in describing her experiences. Besides being a riveting read, this look at the thoughts and thoughtlessness of those running Facebook is crucial to understanding how today’s toxic digital landscape came to be.” —Sarah Lewin Frasier, Senior EditorCHART: Designing Creative Data Visualizations from Charts to Artby Nadieh BremerA K Peters/CRC Press(Tags: Data Visualization)“Nadieh Bremer excels at creating captivating and memorable information-rich data displays. If you’re stuck in a world of bar charts and line charts and looking to stretch your own capabilities beyond standard visualization forms, this book is for you. Examples include several graphics commissioned for Scientific American articles!” —Jen Christiansen, Acting Chief of Design & Senior Graphics EditorThe Football: The Amazing Mathematics of the World’s Most Watched Objectby Étienne GhysPrinceton University Press(Tags: Math, Physics, Sports)“A fascinating mathematical and physical microhistory of soccer balls and the official FIFA World Cup match balls in particular.” —Emma R. Hasson, 2025 AAAS Mass Media FellowThe Harder I Fight the More I Love Youby Neko CaseGrand Central Publishing(Tags: Memoir)“A searing, beautiful memoir by singer-songwriter Neko Case, recalling her lonely, tumultuous upbringing and the way music became a balm and an escape. It is written with the same gut-punching poetic voice that makes her such an incredible lyricist.” —Andrea Thompson, Senior Desk Editor/Life ScienceI Want to Burn This Place Downby Maris KreizmanEcco(Tags: Essays)“A wonderfully slim collection of essays about growing up, getting angry and choosing to change the world for the better. I cringed at how relatable it was at times, but that’s the point!” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerInventing the Renaissance: The Myth of a Golden Ageby Ada PalmerThe University of Chicago Press(Tags: History)“You may know Ada Palmer as a science-fiction novelist, but she’s also a historian at the University of Chicago who focuses on the Renaissance. This is a chunky book with many parts, but it’s very readable and thought-provoking. You’ll think differently about the Renaissance—and about how history works.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterLeaving the Ocean Was a Mistake: Life Lessons from Sixty Sea Creaturesby Cara Giaimo. Illustrated by Vlad StankovicQuirk Books(Tags: Humor, Animals)“This charming little book highlights 60 creatures that live in the shallows to the abyssal deep. Each is beautifully illustrated, while the text shares an interesting fact about the animal and a wry inspirational-poster-style motto for human life drawn from its experience. Great for kids five to 10 years old, plus anyone else who wants to be delighted by the ocean’s denizens.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterThe Meteorites: Encounters with Outer Space and Deep Timeby Helen GordonProfile Books(Tags: Space, History)“I’ve never had such an emotional reaction to reading about rocks, but the prose is beautiful, and the passion of the authors pours off every page.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerMore Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanityby Adam BeckerBasic Books(Tags: AI, Technology)“A fascinating look at the so-called philosophies that Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs use to justify sacrificing the present to build a future that will never exist. Equal parts fascinating and infuriating, this book sheds light on the way some of the most powerful people in the world think and also shows you how to argue against it.” —Ian Kelly, Product ManagerOne Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been against Thisby Omar El AkkadKnopf(Tags: Memoir, Politics)“A powerfully written, thought-provoking book with deep moral clarity.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterOwned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Leftby Eoin HigginsBold Type Books(Tags: Political Science)“The story of how tech billionaires are buying out their most vocal critics and trying to change the journalistic landscape. This book helps explain not just how narratives are changing in front of our eyes but why.” —Ian Kelly, Product ManagerPhenomenal Moments: Revealing the Hidden Science around Usby Felice FrankelMITeen Press(Tags: Young Adult, Photography)“Photographer Felice Frankel explores the science behind visual characteristics through a series of images paired with artist statements and succinct scientific explanations. Together, this prompts the reader to ponder light and shadow, form, transformation and surfaces.” —Jen Christiansen, Acting Chief of Design & Senior Graphics EditorProto: How One Ancient Language Went Globalby Laura SpinneyBloomsbury Publishing(Tags: History, Linguistics)“Laura Spinney tells engaging tales of archeologists traipsing through fields, linguists working toward professional vindication and many others active in the search for understanding of how these ancient languages traveled, fragmented, warred and traded to eventually became the dominant Indo-European languages today.” —Rich Hunt, Managing Production EditorA Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Liftingby Casey JohnstonGrand Central Publishing(Tags: Memoir)“A gripping combination of memoir and exploration of the history and science of weight lifting. Casey Johnston’s background as a science journalist comes through clearly in the fascinating explanations of how and why lifting can be so beneficial.” —Sarah Lewin Frasier, Senior EditorRaising Hareby Chloe DaltonPantheon(Tags: Memoir)“An atmospheric and cozy memoir about a city slicker workaholic who rescues a newborn abandoned hare and awakens to nature. A great one for animal lovers.” —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter EditorReefs of Time: What Fossils Reveal about Coral Survivalby Lisa GardinerPrinceton University Press(Tags: Science, Environment)“This is a love letter to past, present and future coral reefs. Gardiner is a close friend of mine. Her stories of fossil and modern polyps—as well as the people that study them—prompted me to think more deeply about resilience.” —Jen Christiansen, Acting Chief of Design & Senior Graphics EditorRipples on the Cosmic Ocean: An Environmental History of Our Place in the Solar Systemby Dagomar DegrootHarvard University Press(Tags: Science, Space)“A fascinating tour of the environmental history of the inner solar system and how centuries of changes to our neighboring worlds have shaped the human experience.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterSearches: Selfhood in the Digital Ageby Vauhini VaraPantheon(Tags: AI, Technology)“I loved this philosophical look at how and why artificial intelligence and broader technological developments have changed our world and our artistic practice within it.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerThe Sexual Evolution: How 500 Million Years of Sex, Gender, and Mating Shape Modern Relationshipsby Nathan LentsMariner Books(Tags: Sexology, Zoology)“Surprisingly funny and eye-opening book about how the animal kingdom is more sexually diverse than previously understood.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerSociopath: A Memoirby Patric GagneSimon & Schuster(Tags: Memoir, Mental Health)“I picked up this book after I read our own July/August 2025 article about treating childhood psychopathy and wanted to know more. The author describes with vivid honesty how it felt to grow up as an undiagnosed sociopath and how she came to learn about herself and create her own path to treatment. As someone who is fascinated by different neurotypes, I was hooked from the start and came away with (somewhat ironically) a newfound empathy for those who don’t themselves experience empathy like most people do.” —Amanda Montañez, Senior Graphics EditorSpeak Data: Artists, Scientists, Thinkers, and Dreamers on How We Live Our Lives in Numbersby Giorgia Lupi and Phillip CoxChronicle Books(Tags: Data)“A collection of thoughtful interviews with people who spend their days thinking about and working with data—including scientists, artists, activists and business leaders. I loved that each interviewee defines data in a different way.” —Amanda Montañez, Senior Graphics EditorStrata: Stories From Deep Timeby Laura PoppickW. W. Norton(Tags: Geology)“The deep history of Earth can be overwhelming—the sheer scale of billions of years, with only the opaque names of eras and epochs to navigate by—but Strata is different. In it, geologist-turned-science-journalist Laura Poppick carries the reader on our planet’s adventure by highlighting four pivotal phenomena: air, ice, mud and heat.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterSweet Nothings: Confessions of a Candy Loverby Sarah PerryMariner Books(Tags: Essays, Food)“The sweetest essays about some of my favorite candy indulgences. It was sometimes funny, touching and even educational. This would be a nice palate cleanser to get someone out of a reading slump. The illustrations and formatting, with sections broken up by candy color, was a cute touch.” —Isabella Bruni, Digital ProducerTigers Between Empires: The Improbable Return of Great Cats to the Forests of Russia and Chinaby Jonathan C. SlaghtFarrar, Straus and Giroux(Tags: History)“A heart-in-your-mouth saga that tells the stories—terrifying, riveting and sad—of the adventurer scientists who saved the disappearing Amur tiger. Slaght gives us an inspiring account of a wilderness where brown bears fight tigers and the too-brief geopolitical thaw that reshaped the lives of both man and tiger.” —Dan Vergano, Senior Editor, Washington, D.C.FictionIn alphabetical orderAmong Friendsby Hal EbbottRiverhead Books(Tags: Literary Fiction)“This is simply about a birthday weekend spent between two families that goes wrong, but I was locked into the drama right away. Lesson learned: some friendships are best left in the past.” —Isabella Bruni, Digital ProducerThe Antidoteby Karen RussellKnopf(Tags: Historical Fiction)“Thrilled my book club made me read this! I loved this new take on a witch in the American West.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerAtmosphereby Taylor Jenkins ReidBallantine Books(Tags: LGBTQ+, Astronauts)“A gorgeous romance interspersed with a thrilling mission story about fictional astronauts in the space shuttle program in the 1980s.” —Clara Moskowitz, Chief of ReportersThe Botanist’s Assistantby Peggy TownsendBerkley(Tags: Mystery)“A fun murder mystery steeped in the world of scientific research and botany.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterEat The Ones You Loveby Sarah Maria GriffinTor Books(Tags: Fantasy)“Creepy and weird in all the best ways! More horror stories should examine violence through botany and abandoned malls.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerEmily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Talesby Heather FawcettDel Rey Books(Tags: Fantasy)“I find the world and characters so endlessly endearing I’d read about them if they were just sitting around having tea! The combination of monster hunting, academic woes and romantic high points was just what I was looking for.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerFor Whom the Belle Tollsby Jaysea LynnS&S/Saga Press(Tags: Romance, Erotica)“A woman dies of cancer, explores the afterlife, enjoys customer service and finds two kinds of love. It’s a nice blend of romance, plot and characters that feels like a warm cozy hug of a book.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterI Got Abducted By Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Comby Kimberly LemmingBerkley(Tags: Erotica, Science Fiction)“As a longtime Lemming fan, I was still shocked to see her foray into science fiction. She satirizes the field’s desperation and tunnel vision for experimentation and documentation well while still showcasing hysterically self-aware protagonists and introducing new, weird and hot aliens.