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Article
| Open AccessOccurrence and backtracking of microplastic mass loads including tire wear particles in northern Atlantic air
Microplastics the marine atmosphere are a highly relevant subject, yet barely investigated. This study showed their ubiquity in the nanogram range even in remote Artic regions and depict the ocean acts as both a sink and source for microplastics
- Isabel Goßmann
- , Dorte Herzke
- & Barbara M. Scholz-Böttcher
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Article
| Open AccessIndustrial source identification of polyhalogenated carbazoles and preliminary assessment of their global emissions
Recognition on sources of polyhalogenated carbazoles is needed to understand their environmental accumulation. Here, release of polyhalogenated carbazoles from 13 industries including 122 plants is identified and estimated.
- Yuxiang Sun
- , Lili Yang
- & Guorui Liu
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Article
| Open AccessTracing metal footprints via global renewable power value chains
In this study, the authors report that, developed economies allocate metal-intensive-low value-added production activities to developing economies in global renewable power value chains. It necessitates building metal-efficient and green supply chains for just transition of power sector.
- Rao Fu
- , Kun Peng
- & Jiashuo Li
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Article
| Open AccessDynamic active-site induced by host-guest interactions boost the Fenton-like reaction for organic wastewater treatment
Uncovering the dynamic evolution of active sites in the working conditions is crucial to realizing increased activity and enhanced stability of catalyst in Fenton-like activation. Herein, the authors capture the dynamic changes in the unit cell of Co/La-SrTiO3 catalyst during the exemplary peroxymonosulfate activation process.
- Dongpeng Zhang
- , Yanxiao Li
- & Sihui Zhan
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Article
| Open AccessReverse oxygen spillover triggered by CO adsorption on Sn-doped Pt/TiO2 for low-temperature CO oxidation
Reverse O spillover has opened new opportunities in improving the catalytic activity and selectivity in various reactions. Herein Sn is doped into TiO2 to activate low-temperature (<100 °C) reverse oxygen spillover in Pt/TiO2 catalyst, leading to enhanced CO oxidation activity.
- Jianjun Chen
- , Shangchao Xiong
- & Junhua Li
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Article
| Open AccessQuantitative evaluation of large corporate climate action initiatives shows mixed progress in their first half-decade
More companies are setting climate targets, but detailed evaluations remain scarce, raising questions on their effectiveness. Here, authors assess the progress of 102 of the largest companies in the world by revenue for the period 2015–2019.
- Ivan Ruiz Manuel
- & Kornelis Blok
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Article
| Open AccessDiminishing storage returns of reservoir construction
Despite the continually increasing global reservoir storage, the normalized storage—the ratio of the actual storage to the storage capacity—has declined over the past two decades, indicating diminishing storage returns from reservoir construction.
- Yao Li
- , Gang Zhao
- & Huilin Gao
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Article
| Open AccessNO at low concentration can enhance the formation of highly oxygenated biogenic molecules in the atmosphere
Nitrogen monoxide at low concentrations can promote the formation of highly oxygenated organic molecules, which are crucial precursors to secondary organic aerosol (SOA), rather than inhibit it as traditionally thought.
- Wei Nie
- , Chao Yan
- & Aijun Ding
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessReply to: Response to limited surface impacts of the January 2021 sudden stratospheric warming
- Nicholas A. Davis
- , Jadwiga H. Richter
- & Emerson LaJoie
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Article
| Open AccessThe effectiveness of global protected areas for climate change mitigation
Protected areas are important for climate change mitigation. Here, the authors use satellite data and statistical matching to show that terrestrial protected areas have higher C stocks than non-protected areas, roughly equivalent to one year of annual global fossil fuel emissions.
- L. Duncanson
- , M. Liang
- & A. Zvoleff
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Article
| Open AccessNewborn metabolomic signatures of maternal per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance exposure and reduced length of gestation
Mechanisms of the impact of PFAS (also known as forever chemicals) on adverse birth outcomes remain largely unknown. Here, authors identified tissue neogenesis, neuroendocrine function, and redox homeostasis as imprints of prenatal PFAS exposures and reduced gestational age in the newborn metabolome.
- Kaitlin R. Taibl
- , Anne L. Dunlop
- & Donghai Liang
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Article
| Open AccessThe global power sector’s low-carbon transition may enhance sustainable development goal achievement
The low-carbon power transition could enhance global sustainable development goal (SDG) progress, but hinder that of developing economies under fossil fuel-based scenarios. Meanwhile, SDG synergies and trade-offs exist within and between economies.
