Reviews & Analysis

Biocrusts are crucial for soil health and sustainability in arid lands; however, human activities are degrading these biocrusts. This study explores the use of solar farms for a low-cost, low-impact and high-capacity approach to regenerate biocrusts. This technique could be used to expand current soil restoration approaches to regional scales.

Urban water crises are an increasingly pressing challenge. A study now shows how unsustainable behaviour fostered by social inequalities undermines water access and, if unaddressed, may lead to increased vulnerability in the long term.

Human and natural systems are inextricably intertwined, co-evolving systems. The study presents a new conservation framework incorporating the different roles people can play in ecosystem health, through land stewardship.

The world’s largest deltas, home to numerous megacities, are expected to bear the brunt of climate-driven sea-level rise. Now, a study shows that disentangling the human impacts on the Mississippi Delta in the past century can help make these systems more resilient.

Incorporating single atoms into carbon-based catalysts is shown to disrupt their crystal symmetry in a way that improves their catalytic activity. The discovery here could offer a generalized approach for the rational design of electrocatalysts.

A safe aqueous electrolyte design with hybrid salts and solvents turns a zinc metal anode highly reversible under conditions matching practical operational requirements, paving the way for the future market adoption of more sustainable battery technologies.

A method for recycling cathodes without fully breaking down the valuable material, and then upgrading it, produces batteries that can provide stable operation at high voltages, enabling enhanced energy-storage possibilities.

Carbon capture technologies are of utmost importance for the mitigation of climate change. Now, a study shows that all polymineralic rocks, regardless of their composition, can trap significant amounts of CO₂ through mechanochemical processing.

Our current use of plastics is the epitome of an unsustainable lifestyle with their reliance on fossil resources and their widespread application through single use products that, after use, end up in the natural environment. A study now analyses what it would take for plastics to become a sustainable material.

The Russia–Ukraine armed conflict has caused far-reaching damage to freshwater resources and water infrastructure, with immediate and long-term consequences for the environment and human health. This analysis of the type, distribution and potential consequences of the water-related impacts of the conflict provides a basis for future rebuilding and restoration.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Seaweed farming is gaining attention as a potential climate change mitigation solution, but how to achieve such potential is uncertain given current knowledge and practice. A study now explores how expanding seaweed farming for wider human use could reduce carbon emissions from agriculture.

Regulating the temperature inside buildings takes a huge amount of energy, but this cost can be reduced with a smart, durable building envelope that can adapt to different temperatures for heat loss control.

An aqueous electrochromic device has been developed that enables reversible tuning of its thermal emissivity with minimal electrical power input. The device allows for all-season radiative thermoregulation, leading towards year-round energy savings for buildings.