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerIsaac’s Songby Daniel BlackHanover Square Press(Tags: Historical Fiction)“A heart-wrenching read on grief, love, family and identity. Set in the 1980s, it’s a poetic journey about dealing with generational trauma and writing your own story.” —Fonda Mwangi, Multimedia EditorRejectionby Tony TulathimutteWilliam Morrow Paperbacks(Tags: Short Story Fiction, Satire)“As someone who spends way too much time on the social Internet, this book made me spiral. It’s a scathing look at Internet losers, woke politics and a self-hating generation of people just looking to be accepted.” —Carin Leong, Editorial Contributor“This book was as startling as it was eye-opening. Going to be hard to forget this one.” —Isabella Bruni, Digital ProducerThe Rest Is Silenceby Augusto Monterroso. Translated by Aaron KernerNew York Review of Books(Tags: Academic Satire)“A hilarious and touching bludgeoning of the provincial éminence-grise-type, in translation from the original Spanish. A short, savage antidote to every unblemished saccharine Festschrift of the scholarly world. Will make you want to go back and read Don Quixote, around which the critic at the center of the story has mislaid his entire oeuvre.” —Dan Vergano, Senior Editor, Washington, D.C.The Salvageby Anbara SalamTin House(Tags: Historical Fiction, Mystery)“There are ghosts in the icy waters east of Scotland. In 1962 a marine archaeologist raises them to the surface from a century-old shipwreck. But she is haunted by ghosts of her own. Dead men’s shadows, creaking cupboard doors and poisoned relationships make for a gothic takeover of the science in this tale. I liked the way our archaeologist is gradually convinced of the supernatural terrors, even while a supposedly superstitious islander counters with evidence rooted in the everyday world.” —Josh Fischman, Senior Editor/Special ProjectsSmall Boatby Vincent Delecroix. Translated by Helen StevensonHope Road Publishing(Tags: Philosophical Tragedy, Historical Fiction)“A minimalist and morally complex retelling of the 2021 English Channel disaster that suggests there’s no one to blame but us all.” —Cynthia Atkinson, Marketing & Customer Service AssistantSunrise on the Reapingby Suzanne CollinsScholastic Press(Tags: Dystopian Fiction)“Suzanne Collins really delivered with Sunrise on the Reaping. The backstory of Haymitch, Katniss’s mentor during the Hunger Games, is finally revealed, and the result is gutting—it is rip-out-your-heartstrings devastating.” —Isabella Bruni, Digital ProducerVanishing Worldby Sayaka MurataGrove Hardcover(Tags: Science Fiction, Dystopia)“This dystopian tale imagines a world where sex for procreation has become obsolete, replaced entirely by artificial insemination and clinical reproduction. Here intimacy is viewed as unnecessary, unsanitary and even taboo. It’s an unsettling exploration of how the erosion of romantic love and pleasure and the human bonds they forge can profoundly reshape the meaning of family, friendship and society at large.” —Sunya Bhutta, Chief Audience Engagement EditorWe Love You, Bunnyby Mona AwadS&S/Marysue Rucci Books (Tags: Fantasy, Thriller)“This was the perfect spooky-season read—and dare I say, I preferred this to the prequel. Mona Awad hits the nail on the head with this dark academia freaky fever dream. The origins of this New England MFA student clique are revealed, and we get all the witchcraft and laughter that bring the ‘Bunnies’ to life. —Isabella Bruni, Digital ProducerWhere the Axe Is Buriedby Ray NaylerMCD(Tags: Science Fiction)“It’s less interested in the apocalypse than it is in those who shape its course. No perspectives are off limits in this far-too-familiar future, a prospect that’s as chilling as it is riveting.” —Cynthia Atkinson, Marketing & Customer Service AssistantWild Dark Shoreby Charlotte McConaghyFlatiron Books(Tags: Climate Fiction)“A riveting drama set on a remote island near Antarctica, where a man and his three children are caretakers for an underground vault protecting vital samples of the world’s plant seeds. Personal mysteries and dangerous climate-change-induced weather make this a suspenseful page-turner.” —Clara Moskowitz, Chief of ReportersBountiful BacklistIn order of publication yearJournal of a Novel: The East of Eden Lettersby John SteinbeckPenguin Books, 1990(Tags: Diary, Creative Writing)“A fascinating look into an author’s process, especially his insecurities and what he believed the story of East of Eden was truly about. It inspired me to write more in pencil!” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerKilling Rage: Ending Racismby bell hooksHolt Paperbacks, 1996(Tags: Essays)“A necessary confrontation with the realities of racism that demands to be read. Be ready to question yourself and the country you live in.” —Charlotte Hartwell, Marketing ManagerTo Liveby Yu HuaVintage, 2003(Tags: Historical Fiction)“Set in 20th-century China, it’s an unforgettable reminder of what’s left when relentless misfortune and tragedy strike. There are plenty of moments that are unsettling, but you can’t help but keep reading such a human story.” —Cynthia Atkinson, Marketing & Customer Service AssistantThe Thing around Your Neckby Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieVintage, 2009(Tags: Short Stories)“I find I barely have any time to read these days, but Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2009 collection of short stories about postcolonial Nigeria is an absolute page-turner. I finished it in just two days, but each narrative has the potency that will keep me coming back to read them over and over again.” —Claire Cameron, Breaking News ChiefThe Night Circusby Erin MorgensternVintage, 2012(Tags: Fantasy)“A beautiful love story told through secrets, magic and circuses. Erin Morgenstern is the kind of spectacular writer who can convince me to follow her anywhere, no matter how fantastical the plot may seem at first glance.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerTo Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Partyby Heather Cox RichardsonBasic Books, 2014(Tags: History)“A history of the Republican Party that helps explain how we got to our current political situation.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterPachinkoby Min Jin LeeGrand Central Publishing, 2017(Tags: Historical Fiction)“One of the best books I’ve ever read. Isak’s life story completely broke my heart, and just thinking about it makes me teary-eyed all over again.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerThe Apollo Murdersby Chris HadfieldMulholland Books, 2021(Tags: Space Thriller)“This riveting thriller by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield imagines a cold-war-era Apollo mission gone wrong, with lots of exciting intrigue between astronauts and cosmonauts.” —Clara Moskowitz, Chief of ReportersThis Time Tomorrowby Emma StraubRiverhead Books, 2023(Tags: Science Fiction)“I normally don’t go for time-travel books, but this had just the right sprinkle of magical realism. The book is rooted in the relationship between a father and daughter and hooked me with its tenderness and humor. It reminded me of The Midnight Library, [by Matt Haig], too.” —Isabella Bruni, Digital ProducerAbortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Winby Jessica ValentiCrown, 2024(Tags: Health, Politics)“Everything you need to know about the antiscience tactics being used to keep people from the health care they need. It’s a supersmart guide to seeing the whole context of how abortion is treated in the U.S.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterAlways Bring Your Sunglasses: And Other Stories from a Life of Sensory and Social Invalidationby Becca Lory HectorSelf-published, 2024(Tags: Parenting)“A beautifully honest account of the author’s experience growing up as an undiagnosed autistic person—part memoir, part guide for parents and other caregivers who want to better understand and support the autistic children in their lives.” —Amanda Montañez, Senior Graphics EditorCustodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Aliveby Eliot SteinSt. Martin’s Press, 2024(Tags: Society and Current Affairs)“A lovely adventure profiling 10 nearly lost traditions from around the world. It explores the history of each one and the handful of people fighting to keep them alive.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterFaux Feminism: Why We Fall for White Feminism and How We Can Stopby Serene KhaderBeacon Press, 2024(Tags: Politics)“A detailed reckoning of how white feminism has failed everyone, this book paints a beautiful picture of the way the world could be instead.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterFever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Themby Timothy EganPenguin Books, 2024(Tags: History)“This is a beautifully written book about a terrifying period in U.S. history. It’s also a reminder that there are always those whose hearts, corrupted by racism and power, would happily trade in freedom to enact their own tyrannical white supremacist fever dreams. Egan reminds us that the privilege of living in a democracy is the unending work that goes toward maintaining it.” —Kendra Pierre-Louis, Editorial ContributorThe Javelin Programby Derin EdalaSelf-published, 2024(Tags: Science Fiction)“This Web-series-turned-book has everything one could ask for in character-driven hard science fiction. It’s a compelling snapshot of a potential future society, full of gripping mysteries, anthropological intrigue and complex but (as far as I can tell) accurate physics. But be warned: because it was initially released as a chapter-by-chapter web series, the ending of the first book on its own will not be satisfying.” —Emma R. Hasson, 2025 AAAS Mass Media FellowThe Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earthby Zoë SchlangerHarper, 2024(Tags: Botany)“Most people think of plants as mindless, unfeeling creatures. Zoë Schlanger’s compelling, lucid tour of the latest research on the ‘plant experience’ proves this is far from the case.” —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter EditorThe Ministry of Timeby Kaliane BradleyAvid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, 2024(Tags: Science Fiction, Time-Travel Rom-Com)“A really fun premise of historical figures plucked from their own eras and unwillingly expatriated to present-day London, where they’re forced to reckon with modern technology and with the moral legacy of the British Empire that brought them there. I love a character who yearns!” —Carin Leong, Editorial ContributorThe Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Centerby Rhaina CohenSt. Martin’s Press, 2024(Tags: Lifestyle)“This book is about a type of relationship that we have no set vocabulary for: friends who have chosen to become life partners. Rhaina Cohen, who has herself experienced one of these platonic partnerships, profiles pairs of friends whose relationships have broken out of the conventional molds. It was so striking how each of these pairs felt like they were inventing something wholly new with their love and commitment to each other—even though, historically, there’s nothing new about it at all.” —Allison Parshall, Associate Editor/Mind & BrainThe Phoenix Keeperby S. A. MacLeanOrbit, 2024(Tags: Fantasy)“This was such a delightful read! It’s billed as cozy, which I don’t think is fair—a couple guns do eventually show up—but it’s a very heartwarming story set in a magical zoo, following the revival of a defunct phoenix-breeding program.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterThe Safekeepby Yael van der WoudenAvid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, 2024 (Tags: Historical Fiction)“This novel absolutely slammed into me. Set in the postwar era of the Netherlands, it features a sour central character, a family history slowly oozing out onto the pages and an interloper who isn’t what she seems. I read this in one sitting—it is richly written, breathless and surprising! You’ll be as obsessed with this as the two main characters are with each other.” —Arminda Downey-Mavromatis, Former Associate Engagement Editor The Vaster Wildsby Lauren GroffRiverhead Books, 2024(Tags: Historical Fiction)“A lyrical tale of survival in a harsh undeveloped version of colonial America. Groff seamlessly blends a psychological exploration of oppression and class with a naturalist’s view of the living world. It is both a feminist story and an ode to freedom.” —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter EditorWhat If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futuresby Ayana Elizabeth JohnsonOne World, 2024(Tags: Climate, Technology)“The interviews, poems, essays and artwork by a wide range of contributors, including scientist Kate Marvel, artist Erica Deeman, journalist Kendra Pierre-Louis and architecture and design curator Paola Antonelli provide frameworks and nudges to propel us forward. The book provided me with much needed hope and an energy boost.” —Jen Christiansen, Acting Chief of Design & Senior Graphics Editor