- Kun Peng
- , Kuishuang Feng
- & Jiashuo Li
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Comment
| Open AccessStakeholder alliances are essential to reduce the scourge of plastic pollution
Progress to reduce plastic pollution has been painfully slow and the consequent damage to the natural environment and to human health is likely to increase further. This has been because the views and ways of working of four distinct stakeholder communities are not sufficiently well integrated. (1) Scientists, (2) industry, (3) society at large and (4) those making policy and legislation must in future find ways to work together.
- Richard S. Lampitt
- , Stephen Fletcher
- & Adrian Whyle
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| Open AccessA pesticide and iPSC dopaminergic neuron screen identifies and classifies Parkinson-relevant pesticides
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is linked to environmental factors. Through quantitative epidemiology, this study ties 53 pesticides to PD. An innovative human stem cell platform revealed that 10 of these were directly toxic to human dopamine neurons.
- Kimberly C. Paul
- , Richard C. Krolewski
- & Beate Ritz
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal disruption of coral broadcast spawning associated with artificial light at night
This global analysis reveals that artificial light from cities is associated with the disruption of synchronised egg release by corals. This situation could reduce coral reproductive health, hindering conservation efforts in the face of climate change and other anthropogenic impacts.
- Thomas W. Davies
- , Oren Levy
- & Tim Smyth
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Article
| Open AccessComparing ecosystem gaseous elemental mercury fluxes over a deciduous and coniferous forest
Forests are sinks for the neurotoxic mercury, but the sinks have large uncertainties. Our direct gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) exchange measurements show that GEM exchange includes complex patterns of multiple pathways to different ecosystem compartments varying over time
- Jun Zhou
- , Silas W. Bollen
- & Daniel Obrist
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Article
| Open AccessUnified theoretical framework for black carbon mixing state allows greater accuracy of climate effect estimation
The authors build a unified theoretical framework of black carbon mixing state and find a universal law, applicable in most climate/atmospheric chemistry models, which can greatly increase accuracy of black carbon climate effect estimation.
- Jiandong Wang
- , Jiaping Wang
- & Aijun Ding
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Article
| Open AccessSurface manipulation for prevention of migratory viscous crude oil fouling in superhydrophilic membranes
Minimizing membrane fouling is critical for their continuous and efficient operation. Here, authors demonstrate a wrinkled-pattern microparticles-decorated membrane surface can increase contact area with water molecules, expand steric hindrance, and inhibit adhesion and deposition of oil, achieving efficient migratory viscous crude oil antifouling.
- Yuanyuan Zhao
- , Xiaobin Yang
- & Lu Shao
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Article
| Open AccessRoom temperature phosphorescence from natural wood activated by external chloride anion treatment
Converting natural wood to room temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials is a complex process often requiring toxic reagents. Here the authors convert natural wood to a RTP material using external chloride ions from a MgCl2 solution, obtaining a promising luminescent additive material for 3D printing.
- Yingxiang Zhai
- , Shujun Li
- & Zhijun Chen
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Article
| Open AccessTriboelectric-induced ion mobility for artificial intelligence-enhanced mid-infrared gas spectroscopy
Isopropyl alcohol can play a significant role in anti-virus diagnosis but generally yields limited response in conventional detection. Here, authors propose a methodology of AI-enhanced ion mobility and mid-infrared spectroscopy for accurate gas identification despite presence different carbon-based gases.
- Jianxiong Zhu
- , Shanling Ji
- & Chengkuo Lee
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Article
| Open AccessSpatiotemporal distribution of power outages with climate events and social vulnerability in the USA
The authors find within-day, seasonal, and regional differences in county-level power outages from 2018–2020. Outages commonly co-occur with climate events. Counties in the south and Michigan faced high social and medical vulnerabilities and outages.
- Vivian Do
- , Heather McBrien
- & Joan A. Casey
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Article
| Open AccessSediment delivery to sustain the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta under climate change and anthropogenic impacts
The potential for enhanced sediment delivery to the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta exists, but it alone is insufficient to sustain the system. The delta may be resilient to climate change, but only in the absence of dam construction and water diversions.
- Jessica L. Raff
- , Steven L. Goodbred Jr.
