Review Articles in 2023

Krill are food sources for megafauna, are drivers of carbon export and are being impacted by sea-ice declines and changing climate conditions. This Review examines changes in krill populations, habitats and behaviour in the Southern Ocean, and discusses their potential drivers and implications for fishery management in the future.

Volcanic eruptions are major natural hazards, but forecasting their activity remains challenging. This Review discusses scientific and monitoring approaches used to forecast magmatic eruptions.

Induced earthquakes can occur during several industrial activities, including geothermal developments and underground storage. This Review discusses the current physics-based understanding of induced earthquakes and the implications for forecasting, monitoring, seismic hazard and risk assessments and mitigation strategies.

Non-perennial segments of rivers undergo cycles of flowing, non-flowing and dry phases, influencing ecosystem dynamics and services across the river network. This Review describes the occurrence, ecology and future of these intermittent and ephemeral flows and highlights the importance of protecting these segments.

Warmer temperatures, increased CO₂ concentrations and changing water availability affect cereal crop production. This Review examines changes in crop yield in response to these variables and discusses adaptation strategies.

Widespread use of salts in food, construction, road deicing and industry is driving salinization of water, soil and air. This Review describes the anthropogenic salt cycle, compares it with natural processes and examines its environmental consequences.

Wastewater dyes from textile, food and pharmaceutical industries are a major environmental concern. This Review discusses the environmental impacts of dye-containing wastewater and explores both conventional and emerging remediation strategies.

Several mechanisms have been put forward to explain tropical Pacific decadal variability, the contributions of which are debated. This Review outlines the different drivers of tropical Pacific decadal variability, summarizing that tropical pycnocline adjustment to wind forcing and Rossby wave activity is likely the dominant mechanism, albeit with uncertainty.

Kimberlites are rare volcanic rocks with unusually deep origins. This Review explores the origin and evolution of kimberlite melts and their insights into mantle composition and dynamics.

Rice paddies account for a large proportion of total agricultural methane and nitrous oxide emissions. This Review outlines the characteristics, changes and mitigation options for these emissions, highlighting the benefits of water and organic matter management.

Maintaining good water quality is vital for healthy ecosystems and human water use, yet water quality responses to hydroclimatic extremes and changing climate are poorly understood. This Review explores river water quality under climate change and extremes.

Cotton is a water-intensive crop with many environmental impacts before and after it is processed into consumer goods. This Review summarizes the environmental impacts across the life cycle of cotton, compares the impacts to alternative fibres and discusses options for mitigation.

The mantle of the Earth influences many dynamic processes such as crust formation, recycling and mantle convection. This Review describes modern isotopic methods used to characterize plume-derived basalts and gain insight into the composition of the mantle.

Coupled Fe–C cycles are important considerations for carbon sequestration, soil fertility and ecosystem functions. This Review explores the role of Fe minerals in stabilizing and degrading organic matter and the role of organic matter in enhancing reactivity of Fe minerals under different conditions.

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a key process connecting the land to the atmosphere. This Review details the characteristics and drivers of ET changes since the 1980s, noting a positive and accelerating ET trend arising from global greening.

Seafloor turbidity currents form Earth’s largest sediment accumulations, deepest canyons and longest channels, but their destructive nature makes them notoriously difficult to measure in action. This Review explores how insights from detailed direct measurements have advanced understanding of turbidity currents.

The terrestrial biosphere stores carbon in a land carbon sink, offsetting emissions of carbon into the atmosphere. This Review demonstrates that the magnitude of the land carbon sink has increased over time, but that its stability in the future is less clear and depends on climate impacts and effective implementation of nature-based solutions.

Increasing temperatures in the seas around China have a range of physical, biogeochemical and biological impacts. This Review outlines historical and projected changes in these seas and the implications of these changes for marine ecosystems.

Decarbonization, circular economy, sustainable finance and sustainable consumption are four main environmental mitigation strategies to solve the triple planetary crisis. This Review explores the role of life-cycle assessment in evaluating and shaping environmental mitigation strategies.

Irrigation accounts for a substantial proportion of global water usage and can have biophysical and biogeochemical impacts on Earth systems. This Review outlines key irrigation–Earth system interactions, and discusses the effect of future climate and socioeconomic changes on irrigation patterns and their interaction.