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Dr Catherine Russell

@seddyrocks.bsky.social
1.4K followers 1.1K following 194 posts

Fulbright Scholar, Anthropocene Sedimentologist, Founder of Anthropocene Sediment Network, I study rivers on Earth and Mars, the environment, and plastic & other pollutants.

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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
So excited for this! Register now! All links below :) #Anthropocene #Conference #Community #Multidisciplinary
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Don't forget to register for our upcoming event on #SandMining in #India! The event is #FreeAndOnline so that it is #accessible to all. Feel free to share this flyer widely, it promises to be an excellent event! Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... #anthropocene #sediment #collaboration
Event flyer for the Anthropocene Sediment Network (ASN) titled “Sand Mining in India” with the ASN logo at the top. Subtitle: “An Anthropocene Sediment Network Focussed Event.” Date and time: Wednesday, 22nd April, 2026, 7:30–9:30 pm (Indian Standard Time) and 3:00–5:00 pm (London Time). Banner reads: “Attendance is free and online.” Programme schedule lists: Introduction (Prantika Bhowmick, Presidency University, Kolkata, India); “Converting rivers to pools: anthropogenic signatures of riverbed sand mining in India” (Priyank Pravin Patel, Presidency University, Kolkata, India); “Sights, sounds and sediments: from shifting rivers to shifty interactions in sand mining sites” (Suraj Gupta, Presidency University, Kolkata, India); Break; “Leveraging India Sand Watch: an online, open repository for evidence-based sediment protection in India” (Siddharth Agarwal, Veditum India Foundation, Kolkata, India); and Q & A and Discussions. A “Sign up HERE!” button points to a QR code. On the right are four speaker headshots. Background photos show river sand mining scenes with excavators, sand piles, water, and a person standing near a mined sandbar. Bottom text: “Empowering community-driven solutions on a changing planet” and the website https://anthrosednet.com/
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
I'm so pleased to be part of this adventure! We look forward to recieving your submissions 😆
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Look how wide the field of #Anthropocene #Sedimentology already is! We gather to discuss and consider how sediment moves, changes, and records our human-shaped world... Abstract submission is open for our free and online 2026 Conference! anthrosednet.com/2026-confere... Join us! 😆
Illustrated cross-section “landscape” graphic showing a wide range of Anthropocene sediment settings, with many labels marked as times (e.g., 09:45, 10:30, 12:45, 15:30, 17:30, which refer to the schedule that we had on the day). The scene includes a city/industrial area and port on the left, housing and a quarry/extraction area toward the centre, a hill with grazing animals, engineered/managed slopes, and an industrial plant with smokestack and machinery. The subsurface shows layered ground with tunnels/voids and channel-like features, suggesting buried infrastructure, excavation, and sediment movement. Overall, the image conveys the variety of environments and processes covered by ASN conference talks.
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 19/03/2026
Landscape Features xkcd.com/3221/
Comic. [Small panel overlaying large panel.] PERSON 1: What’s up with this weird landscape? PERSON 2 with ponytail: Oh, it was caused by… [Large panel is map of the United States with with red overlays denoting landscape phenomena. Mega-floods in the northwest, a plate tectonics speedrun on the west coast, volcanoes next to the west coast, water and time in the southwest, geology in the west, a supervolcano within the west, glaciers in the north, farming in the middle, rivers in the mideast, geology in between rivers and farming, ??? toward the northeast, farming on the east coast, continents colliding next to the east coast, ongoing disputes between limestone and water in the south of Florida, volcanoes in Hawaii, geology in Alaska with volcanoes and glaciers below.]
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Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
By plying its ground-penetrating radar in the depths of Mars’s Jezero Crater, this rover has found even older deltas buried beneath those seen on the surface from space
scientificamerican.com
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover discovers even older lost rivers at Jezero Crater
By plying its ground-penetrating radar in the depths of Mars’s Jezero Crater, this rover has found even older deltas buried beneath those seen on the surface from space
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
What happens when plastics and grass meet on the beach? Patricia Corcoran explores how #plastic debris can get incorporated into natural “tumbleweed”-like agglomerations. Field studies from the #GreatLakes and #Sardinia show what affects their ability to gather debris! Full video on our website!