- & Lauren A. Williams
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Article
| Open AccessPhysical and virtual nutrient flows in global telecoupled agricultural trade networks
This study identifies the flows of physical and virtual nutrients (N and P) within the global agricultural trade network by trade tracing, and explores strategies to improve global nutrient use efficiency using the telecoupling framework.
- Xiuzhi Chen
- , Yue Hou
- & Yunkai Li
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Article
| Open AccessAdvancing research on compound weather and climate events via large ensemble model simulations
The authors show that robust analyses of high-impact compound weather and climate events require many samples. Thus, they argue that large ensemble climate model simulations should be used to provide the best available information on climate risks.
- Emanuele Bevacqua
- , Laura Suarez-Gutierrez
- & Jakob Zscheischler
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Article
| Open AccessCentennial scale sequences of environmental deterioration preceded the end-Permian mass extinction
The exact drivers for the end-Permian mass extinction remain controversial. This study reveals a turning point with the exhaustion of the terrestrial input and a strong fertilization of the marine realm leading to the demise of marine ecosystems.
- Ryosuke Saito
- , Lars Wörmer
- & Kai-Uwe Hinrichs
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Article
| Open AccessAssessing the impact of the global subsea telecommunications network on sedimentary organic carbon stocks
The sequestration of organic carbon in seafloor sediments plays a key role in regulating global climate. Here, the authors present an assessment of organic carbon disturbance related to the globally-extensive subsea telecommunications cable network.
- M. A. Clare
- , A. Lichtschlag
- & N. L. M. Barlow
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Article
| Open AccessOrganic matter degradation causes enrichment of organic pollutants in hadal sediments
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are found in hadal trench sediment in the Atacama trench at depths down to 8085 m. High turnover of organic matter in the trench contributes to elevated contaminant concentrations in this extreme and remote place.
- Anna Sobek
- , Sebastian Abel
- & Ronnie N. Glud
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Article
| Open AccessO2 partitioning of sulfur oxidizing bacteria drives acidity and thiosulfate distributions in mining waters
Microbial genomics is a widely under-utilized tool in mining in understanding water quality drivers. Here the authors show early acid generation and thiosulfate concentrations are driven by O2 dependent microbial sulfur oxidizing bacterial niches in a mine tailings impoundment
- Kelly J. Whaley-Martin
- , Lin-Xing Chen
- & Lesley A. Warren
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Comment
| Open AccessModern causal inference approaches to investigate biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships
Detecting and quantifying the causal relations of ecosystem functioning is a challenging endeavor. This Comment discusses a global study on grasslands and illustrates how reasoning about underlying assumptions is key to modern causal inference approaches in ecology.
- Jakob Runge
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Article
| Open AccessElevation-dependent intensification of fire danger in the western United States
Elevation-dependent warming trends have been previously identified, but its effect on fire danger is still unclear. Here the authors show that there has been widespread increases in fire danger across the mountainous western US from 1979 to 2020 with most acute trends at high-elevation regions above 3000 m.
- Mohammad Reza Alizadeh
- , John T. Abatzoglou
- & Mojtaba Sadegh
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Article
| Open AccessSoil contamination in nearby natural areas mirrors that in urban greenspaces worldwide
Liu et al. demonstrate that human-driven soil contamination in natural areas mirrors that in nearby urban greenspaces globally, and highlight the potential influence that soil contaminants have on ecosystem functions.
- Yu-Rong Liu
- , Marcel G. A. van der Heijden
- & Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
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Article
| Open AccessPredictability of fossil fuel CO2 from air quality emissions
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
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Article
| Open AccessSatellites reveal hotspots of global river extent change
Rivers are among the most diverse, dynamic, and productive ecosystems on Earth. Here, using Landsat imagery, the authors provide a global attribution of the recent changes in river regime to morphological dynamics, dam-induced widening, and hydrological signals.
- Qianhan Wu
- , Linghong Ke
- & Chunqiao Song
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Perspective
| Open AccessIntegrating terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to constrain estimates of land-atmosphere carbon exchange
One of the main sources of uncertainty in carbon budgets is that continental landscapes are made up of a heterogeneous mosaic of ecosystems. Here the authors put forward an integrative framework to improve estimates of land-atmosphere carbon exchange based on the accumulation of carbon in the landscape as constrained by its lateral export through rivers.
