Environmental monitoring articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nutrient limitation is a well-known control of phytoplankton growth, but predicting specific responses in individual lakes based on nutrient data alone has proven challenging. Here, the authors show that long-term signals of chlorophyll-a dynamics in shallow lakes can be captured based on stoichiometric effects of N and P concentrations along a continuum of total N:total P ratios.

    • Daniel Graeber
    • , Mark J. McCarthy
    •  & Thomas A. Davidson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fluorescence analysis is a fast and sensitive method for the trace detection of environmental toxins, but it remains challenging to develop a fluorescence method for detecting nonfluorescent toxins. Here, the authors report an indirect fluorescent sensing strategy for the rapid, selective and sensitive detection of the non-fluorescent microcystin as a model target.

    • Bowei Li
    • , Ji Qi
    •  & Lingxin Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The historical changes in country emissions of greenhouse gases and air quality pollutants are classified together as a function of economic development, providing valuable guidance to emission scenario development.

    • Kazuyuki Miyazaki
    •  & Kevin Bowman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors show how city design and climate both influence the release of chemicals to the world, and suggest that we can help reduce impacts on people and ecosystems by reducing emissions and using green space to trap and degrade chemicals.

    • Timothy F. M. Rodgers
    • , Amanda Giang
    •  & Amandeep Saini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Both iodine deficiency and excess could cause thyroid disorders. By creating a national map of groundwater iodine throughout China, the authors reveal the spatial responses of diverse health risks to iodine in continental groundwater.

    • Ruoqi Ma
    • , Mingquan Yan
    •  & Jinren Ni

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanosized Pd-based catalysts are widely used in the direct hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) synthesis from H2 and O2, while the selectivity and yield of H2O2 remain inferior. Here, a remarkable H2O2 yield of 115 mol/gPd/h and H2O2 selectivity higher than 99% are reported using a Pd single-atom catalyst for the direct synthesis of H2O2.

    • Shiming Yu
    • , Xing Cheng
    •  & Ge Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A global fluoride hazard prediction map was created using machine learning and over 400,000 fluoride measurements, this shows ~180 million people are potentially affected by chronic fluoride exposure worldwide, mostly in Asia and Africa.

    • Joel Podgorski
    •  & Michael Berg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In field, visual, chemical detection is of use for a wide range of possible applications. Here, the authors report on the creation of a host-guest liquid gating mechanism where detection of the target host triggers gate opening allowing for gas through the liquid gate, which can be used for visual detection.

    • Huimeng Wang
    • , Yi Fan
    •  & Xu Hou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The 2001–2019 web of international waste trade is investigated, allowing the identification of countries at threat of improper handling and disposal of waste. Chemical tracers are used to identify the environmental impact of waste in these countries.

    • Johann H. Martínez
    • , Sergi Romero
    •  & Ernesto Estrada

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the context of enviromental applications, refining enzymes into more minimalist structures could ease production costs, improve stability, and improve reusability. Here, the authors report a single amino acid bionanozyme that can catalyze the rapid oxidation of environmentally toxic phenolic contaminates and serves as a tool to detect biologically important neurotransmitters similar to the laccase enzyme.

    • Pandeeswar Makam
    • , Sharma S. R. K. C. Yamijala
    •  & Ehud Gazit

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This study proposes a method to differentiate between local plutonium-based contamination in soils versus trace plutonium stemming from global dispersion in the past, such as fallout from detonation and atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons.

    • Chris Tighe
    • , Maxi Castrillejo
    •  & Malcolm J. Joyce

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biological fate of nanomaterials in organisms is an important topic, however, limitations of analytical techniques has hampered understanding. Here, the authors report on a study into the fate of model, gold nanoparticles in an aquatic food chain using an analytical workflow and range of analytical methods.

    • Fazel Abdolahpur Monikh
    • , Latifeh Chupani
    •  & Willie J.G.M. Peijnenburg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microplastics have spread across the globe and reached even the most remote locations, but an understanding of their origins remains largely elusive. Here the authors quantify and characterise microplastics across the North Pole, finding that synthetic fibers like polyester are dominant and likely sourced from the Atlantic Ocean.

    • Peter S. Ross
    • , Stephen Chastain
    •  & Bill Williams

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The methane emissions from natural gas vehicles (NGVs) are unclear. Here the authors report high methane emissions from heavy-duty NGVs, and by using a scenario analysis show that strictly implementing the upcoming China VI standard could reduce GHG emissions by 509 Mt CO2eq for 2020-2030.

    • Da Pan
    • , Lei Tao
    •  & Mark A. Zondlo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How sulfur dioxide emitted through coal combustion is oxidized to sulfate particles during winter haze pollution events has been the subject of debate. Here, the authors show that rapid oxidation takes place by nitrogen dioxide and nitrous acid, producing nitrous oxide together with sulfate.

    • Junfeng Wang
    • , Jingyi Li
    •  & Daniel J. Jacob

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Middle East is known to emit large amounts of non-methane hydrocarbon pollutants to the atmosphere, but the sources are poorly characterized. Here the authors discover a new source—deep water in the Red Sea—and calculate that its emissions exceed rates of several high gas-production countries.

    • E. Bourtsoukidis
    • , A. Pozzer
    •  & J. Williams

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Removal of SO2 from flue gas is of prime importance to avoid its poisoning of CO2-seperating agents. Here, the authors demonstrate that two fluorinated metal–organic frameworks selectively remove SO2 from synthetic flue gas and can sense SO2 with p.p.m.-level detection using quartz crystal microbalance transducers.

    • M. R. Tchalala
    • , P. M. Bhatt
    •  & M. Eddaoudi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Secondary organic aerosols (SOA) are important for climate and aerosol quality, but the phase state is unclear. Here, the authors show that SOA is liquid in tropical and polar air, semi-solid in the mid-latitudes, solid over dry lands and in a glassy solid phase state in the middle and upper troposphere.

    • Manabu Shiraiwa
    • , Ying Li
    •  & Ulrich Pöschl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fish migration is influenced by various environmental factors such as chemicals in water. Here, Hellstrom et al. show that an anxiolytic drug in the benzodiazepine family, oxazepam, can promote migratory behaviour of Atlantic salmon smolts in both laboratory setting and river tributary in Sweden.

    • Gustav Hellström
    • , Jonatan Klaminder
    •  & Tomas Brodin

  • Article |

    Isoprene and monoterpenes, emitted by terrestrial plants, have an important role in both plant biology and environment, but they are poorly quantified at the ecosystem level. Peñuelas et al.show that the photochemical reflectance index can be used to indirectly estimate foliar isoprenoid emissions remotely.

    • Josep Peñuelas
    • , Giovanni Marino
    •  & Iolanda Filella

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