Activism
Animals
Business

Israel Publishes Draft Law Seeking to Boost State Revenues From Dead Sea Minerals

By Steven ScheerJERUSALEM, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Israel on Wednesday published a draft law that aims to boost state revenues from a concession for...

JERUSALEM, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Israel on Wednesday published a draft law that aims to boost state revenues from a concession for extracting minerals from the Dead Sea as well as tackling its environmental consequences.The Finance Ministry said the proposed law intends to redefine the concession to ensure the public and the state get their rightful share, while ensuring the preservation of nature and environmental values."The law serves as the basis for allocating the concession and the terms of the future tender for resource extraction from the Dead Sea, with an emphasis on promoting optimal competition, lowering entry barriers, and attracting leading international players," it said.Fertiliser maker ICL Group has held the concession, giving it exclusive rights to minerals from the Dead Sea site, for five decades, but its permit is set to expire in 2030.Last month, ICL gave up right of first refusal for its Dead Sea concession under a government plan to open it up for tender, although it would receive some $3 billion if it loses the permit when it expires.ICL, one of the world's largest potash producers, has previously said its Dead Sea assets were worth $6 billion. ICL extracts mainly potash and magnesium from the concession.Under the draft law, which still needs preliminary approval from lawmakers, the state's share of concession profits would ultimately rise to an average of 50% from 35% currently, partly through royalties, the ministry said.The law also aims to tackle negative impacts of resource extraction activities in the Dead Sea, which continues to shrink.ICL plans to participate in the future tender and has said it believes it is the most suitable candidate to operate the future concession.Accountant General Yali Rothenberg said the law places emphasis on fair, efficient, and responsible use of one of Israel’s most important natural resources. It "will ensure that the state maximizes economic value for the public, promotes optimal competition, and protects the unique environment of the Dead Sea region for future generations," he said.(Reporting by Steven Scheer. Editing by Jane Merriman)Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

Government
Nature
Resources

Realtors just forced Zillow to hide a key piece of information about buying a home. Here’s why

