By Charlie Willis – Food security and human health are under threat from microplastics in our oceans. But to what extent? The journal article; ‘Marine microplastic debris: An emerging issue for food security, food safety and human health’ by Gabriel et al. (2018) addresses the scale of the microplastic impact regarding marine-life and subsequently its…
By Anya Nanning Ramamurthy – COVID-19 has dominated media, and changed our way of life for nearly two years (Figure 1), but this has not been felt evenly by everyone. For instance, COVID-19 mortality rates are higher for men [1], and older people and some ethnic groups are more vulnerable [2,3]. Those with certain pre-existing…
Clean water projects, such as the Rajasthan drinking water project, significantly improve community health and wellbeing, but is this at the cost of gender equality development? Rajasthan is a large state in North India. Despite containing ten percent of India’s land area, Rajasthan only produces one percent of the country’s water resources. [2] Rajasthan is…
By Luke Josef Misra – Introduction. In recent years microplastics have come to the forefront of media attention. Microplastics, which are defined as plastic pieces less than five millimetres long, are believed to be the most plentiful form of plastic in the oceans [1] at up to 92.4% [2]. A peer reviewed article by Li…
By Luisa Kate Shield – In 2021, Laborde et al published an article in Agricultural Economics [1] that showed the severity the COVID-19 pandemic had on food security and global diets. Changes in global food consumption have been evident since the COVID-19 pandemic began, this is due to three main reasons: changes in household incomes,…
By Jasmine Couchman – 1 in 3 people still lack access to safe drinking water worldwide [1]. Water is fundamental to the function of humanity as deh ydration is significantly more instantaneous than starvation [2]. While you and I likely just turn the tap on, without a second thought, this insecurity, predominantly in less economically…
By Sara Antonioli – Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah’s story shocked the nation when she became the first UK resident to have air pollution on her death certificate, at just 9 years old [1]. London, like many world cities, is facing the ever growing threat of air pollution (figure 1). Congestion has been one of the main areas…
By Rob Chantrey – In 2018 alone, 8.7million people died from fossil fuel-driven air pollution, equivalent to 20% of deaths worldwide [1]. This is not an anomaly. Every year millions globally, in both developing and developed countries, die at the hands of the ‘invisible killer’. Despite an increasing number of discoveries identifying smog’s impacts on…
By Luke Stevenson – A global shift towards sustainable activities has contributed to more people owning electric cars. A single lithium car battery for electric cars use 14kg of cobalt, and since the price of lithium batteries has dropped by 97% since 1991, the demand for cobalt has risen exponentially, with many believing electric cars…
By Harry Turner – One of the most visible effects of industrialisation is air pollution; chemical contamination that damages human health and wellbeing and affects the natural environment and influences life in ways we don’t fully know. Recently, a study was undertaken to see if air pollution affected people’s perceptions of the tourist sector [1].…