Featured
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Article |
One-third of Southern Ocean productivity is supported by dust deposition
Nitrate observations over 11 years from autonomous biogeochemical ocean profiling combined with a Southern Hemisphere dust simulation find that iron supplied by dust supports about 30% of Southern Ocean productivity.
- Jakob Weis
- , Zanna Chase
- & Sonya L. Fiddes
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Where I Work |
Why my heart beats for Nigeria’s endangered bats
Iroro Tanshi works to better understand a number of threatened species.
- Linda Nordling
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Obituary |
Diana Wall obituary: ecologist who foresaw the importance of soil biodiversity
Environmental scientist who revealed the crucial role of underground animals in sustainability.
- Richard D. Bardgett
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Editorial |
Reinvent oil refineries for a net-zero future
From petrol to plastics, oil-derived products define modern life. A bold plan to change that comes with huge costs — but researchers and policymakers should take it seriously.
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Correspondence |
Why it was right to reject the Anthropocene as a geological epoch
- Mark Maslin
- , Matthew Edgeworth
- & Philip L. Gibbard
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Where I Work |
I strive to make the Great Barrier Reef more resilient to heat stress
Matthew Nitschke grows coral symbionts in a slowly warming tank to prepare reef life for climate change.
- James Mitchell Crow
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News |
Epic blazes threaten Arctic permafrost. Can firefighters save it?
Some scientists argue that it’s time to rethink the blanket policy of letting blazes burn themselves out in northern wildernesses.
- Jeff Tollefson
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Career Feature |
Want to make a difference? Try working at an environmental non-profit organization
Moving to non-profit work requires researchers to shift their mindset to focus on applied science for policymaking and conservation practice.
- Natasha Gilbert
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News |
Hello puffins, goodbye belugas: changing Arctic fjord hints at our climate future
Stunning images show an ecosystem’s upheaval as it warms at an alarming pace.
- Freda Kreier
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World View |
Ecologists: don’t lose touch with the joy of fieldwork
Amid the data deluge provided by lab-based techniques, such as environmental-DNA analysis, true connection still comes only in the outdoors.
- Chris Mantegna
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News Explainer |
Plastic pollution: three numbers that support a crackdown
As negotiators haggle over a global treaty to curb plastics pollution, a flood of data outlines how a treaty could make a difference.
- Nicola Jones
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News Feature |
The Maldives is racing to create new land. Why are so many people concerned?
The island nation is expanding its territory by dredging up sediment from the ocean floor. But scientists, former government officials and activists say such reclamation can harm marine ecosystems and make the country more vulnerable to rising seas.
- Jesse Chase-Lubitz
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Article
| Open AccessDearomatization drives complexity generation in freshwater organic matter
Using complementary multiplicity-edited 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, oxidative dearomatization is shown to be a key driver for generating structural diversity during processing of dissolved organic matter and the data also suggest high abundance of OCqC3 units.
- Siyu Li
- , Mourad Harir
- & Norbert Hertkorn
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Correspondence |
The Middle East’s largest hypersaline lake risks turning into an environmental disaster zone
- Alireza Mohammadi
- , Ali Azareh
- & Moslem Sharifinia
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Editorial |
UN plastics treaty: don’t let lobbyists drown out researchers
Tackling plastic pollution needs scientists to be in the negotiating room at upcoming talks.
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Article
| Open AccessEnvironmental drivers of increased ecosystem respiration in a warming tundra
Datasets from in situ warming experiments across 28 arctic and alpine tundra sites covering a span of less than 1 year up to 25 years show the importance of local soil conditions and warming-induced changes therein for future climatic impacts on ecosystem respiration.
- S. L. Maes
- , J. Dietrich
- & E. Dorrepaal
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Correspondence |
It’s time to talk about the hidden human cost of the green transition
- Manuel Prieto
- & Nicolás C. Zanetta-Colombo
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Book Review |
Are women in research being led up the garden path?
A moving memoir of botany and motherhood explores the historical pressures on female scientists.
- Josie Glausiusz
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Article |
Ghost roads and the destruction of Asia-Pacific tropical forests
An effort to map roads in the Asia-Pacific region finds that there are 3.0–6.6 times more roads than other sources suggest, and that unmapped ‘ghost roads’ are a major contributor to tropical forest loss.
- Jayden E. Engert
- , Mason J. Campbell
- & William F. Laurance
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Article
| Open AccessFSC-certified forest management benefits large mammals compared to non-FSC
Camera-trap images of 55 mammal species in 14 logging concessions in western equatorial Africa reveal greater animal encounter rates in FSC-certified than in non-certified forests, especially for large mammals and species of high conservation priority.
- Joeri A. Zwerts
- , E. H. M. Sterck
- & Marijke van Kuijk
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Research Briefing |
Artificial intelligence can provide accurate forecasts of extreme floods at global scale
Anthropogenic climate change is accelerating the hydrological cycle, causing an increase in the risk of flood-related disasters. A system that uses artificial intelligence allows the creation of reliable, global river flood forecasts, even in places where accurate local data are not available.
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Correspondence |
Don’t dismiss carbon credits that aim to avoid future emissions
- Edward Mitchard
- , Peter Ellis
- & Roselyn Fosuah Adjei
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Where I Work |
How I use tide gauges to develop geospatial maps
Geographer Muh Aris Marfai collects reference data for Indonesia’s coastal areas to prepare for the impacts of climate change.