Until recently, when you looked at a house for sale on Zillow, you could see property-specific scores for the risk of flooding, wildfires, wind from storms and hurricanes, extreme heat, and air quality. The numbers came from First Street, a nonprofit that uses peer-reviewed methodologies to calculate “climate risk.” But Zillow recently removed those scores after pressure from CRMLS, one of the large real-estate listing services that supplies its data. “The reality is these models have been around for over five years,” says Matthew Eby, CEO of First Street, which also provides its data to sites like Realtor.com and Redfin. (Zillow started displaying the information in 2024, but Realtor.com incorporated First Street’s “Flood Scores” in 2020.) “And what’s happened is the market’s gotten very tight. And now they’re looking for ways to try and make it easier to sell homes at the expense of homebuyers.” The California Regional MLS, like others across the country, controls the database that feeds real estate listings to sites like Zillow. The organization said in a statement to the New York Times that it was “suspicious” after seeing predictions of high flood risk in areas that hadn’t flooded in the past. When Fast Company asked for an example of a location, they pointed to a neighborhood in Huntington Beach—but that area actually just flooded last week. In a statement, First Street said that it stands behind the accuracy of its scores. “Our models are built on transparent, peer-reviewed science and are continuously validated against real-world outcomes. In the CRMLS coverage area, during the Los Angeles wildfires, our maps identified over 90% of the homes that ultimately burned as being at severe or extreme risk—our highest risk rating—and 100% as having some level of risk, significantly outperforming CalFire’s official state hazard maps. So when claims are made that our models are inaccurate, we ask for evidence. To date, all the empirical validation shows our science is working as designed and providing better risk insight than the tools the industry has relied on historically.” Zillow’s trust in the data has not changed, and that data is important to consumers: In one survey, it saw that more than 80% of buyers considered the data when shopping for a house. But the company said in a statement that it updated its “climate risk product experience to adhere to varying MLS requirements.” It’s not clear exactly what happened: In response to questions for this story, CRMLS now says it only asked Zillow to remove “predictive numbers” and flood map layers on listings, while Zillow says the MLS board voted to demand they block all of the data. It’s also not clear what would have happened if Zillow hadn’t made any changes, though in theory, the MLS could have stopped giving the site access to its listings. Images of Zillow’s climate risk tools from a 2024 press release [Image: Zillow] Zillow still links to First Street’s website in each listing, so homebuyers can access the information, but it’s less easy to find. The site also still includes a map that consumers can use to view overall neighborhood risk, if they take the extra step to click on checkboxes for flooding, fire, or other hazards. But the main scores are gone. Obviously, seeing that a particular house has a high flood risk or fire risk can hurt sales. Nevertheless, after First Street first launched, the National Association of Realtors put out guidance saying that the information was useful—and that since realtors aren’t experts in things like flood risk, they shouldn’t try to tell buyers themselves that a particular house is safe, even if it hasn’t flooded in the past. First Street’s flood data goes further than that of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which uses outdated flood maps. It also incorporates more climate predictions, along with the risk of flooding from heavy rainfall and surface runoff, not just flooding from rivers or the coast. And it includes predictions of small amounts of flooding (for example, whether an inch of water is likely to reach the property). Buyers can dig deeper to figure out how much that amount of flooding might affect a particular house. It’s not surprising that some high risk scores have upset home sellers who haven’t experienced flooding or other problems in the past. But as the climate changes, past experiences don’t guarantee what a property will be like for the next 30 years. Take the example of North Carolina, where some residents hadn’t ever experienced flooding until Hurricane Helene dumped unprecedented rainfall on their neighborhoods. Redfin, another site that uses the data, plans to continue providing it, though sellers have the option to ask for it to be removed from a particular home if they believe it’s inaccurate. (First Street also allows homeowners to ask for their data to be revised if there’s a problem, and then reviews the accuracy.) “Redfin will continue to provide the best-possible estimates of the risks of fires, floods, and storms,” Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather said in a statement. “Homebuyers want to know, because losing a home in a catastrophe is heartbreaking, and insuring against these risks is getting more and more expensive.” Realtor.com is working with CRMLS and data providers to look into the issues raised by the MLS over the scores. “We aim to balance transparency about the evolving environmental risks to what is often a family’s biggest investment, with an understanding that the available data can sometimes be limited,” the company said in a statement. “For this reason we always encourage consumers to consult a local real estate professional for guidance or to learn more. When issues are raised, we work with our data partners to review them and make updates when appropriate.” If more real estate sites take down the scores, it’s likely that some buyers won’t see the information at all. First Street says that while it’s good that Zillow still includes a link to its site, the impact is real. “Whenever you add friction into something, it just is used less,” Eby says. “And so not having that information at the tip of your fingers is definitely going to have an impact on the millions of people that go to Zillow every day to see it.”

Until recently, when you looked at a house for sale on Zillow, you could see property-specific scores for the risk of flooding, wildfires, wind from storms and hurricanes, extreme heat, and air quality. The numbers came from First Street, a nonprofit that uses peer-reviewed methodologies to calculate “climate risk.” But Zillow recently removed those scores after pressure from CRMLS, one of the large real-estate listing services that supplies its data. “The reality is these models have been around for over five years,” says Matthew Eby, CEO of First Street, which also provides its data to sites like Realtor.com and Redfin. (Zillow started displaying the information in 2024, but Realtor.com incorporated First Street’s “Flood Scores” in 2020.) “And what’s happened is the market’s gotten very tight. And now they’re looking for ways to try and make it easier to sell homes at the expense of homebuyers.” The California Regional MLS, like others across the country, controls the database that feeds real estate listings to sites like Zillow. The organization said in a statement to the New York Times that it was “suspicious” after seeing predictions of high flood risk in areas that hadn’t flooded in the past. When Fast Company asked for an example of a location, they pointed to a neighborhood in Huntington Beach—but that area actually just flooded last week. In a statement, First Street said that it stands behind the accuracy of its scores. “Our models are built on transparent, peer-reviewed science and are continuously validated against real-world outcomes. In the CRMLS coverage area, during the Los Angeles wildfires, our maps identified over 90% of the homes that ultimately burned as being at severe or extreme risk—our highest risk rating—and 100% as having some level of risk, significantly outperforming CalFire’s official state hazard maps. So when claims are made that our models are inaccurate, we ask for evidence. To date, all the empirical validation shows our science is working as designed and providing better risk insight than the tools the industry has relied on historically.” Zillow’s trust in the data has not changed, and that data is important to consumers: In one survey, it saw that more than 80% of buyers considered the data when shopping for a house. But the company said in a statement that it updated its “climate risk product experience to adhere to varying MLS requirements.” It’s not clear exactly what happened: In response to questions for this story, CRMLS now says it only asked Zillow to remove “predictive numbers” and flood map layers on listings, while Zillow says the MLS board voted to demand they block all of the data. It’s also not clear what would have happened if Zillow hadn’t made any changes, though in theory, the MLS could have stopped giving the site access to its listings. Images of Zillow’s climate risk tools from a 2024 press release [Image: Zillow] Zillow still links to First Street’s website in each listing, so homebuyers can access the information, but it’s less easy to find. The site also still includes a map that consumers can use to view overall neighborhood risk, if they take the extra step to click on checkboxes for flooding, fire, or other hazards. But the main scores are gone. Obviously, seeing that a particular house has a high flood risk or fire risk can hurt sales. Nevertheless, after First Street first launched, the National Association of Realtors put out guidance saying that the information was useful—and that since realtors aren’t experts in things like flood risk, they shouldn’t try to tell buyers themselves that a particular house is safe, even if it hasn’t flooded in the past. First Street’s flood data goes further than that of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which uses outdated flood maps. It also incorporates more climate predictions, along with the risk of flooding from heavy rainfall and surface runoff, not just flooding from rivers or the coast. And it includes predictions of small amounts of flooding (for example, whether an inch of water is likely to reach the property). Buyers can dig deeper to figure out how much that amount of flooding might affect a particular house. It’s not surprising that some high risk scores have upset home sellers who haven’t experienced flooding or other problems in the past. But as the climate changes, past experiences don’t guarantee what a property will be like for the next 30 years. Take the example of North Carolina, where some residents hadn’t ever experienced flooding until Hurricane Helene dumped unprecedented rainfall on their neighborhoods. Redfin, another site that uses the data, plans to continue providing it, though sellers have the option to ask for it to be removed from a particular home if they believe it’s inaccurate. (First Street also allows homeowners to ask for their data to be revised if there’s a problem, and then reviews the accuracy.) “Redfin will continue to provide the best-possible estimates of the risks of fires, floods, and storms,” Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather said in a statement. “Homebuyers want to know, because losing a home in a catastrophe is heartbreaking, and insuring against these risks is getting more and more expensive.” Realtor.com is working with CRMLS and data providers to look into the issues raised by the MLS over the scores. “We aim to balance transparency about the evolving environmental risks to what is often a family’s biggest investment, with an understanding that the available data can sometimes be limited,” the company said in a statement. “For this reason we always encourage consumers to consult a local real estate professional for guidance or to learn more. When issues are raised, we work with our data partners to review them and make updates when appropriate.” If more real estate sites take down the scores, it’s likely that some buyers won’t see the information at all. First Street says that while it’s good that Zillow still includes a link to its site, the impact is real. “Whenever you add friction into something, it just is used less,” Eby says. “And so not having that information at the tip of your fingers is definitely going to have an impact on the millions of people that go to Zillow every day to see it.”

