Improved pollution control is to thank for the cleanliness of these water courses

Jun 3, 2014 14:16 GMT  ·  By
Study finds Britain's urban rivers are the cleanest they have been in over 20 years
   Study finds Britain's urban rivers are the cleanest they have been in over 20 years

Scientists who have taken the time to assess the cleanliness of urban rivers in Britain are happy to announce that, according to evidence at hand, these water courses are now the least polluted they have been in over two decades.

EurekAlert tells us that, about 21 years ago, urban rivers across Britain were home to very few so-called clean-river invertebrates, i.e. insects, snails, and other small creatures that don't get along all that well with pollutants.

However, it appears that, in recent years, such clean-river invertebrates have steadily been making a comeback in Britain's urban water courses. This can only mean that the rivers are getting cleaner.

What's interesting is that, as explained by Dr. Iran Vaughan, these small invertebrates are doing surprisingly well despite shifts in environmental conditions brought about by climate change and global warming.

Hence, the Cardiff University researcher and his colleagues theorize that, by controlling and limiting the amount of pollutants that hit the environment, it might be possible to limit the impact of said phenomena on natural ecosystems.

“Our analysis showed clearly that many British river invertebrates are sensitive to climate - for example; because they require good supplies of oxygen that decline as rivers warm up,” Dr. Ian Vaughan said in a statement.

“However, it seems that efforts over the last 2-3 decades to clean up pollution from sewage and other sources have allowed many of these sensitive organisms to expand their range despite 1-2 °C warming trends and several periods of drought,” he added.