Sustainability on Earth
Image credit: Sabine Dukes
Seventeen goals to ensure the sustainable development of the planet have been identified by the world's political leaders, and they are ready to be adopted at a Summit in New York on 25 to 27 September. The challenges encompass environmental, economic and social aspects of one overarching aim: to allow humanity to thrive without depleting the Earth's resources. We present a collection of opinion pieces and primary research articles that illustrate the enormity and range of the tasks ahead.
Top of page
News & Views
Land-use change: Deforestation by land grabbers
Tom Rudel
doi:10.1038/ngeo2549
Leases of land concessions in Cambodia have accelerated in the last ten years. An analysis using high-resolution maps and official documents shows that deforestation rates in the land concessions are higher than in other areas.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (110 KB) - Information storage
Atmospheric chemistry: Breathing easier in the Amazon
Christine Wiedinmyer
doi:10.1038/ngeo2550
Fires related to Amazonian deforestation are a large source of particulate matter emissions. Satellite measurements and models reveal that reductions in deforestation and fire emissions since 2001 have prevented hundreds of premature deaths each year.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (240 KB) - Information storage
Top of page
Letters
Accelerated deforestation driven by large-scale
land acquisitions in Cambodia FREE
Kyle Frankel Davis, Kailiang Yu, Maria Cristina Rulli, Lonn Pichdara & Paolo D'Odorico
doi:10.1038/ngeo2540
More than 2 million hectares of Cambodian land have been leased to investors since 2000. Combined satellite and local records show that deforestation on leased land is 29% to 105% higher than in comparable unleased areas.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (1,230 KB) - Information storage
Air quality and human health improvements from
reductions in deforestation-related fire in Brazil FREE
C. L. Reddington, E. W. Butt, D. A. Ridley, P. Artaxo, W. T. Morgan, H. Coe & D. V. Spracklen
doi:10.1038/ngeo2535
Fires are used to clear tropical forests. Satellite measurements and simulations show that reductions in deforestation and associated fires in Brazil have reduced emissions of particulate matter, preventing between 400 and 1,700 deaths annually.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (670 KB) - Information storage
Rainfall consistently enhanced around the Gezira
Scheme in East Africa due to irrigation FREE
Ross E. Alter, Eun-Soon Im & Elfatih A. B. Eltahir
doi:10.1038/ngeo2514
Land use changes can modify regional climate patterns. A comparison of climate simulations and observations show that a large-scale irrigation scheme in East Africa inhibits rainfall over the irrigation scheme, while enhancing it further away.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (970 KB) - Information storage
Top of page
Article
Coastal vulnerability across the Pacific dominated
by El Niño/Southern Oscillation FREE
Patrick L. Barnard et al.
doi:10.1038/ngeo2539
The dynamic components of coastal water level can add metres to water levels during extreme events. A data synthesis reveals that Pacific regional wave and water level fluctuations are closely related to the El Niño/Southern Oscillation.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (204 KB) - Information storage
Top of page
From the archives
Top of page
News & Views
Nature: Environmental science: Scorecard for the seas -
Derek P. Tittensor
doi:10.1038/488594a
An index assessing the health of the oceans gives a global score of 60 out of 100. But the idea that a single number can encompass both environmental status and the benefits that the oceans provide for humans may prove controversial.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (342 KB) - Information storage
Top of page
Perspectives
Nature Climate Change: Livelihood resilience in the face of climate change -
Thomas Tanner et al.
doi:10.1038/nclimate2431
The concept of resilience requires greater attention to human livelihoods if it is to address the limits to adaptation strategies and the development needs of the planet's poorest and most vulnerable people.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (646 KB) - Information storage
Nature Climate Change: Strategies for improving adaptation practice in developing countries -
Declan Conway & Johanna Mustelin
doi:10.1038/nclimate2199
As adaptation moves from theory and international negotiation to implementation, a range of issues have the potential to hamper attempts at effective delivery and to increase the vulnerability of intended beneficiaries of the adaptation agenda.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (659 KB) - Information storage
Top of page
Reviews
Persistent growth of CO2 emissions and implications for reaching climate targets -
P. Friedlingstein, R. M. Andrew, J. Rogelj, G. P. Peters, J. G. Canadell, R. Knutti, G. Luderer, M. R. Raupach, M. Schaeffer, D. P. van Vuuren, C. Le Quéré
doi:10.1038/ngeo2248
In order to limit climate warming, CO2 emissions must remain below fixed quota. An evaluation of past emissions suggests that at 2014 emissions rates, the total quota will probably be exhausted within the next 30 years.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (960 KB) - Information storage
Regional strategies for the accelerating global problem of groundwater depletion -
Werner Aeschbach-Hertig & Tom Gleeson
doi:10.1038/ngeo1617
The world's largest freshwater resource is groundwater. A review of our understanding of groundwater depletion suggests that although the problem is global, solutions must be adapted to specific regional requirements at the aquifer scale.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (764 KB) - Information storage
Top of page
Letters
Nature: The geographical distribution of fossil fuels unused when limiting global warming to 2 °C -
Christophe McGlade & Paul Ekins
doi:10.1038/nature14016
To limit global warming to a rise of 2 °C compared to pre-industrial levels, we cannot use all of our fossil fuel reserves; here an integrated assessment model shows that this temperature limit implies that we must leave unused a third of our oil reserves, half of our gas reserves and over 80 per cent of our coal reserves during the next 40 years, and indicates where these are geographically located.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (1,071 KB) - Information storage
Sand as a stable and sustainable resource for nourishing the Mississippi River delta -
Jeffrey A. Nittrouer & Enrica Viparelli
doi:10.1038/ngeo2142
Dams have starved the lower Mississippi River of sediment over recent decades, suggesting that the drowning of the delta is inevitable. Analysis of the rivers suspended sediment load and morphodynamic modelling suggest that the amount of sand essential for land building has not significantly decreased since dam construction, with sand remaining available for several centuries.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (1,515 KB) - Information storage
Nature Climate Change: Economic development and the carbon intensity of human well-being -
Andrew K. Jorgenson
doi:10.1038/nclimate2110
Strategies for effective sustainability efforts require reducing the carbon intensity of human well-being: the level of anthropogenic carbon emissions per unit of human well-being.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (435 KB) - Information storage
Nature: Signature of ocean warming in global fisheries catch -
William W. L. Cheung, Reg Watson & Daniel Pauly
doi:10.1038/nature12156
The mean temperature of the catch, an index designed to characterize the effect of climate change on global fisheries catch, increased at a rate of 0.19 degrees Celsius per decade between 1970 and 2006, showing that ocean warming has already affected global fisheries.
Full text - Information storage |
PDF (981 KB) - Information storage