Climate
Science
Water

Researchers Slightly Lower Study's Estimate of Drop in Global Income Due to Climate Change

Researchers who examined climate change’s potential effect on the global economy say data errors led them to slightly overstate an expected drop in income over the next 25 years

The authors of a study that examined climate change's potential effect on the global economy said Wednesday that data errors led them to slightly overstate an expected drop in income over the next 25 years.The researchers at Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, writing in the journal Nature in 2024, had forecast a 19% drop in global income by 2050. Their revised analysis puts the figure at 17%.The authors also said in their original work that there was a 99% chance that, by midcentury, it would cost more to fix damage from climate change than it would cost to build resilience. Their new analysis, not yet peer-reviewed, lowered that figure to 91%.The Associated Press reported on the original study. Nature posted a retraction of it Wednesday.The researchers cited data inaccuracies in the first paper, particularly with underlying economic data for Uzbekistan between 1995 and 1999 that had a large influence on the results, and that their analysis had underestimated statistical uncertainty.Max Kotz, one of the study’s authors, told the AP that the heart of the study is unchanged: Climate change will be enormously damaging to the world economy if unchecked, and that the impact will hit hardest in the lowest-income areas that contribute the fewest emissions driving the planet's warming. Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia Business School who wasn't involved with the research, said the thrust of the Potsdam Institute's work remains the same “no matter which part of the range the true figure will be.”“Climate change already hits home, quite literally. Home insurance premiums across the U.S. have already seen, in part, a doubling over the past decade alone,” Wagner said. “Rapidly accumulating climate risks will only make the numbers go up even more.”The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Nov. 2025

Climate
Business
Nature

The environmental costs of corn: should the US change how it grows its dominant crop?

Amid concerns over greenhouse gas emissions, the Trump administration has abolished climate-friendly farming incentivesThis article was produced in partnership with FloodlightFor decades, corn has reigned over American agriculture. It sprawls across 90m acres – about the size of Montana – and goes into everything from livestock feed and processed foods to the ethanol blended into most of the nation’s gasoline. Continue reading...

