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The Russian military invasion of Ukraine has vastly affected freshwater systems and critical water facilities in the country. A study now evaluates the magnitude of the damage and the related environmental and livelihood implications.
The military actions in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia have far-reaching environmental consequences, especially with regard to water management. A study presents data showing the severe impacts on water resources, sanitation and infrastructure during the first three months of the war.
Biodegradation of polyesters such as polylactic acid (PLA), which could serve as a carbon source for value-added chemicals, leads to CO2 emissions. Here the authors develop a two-step catalytic process to convert PLA into methyl methacrylate, a key building-block molecule, for sustainable valorization of waste PLA.
Biophysical boundaries are not inherently just. A collaboration between social and natural scientists, the Earth Commission, defines and operationalizes Earth system justice to ensure that biophysical boundaries reduce harm, increase well-being, and reflect substantive and procedural justice.
A full factorial experiment in a state-owned industrial oil palm plantation in Indonesia evaluates whether reduced management via reduced fertilization rates and mechanical weeding can decrease the negative impacts on ecosystem functions and biodiversity while maintaining profitability of the plantation.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a prominent methodology for evaluating potential environmental impacts of products throughout their entire lifespan. However, LCA studies often lack transparency and comparability, limiting their significance. Here, recommendations for best practices for LCA are provided, exemplified by its application to batteries.
The impacts on soil degradation of the massive land-use conversion of South American Pampa grasslands to agriculture are not well documented. This study estimates, over the period 1982–2019, the impacts of such conversion on the sediment cascade and how soil and water resources are affected as a result.
Intensifying agriculture can, in theory, spare nature from agricultural expansion. This study finds that intensification is not sparing tropical dry forests generally, but is in areas with widespread Indigenous land stewardship.
Oil palm plantations can supplant once biodiverse tropical forests. As planted areas expand, it is vital to plan landscapes to better balance biodiversity and oil palm production. Strategic ‘set-asides’ offer a key approach.
Afforestation on drylands can help mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration, but the water and energy implications can hinder implementation. A study now investigates the environmental and economic potential of afforestation enabled by desalination plants powered by renewable electricity.
Agriculture is the largest threat to tropical ecosystems. This study finds that setting aside land for nature in targeted fashion, especially alongside rivers, can increase biodiversity and ecosystem services without reducing the net area cultivated.
Afforestation can effectively remove CO2 but is constrained by the availability of suitable land and water resources. This study shows the large potential of afforestation for CO2 sequestration in arid areas globally, using renewable electricity, particularly from solar photovoltaics, to power desalination plants.
Biodiversity conservation is critical for promoting ecosystem services and human well-being, but current conservation efforts fail to protect most high priority zones. A mix of land-sparing and land-sharing is needed to safeguard critical ecosystems in India and across the Global South.
Decarbonizing the aviation sector is difficult given travel patterns and technical and economic constraints. Through nine holistic scenarios towards net-zero emissions from aviation by 2050, this study can inform investments and priorities for innovation to achieve a more sustainable aviation sector.
Nature-based solutions for climate adaptation are not comprehensively addressing the climate–biodiversity–society nexus, limiting their capacity to promote urban transformation. However, notable transformative examples of urban nature-based solutions do exist, especially in the Global South.
A varied repertoire of responses helps manage fluctuations, as in markets. This Perspective argues that society needs to strengthen the diversity of options for responding to disruptions, exploring how this response diversity is expressed, how it can be built and lost, and what we can do to promote it.
Owing to the underlying chemical nature of many environmental injustices, green chemistry can play a role in advancing environmental justice towards a more equitable future.
A durable, two-layer coating has been developed for nylon fabrics. The coating’s low coefficient of friction reduces the amount of microplastic fibres released from nylon fabrics during laundering by up to 93%. The coating’s efficacy, and other fabric properties, are maintained after at least nine laundering cycles.
