Global glaciers recorded their fourth consecutive year of net ice loss in 2025, with every major glaciated region registering a negative annual mass balance, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report.
Between October 2024 and September 2025, glaciers worldwide lost an estimated 408 ± 132 gigatonnes of ice equivalent to about 1.1 ± 0.4 millimetres of sea level rise.
The WMO report noted that six of the seven largest annual glacier losses on record have occurred during the past seven years. Mountain glaciers lost approximately 6.2 per cent of their ice mass between 2000 and 2025 while some individual regions have experienced much larger long term declines.
Glaciers in Russia’s central Altai region, for example, have lost about 40.2 per cent of their mass since the 1950s with almost one fifth of that loss occurring since 2001.
The continued retreat is also affecting freshwater availability. Researchers warn that some regions may already have passed “peak water” the point at which increasing glacier melt reaches maximum runoff before declining as the ice reserve shrinks.
The expansion of fish farming could significantly increase demand for wild caught fish used in feed according to a report by the Changing Markets Foundation produced with researchers from the University of British Columbia.
The report examined several possible aquaculture growth scenarios through 2040. Under a growth model focused on species such as shellfish and carp that require little or no fish based feed wild caught fish used for aquaculture feed could remain around 13–17 per cent of global catches.
Under current trends including increased production of carnivorous species such as salmon, shrimp, sea bream and sea bass, the figure could rise to 29–38 per cent. A market driven expansion more heavily concentrated on carnivorous species could push it as high as 34–46 per cent.
At present, about 13.3 per cent of wild caught fish is estimated to be used in aquaculture feed.
The report has intensified debate over the future of aquaculture. FAO fisheries and aquaculture director Manuel Barange said a previously published reference to 75 per cent growth by 2040 was not an FAO target. He said the organization’s actual growth target is 35 per cent by 2030 compared with 2020 while emphasizing that the target concerns sustainable aquaculture.
The debate also involves small scale fishing communities which argue that diverting wild fish into feed can affect food security and livelihoods in communities that depend on fisheries. A laboratory study has highlighted a less obvious way rain can transfer microorganisms from soil into the atmosphere.
Researchers found that individual raindrops striking porous soil can trap tiny pockets of air. As bubbles rise and burst at the water surface, they can eject microscopic droplets containing bacteria and other material from the soil.
The experiments found that bacterial aerosol production peaked at particular impact speeds rather than simply increasing with greater impact force. In the tested conditions more force eventually reduced bubble formation and the associated aerosolization mechanism.
The researchers used sterilized soils containing known concentrations of three bacterial strains and tested six soil types. Sandy clay produced particularly strong bioaerosol formation while clean sand absorbed water rapidly enough that the same mechanism was not detected.
The findings do not mean that every light rain produces more airborne bacteria than every heavy storm. The experiments were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions and natural rainfall involves different drop sizes, wind speeds, soil moisture levels and surface conditions.
The study therefore provides evidence for a specific per-drop aerosolization mechanism rather than a complete comparison of bacterial emissions during natural storms. A dispute over whether Indian shipbreaking facilities using the beaching method should qualify under European Union environmental rules has intensified.
Environmental organizations trade unions, steelmakers and recycling groups have urged the European Commission to reject a proposal to add two Alang Sosiya facilities in Gujarat to the EU’s approved list of ship-recycling facilities.
The facilities Shree Ram Vessel Scrap/Shree Ram Shipping Industries and YSI Recyclers would become the first Indian yards approved under the EU system if the proposal proceeds.
The central dispute concerns the beaching method in which ships are brought onto intertidal areas before dismantling. Opponents argue that working on tidal mudflats creates difficulties in containing oil, hazardous substances and other pollutants.
Major shipping organizations, however, support the proposed inclusion. They argue that individual facilities should be assessed on their environmental and safety performance rather than rejected because of their geographic location or recycling method.