This article was produced in partnership with FloodlightFor decades, corn has reigned over American agriculture. It sprawls across 90m acres – about the size of Montana – and goes into everything from livestock feed and processed foods to the ethanol blended into most of the nation’s gasoline.But a growing body of research reveals that the US’s obsession with corn has a steep price: the fertilizer used to grow it is warming the planet and contaminating water.Corn is essential to the rural economy and to the world’s food supply, and researchers say the problem isn’t the corn itself. It’s how we grow it.Corn farmers rely on heavy fertilizer use to sustain today’s high yields. And when the nitrogen in the fertilizer breaks down in the soil, it releases nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas nearly 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Producing nitrogen fertilizer also emits large amounts of carbon dioxide, adding to its climate footprint.The corn and ethanol industries insist that rapid growth in ethanol – which now consumes 40% of the US corn crop – is a net environmental benefit, and they strongly dispute research suggesting otherwise.Industry is also pushing for ethanol-based jet fuel and higher-ethanol gasoline blends as growth in electric vehicles threatens long-term gasoline sales.Agriculture accounts for more than 10% of US greenhouse gas emissions, and corn uses more than two-thirds of all nitrogen fertilizer nationwide – making it the leading driver of agricultural nitrous oxide emissions, studies show.Since 2000, US corn production has surged almost 50%, further adding to the crop’s climate impact.The environmental costs of corn rarely make headlines or factor into political debates. Much of the dynamic traces back to federal policy – and to the powerful corn and ethanol lobby that helped shape it.The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), passed in the mid-2000s, required that gasoline be blended with ethanol, a biofuel that in the United States comes almost entirely from corn. That mandate drove up demand and prices for corn, spurring farmers to plant more of it.Many plant corn year after year on the same land. The practice, called “continuous corn”, demands massive amounts of nitrogen fertilizer and drives especially high nitrous oxide emissions.Corn growing in front of an ethanol refinery in South Dakota. Photograph: Stephen Groves/APAt the same time, federal subsidies make it more lucrative to grow corn than to diversify. Taxpayers have covered more than $50bn in corn insurance premiums over the past 30 years, according to federal data compiled by the Environmental Working Group.Researchers say proven conservation steps – such as planting rows of trees, shrubs and grasses in cornfields – could sharply reduce these emissions. But the Trump administration has eliminated many of the incentives that helped farmers try such practices.Experts say it all raises a larger question: if the US’s most widely planted crop is worsening climate change, shouldn’t we begin growing it in a different way?How corn took over the USIn the late 1990s, the US’s corn farmers were in trouble. Prices had cratered amid a global grain glut and the Asian financial crisis. A 1999 report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis said crop prices had hit “rock bottom”.Corn production really took off in the 2000s after federal mandates and incentives helped turn much of the US’s corn crop into ethanol.In 2001, the US Department of Agriculture launched the bioenergy program, which paid ethanol producers to increase their use of farm commodities for fuel. Then the 2002 farm bill created programs supporting ethanol and other renewable energy.Corn growers soon mounted an all-out campaign to persuade Congress to require that gasoline be blended with ethanol, arguing it cut greenhouse gasses, reduced oil dependence and revived rural economies.“I started receiving calls from Capitol Hill saying: ‘Would you have your growers stop calling us? We are with you,’” Jon Doggett, then the industry’s chief lobbyist, said in an article published by the National Corn Growers Association. “I had not seen anything like it before and haven’t seen anything like it since.”In 2005, Congress created the RFS, which requires adding ethanol to gasoline, and expanded it two years later. The amount of corn used for ethanol domestically has more than tripled in the past 20 years.When demand for corn spiked as a result of the RFS, it pushed up prices worldwide, said Tim Searchinger, a researcher at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. The result, Searchinger said, was more land cleared to grow corn. The Global Carbon Project found that nitrous oxide emissions from human activity rose 40% from 1980 to 2020.In the United States, “king corn” became a political force. Since 2010, national corn and ethanol trade groups have spent more than $55m on lobbying and millions more on political donations to Democrats and Republicans alike, according to campaign finance records analyzed by Floodlight.In 2024 alone, those trade groups spent twice as much on lobbying as the National Rifle Association. Now the sectors are pushing for the next big prize: expanding higher-ethanol gasoline blends and positioning ethanol-based jet fuel as aviation’s “low-carbon” future.Research undercuts ethanol’s clean-fuel claimsCorn and ethanol trade groups did not respond to requests for interviews. But they have long promoted corn ethanol as a climate-friendly fuel.The Renewable Fuels Association cites government and university research that finds burning ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 40%-50% compared with gasoline. The ethanol industry says the climate critics have it wrong – and that most of the corn used for fuel comes from better yields and smarter farming, not from plowing up new land. The amount of fertilizer required to produce a bushel of corn has dropped sharply in recent decades, they say.“Ethanol reduces carbon emissions, removing the carbon equivalent of 12 million cars from the road each year,” according to the Renewable Fuels Association.Growth Energy, a major ethanol trade group, said in a written statement to Floodlight that US farmers and biofuel producers are “constantly finding new ways to make their operations more efficient and more environmentally beneficial”, using things like cover crops to reduce their carbon footprint. “Biofuel producers are making investments today that will make their products net-zero or even net negative in the next two decades,” the statement said.Some research tells a different story.A recent Environmental Working Group report finds that the way corn is grown in much of the midwest – with the same fields planted in corn year after year – carries a heavy climate cost.And research in 2022 by agricultural land use expert Tyler Lark and colleagues links the Renewable Fuel Standard to worsening water pollution and increased emissions, concluding the climate impact is “no less than gasoline and likely at least 24% higher”.Lark’s research has been disputed by scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory, Purdue University and the University of Illinois, who published a formal rebuttal arguing the study relied on “questionable assumptions” and faulty modeling – a charge Lark’s team has rejected.One recent study found that solar panels can generate as much energy as corn ethanol on roughly 3% of the land.“It’s just a terrible use of land,” Searchinger, the Princeton researcher, said of ethanol. “And you can’t solve climate change if you’re going to make such terrible use of land.”Nitrogen polluting rural drinking waterThe nitrogen used to grow corn and other crops is also a key source of drinking water pollution, experts say.According to a new report by Clean Wisconsin and the Alliance for the Great Lakes, more than 90% of nitrate contamination in Wisconsin’s groundwater is linked to agricultural sources – mostly synthetic fertilizer and manure.A farm in Pemberton, New Jersey, on 14 October 2025. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty ImagesIn 2022, Tyler Frye and his wife moved into a new home in the rural village of Casco, Wisconsin, about 20 miles (32km) east of Green Bay. Testing found their well water had nitrate levels more than twice the EPA’s safe limit. “We were pretty shocked,” Frye said.He installed a reverse-osmosis system in the basement and still buys bottled water for his wife, who is breastfeeding their daughter, born in July.When he watches manure or fertilizer being spread on nearby fields, he said, one question nags him: “Where does that go?”What cleaner corn could look likeReducing corn’s climate footprint is possible – but the farmers trying to do it are swimming against the policy tide.Recent moves by the Trump administration have stripped out Biden-era incentives for climate-friendly farming practices, which the agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins dismissed as part of the “green new scam”.Research, however, shows that proven conservation practices – including planting trees, shrubs and hedgerows in corn fields – could make a measurable difference.In northern Iowa, Wendy Johnson is planting fruit and nut trees, organic grains, shrubs and other plants that need little or no nitrogen fertilizer on 130 of the 1,200 acres (485 hectares) of corn and soybeans she farms with her father. Across the rest of the farm, they enrich the soil by rotating crops and planting cover crops. They’ve also converted less productive parts of the fields into “prairie strips” – bands of prairie grass that store carbon and require no fertilizer.They were counting on $20,000 a year from the now-cancelled Climate-Smart grant program, but it never came.“It’s hard to take risks on your own,” Johnson said. “That’s where federal support really helps.”In south-east Iowa, sixth-generation farmer Levi Lyle mixes organic and conventional methods across 290 acres. He uses a three-year rotation, extensive cover crops and a technique called roller crimping: flattening rye each spring to create a mulch that suppresses weeds, feeds the soil and reduces fertilizer needs.“The roller crimping of cover crops is a huge, huge opportunity to sequester more carbon, improve soil health, save money on chemicals and still get a similar yield,” Lyle said.Despite mounting research about corn’s climate costs, industry groups are pushing for legislation to pave the way for ethanol-based jet fuel.Researchers warn that producing enough ethanol-based aviation fuel could prompt another 114m acres to be converted to corn, or 20% more corn acres than the US plants for all purposes.“The result,” said University of Iowa professor and natural resources economist Silvia Secchi, “would be essentially to enshrine this dysfunctional system that we created.”Floodlight is a non-profit newsroom that investigates the powers stalling climate action

