Environmental chemistry articles within Nature

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Using complementary multiplicity-edited 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, oxidative dearomatization is shown to be a key driver for generating structural diversity during processing of dissolved organic matter and the data also suggest high abundance of OCqC3 units.

    • Siyu Li
    • , Mourad Harir
    •  & Norbert Hertkorn

  • Article |

    Burial-dating methods using cosmogenic nuclides indicate that the oldest stone tools at Korolevo archaeological site in western Ukraine date to around 1.4 million years ago, providing evidence of early human dispersal into Europe from the east.

    • R. Garba
    • , V. Usyk
    •  & J. D. Jansen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Results from 316 Bombus terrestris colonies at 106 agricultural sites across eight European countries find pesticides in bumble bee pollen to be associated with reduced colony performance, especially in areas of intensive agriculture.

    • Charlie C. Nicholson
    • , Jessica Knapp
    •  & Maj Rundlöf

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Catalysis of simple organic carbon molecules into complex macromolecules by Fe and Mn may play a fundamental role in organic carbon preservation, to a degree that could substantially affect the Earth’s carbon and oxygen cycles.

    • Oliver W. Moore
    • , Lisa Curti
    •  & Caroline L. Peacock

  • Perspective |

    An analysis of chemical processes to immobilize lead from perovskite solar cells is presented, highlighting the need for a standard lead-leakage test and mathematical model to reliably evaluate the potential environmental risk of perovskite optoelectronics.

    • Hui Zhang
    • , Jin-Wook Lee
    •  & Nam-Gyu Park

  • Article |

    Comparison of model simulations with atmospheric observations from the Southern Hemisphere mid-latitudes following the 2020 Australian wildfires shows that the wildfire aerosol composition promotes stratospheric chlorine and ozone depletion chemistry.

    • Susan Solomon
    • , Kane Stone
    •  & Peidong Wang

  • Article |

    An air purification strategy is presented that moves air in the form of bubbles through an ion-doped conjugated polymer-coated matrix, which captures larger particulate matter, infiltrated with a selected functional liquid, which captures smaller particulate matter.

    • Yunmao Zhang
    • , Yuhang Han
    •  & Xu Hou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Analysis of atmospheric data on two enantiomerically separated forms of monoterpene from a controlled drought and rewetting experiment in an enclosed tropical rainforest ecosystem showed distinct diel emission peaks, regulated by different production pathways.

    • Joseph Byron
    • , Juergen Kreuzwieser
    •  & Jonathan Williams

  • Article |

    An integrated ozone depletion metric indicates the impact of any new emission and provides a useful complementary metric of the impact of specific emissions of an ozone depleting substance for both the scientific and policy communities.

    • John A. Pyle
    • , James Keeble
    •  & Paul T. Griffiths

  • Article |

    The PiezoMem membrane responsive to hydraulic pressure is introduced, showing the ability to convert pressure pulses into electroactive responses for in situ self-cleaning and enabling broad-spectrum antifouling action towards a range of membrane foulants.

    • Yang Zhao
    • , Yuna Gu
    •  & Guandao Gao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mesocosm experiments in different biomes show that future ocean acidification will slow down the dissolution of biogenic silica, decreasing silicic acid availability in the surface ocean and triggering a global decline of diatoms as revealed by Earth system model simulations.

    • Jan Taucher
    • , Lennart T. Bach
    •  & Ulf Riebesell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    By performing experiments under upper tropospheric conditions, nitric acid, sulfuric acid and ammonia can form particles synergistically, at rates orders of magnitude faster than any two of the three components.

    • Mingyi Wang
    • , Mao Xiao
    •  & Neil M. Donahue

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The satellite instrument TROPOMI is used to assess ambient NO2 levels at approximately one-kilometre resolution across 215 cities worldwide during COVID-19 lockdowns, finding about 30% lower NO2 concentrations in countries with strict lockdowns.

    • Matthew J. Cooper
    • , Randall V. Martin
    •  & Chris A. McLinden

  • Article |

    A new framework is proposed for assessing the risks of the atmospheric transformation products of commercial chemicals, combining laboratory and field experiments, advanced techniques for screening suspect chemicals, and in silico modelling.

    • Qifan Liu
    • , Li Li
    •  & John Liggio

  • Article |

    Preliminary modelling of airborne microplastics suggests that they may be exerting a minor cooling influence on the present-day atmosphere, and continued production could have increasing effects on the climate system in future.

    • Laura E. Revell
    • , Peter Kuma
    •  & Sally Gaw

  • Article |

    Mercury deposition pathways from the atmosphere to the ocean remain uncertain, but mercury stable isotope measurements from the Atlantic and Mediterranean show that ocean uptake of gaseous elemental mercury is more important than previously thought.

    • Martin Jiskra
    • , Lars-Eric Heimbürger-Boavida
    •  & Jeroen E. Sonke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Geospatial variation in the micronutrient composition (calcium, iron, selenium and zinc) of staple cereal grains is nutritionally important at subnational scales in Ethiopia and Malawi; these data could be used to improve surveillance of micronutrient deficiencies in the region.

    • D. Gashu
    • , P. C. Nalivata
    •  & M. R. Broadley

  • Article |

    Observations and air-quality modelling reveal that the sources of particulate matter and oxidative potential in Europe are different, implying that reducing mass concentrations of particulate matter alone may not reduce oxidative potential.

