Analyses in 2018

Reducing direct economic losses from disasters is part of mitigating disaster impacts. This study presents an update to the leading dataset on normalized US hurricane losses in the continental United States from 1900 to 2017.

'No net loss’ biodiversity policies seek to offset biodiversity losses caused by economic development. This study assesses the global extent of such biodiversity offsets, finding that they occupy an area much larger than recognized and that most are small and implemented due to regulatory requirements.

Aviation biofuels for climate change mitigation may be detrimental to other sustainability goals, according to a life-cycle assessment. Negative effects can be mitigated with appropriate technology and supply-chain management.

Cryptocurrency mining requires extensive energy consumption for computers to verify the blockchain and generate new currency. This analysis compares several cryptocurrencies and metals in terms of the amount of energy needed to create one US dollar of value, as well as the carbon emissions that may be directly attributable to cryptocurrency mining.

Provision of electricity in sub-Saharan Africa is often affected by outages leading to increased use of backup diesel generators. In this study, the authors estimate the air emissions, consumer costs and fossil energy consumption resulting from the use of such generators.

The net environmental costs of rare earths production in China, the largest producer, are estimated to be almost US$15 billion. Scenarios show that the largest reduction in environmental impact can be achieved by tackling illegal mining.

Measures to adapt coastal areas to tsunamis risk creating greater vulnerabilities owing to a false sense of security. Hard-adaptive projects like seawalls must be considered within an assessment of human behaviour and feedback loops.

Understanding the sources of particulate matter responsible for extreme air pollution and climate change is critical for designing adequate policies to protect the wellbeing of citizens. This study shows that extraordinary levels of particulate matter with diameter smaller than 1 µm were observed in Dublin in November 2016 and January 2017 and can be attributed to emissions from residential burning of peat and wood, often promoted as ‘slow renewables’.

Focusing on China’s six natural gas sources and three end-use gas-forcoalsubstitution strategies in 2020, this study shows that, except for coal-based synthetic gas, replacement of coalwith gas usually has air–carbon–water co-benefits, although with air–water trade-offs in the magnitude ofimprovement.

Cobalt is used in rechargeable batteries, and half the world’s supply comes from one district in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This study assesses the sustainability of artisanal mining there, finding much higher levels of cobalt in blood and urine of community members and especially of children.

Footprint analysis of how much water is embedded in food consumption in France, Germany and the United Kingdom finds geographical differences in water footprints and projects how different diets could affect water conservation.

An econometric modelling analysis shows that eliminating tariffs in key inputs for renewable energy production can have a significant impact on reducing carbon emissions in Europe.

Intensifying agricultural production often imposes environmental costs. This study assesses progress towards the redesign of agricultural systems, finding that seven types of sustainable intensification now characterize an estimated 29% of farms on 9% of agricultural land worldwide.

Land management and ownership by Indigenous Peoples are critical components of conservation strategies, but information on these has previously never been aggregated. Here, global data is compiled to show that Indigenous Peoples have tenure rights or manage a quarter of the world’s land area and 40% of all protected areas and intact ecosystems.

As agriculture is the primary driver of eutrophication resulting from the oversupply of nitrogen and phosphorus to water bodies, much attention has been paid to the environmental impacts of food consumption. Little is known about the impacts of consuming other goods. This study shows that in 2011 the final demand for non-food products accounted for over one-third of the global marine and freshwater eutrophication impacts—a 28% increase since 2000.

Aquaculture is surpassing wild-caught seafood, but we feed aquaculture with wild forage fish for key nutrients. This study finds removing such forage fish from diets of livestock and non-carnivorous aquaculture species and moderating its use in China will help sustain forage fish populations in the future.

China’s agricultural output is growing rapidly, but the environmental impacts are unclear. This study finds this impact has risen, but much more slowly than output due to improved farm management, though ongoing shifts in cropland location may challenge this development.

A social network analysis of over 20,000 reports of illegal child adoption in China reveals the most important cities, provinces and paths of child trafficking. Over 80% of the network can be reached by targeting four cities.

Freshwater resources sustain ecosystems and societies, so reliable monitoring is critical. This study finds that streamgaging data reporting has declined worldwide since 1979, and that variation in monitoring threatens many US river basins.

A unique dataset of over 550 programmes of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) worldwide, grouped into water, forest- and land-use carbon, and biodiversity programmes, is used to assess the trends and the current status of such policy instruments.