Agriculture
Climate
Food

Climate Change Is Killing the Myth of Los Angeles

I once lived in an apartment in Los Angeles that flooded every time it rained. Not just a polite drip, either. The ceiling sagged and dripped into long wet ribbons, and the wall beside my desk would bleed water like I was playing out Barton Fink in color. I wonder how that space looks now, as Southern California comes out of a long rain event where the hills above Altadena saw nearly nine inches at the site of January’s Eaton fire, between November 14 and November 21. People love to talk about tanned and toned Dallas Raines, the veteran KABC meteorologist who can summon high drama from a passing low-pressure system. Or the obligatory SUV hydroplaning down the 5 Freeway. In L.A., weather banter is its own civic dialect. We rarely admit how fragile the physical city really is, and how the very places that frame our daily lives—the courtyard where you catch the first blue of morning, the balcony where you watch the hills smolder at golden hour—can start to fail the moment the skies decide to turn. Everything here is built for one type of weather. And most of the time it works. But when it doesn’t, it really doesn’t work. L.A. has spent over a century advertising its perfect Mediterranean climate. Now increasingly frequent severe weather events are triggering citywide soul-searching about who deserves protection, what neighborhoods get resources, which elected officials are to blame, and whether the promise of this place still holds. Some parts of L.A. County picked up close to a foot of rain in 10 days in February 2023, leaving more than 80,000 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers without power, while unhoused residents faced flooded encampments, freezing nights, and packed shelters. Almost exactly a year later, emergency crews pulled a pregnant, unhoused woman from a storm drain above a raging river. The January 2025 fires in the Palisades and Altadena further exposed the gap between the city we imagine and the one we actually live in. What happens when a city built on the mythology of sublime weather has to finally face how to live with a climate that refuses to stay in line?The Los Angeles myth goes back more than a century: Between the 1880s and the 1920s, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce mailed millions of pamphlets eastward, selling Midwestern families on a kingdom of eternal spring. Sunkist built a national brand on winter oranges ripening while Chicago froze. Railroads sponsored booster fiction and postcards promising a life where weather was not an obstacle but an asset. In the dead of winter, “[you could] have a small, five-acre citrus farm and do really well and then hop on the streetcar and go to the beach for the day,” said professor Char Miller, a historian and environmental analysis scholar at Pomona College.Miller has spent decades tracing how this mythology ossified. While the pitch obscured who paid the price—Indigenous communities pushed off their land, Chinese and Japanese residents marginalized or excluded—the promise endured in part because the landscape helped carry it. But for all the valleys, deserts, and coastlines, there were also floods, fires, earthquakes, and landslides: hazards only mentioned in the fine print. There’s an old line Miller heard during his early days on the West Coast in the 1970s: “California is 90 percent paradise, 10 percent apocalypse.” It was something people once said with a kind of wry affection, the same sensibility baked into disaster films that love to see Los Angeles perpetually destroyed. It was the myth of a place that could always be rebuilt, where catastrophe was fleeting and bounty would always return. But that ratio, Miller says, is shifting, leaning more toward calamity. It was nearly midnight in New York when my phone lit up. A friend in Los Angeles was calling to ask if I wanted him to move anything out of my apartment, which had just fallen under an evacuation order while I was back East. Earlier that afternoon, on January 8, West Hollywood had been in the mid-70s—bone-dry, humidity in the 20s. The kind of day that feels ominous if you’ve lived here long enough to know what those numbers mean. By nightfall, another fire was creeping toward Runyon Canyon, the hiking trail so quintessentially L.A. it sometimes has a valet. In the weeks that followed the January fires, the political blame game was relentless. Some went after Mayor Bass, others after Governor Newsom. But the fury felt like a way to avoid the harder truth of a city playing dumb about its own new climate reality.Even while the January fires were still burning, city and state leaders promised to rebuild immediately, suspending regulations that might have slowed development in the very zones that were incinerated. “What that did was to take off the table any kind of transformation that might have slowed down the very things that that fire consumed, which is rapid growth up into fire zones,” Miller said. A recent CalMatters analysis found that nearly four million people in Southern California are living in such hazardous zones.Climate scientist Daniel Swain told me that despite all the finger-pointing after the January fires, the forecast wasn’t the problem. Meteorologists had issued “crystal clear warnings” days ahead of time. The real issue, he suggested, is that Los Angeles still treats climate disasters as if they can be willed away, as if better heroics in the moment could out-muscle physics. “We can’t expect to have a firefighting force that can magically overcome hurricane-force winds amid record dry conditions producing a blizzard of embers in the suburbs,” Swain said. “You just can’t fight that in the moment.”The deeper problem is structural. Southern California is one of the most fire-prone landscapes in the country, and millions now live in or immediately downwind of terrain primed to burn. Many neighborhoods haven’t seen major fire in decades, which feeds the illusion of safety. But growth has pushed suburbs further into the wildland-urban interface just as warming has lengthened fire season, increasing the chances that a Santa Ana wind event arrives when vegetation is crisp and unrecoverably dry. Most years won’t align as catastrophically as January did, Swain noted, but when they do the math is unforgiving.Work has to happen long before the flames arrive. Swain pointed to neighborhoods where community groups had already tackled vegetation management, replaced vulnerable vents, or cleared brush from wooden fences. Those blocks didn’t just fare slightly better, but some avoided becoming ignition points entirely. Fire resilience, he emphasized, is cumulative; every house that doesn’t burn is one less launching pad for embers to race downwind.The fixes aren’t always grand or expensive. Sometimes it’s a few hundred dollars for finer mesh vents that stop embers from blowing into attics. Sometimes it’s ripping out head-high brush along a property line. Sometimes it’s insisting that new construction in fire zones meet tougher standards or retrofitting homes that were built for a climate that no longer exists.Swain sees the January fires as a preview of what strong Santa Ana events will look like going forward. Historically, many of the strongest Santa Ana events came after at least some winter rain. Now that rain is arriving later, meaning more wind events strike when the hills are still crisped from autumn, as was the case in January. But the problem in Los Angeles isn’t just meteorological: It is political, infrastructural, and deeply cultural. Miller likes to point to other parts of the country that faced similar crossroads and chose differently. After catastrophic floods in 1998, San Antonio bought out homeowners in riparian zones rather than sending them back into danger. Houston did something similar after Hurricane Harvey. These weren’t mass seizures or punitive acts; they were buyouts at market rate, voluntary and forward-looking. “What if,” Miller wondered, “you went to people who were burned out in Altadena and the Palisades and said, ‘We’re going to pay you not to rebuild’?” It’s a planner’s maxim—build up, not out—but in Southern California, the political will rarely matches the topographic reality.And yet, amid the devastation, there were signs of another kind of civic instinct. In Altadena, neighbors organized mutual aid networks at local businesses like Octavia’s Bookshelf and Bike Oven, and community leaders helped residents navigate insurance, microloans, and temporary housing. New nonprofits sprang up to support people psychologically and financially. Miller is skeptical of rebuilding policy, but he’s quick to note the human creativity that emerged in the fire’s wake—a kind of grassroots adaptation that government hasn’t yet matched.In May, Miller remembers stepping off a plane at LAX behind someone wearing a leather jacket with two mottos curved across the back: “Never forget” on top, “Rebuild Altadena” on the bottom. “I think the bottom circle erases the top,” Miller said. “If you rebuild, you have already forgotten because you are not paying attention to what happened and why it happened.”

I once lived in an apartment in Los Angeles that flooded every time it rained. Not just a polite drip, either. The ceiling sagged and dripped into long wet ribbons, and the wall beside my desk would bleed water like I was playing out Barton Fink in color. I wonder how that space looks now, as Southern California comes out of a long rain event where the hills above Altadena saw nearly nine inches at the site of January’s Eaton fire, between November 14 and November 21. People love to talk about tanned and toned Dallas Raines, the veteran KABC meteorologist who can summon high drama from a passing low-pressure system. Or the obligatory SUV hydroplaning down the 5 Freeway. In L.A., weather banter is its own civic dialect. We rarely admit how fragile the physical city really is, and how the very places that frame our daily lives—the courtyard where you catch the first blue of morning, the balcony where you watch the hills smolder at golden hour—can start to fail the moment the skies decide to turn. Everything here is built for one type of weather. And most of the time it works. But when it doesn’t, it really doesn’t work. L.A. has spent over a century advertising its perfect Mediterranean climate. Now increasingly frequent severe weather events are triggering citywide soul-searching about who deserves protection, what neighborhoods get resources, which elected officials are to blame, and whether the promise of this place still holds. Some parts of L.A. County picked up close to a foot of rain in 10 days in February 2023, leaving more than 80,000 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers without power, while unhoused residents faced flooded encampments, freezing nights, and packed shelters. Almost exactly a year later, emergency crews pulled a pregnant, unhoused woman from a storm drain above a raging river. The January 2025 fires in the Palisades and Altadena further exposed the gap between the city we imagine and the one we actually live in. What happens when a city built on the mythology of sublime weather has to finally face how to live with a climate that refuses to stay in line?The Los Angeles myth goes back more than a century: Between the 1880s and the 1920s, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce mailed millions of pamphlets eastward, selling Midwestern families on a kingdom of eternal spring. Sunkist built a national brand on winter oranges ripening while Chicago froze. Railroads sponsored booster fiction and postcards promising a life where weather was not an obstacle but an asset. In the dead of winter, “[you could] have a small, five-acre citrus farm and do really well and then hop on the streetcar and go to the beach for the day,” said professor Char Miller, a historian and environmental analysis scholar at Pomona College.Miller has spent decades tracing how this mythology ossified. While the pitch obscured who paid the price—Indigenous communities pushed off their land, Chinese and Japanese residents marginalized or excluded—the promise endured in part because the landscape helped carry it. But for all the valleys, deserts, and coastlines, there were also floods, fires, earthquakes, and landslides: hazards only mentioned in the fine print. There’s an old line Miller heard during his early days on the West Coast in the 1970s: “California is 90 percent paradise, 10 percent apocalypse.” It was something people once said with a kind of wry affection, the same sensibility baked into disaster films that love to see Los Angeles perpetually destroyed. It was the myth of a place that could always be rebuilt, where catastrophe was fleeting and bounty would always return. But that ratio, Miller says, is shifting, leaning more toward calamity. It was nearly midnight in New York when my phone lit up. A friend in Los Angeles was calling to ask if I wanted him to move anything out of my apartment, which had just fallen under an evacuation order while I was back East. Earlier that afternoon, on January 8, West Hollywood had been in the mid-70s—bone-dry, humidity in the 20s. The kind of day that feels ominous if you’ve lived here long enough to know what those numbers mean. By nightfall, another fire was creeping toward Runyon Canyon, the hiking trail so quintessentially L.A. it sometimes has a valet. In the weeks that followed the January fires, the political blame game was relentless. Some went after Mayor Bass, others after Governor Newsom. But the fury felt like a way to avoid the harder truth of a city playing dumb about its own new climate reality.Even while the January fires were still burning, city and state leaders promised to rebuild immediately, suspending regulations that might have slowed development in the very zones that were incinerated. “What that did was to take off the table any kind of transformation that might have slowed down the very things that that fire consumed, which is rapid growth up into fire zones,” Miller said. A recent CalMatters analysis found that nearly four million people in Southern California are living in such hazardous zones.Climate scientist Daniel Swain told me that despite all the finger-pointing after the January fires, the forecast wasn’t the problem. Meteorologists had issued “crystal clear warnings” days ahead of time. The real issue, he suggested, is that Los Angeles still treats climate disasters as if they can be willed away, as if better heroics in the moment could out-muscle physics. “We can’t expect to have a firefighting force that can magically overcome hurricane-force winds amid record dry conditions producing a blizzard of embers in the suburbs,” Swain said. “You just can’t fight that in the moment.”The deeper problem is structural. Southern California is one of the most fire-prone landscapes in the country, and millions now live in or immediately downwind of terrain primed to burn. Many neighborhoods haven’t seen major fire in decades, which feeds the illusion of safety. But growth has pushed suburbs further into the wildland-urban interface just as warming has lengthened fire season, increasing the chances that a Santa Ana wind event arrives when vegetation is crisp and unrecoverably dry. Most years won’t align as catastrophically as January did, Swain noted, but when they do the math is unforgiving.Work has to happen long before the flames arrive. Swain pointed to neighborhoods where community groups had already tackled vegetation management, replaced vulnerable vents, or cleared brush from wooden fences. Those blocks didn’t just fare slightly better, but some avoided becoming ignition points entirely. Fire resilience, he emphasized, is cumulative; every house that doesn’t burn is one less launching pad for embers to race downwind.The fixes aren’t always grand or expensive. Sometimes it’s a few hundred dollars for finer mesh vents that stop embers from blowing into attics. Sometimes it’s ripping out head-high brush along a property line. Sometimes it’s insisting that new construction in fire zones meet tougher standards or retrofitting homes that were built for a climate that no longer exists.Swain sees the January fires as a preview of what strong Santa Ana events will look like going forward. Historically, many of the strongest Santa Ana events came after at least some winter rain. Now that rain is arriving later, meaning more wind events strike when the hills are still crisped from autumn, as was the case in January. But the problem in Los Angeles isn’t just meteorological: It is political, infrastructural, and deeply cultural. Miller likes to point to other parts of the country that faced similar crossroads and chose differently. After catastrophic floods in 1998, San Antonio bought out homeowners in riparian zones rather than sending them back into danger. Houston did something similar after Hurricane Harvey. These weren’t mass seizures or punitive acts; they were buyouts at market rate, voluntary and forward-looking. “What if,” Miller wondered, “you went to people who were burned out in Altadena and the Palisades and said, ‘We’re going to pay you not to rebuild’?” It’s a planner’s maxim—build up, not out—but in Southern California, the political will rarely matches the topographic reality.And yet, amid the devastation, there were signs of another kind of civic instinct. In Altadena, neighbors organized mutual aid networks at local businesses like Octavia’s Bookshelf and Bike Oven, and community leaders helped residents navigate insurance, microloans, and temporary housing. New nonprofits sprang up to support people psychologically and financially. Miller is skeptical of rebuilding policy, but he’s quick to note the human creativity that emerged in the fire’s wake—a kind of grassroots adaptation that government hasn’t yet matched.In May, Miller remembers stepping off a plane at LAX behind someone wearing a leather jacket with two mottos curved across the back: “Never forget” on top, “Rebuild Altadena” on the bottom. “I think the bottom circle erases the top,” Miller said. “If you rebuild, you have already forgotten because you are not paying attention to what happened and why it happened.”

