What a Wonderful World

23/09/2026

Operation Blue Skies will experiment with lowering transatlantic flights' climate impact from November.

Routes will be altered to take weather forecasts into account, advising pilots to adjust their flying altitude to attempt to avoid conditions where contrails are more likely to occur. Contrails are thought to represent about a third of aviation's climate impact.

For more information, see this article in New Scientist

Operation Blue Skies is the world’s first trial to deploy contrail avoidance measures across an entire airspace, aiming to lower the climate impact of flights on a large scale

16/09/2026

Italian aquaculture researchers are trying to find ways to control the invasive blue crab species in the Adriatic. Opinion is divided as to whether increasing the number of native octopus to predate the crab would work. Some scientists think it will be an interesting experiment, others think it is too haphazard to be effective.

Read more here:

Atlantic blue crabs have moved into the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, where they are a problem both for ecosystems and local economies, but octopuses might offer a solution

09/09/2026

Did you know London has a desalination plant, designed to supplement drinking water with processed water from the River Thames?

Water flow in the river Thames has dropped low enough to warrant the use of England’s only large-scale desalination plant, but it hasn’t been switched on at all this year

02/09/2026

Albanian protestors are campaigning to prevent a large holiday resort from being built in a protected landscape and marine park.

Environmental organisations say that plans to build a luxury holiday destination of 10,000 beds would adversely affect the endangered species that thrive there. The ease with which wealthy Americans seem to have garnered Albanian governmental support for this land purchase and proposed development that would damage important natural habitats has angered Albanians.

The "Flamingo Revolution" is named after the wild birds that inhabit the wetland ecosystem.

They say they lost their land once and don’t want to lose it again.

29/08/2026

Southern parts of the North East have had plastic nurdles washing up onshore after the spill in the River Tyne. Help monitor the situation via this 'Great Nurdle Hunt' to see if they've drifted further North.

Project aimed at reducing and monitoring plastic nurdle pollution in our seas and oceans.

27/08/2026

Northumberland has been drier than usual this year, but not as dry as other parts of the UK. Over 20 places have had absolutely NO rainfall at all in July, for the first time since records have been kept.

These include Lincolnshire (a vital agricultural area), Surrey, Essex, Kent, Dorset, Greater London, Monmouthshire, the Isle of Wight, Hampshire and others.

Half of England and all of Wales is officially in drought. The River Danube is so low the nuclear reactors using it as coolant have had be closed down. Low water on the River Rhine has affected shipping. Wildfires abound across Europe, at the same time that hailstorms and 8 degrees C. temperatures affect the bike racing.

The ground is so baked solid that when it eventually does rain down south, it is likely to cause severe flooding.

The need to act surely can't be ignored now?

Photo by Deyan art: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crack-on-a-ground-on-a-desert-26604248/

10/08/2026

The Edinburgh Conservation Film Festival (ECFF) is on tour and screening in Alnwick Playhouse on 25th August, showcasing a powerful selection of conservation films.

ECFF celebrates storytelling that highlights conservation in practice, focusing on the people, places and projects actively working to restore and protect the natural world.

This curated selection of films brings together stories of action, resilience and hope. From local initiatives to global conservation efforts, each film reveals meaningful change already underway and the impact of people working in close connection with nature.

Rather than dwelling on crisis, ECFF is dedicated to sharing narratives of progress; films that demonstrate what is possible when individuals and communities take action for biodiversity.

The films will be followed by a conversation with festival director Dr Simon Dures.

09/08/2026

If you enjoyed our art and nature activities as part of this year's festival, you might enjoy these sessions with our good friend and supporter Anna Chapman Parker. They begin tomorrow afternoon, 10th August.

Please do look at the event info in the link we've shared.

It's a wee bit further North than our home base of , but if you're available and feeling creative on a Monday afternoon, (2-4.30pm) it is possible on public transport.

X15 bus from Alnwick just after 12 noon gets you to Berwick just after 1pm. Coming back there's an X15 bus about 5.20pm, that gets you back to Alnwick for 6.30pm.

Or on the train, from Alnmouth, again a 12 noon train will get you to Berwick for 12.30. Coming back from Berwick to Alnmouth, that's 5pm which gets in 5.20pm.

So plenty of time to stroll to the workshop venues, or even to have a quick mooch round the shops or the town walls as well.

If you do go, please tell them you saw the event advertised here.

03/08/2026

Inspired by our Cut Bills, Cut Carbon . . . session at the festival this year? Don't know what to do next or how to afford to do what you'd like? Got some cutting edge knowledge or experience you'd like to share with others?

Come along to a workshop on exactly this on 8th September, in North Shields.

The N.E. Mayoral Strategic Authority wants to find the best way to make our homes warmer, healthier and more affordable to run. Residents, community organisations, architects, plumbers, electricians, landlords, builders, anyone interested is invited to a workshop in North Shields on 8th September.

Co-designing the local strategy for warmer, healthier, affordable homes in the North East. For residents, landlords and the supply chain.

12/07/2026

Well done 1st Alnmouth Sea Scout Group for all the work you put in to "We're All in the Same Boat" as part of our festival this year. It was fantastic to be involved in your special day today, thank you so much for the invitation.