Editorials in 2014

Many insights of Russian scientists are unknown or long-forgotten outside of Russia. Making the Russian literature accessible to the international scientific community could stimulate new lines of research.

The outstanding lifespan of the canonical Redfield ratio has shown the power of elemental stoichiometry in describing ocean life. But the biological mechanisms governing this consistency remain unknown.

Sharing data is key for efficient scientific progress. More open code would be beneficial too.

Wealth in a country typically protects against earthquake damage. The same cannot always be said for wealth of individuals.

Guidance for mitigation action should come from the insights that global mean temperatures respond to cumulative carbon emissions and that there are risks beyond warming alone. Momentum for the negotiations requires a sense of opportunity.

At Nature Publishing Group we offer a transfer system that allows authors to move papers between our journals at the click of a button if their first-choice journal declined. We encourage authors to use that service.

Solar energy is undoubtedly renewable. We must make sure it is also as sustainable as possible.

The successful launch of a carbon-observing satellite could make a start on tracking emissions shifts around the globe.

The recent disappearance of a commercial airliner has highlighted our poor knowledge of the ocean floor. Through the years, human tragedies have helped inspire deep sea research, but it is time to explore more systematically.

Over the past six years an increasingly complex view of water inside and on the surface of the Moon has emerged. Lunar water has moistened sticky questions, and so renewed lunar exploration efforts are needed to deepen our knowledge of the Earth–Moon system.

Climate change could compromise food security over the coming century. Scientists working towards mitigation and adaptation have to win over those who work on the land.

The march from an Archaean microbial world to the modern reign of more complex life was slow but not steady. Instead, the rise of the animals may have resulted from an intricate back-and-forth between evolving life and the Earth's environment.

The recent slow-down in the rate of warming, averaged over the surface of the entire planet, has incited much discussion. As climate scientists are tracking down the causes, we must not forget that average surface temperatures are only one indicator of climate change.

What happens to manuscripts after they are submitted to our online manuscript tracking system is a source of much speculation. To learn how we decide what is published in Nature Geoscience, read on.