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
We are hosting our first focussed event! Come and join us for free and online for what promises to be a fascinating deep dive into #sandmining in #India! #sediment #anthropocene #geopolitics #geology #environment #geomorphology Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Flyer for an Anthropocene Sediment Network online event titled “Sand Mining in India.” The event takes place Wednesday, 22 April 2026, from 7:30–9:30 pm IST (3:00–5:00 pm London time). The programme includes talks by Priyank Pravin Patel, Suraj Gupta, and Siddharth Agarwal, introduced by Prantika Bhowmick, followed by discussion. The flyer includes speaker photos, images of sand mining landscapes and excavators, and a QR code for free registration.
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IGC2028Canada @igc2028canada.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
The lake has a "sunken ghost town" beneath its surface as a result of dam construction in the early and mid-1900s, which drowned the town by the rising waters. According to reports from the late 1800s, a "Wildman" creature was said to inhabit the lake's shoreline.
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Abstract Submission for our 2026 Conference is now OPEN! Find out more here: anthrosednet.com/2026-confere.... Deadline 6th May 2026. The 2026 ASN Conference will bring together researchers, practitioners, and creative thinkers with sediment in common. The event is free and online!
anthrosednet.com
2026 Conference
The Anthropocene Sediment Network Conference 2026 27th May 2026 The 2026 ASN Conference will bring together researchers, practitioners, and creative thinkers from across many fields, with sediment …
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
It was a lovely surprise this morning to see my work on #anthropogenic #sediments featured in the 100th edition of the #AAPG's Core Elements newsletter! Read it here: bit.ly/4soe5Id It is so cool to see these “non-traditional” ideas finding a place within long-established #geoscience communities😆⚒️
Figure 6. from Russell 2025. Photographs demonstrating anthropogenic sedimentological deposits in a range of environments. The names of each deposit are: A – Combined Anthroglomerate, B – Structureless Organoplastic, C – Baffled Silicimetallic, D – Structureless Organoplastic, E – Stratified Anthroglomerate, and F – Uni-directional Siliciplastic.
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
How does urban waste become #coastline? Rachel Rozanski explores #Toronto’s Leslie Street Spit, a human-made peninsula built from construction rubble since 1959. Today it forms a layered record of #UrbanGeology and shoreline reworking. Full video on our website!
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
I got a paper accepted today 😀 I can't explain how happy I am because we started the work in 2019 and now it's finally accepted... I can't believe it! Here's a sneak peak... more coming soon! 🥳
Multi-panel scientific diagram illustrating the evolution and internal structure of a point-bar deposit in the False River meander bend. Panel (a) shows a heterogeneity prediction map with flow direction, channel plugs, apex migration, and sample locations marked. Panel (b) shows deposits formed during different growth stages, colour-coded to indicate processes such as extension, expansion, downstream accretion, and rotation. Panels (c–e) depict nine sequential phases of meander evolution, showing changing channel shapes, sediment heterogeneity patterns, and growth types. A legend identifies heterogeneity types, growth processes, erosion zones, and decreasing sand proportion.
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Urbanisation reshapes rivers more drastically than almost any other human activity! 🏘️ 🏰 🏭 In Mandarino et al.’s paper on #Genova's Bisagno & Polcevera Rivers, the authors reconstruct >100 years of #urbanisation impacts on river morphology. Paper: doi.org/10.1177/0309... #FluvialFriday #UrbanGeom
doi.org
Effects of urbanization on river morphology in a Mediterranean coastal city (Genova, Italy) - Andrea Mandarino, Pierluigi Brandolini, Martino Terrone, Francesco Faccini, 2024
From the geomorphological point of view, urbanization changes fluvial systems more drastically than any other single human activity. Its impact on rivers is of ...
