Featured
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Article |
Fossils document evolutionary changes of jaw joint to mammalian middle ear
A new morganucodontan-like species from the Jurassic in China shows evidence of a loss of load-bearing function in the articular–quadrate jaw joint, which probably had a role in the evolution of the mammalian middle ear.
- Fangyuan Mao
- , Chi Zhang
- & Jin Meng
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Article |
Jurassic shuotheriids show earliest dental diversification of mammaliaforms
A newly described fossil mammaliaform from the Jurassic period of China shows that the shuotheriids are allied to the docodonts, and provides details on the processes of tooth evolution in early mammals.
- Fangyuan Mao
- , Zhiyu Li
- & Jin Meng
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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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Comment |
A 2023 hurricane caught Mexico off guard: we must work together to prepare better
Hurricane Otis yields lessons for researchers and policymakers on how to reduce risks in the face of inequality.
- Gian C. Delgado-Ramos
- , Simone Lucatello
- & Miguel Imaz-Lamadrid
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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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News |
This super-Earth is the first planet confirmed to have a permanent dark side
Convincing evidence of 1:1 tidal locking had been absent until a new analysis of the exoplanet LHS 3844b.
- Joseph Howlett
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News & Views |
The surprising history of the Southern Ocean’s super current
Reconstructions of the strength of a powerful current that circles the South Pole reveal that it has undergone no long-term change in the past five million years, even though Earth cooled substantially over that time.
- Natalie J. Burls
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News Explainer |
Divisive Sun-dimming study at Harvard cancelled: what’s next?
As the climate crisis rages on, advocacy for testing controversial solar geoengineering technology is ramping up.
- Jeff Tollefson
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News & Views Forum |
Melting ice solves leap-second problem — for now
Humans’ effect on the polar ice sheets is slowing Earth’s rotation, posing challenges for its alignment with the official time standard. Two researchers discuss the science behind the slowdown and the impact it has on timekeeping.
- Patrizia Tavella
- & Jerry X. Mitrovica
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News |
Climate change has slowed Earth’s rotation — and could affect how we keep time
The effect of melting polar ice could delay the need for a ‘leap second’ by three years.
- Elizabeth Gibney
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Nature Podcast |
How climate change is affecting global timekeeping
Melting polar ice could delay major time adjustment, and the strange connection between brain inflammation and memory.
- Elizabeth Gibney
- & Nick Petrić Howe
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Article |
A global timekeeping problem postponed by global warming
Increased melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica, measured by satellite gravity, has decreased the angular velocity of Earth more rapidly than before and has already affected global timekeeping.
- Duncan Carr Agnew
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Article
| Open AccessFive million years of Antarctic Circumpolar Current strength variability
The strength of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, as traced in sediment cores from the Pacific Southern Ocean, shows no linear long-term trend over the past 5.3 Myr; instead, the strongest flow occurs consistently in warmer-than-present intervals.
- Frank Lamy
- , Gisela Winckler
- & Xiangyu Zhao
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Correspondence |
Don’t underestimate the rising threat of groundwater to coastal cities
- Daniel J. Rozell
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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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Comment |
How a tree-hugging protest transformed Indian environmentalism
Fifty years ago, a group of women from the villages of the Western Himalayas sparked Chipko, a green movement that remains relevant in the age of climate change.
- Seema Mundoli
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News Feature |
How AI is improving climate forecasts
Researchers are using various machine-learning strategies to speed up climate modelling, reduce its energy costs and hopefully improve accuracy.
- Carissa Wong
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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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Where I Work |
I peer into volcanoes to see when they’ll blow
Mariton Antonia Bornas runs a Filipino volcano research and response organization.
- Margaret Simons
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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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Editorial |
Are we in the Anthropocene yet?
Measurement matters, but should not detract from the reality that humans are altering Earth systems.
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News |
It’s final: the Anthropocene is not an epoch, despite protest over vote
Governing body upholds earlier decision by geoscientists amid drama.
- Alexandra Witze
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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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News |
Planet-eating stars hint at hidden chaos in the Milky Way
A handful of middle-aged stars seem to have gobbled up a planet, challenging assumptions about the stability of such systems.
- Elizabeth Gibney
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Article |
Adaptive foraging behaviours in the Horn of Africa during Toba supereruption
The archaeological site Shinfa-Metema 1 in the lowlands of northwest Ethiopia provides early evidence of intensive riverine-based foraging aided by the likely adoption of the bow and arrow.
- John Kappelman
- , Lawrence C. Todd
- & Sierra Yanny
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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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World View |
Climate models can’t explain 2023’s huge heat anomaly — we could be in uncharted territory
Taking into account all known factors, the planet warmed 0.2 °C more last year than climate scientists expected. More and better data are urgently needed.
- Gavin Schmidt
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News |
Is the Mars rover’s rock collection worth $11 billion?
Budget woes force NASA to reassess Perseverance’s travel plan, and seek cheaper ways of getting samples back to Earth.
- Alexandra Witze
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Essay |
Are we all doomed? How to cope with the daunting uncertainties of climate change
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when thinking about the damage that might be wrought by global warming — but that is missing the point.
- Adam Sobel
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News |
Ditching ‘Anthropocene’: why ecologists say the term still matters
Beyond stratigraphic definitions, the name has broader significance for understanding humans’ place on Earth.
- David Adam
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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 |
Drought triggers and sustains overnight fires in North America
By examining the hourly diurnal cycle of 23,557 fires in North America during 2017–2020, 1,095 overnight burning events were identified, mostly associated with extreme fires and driven by long-term drought conditions.
- Kaiwei Luo
- , Xianli Wang
- & Mike Flannigan
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News |
Did ‘alien’ debris hit Earth? Startling claim sparks row at scientific meeting
Astrophysicist Avi Loeb says that an interstellar meteor showered Earth with particles. At a planetary-science conference this week, researchers begged to differ.
- Alexandra Witze
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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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Comment |
Why the world cannot afford the rich
Equality is essential for sustainability. The science is clear — people in more-equal societies are more trusting and more likely to protect the environment than are those in unequal, consumer-driven ones.
- Richard G. Wilkinson
- & Kate E. Pickett
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News |
China–US climate collaboration concerns as Xie and Kerry step down
The friendship between the two men survived hostile moments between their countries.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Where I Work |
Why I wander with wonder through Lesotho’s wetlands
Lerato Seleteng-Kose studies the unique plants that live in these cold, remote parts of southern Africa.
- Linda Nordling
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Book Review |
Act now to prevent a ‘gold rush’ in outer space
As private firms aim for the Moon and beyond, a book calls for an urgent relook at the legal compact that governs space exploration.
- Timiebi Aganaba
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Career Q&A |
This geologist communicates science from the ski slopes
How Karin Kirk finds a balance between twin careers of science writing and skiing instruction.
- Miles Lizak
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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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Matters Arising |
Model uncertainty obscures major driver of soil carbon
- Xianjin He
- , Rose Z. Abramoff
- & Daniel S. Goll
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News |
Geologists reject the Anthropocene as Earth’s new epoch — after 15 years of debate
But some are now challenging the vote, saying there were ‘procedural irregularities’.
- Alexandra Witze
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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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Matters Arising |
Reply to: Model uncertainty obscures major driver of soil carbon
- Feng Tao
- , Benjamin Z. Houlton
- & Yiqi Luo