The 2015 Langtang Avalanche in Nepal was exacerbated by deep snow cover and warm temperatures, amplifying the mobility, destructive force, and lubricating effect of melt water on the flowing mass, according to analysis of avalanche runout under various air temperature and snow depth conditions.

Humans must be represented within digital twins of the Earth, but they also play a role outside to govern development and access and guide usage, argues a perspective based on interdisciplinary scientific expert viewpoints.

2023 temperatures fall in line with historical trends, with warm anomalies typical of El Niño, indicating dominance of sea surface temperature variability and regional forcing, according to an analysis for isolating the 2023 global surface contribution from various ocean basins.

The application of mild electric stimulations to marine soils produces artificial calcareous cementation and has the potential to mitigate coastal erosion by reinforcing vulnerable marine soils, according to electrochemical laboratory experiments

An 8-year-long observational study of Lake Dziani Dzaha in Mayotte, an analog for the Proterozoic ocean, suggests seismo-volcanic events can perturb geochemical variables and trigger shifts in the composition and structure of the microbiome.

In the coastal temperate rainforests of western North America, the reduction of forest loss by improved management and conservation could reduce forest greenhouse gas emissions, according to an analysis using global forest carbon stocks and flux models and landownership data.

The authors of the IPCC Assessment Report are skeptical that warming can be limited below 2 degrees Celsius according to the survey of 211 experts and statistical analysis.

Total precipitation, temperature and soil nitrogen are the main drivers of gross primary productivity in dry rangelands in sub-Saharan Africa, with more variable rainfall having a small but negative impact, according to analysis of remote sensing datasets using generalised additive models.

The global demand for lithium is projected to reach 1.93 million metric tons in 2050 compared to the demand in 2023, but the global implementation of recycling policies has the potential to reduce its consumption, as suggested by a bottom-up framework studying the projections of the global supply and demand of lithium for the next decades.

High-intensity rainfall and drought reduced potato yield on farm level in the Netherlands by 36% and 13%, respectively, and accounted for 98% of between-year yield differences, according to a causal statistical analysis applied to potato production data between 2015 and 2020.

Obituaries of scientists are much more often about men than women. At Communications Earth & Environment, we are initiating a series of articles highlighting the lives and work of women scientists, aiming to inspire the next generation with their stories and career paths.

An adventurous ecologist, Cheryl Ann Palm brought together agriculture, forest and social science experts and pioneered interdisciplinary approaches to reduce deforestation and enhance food security.

Achieving the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement relies on every actor maximising their effort to reduce emissions. Generic targets claiming a basis in science have been used to justify inequitable efforts that insufficiently stretch the ambition of the best-resourced countries and companies.

A combination of anthropogenic warming and natural variability led to another record-breaking year of warmth in 2023. Global mean temperatures in 2023 nearly exceeded the 1.5 °C threshold, making it both a scientific and societal imperative to understand the underlying reasons for this warmth.

Attribution of the record-shattering global annual heat in 2023 to human and/or natural factors is fundamentally required for reliable predictions of upcoming global warming and its impacts. An observation-model comparison of global hot areas supports a key role for human-induced climate change, with a small contribution from El Niño.

In northern China and the Korean Peninsula, air pollution has worsened over the past ten years, but the two countries have not cooperated efficiently to resolve the problem. China and Korea must separate environmental negotiations and diplomatic actions to address the transboundary nature of air pollution.