The North Sea’s oil and gas rigs impact more than the atmosphere.

Using over than 30 years of data, scientists found the sediment around nine platforms contains levels of pollutants up to thousands of times higher than in the wider seabed. In some samples, toxic chemicals breached thresholds associated with harming the health of marine wildlife.

Top predators and specialists were the worst affected species, whilst generalists came to dominate. This caused species diversity near oil rigs to drop by almost a third as the food chains collapsed.