Working spaces and cultures in the geosciences need to change in order to attract, safeguard and retain people with disabilities.

Geoscientists will play key roles in the grand challenges of the twenty-first century, but this requires our field to address its past when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Considering the bleak picture of racial diversity in the UK, we put forward steps institutions can take to break down barriers and make the geosciences equitable.

At high winds, above 18 metres per second, sea-spray droplets act as a pathway for atmosphere–ocean gas exchange, especially in regions such as the Southern Ocean, according to a chemically modified microphysical model.

Seawater infiltration into oceanic transform faults may control their seismicity extent and slip mode variations, according to numerical models of the mechanical and thermal structure of these faults that account for hydration effects.

The carbon concentration of Earth’s upper mantle increases with depth, indicating a role for carbon in melt formation, according to data on magmatic gases and volcanic rocks from ocean island and continental rift settings around the world.

Sea-level lowstands over the last 360,000 years strongly controlled the timing of eruptions of the Santorini Volcano, according to an analysis of tephras and sea-level records, as well as numerical modelling of the underlying magma chamber.

Terrestrial Southern Hemisphere cooling through the Eocene–Oligocene transition points to decreasing atmospheric CO₂ dominantly driving global change, according to biomarker records from southeast Australian coals and palaeoclimate modelling.

Marine oxygenation declined well before the end-Permian mass extinction, the start of which was marked by a brief return to more oxygenated conditions, according to the analysis of thallium isotopes from sites spread across the Panthalassa ocean basin.

An update to our policy on reporting requirements for geological and palaeontological materials aims to tackle ethical issues surrounding the collection, traceability and archiving of field samples.

Enabling public sharing of scientific data in China not only needs top-down mandates but also incentive mechanisms that boost confidence and willingness to engage in data-sharing practices among Chinese researchers.

Land-use-induced ecosystem reduction and degradation has profound impacts on the Earth system. Proceeding with currently unsustainable land use may jeopardize climate and ecosystem restoration targets.

Globally, land- and fire-management policies have counterproductively caused cascading ecosystem changes that exacerbate, rather than mitigate, wildfires. Given rapidly changing climate and land-use conditions that amplify wildfire risk, a policy shift to adaptive management of fire regimes is urgently needed.