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Thank you for being here! 👋😆 If you’d like to help more people find the #Anthropocene Sediment #Network, feel free to share this #flyer in your channels and communities! 📜 The ASN is a free, open #community for applied, multidisciplinary work on #sediment movement in a #human-shaped world 🌍🌏🌎
Flyer for the Anthropocene Sediment Network (ASN) with ASN logo at the top and the title “The Anthropocene Sediment Network.” Tagline: “Empowering community-driven solutions on a changing planet.” Text explains ASN supports collaborations advancing cross-disciplinary communication and research to understand Earth’s Anthropocene sediments. A banner reads: “Membership is free; all events are free and online.” A QR code is shown. On the right, an “Upcoming Events” list includes Sand Mining in India – Wednesday 22nd April and ASN Conference 2026 – Wednesday 27th May with abstract submission open 4th March–6th May, plus the note “Many more events and opportunities are coming up!” Bottom right button says “Sign up HERE!” with the website https://anthrosednet.com/
. Design uses green and gold tones with a stylised skyline and landscape along the bottom.
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
How are we sinking and shaping #coastal plains? Kay Koster looks at land #subsidence in the #Netherlands, where #anthropogenic #sediments have been used for centuries to stabilise low-lying land, but can also drive subsidence through compaction, drainage, and loading. Full video on our website!
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Nearly 10 years ago? Man I feel old... ! From what I've read, the problem of plastic emissions from rivers into oceans has become worse. The issue seems a bit overwhelming, but I'm still thinking hopefully for solutions.
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
How does mining reshape #landscapes? Bryony Reynolds explores how millennia of #mining in England have reshaped topography, drainage, and vegetation. Lasting pits, spoil heaps, and underground voids still influence ground stability and landscape form. Full video on our website!
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
This one is an excellent read! Check out the ASN Library for more 😆📚
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
It was a super meeting and there is so much for the ASN community on the horizon! If you're interested, do sign up to be a member, it's free! All details are on our website: anthrosednet.com
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
So pleased to finally be sharing the ASN clips from our 2025 conference with you all! We will be posting one a week now till the summer, so be sure to follow @anthrosednet.bsky.social for much more #multidisciplinary #sediment content! 🧪 #geology ⚒️ #sciencecommunication #scicomm
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
What is the ASN? How did it begin? And what are we doing? Our founder and leader, Dr Catherine Russell, opened the first #Anthropocene #Sediment #Network conference in June 2025. We’re excited for this #interdisciplinary space for understanding materials and their motion on a human-shaped #Earth!
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Compton Scatterbrained @comptonscatter.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
ooooooh @seddyrocks.bsky.social seds + dinos is just fun
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Our website has some shiny new updates and the Sedimentarium is looking spectacular with new Gallery, Maps, and Paper collections to go alongside our Library! Check it out here: anthrosednet.com
anthrosednet.com
The Anthropocene Sediment Network
Empowering community-driven solutions on a changing planet
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
The ASN Conference 2025 talk are now online! Feel free to share, promote, and explore them all. Our speakers were awesome! ✨ youtube.com/playlist?lis... If you would like to get involved in the ASN, check out the link in our profile!
youtube.com
The Anthropocene Sediment Network Conference 2025 - YouTube
Today's sediment doesn't just route through natural systems, but also engineered channels, infrastructures, economies, and legislation. We have entangled the...
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
It’s never a good idea to mess with something before we fully understand it. 🥔🥔 Potato-sized metal nodules in the deep sea might sound like easy pickings, but studies increasingly show ocean floor recovery may never happen. So why are we still talking about it? phys.org/news/2025-07...
phys.org
Restoring sea floor after mining may not be possible, researchers warn
Scientists present at the latest effort to hash out international rules for deep-sea mining say it's unclear if it's possible to restore damaged seafloor ecosystems—or how long it would take.
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
So excited about this! ✨😁✨
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Prof. Bob Howarth @profbobhowarth.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Increase in methane emissions from fossil fuels has been underestimated. Our new PNAS paper just published today: www.pnas.org/doi/epub/10....