    • Kaspar R. Daellenbach
    • , Gaëlle Uzu
    •  & André S. H. Prévôt

  • Article |

    Isotopic evidence from ice cores indicates that preindustrial-era geological methane emissions were lower than previously thought, suggesting that present-day emissions of methane from fossil fuels are underestimated.

    • Benjamin Hmiel
    • , V. V. Petrenko
    •  & E. Dlugokencky

  • Article |

    This analysis of the exchange of air pollution amongst the contiguous United States finds that, on average, around half of the early deaths caused by a state’s air pollution occurs outside that state, with different contributions by different emission sectors and chemical species.

    • Irene C. Dedoussi
    • , Sebastian D. Eastham
    •  & Steven R. H. Barrett

  • Article |

    Anoxygenic photosynthetic microorganisms can biomineralize manganese oxides without molecular oxygen being present and without high-potential photosynthetic reaction centres, which sheds doubt on proposed dates for the origins of oxygenic photosynthetic metabolism.

    • Mirna Daye
    • , Vanja Klepac-Ceraj
    •  & Tanja Bosak

  • Article |

    Adding reactive gases such as isoprene to mixtures lowers the production of secondary organic aerosol in the atmosphere, thus reducing the atmospheric particulate burden, with implications for human health and climate.

    • Gordon McFiggans
    • , Thomas F. Mentel
    •  & Astrid Kiendler-Scharr

  • Letter |

    Satellite observations reveal over 200 ammonia hotspots associated with agricultural and industrial point sources, which emit much larger quantities of ammonia to the atmosphere than previously thought.

    • Martin Van Damme
    • , Lieven Clarisse
    •  & Pierre-François Coheur

  • Letter |

    There is an abrupt transition from alkaline to acid soil pH when mean annual precipitation exceeds mean annual potential evapotranspiration, demonstrating that climate creates a nonlinear pattern in soil solution chemistry at the global scale.

    • E. W. Slessarev
    • , Y. Lin
    •  & O. A. Chadwick

  • Letter |

    The evaporation and atmospheric oxidation of low-volatility organic vapours from mined oil sands material is shown to be responsible for a large amount of secondary organic aerosol mass—which affects air quality and climate change—observed during airborne measurements in Canada.

    • John Liggio
    • , Shao-Meng Li
    •  & Drew R. Gentner

  • Letter
    | Open Access

    The growth of nucleated organic particles has been investigated in controlled laboratory experiments under atmospheric conditions; initial growth is driven by organic vapours of extremely low volatility, and accelerated by more abundant vapours of slightly higher volatility, leading to markedly different modelled concentrations of atmospheric cloud condensation nuclei when this growth mechanism is taken into account.

    • Jasmin Tröstl
    • , Wayne K. Chuang
    •  & Urs Baltensperger

  • Letter |

    Aircraft measurements, laboratory photolysis experiments and modelling calculations reveal a mechanism for the recycling of nitric acid into nitrogen oxides; this enables observations to be reconciled with model studies, and suggests that particulate nitrate photolysis could be a substantial tropospheric nitrogen oxide source.

    • Chunxiang Ye
    • , Xianliang Zhou
    •  & Christoph Knote

  • Letter |

    The net balance of terrestrial biogenic greenhouse gases produced as a result of human activities and the climatic impact of this balance are uncertain; here the net cumulative impact of the three greenhouse gases, methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide, on the planetary energy budget from 2001 to 2010 is a warming of the planet.

    • Hanqin Tian
    • , Chaoqun Lu
    •  & Steven C. Wofsy

  • Letter |

    Data from the long-running Park Grass Experiment is used to show that grassland biodiversity is recovering since UK atmospheric nitrogen levels started to decline 25 years ago in all but the most acidic soils.

    • J. Storkey
    • , A. J. Macdonald
    •  & M. J. Crawley

  • Perspective |

    Instead of containing stable and chemically unique ‘humic substances’, as has been widely accepted, soil organic matter is a mixture of progressively decomposing organic compounds; this has broad implications for soil science and its applications.

    • Johannes Lehmann
    •  & Markus Kleber

  • Letter |

    Measurements of sediments eroded by the Mackenzie River reveal the widespread export of permafrost-derived biospheric carbon that is several thousand years old, and demonstrate its burial in the Arctic Ocean, suggesting that high-latitude rivers can act as important carbon dioxide sinks.

    • Robert G. Hilton
    • , Valier Galy
    •  & Damien Calmels

  • Letter |

    Hydrothermal dissolved iron, manganese, and aluminium from the southern East Pacific Rise is transported several thousand kilometres westward across the South Pacific Ocean; global hydrothermal dissolved iron input is estimated to be more than four times what was previously thought and modelling suggests it must be physically or chemically stabilized in solution.

    • Joseph A. Resing
    • , Peter N. Sedwick
    •  & Alessandro Tagliabue

  • Letter |

    A multi-omics approach, integrating metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics, determines the phylogenetic composition of the microbial community and assesses its functional potential and activity along a thaw transition from intact permafrost to thermokast bog.

    • Jenni Hultman
    • , Mark P. Waldrop
    •  & Janet K. Jansson

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