The debate comes after the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships entered into force in June 2025. India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Turkiye which together account for much of the world’s ship recycling capacity are parties to the convention.
The EU decision could therefore have wider implications for how South Asian ship recycling facilities are evaluated under European environmental standards.
Restored mangroves in Guyana support fish communities within years
Mangrove restoration in Guyana is showing signs of ecological recovery within relatively short periods, according to research published in Restoration Ecology.
Researchers compared five restored mangrove sites with five naturally regenerated sites ranging from five to 11 years old. Guyana’s restoration programme had planted more than 500,000 black mangrove seedlings across 19 locations along about eight kilometres of coastline.
The study recorded 559 fish from 14 families and 18 species. Researchers found no significant difference in fish abundance, species richness or overall community composition between restored and naturally regenerated mangroves.
Restored sites contained about 90 per cent of the fish species recorded in natural mangroves suggesting that fish colonized the recovering habitats relatively quickly.
The results do not mean restored forests were identical to natural ones. Natural mangroves were taller and had different species proportions and vegetation structures, while restored stands were generally denser.
Researchers therefore emphasize that restoration can recreate important fish habitat relatively quickly but long term monitoring remains necessary as forests mature.
Logging remains a major point of contention in Malaysia’s Upper Baram Forest Area, where Indigenous communities and civil society organizations say an active timber concession is undermining an earlier vision for community-led conservation.
A report led by the Swiss based Bruno Manser Fonds alleges continuing logging of primary forest within and around the area originally proposed as the Baram Peace Park.
The conservation initiative had been under development for more than a decade and involved Indigenous Penan, Kenyah, Kelabit and Saban communities. A timber concession covering approximately 170,000 hectares was granted to Borneoland Timber Resources in 2024.
Community observers cited in the report recorded more than 160 logging trucks leaving the forest each month between March and May 2025. The report also uses satellite imagery and community testimony to document expanding logging roads.
Indigenous organizations have raised concerns about impacts on wildlife including helmeted hornbills, sun bears and Sunda clouded leopards, as well as alleged effects on customary Indigenous lands.
Sarawak’s forest department disputes the characterization of the project. Director Hamden Mohammad said the Upper Baram Forest Area was conceived as an integrated landscape management area that could include conservation, community use zones and timber harvesting.
The dispute also includes questions about how the Borneoland concession was granted. Indigenous residents sought a legal review of the decision, but the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak later dismissed the case. The forest department said the ruling supported the legality of the concession.
GM produces EV batteries using fully recycled critical minerals
General Motors has produced new EV battery cells using cathode material containing 100 per cent recycled nickel, cobalt and manganese recovered from old electric vehicle batteries.
The closed-loop pilot project was carried out with battery recycler Cirba Solutions and other partners. End-of-life GM battery packs were dismantled and processed at a lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Ohio, producing a material known as black mass.
The recovered minerals were then further refined to battery grade specifications and converted into new cathode active material.
The resulting cells were produced by Ultium Cells, GM’s joint venture with LG Energy Solution. GM subsequently assembled the cells into battery modules and packs at its Factory ZERO and Spring Hill facilities.
The first vehicles equipped with batteries containing the recycled cathode materials have now entered production.
The process illustrates how materials from retired batteries can be returned to the manufacturing cycle rather than being discarded. As the global number of retired EV batteries grows, recycling could provide an additional source of critical minerals and reduce reliance on newly mined nickel, cobalt and manganese.
Common theme: rebuilding environmental systems
The seven developments highlight different sides of the global environmental challenge from the continuing loss of glacier ice and pressure on wild fisheries to efforts to restore mangroves, recycle battery materials and protect tropical forests.
They also underline the importance of distinguishing between restoration, substitution and prevention. Restored mangroves can recover important ecological functions within years, while battery recycling can return valuable materials to production. But glacier loss, primary forest logging and pressure on wild fish demonstrate that restoration alone cannot replace the environmental functions lost when ecosystems are pushed beyond their limits.