- Nikki Forrester
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Correspondence |
The ‘Anthropocene’ is here to stay — and it’s better not as a geological epoch
- Thomas P. Roland
- , Graeme T. Swindles
- & Alastair Ruffell
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Editorial |
Deep-sea mining plans should not be rushed
Why are companies and governments determined to start commercial-scale mining for rare metals, when so little is known about its wider impacts?
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World View |
‘Exhausted and insulted’: how harsh visa-application policies are hobbling global research
Institutions and individuals from low- and middle-income countries are wasting time, effort and money trying to get visas for research travel, only to be rejected. A new approach is needed.
- Sandra Owusu-Gyamfi
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Obituary |
Estella Bergere Leopold (1927–2024), passionate environmentalist who traced changing ecosystems
The trailblazing palaeobotanist investigated how climate change affected Earth in the past — and firmly believed science should be used in its defence now.
- Cathy Whitlock
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Comment |
How to achieve safe water access for all: work with local communities
Four scientists reflect on how to foster a more sustainable relationship between water and society amid complex and wide-ranging challenges.
- Farhana Sultana
- , Tara McAllister
- & Michael D. Blackstock
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal prediction of extreme floods in ungauged watersheds
Artificial intelligence-based forecasting improves the reliability of predicting extreme flood events in ungauged watersheds, with predictions at five days lead time that are as good as current systems are for same-day predictions.
- Grey Nearing
- , Deborah Cohen
- & Yossi Matias
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Correspondence |
‘Global swimways’ on free-flowing rivers will protect key migratory fish species
- Twan Stoffers
- , Catherine A. Sayer
- & Fengzhi He
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News |
More than 4,000 plastic chemicals are hazardous, report finds
Year-long effort compiles comprehensive database of chemicals in plastics.
- Nicola Jones
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News & Views |
Drought-fuelled overnight burning propels large fires in North America
Burning events that occur at night have been revealed as a driver of large wildfires. Prolonged drought conditions are to blame, making it easier for fires to spread at night when they would ordinarily slow or extinguish completely.
- Jennifer K. Balch
- & Adam L. Mahood
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Article |
US oil and gas system emissions from nearly one million aerial site measurements
We integrate approximately one million aerial site measurements into regional emissions inventories for six regions in the USA, finding methane emission intensities that vary by more than a factor of ten.
- Evan D. Sherwin
- , Jeffrey S. Rutherford
- & Adam R. Brandt
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Correspondence |
Water shortages means greening southern European cities won’t be easy
- Jaime Madrigal-González
- , José Miguel Olano
- & Gabriel Sangüesa-Barreda
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News |
Indigenous Australian fire-stick farming began at least 11,000 years ago
Analysis of a sediment core dating back 150,000 years showed that fire patterns in Australia changed with the rise of Indigenous people’s use of fire.
- Bianca Nogrady
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Comment |
The world must rethink plans for ageing oil and gas platforms
Earth’s oceans are awash with ageing energy infrastructure. A change in the law is needed to ensure that these structures are decommissioned in ways that maximize environmental and societal benefits.
- Antony Knights
- , Anaëlle Lemasson
- & Paul Somerfield
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News |
Landmark study links microplastics to serious health problems
People who had tiny plastic particles lodged in a key blood vessel were more likely to experience heart attack, stroke or death during a three-year study.
- Max Kozlov
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Article
| Open AccessDisappearing cities on US coasts
High-resolution vertical land motion and elevation datasets combined with projections of sea-level rise of 32 major US coastal cities shows that a considerable amount of land area, population, and properties are threatened by relative sea-level rise by 2050.
- Leonard O. Ohenhen
- , Manoochehr Shirzaei
- & Robert J. Nicholls
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Article |
East-to-west human dispersal into Europe 1.4 million years ago
Burial-dating methods using cosmogenic nuclides indicate that the oldest stone tools at Korolevo archaeological site in western Ukraine date to around 1.4 million years ago, providing evidence of early human dispersal into Europe from the east.
- R. Garba
- , V. Usyk
- & J. D. Jansen
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Technology Feature |
Five tips for digitizing handwritten data
Need to digitize field notes or historical documents? Researchers share their best practices.
- Alla Katsnelson
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World View |
Megafires are here to stay — and blaming only climate change won’t help
It’s not just global warming that’s driving the growth in destructive wildfires. Better land management is the first step to mitigating the risks.
- Renata Libonati
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Correspondence |
Russia’s Arctic Council threat requires lessons from cold war science diplomacy
- Paul Arthur Berkman
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Correspondence |
Europe needs a joined-up approach for monitoring and protecting its forests
- Marco Ferretti
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Research Briefing |
Machine learning reveals huge potential benefits of sustainable fertilizer use
Agricultural fertilizers are the main global source of ammonia emissions, which harm human health and reduce farmers’ profits. An analysis using big data and machine learning reveals that locally optimized fertilizer-management and tillage practices could slash ammonia emissions from rice, wheat and maize cultivation by up to 38%.
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News |
Why citizen scientists are gathering DNA from hundreds of lakes — on the same day
Massive environmental DNA project will take a record-setting snapshot of biodiversity worldwide.
- Lydia Larsen
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News |
Why is Latin America on fire? It’s not just climate change, scientists say
Rampant planting of flammable non-native species has helped to fuel deadly blazes — even in places known for cool, damp weather.
- Andrew J. Wight
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Correspondence |
Urban trees: how to maximize their benefits for humans and the environment
- Lina Tang
- , Guofan Shao
- & Peter M. Groffman