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
It’s our first conference so please help us to spread the word! And don’t forget to register 😁 anthrosednet.com/2025-confere... #ASN2025 #ASN25 #Anthropocene #Multidisciplinary
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Leana Hosea @leanahosea.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
It's going to take more than a couple of new reservoirs to prevent the UK's coming water crisis, writes hydrologist @hancloke.bsky.social - we need to rethink how we build homes & communities to avoid a future of alternating flood & drought: theconversation.com/englands-wat...
theconversation.com
England’s water crisis needs more than just new reservoirs – here’s what will help
The changing climate and growing population means England is facing a water crisis.
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
I'm ✨SO EXCITED✨ for this! All things that move on #Earth are #sediments, from sand to #plastic, and things that we #trade. If your work, research, or interests include #sediment in any way, this #conference is for you 😄 The #conference is free and online! See you there 🌍 #Anthropocene #ASN25
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Melaine Le Roy @subfossilguy.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
These are approx. 3 M m3 that collapsed from the Birch Glacier! 🧊🌊 The deposit spans 2.3 km of the Lötschental valley floor!
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Prof Phoebe Barnard @phoebebarnard.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Preparedness planning for high-risk, high-impact, high-velocity events by govts is broader than geotech hazards - but seldom so dramatically needed, nor as metaphorical. @laurielaybourn.bsky.social @jamesgdyke.info @rupertread.bsky.social @katharinehayhoe.com www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
theguardian.com
Swiss village almost entirely destroyed after collapse of glacier buries it in mud
One person missing and Blatten devastated after huge cloud of ice and rubble inundates evacuated town
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Finally secured the dream Applied #Anthropocene #Sedimentology speaker to show students the backbone of the course 😅 She is more femur-liar with legacy #sediment than me 💀
A projected screen with the words “applied anthropocene sedimentology” as a title slide.  The text is black on white in a green and gold box, there is a green banner along the top of the slide and the logo for the Anthropocene sediment network in the bottom right corner. There is a model skeleton standing to the left positioned as if presenting the lecture
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Chris Stringer @chrisbstringer.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
nature.com
Warming of +1.5 °C is too high for polar ice sheets - Communications Earth & Environment
Warming of +1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels is too high for the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, and even the current climate forcing of +1.2 °C is likely to lead to several meters of sea-level ...
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Just before landing in #Vienna, we hit the clouds and the sun behind us cast a perfect halo around the plane’s shadow! One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen from a plane! ✈️☁️
View from an airplane window showing the wing against a backdrop of white cloud. On the clouds below, the faint shadow of the plane is surrounded by a circular rainbow-like halo (a “glory”), visible through the frosted ice crystals on the window.
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
Whilst flying to Vienna to teach the first “Applied #Anthropocene #Sedimentology” field course, I caught this amazing view of Woodhead #Reservoir! 🤩 #Rivers are feeding in, #water levels are low, so much #engineered terrain… you can see a LOT! Easily one of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken ✈️🌍
Aerial photograph of Woodhead Reservoir in the Peak District, England. The image shows a dark blue body of water with sinuous river channels feeding in. The pale sediment band around the edge, and the length of the fluvial plain, indicates that the reservoir level is lower than normal. The surrounding terrain is patchwork fields and moorland.
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
Boarding a giga metalliplasticlast fueled by ancient plankton! 🦠 See you soon #Vienna for some more #Anthropocene adventures 😊✈️ #manchesterairport #nextadventure #Wien
Catherine and her husband in front of a Lauda plane. The day is sunny and the plane is white with red capital text saying LAUDA and red design. Picture is at Manchester Airport
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
A beautiful landscape of the Roaches, but look closely and you’ll see how much of it is us. Fields, fertilizers, a reservoir in the foreground, an island with deterrents for nesting birds, and more... What did it look like before us? And how will it be interpreted after? #Anthropocene
View across a calm reservoir to a rocky outcrop and green hillside, with patchwork fields and scattered trees. In the foreground, a small stony island with bird deterrent wires and nets on it.
