Environmental economics articles within Nature Geoscience

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  • News & Views |

    Economic-grade deposits of copper are hard to find. The aluminium content of magmatic rocks at the surface may provide an indicator of ore deposits buried deep below.

    • Jeremy Richards

  • News & Views |

    Humanity's nitrogen pollution footprint has increased by a factor of six since the 1930s. A global analysis reveals that a quarter of this nitrogen pollution is associated with the production of internationally traded products.

    • James N. Galloway
    •  & Allison M. Leach

  • Letter |

    Anthropogenic emissions of reactive nitrogen have had severe environmental impacts. An analysis of reactive nitrogen emissions from the production, consumption and transport of commodities attributes roughly a quarter to international trade.

    • Azusa Oita
    • , Arunima Malik
    •  & Manfred Lenzen

  • Editorial |

    The International Year of Soils draws attention to our vital dependence on the fertile crumb beneath our feet. Soil is renewable, but it takes careful stewardship to keep it healthy and plentiful.

  • News & Views |

    In the United States, hurricanes have been causing more and more economic damage. A reanalysis of the disaster database using a statistical method that accounts for improvements in resilience opens the possibility that climate change has played a role.

    • Stéphane Hallegatte

  • News & Views |

    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.

    • Tom Rudel

  • Commentary |

    Livestock production accounts for a significant fraction of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Progress in mitigating the adverse environmental impacts of this industry can be improved by shifting research emphases and fostering communication between researchers and ranchers.

    • Joseph M. Craine

  • Commentary |

    Large tracts of agricultural land are being bought up by external investors. Turning the land into a commodity can have detrimental effects, for generations to come, on the local communities that sell or lease the land.

    • Paolo D'Odorico
    •  & Maria Cristina Rulli

  • Article |

    Ethanol-based vehicles are thought to generate less pollution than gasoline-based vehicles. An analysis of pollutant concentrations in the subtropical megacity of São Paulo, Brazil, reveals that levels of ozone pollution fell, but levels of nitric oxide and carbon monoxide rose, during periods of prevailing gasoline use relative to ethanol use.

    • Alberto Salvo
    •  & Franz M. Geiger

  • Commentary |

    Mineable phosphorus reserves are confined to a handful of countries. Reductions in wastage could free up this resource for low-income, food-deficient countries.

    • Michael Obersteiner
    • , Josep Peñuelas
    •  & Ivan A. Janssens

  • Commentary |

    In areas of the developing world that have benefited only marginally from the intensification of agriculture, foreign investments can enhance productivity. This could represent a step towards greater food security, but only if we ensure that malnourished people in the host countries benefit.

    • Paolo D'Odorico
    •  & Maria Cristina Rulli

  • News & Views |

    Gold is often deposited in Earth's crust by fluids that percolate through rock fractures. Earthquakes cause rock fractures to expand rapidly and could cause the fluids to evaporate, triggering almost instantaneous gold deposition.

    • Dave Craw

  • News & Views |

    Toxic heavy metals can accumulate in Earth's near surface to form ore deposits. Experimental and direct measurements of ore fluids reveal the efficient mobilization and deposition of uranium, implying potentially rapid formation of economic-grade ore.

    • Enikő Bali

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