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Banning the sale of rinse-off cosmetics containing plastic microbeads to protect the environment requires understanding the lifetime environmental impacts of potential substitutes. By comparing the environmental performance of alternatives, this study finds viable substitutes and those with adverse effects.
An analysis of 177 studies and expert opinions about instruments for ocean protection shows that a combination of tools is needed to achieve all of the ocean SDG targets.
An analysis of spatially explicit historical data shows notable regional differences in the benefits in reduced emissions from integrating renewable energy across the United States.
The impacts of wildfires in the western United States have been increasing for decades. Combining physical, epidemiological and economic models, this study finds that the economic damage of California wildfires in 2018 was roughly 1.5% of California’s annual gross domestic product.
Perovskite solar cells could be a game-changing energy technology. However, the solvents involved during fabrication pose sustainability concerns. Here, the authors provide an analysis of human health toxicity and environmental implications of handling solvents, recommending dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as the green choice for large-scale production.
Oysters clean nutrient-polluted waters, but their populations have crashed. This study synthesizes research on oyster impacts and finds that they help remove excess nitrogen and promote nutrient recycling without contributing greatly to greenhouse gas emissions.
Continued carbon-intensive development is unsustainable. This study assesses how cloudiness and weather variability, enhanced by climate change, will affect photovoltaic output, finding that conditions are likely to worsen by mid-century over the Arabian Peninsula while improving over southern Europe.
A discourse analysis across time shows how reformist and transformative proponents have been competing over the purpose of biodiversity offsetting, which requires stronger institutional commitments to advance.
Big data and mobile technology are considered a growing boon for small-scale farmers. This study finds that only 24–37% of farms of <1 ha are currently served by third generation (3G) or 4G services, compared to 74–80% of farms of >200 ha, and that regions with poor yields and low food security have poor service coverage.
Waste recycling is part of a circular economy, but for some materials its environmental benefits are unclear. Looking at the circularity of the global paper life cycle, under various levels of waste recycling, this study shows that any climate benefits hinge on reducing the carbon intensity of the energy used.
To increase the policy relevance of ecosystem service benefits research, studies need to better predict the impact of specific decisions, according to an analysis of the literature.
Changes in forest disturbance affect their sustainability. This study finds that between 1986 and 2016, 36 million disturbances by humans or other causes affected 17% of Europe’s forest area.
New battery chemistry can help reduce the reliance on Co for electric vehicles. However, to avoid burden shifting to other resources such as Ni, circular economy strategies with enhanced battery traceability and recycling could contribute substantially to the reduction of primary Co demand from the automotive industry.
Recycling nutrient-rich manure helped fertilize traditional farms. This study finds a near 60% drop in the share of rural Chinese households raising livestock and planting crops, a link worth rebuilding regionally to intensify agriculture sustainably.
While ecological restoration has been promoted for curbing degradation and improving ecosystem health, the impacts on water flux and storage have been understudied. This article finds that large-scale restoration efforts can actually deplete terrestrial water storage, requiring more effort to balance ecosystem needs.
Interaction between international organizations and national governments over 238 World Heritage ecosystems shows patterns of productive and counterproductive dynamics, which yield lessons to improve environmental governance.
International trade interacts with Sustainable Development Goal targets in profound ways. This study finds that while trade improves scores for environmental Sustainable Development Goals in developed countries, it decreases them in developing countries, and distant trade is a bigger contributor to scores than adjacent trade between countries.
A new database of over 2,700 policies on nitrogen around the world highlights the predominance of policies incentivizing its use or managing trade, and the need for integration to avoid shifting pollution from one sink to another.
Little is known about how human factors influence the patterns of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the intertidal zone, a transitional boundary between terrestrial and marine environments. This study shows that human activities affect both the distribution and the deposition of PAHs.