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Jackie Caplan-Auerbach @geophysichick.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Fossils of the Anthropocene.
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I spotted this patterned ground in a carpark by a #reservoir. It’s called #concrete grass paver 🌱 Designed to stabilise soil, reduce runoff, and support weight while letting water through. 🚗 🌱🌧️ ^^^^^^^^ A future layer of the #Anthropocene! #AnthropoceneSediment #GeoDesign #GroundEngineering
A grid of concrete grass pavers in a car park near a reservoir. The pavers form a regular pattern, with tufts of grass growing between the concrete cells. The surface appears both structured and semi-natural, showing signs of wear from foot or vehicle traffic.
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
You asked, we listened!📣 Abstract submission deadline for the ASN meeting is extended till 23rd May!🌞 We welcome anyone working at the interface between Earth and humanity🌍 To find out more / reach out and ask questions / submit something, info is at this link: anthrosednet.com/2025-confere...
anthrosednet.com
2025 Conference
ASN Conference 2025 18th June 2025 Join us in exploring materials and their motion on Earth, through an interdisciplinary lens. We encourage submissions from archaeology, environmental science, art…
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
I watched this recently and can confirm it’s brilliant. It ends by saying that half the world will be under water stress by 2025… I had to double take. That’s now! 😳 It’s a powerful reminder of how urgent it is to protect the #water we do have access to. #WaterJustice #EnvironmentalMonitoring
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
New paper! 📣 #Rivers don’t just carry #microplastics, they create them too 🟦🔹… We explored “Rivers as #microplastic factories” incorporating #geomorphology and #sedimentology! Beyond reducing input, we need targeted action to reduce microplastic generation 📉 iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
A schematic diagram illustrating the existing zonation of the fluvial system (A)–(C), and the proposed implications of this zonation for the occurrence and pathways of plastic fragmentation and the long-term storage of secondary microplastics (D)–(F).
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
The top 8 posts in my feed today are about #ForeverChemicals. Every one tested so far is toxic in some way. ☠️ We’re still building our awareness and understanding of them, so tracking, research, and long-term management are more important than ever. 🧪
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Anthropocene Sediment Network @anthrosednet.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Beaver reintroduction is such a powerful reminder of how deeply entangled human and natural agency has become in the #Anthropocene. How will decisions like this be archived by Earth? Will we be able to tell the difference between the signals of humans, paws, and policies? 🦫🌍 #BeaverDay #Rewilding
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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
This is great news. But we need to be clear that if energy comes at the cost of natural ecosystems, there's nothing 'clean' about it. Perfect examples of this are burning old growth native forests as 'renewable biomass', or most river-based hydro power. Emissions reduction MUST respect nature.
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
This is so exciting! 😆 It’s going to be a SUPER opportunity to present and discuss what moves on Earth and why… in a multidisciplinary space 🌍 Please share with anyone who you think would be interested ✨ #envhist #geoarcheology #archeology #arts #culture #science #geology #anthropocene
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Dr Catherine Russell @seddyrocks.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
✨Good news!✨ Australia’s seen a 40% drop in #plasticpollution on major beaches!🏖️ They’ve pledged to phase out unnecessary plastics by 2025 & reuse or recycle all plastic waste by 2040♻️ It’s PROOF that action works! Let’s keep going! #BeachCleanUp #EnviroNews www.independent.co.uk/climate-chan...
independent.co.uk
Australia sees nearly 40% decline in plastic pollution along major city coastlines
Country has pledged to phase out unnecessary plastics by 2025 and recycle or reuse all its plastic waste by 2040
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Guardian US @us.theguardian.com · 11/03/2025
The pollution of the planet by microplastics is significantly cutting food supplies by damaging the ability of plants to photosynthesise, according to a new assessment.
theguardian.com
Microplastics hinder plant photosynthesis, study finds, threatening millions with starvation
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