Climate
Business
Indigenous

More than 520 chemicals found in English soil, including long-banned medical substances

Fertilising arable land with human waste leaves array of toxins that could re-enter food chain, study findsMore than 520 chemicals have been found in English soils, including pharmaceutical products and toxins that were banned decades ago, because of the practice of spreading human waste to fertilise arable land.Research by scientists at the University of Leeds, published as a preprint in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, found a worrying array of chemicals in English soils. Close to half (46.4%) of the pharmaceutical substances detected had not been reported in previous global monitoring campaigns. Continue reading...

More than 520 chemicals have been found in English soils, including pharmaceutical products and toxins that were banned decades ago, because of the practice of spreading human waste to fertilise arable land.Research by scientists at the University of Leeds, published as a preprint in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, found a worrying array of chemicals in English soils. Close to half (46.4%) of the pharmaceutical substances detected had not been reported in previous global monitoring campaigns.The anticonvulsants lamotrigine and carbamazepine were among the human-use medicines reported for the first time in English soils.A category of chemicals of particular concern to scientists are emerging contaminants, which are pharmaceuticals and other chemicals which have not been widely studied for their impacts on the environment or human health when they re-enter the food chain.Water companies treat human faeces and remove some of the contaminants from wastewater at their treatment centres. The resulting product is treated biosolids, the organic matter from the human waste, and this is often disposed of by being spread on fields as fertiliser.However, it appears that despite decontamination, hundreds of chemicals are leaching into the soil and in some cases staying there for many years. Several chemicals banned or withdrawn from use decades ago were found to persist in agricultural soils.One of the researchers, Laura Carter, a professor of environmental chemistry at the University of Leeds, said: “Some of the chemicals were banned for use decades ago and their presence suggests that they are really persistent … so soils are a long-term sink of these pollutants.”It is possible these chemicals will enter the food chain and be ingested by humans who eat food grown in these fields, she said. It could also harm farm productivity if the chemicals inhibit plant growth or negatively affect soil health.“Some of the work which we did before this monitoring campaign was focused on the uptake and accumulation into crops and looking at effects on soil health and plant health,” she said. “What we need to understand is the subsequent pathway moving from the crops to consumption. Some of these contaminants can [affect] the soil health, and inhibit the nutrients taken up into crops.”To conduct the research, Carter and her team asked farmers to send soil samples to their lab, and also visited some farms themselves. They took a variety of measures to detect what she calls a “chemical fingerprint” of the soil, using methods including mass spectrometry.skip past newsletter promotionThe planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essentialPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionThe EU is working to remove these emerging contaminants from wastewater across the continent by passing legislation requiring countries to implement “quaternary treatment”, which is an advanced pollution removal method that can get rid of micropollutants such as these chemicals. The UK has no plans to do this, and for now is sticking with the less precise tertiary treatment systems.“Wastewater treatment processes can remove some contaminants,” Carter said. “We found that the processes are not as efficient as they need to be to remove them.“These chemicals aren’t regulated for so there isn’t a drive to develop or to focus on technologies that can remove them. More advanced treatment like the EU’s planned quaternary treatment will typically remove more.”Soil pollution is understudied compared with wastewater and river research, despite soil being so important for human and environmental health, and the fact contaminants can persist for decades.“This is because of a combination of factors. There are analytical challenges, the chemicals are often at trace levels so you need to develop methods to extract them; the soil and the biosolids and the more agricultural focus means you have the complexity of the environmental metrics to contend with when you are trying to monitor them. And there is a lack of awareness about the pathways in which they enter the environment,” Carter said.The contaminants can be removed, she said: “You can do processes such as actively planting crops so they take up the contaminants and that is a way of removing contaminants from the soil. But then you’d be left with trying to dispose of that contaminated plant.”She was most surprised to find the banned chemicals, because this showed the long-term persistence of contaminants in soil. “They have been prohibited for use for quite some years so we were surprised by their persistence in the soils,” Carter said.“We were also able to detect some anti-cancer drugs which was surprising because there isn’t very much research in this space so we haven’t seen those detected before.”It is not the fault of farmers for spreading this, she said, as it is what they have been told to do in order to be sustainable.“We need to regulate for them properly and we need education to make sure that everybody knows what is being applied and what the potential risks are that are associated with that,” Carter said.

Chemicals
Food
Waste

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