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The degradation and recycling of thermoset materials are major sustainability challenges. The synthesized thermoset hyperbranched polymers (HER-HTn) reported in this study exhibit recoverability and rapid degradability in more environmentally friendly phosphoric acid solutions.
Soil erosion threatens food production and ecosystems. This study finds that soil erosion rates change significantly at national borders, probably reflecting agricultural characteristics that vary among countries.
Adequate methods are needed to study the connections among food consumption and production, energy and water, and environmental impacts. This Analysis presents a set of model-based scenarios and associated Sankey diagrams to facilitate this kind of analysis and formulate response strategies.
Knowing how and why households stop using solid-fuel stoves after adopting clean fuels can inform policies for energy transitions. This study shows that in China over one-third and one-fifth of participants suspended use of solid fuel for cooking and heating, respectively, during the past 20 years.
Nitrogen is critical to crop production but its overuse challenges sustainability. This study finds that, despite intense and growing nitrogenous fertilizer use, Pakistan’s crop yields have risen much more slowly than expected.
Recently, ecologists have begun discussing an idea for setting aside half of the Earth for conservation purposes. This study provides some of the first analysis of the impacts of doing so on society, based on assumptions about ecoregions and human footprint.
Substantial water savings can be achieved by coating toilet bowl surfaces to repel liquids, bacteria and viscoelastic solids such as human faeces. In this Article, the authors develop a sprayable, non-fouling coating that can reduce cleaning water consumption by ~90% compared with untreated surfaces.
During the 2004–16 shale-gas development in the Appalachian basin, United States, premature mortality from lower air quality and employment followed a boom-and-bust cycle, whereas climate impacts will persist for generations beyond the activity.
Cities not only develop their transit networks, but are shaped by them in return. This study teases out the effects of public transportation, finding that there is a scale effect for urban areas to benefit from transit investment.
A simulation nesting global and Australian scenarios on how to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals finds that working on all goals jointly has added benefits. In the path to achieve the goals, the last stages will be the most challenging.
Reducing herbicides exposes crops to yield losses from weeds. This study on winter wheat and barley finds that more even weed communities reduce yield losses by suppressing dominant weeds.
Agriculture depends critically on phosphorus fertilizer from rock phosphate. This study finds environmental and health benefits from instead recovering phosphorus from secondary sources, such as sewage and manure.
International shipping is a major emitter of greenhouse gases, but quantifying responsibilities has been difficult. This study uses satellite-observed data on vessels to determine the emissions from and subsequent health impacts of US–China bilateral trade of goods.
Governance is one of the critical components for sustainability, but quantification within scenarios and projections of future socioeconomic development has been lacking. This analysis of various pathways looks at how best to overcome ‘weak’ governance and strengthen adaptive capacity.
Based on assessments of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, key research priorities are identified and contrasted with the SDGs and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
Sustainable processes for the synthesis of new clinical candidates is a priority in pharmaceutical manufacturing. This study presents a web application to predict the likely efficiencies of proposed synthetic routes before their evaluation in the laboratory.
A study of over 250,000 pregnant women in Beijing, China, finds that missed abortion is associated with the concentration of four major air pollutants. The association is not linear but becomes stronger with higher concentrations.
Social responses to changes can trigger further crises. This study uses historical data and finds society’s failures to respond to climate change in China’s Hexi Corridor amplified problems.
Reducing agriculture’s impacts while increasing outputs is challenging. This study, of an Indian smallholder system, shows that microsatellite data can detect yield gains from a low-cost fertilizer intervention.