- Joan P. Casas-Ruiz
- , Pascal Bodmer
- & Paul A. del Giorgio
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Article
| Open AccessRevealing influencing factors on global waste distribution via deep-learning based dumpsite detection from satellite imagery
Dumpsites are hard to locate globally. Here the authors apply deep networks to satellite images to provide an effective and low-cost way to detect dumpsites with the new method saving more than 96.8% of the manual time with a strong sensitivity to dumpsites.
- Xian Sun
- , Dongshuo Yin
- & Kun Fu
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Article
| Open AccessOzone exposure disrupts insect sexual communication
Insect pheromones can be degraded by the air pollutant ozone. Jiang et al. show that ozone-exposed male flies lose their pheromones and become less attractive to females. Additionally, ozone-exposed males exhibited increased male-male courtship behaviour as a result of reduced sex recognition.
- Nan-Ji Jiang
- , Hetan Chang
- & Markus Knaden
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Article
| Open AccessEffects of acidification on nitrification and associated nitrous oxide emission in estuarine and coastal waters
Acidification of estuarine and coastal water due to synergistic effects of human induced eutrophication and elevated atmospheric CO2 could inhibit nitrification, a vital link of nitrogen cycle, but increase the release of powerful greenhouse gas N2O.
- Jie Zhou
- , Yanling Zheng
- & Min Liu
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal Protected Areas as refuges for amphibians and reptiles under climate change
The effectiveness of protected areas under climate change is debated. Here, the authors analyse the potential effectiveness of protected areas for conserving over 70% of extant amphibian and reptile species under present and future climate scenarios.
- Chunrong Mi
- , Liang Ma
- & Weiguo Du
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Article
| Open AccessPlastic waste discharge to the global ocean constrained by seawater observations
Estimating the amount of plastics that enters the ocean is subject to significant uncertainty. This study uses ocean plastic abundance data to refine our estimate and reduce this uncertainty, enabling more effective control and mitigation polices.
- Yanxu Zhang
- , Peipei Wu
- & Eddy Y. Zeng
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Comment
| Open AccessApplication of cyclodextrins as second-sphere coordination ligands for gold recovery
Supramolecular chemistry based on cyclodextrin receptors as second-sphere ligands contribute to developing non-covalent materials with synergistic functionalities. Herein, we comment on a recent investigation of this concept, describing selective gold recovery through a hierarchical host-guest assembly specifically built from β-CD.
- Anne Ponchel
- & Eric Monflier
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Article
| Open AccessHigh-efficiency gold recovery by additive-induced supramolecular polymerization of β-cyclodextrin
Eco-friendly, efficient, and selective gold recovery technologies are urgently desired to satisfy the increasing demand for gold. Here, the authors report one such technology based on the supramolecular polymerization of second-sphere coordinated adducts formed between β-cyclodextrin and tetrabromoaurate anions.
- Huang Wu
- , Yu Wang
- & J. Fraser Stoddart
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Article
| Open AccessChina’s electric vehicle and climate ambitions jeopardized by surging critical material prices
Under a high-cost scenario for battery critical materials, the uptake of electric vehicles in China may be greatly reduced, leading to increased cumulative carbon emissions. This may jeopardize both China’s electric vehicle and climate targets.
- Hetong Wang
- , Kuishuang Feng
- & Jiashuo Li
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Comment
| Open AccessUntitled public forestlands threaten Amazon conservation
A large proportion of recent Brazilian Amazon deforestation is occurring on untitled public forestlands through land grabbing. This emerging risk demands long-term conservation strategies. Here we propose prioritizing land tenure security, technological improvement, and law enforcement.
- Paulo Moutinho
- & Claudia Azevedo-Ramos
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Article
| Open AccessEmissions and fate of organophosphate esters in outdoor urban environments
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
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Article
| Open AccessUnintended consequences of combating desertification in China
This paper shows that desertification combating practices decline incomes of farmers and herders, and China needs to adapt its ecological programmes to address the impacts of climate change and create positive synergies to combat desertification.
- Xunming Wang
- , Quansheng Ge
- & Fahu Chen
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Article
| Open AccessScalable and switchable CO2-responsive membranes with high wettability for separation of various oil/water systems
Smart membranes with responsive wettability show promise for controllably separating oil/water mixtures but it remains challenging to fabricate responsive and stable scalable membranes. Here, the authors develop a capillary force-driven self-assembling strategy to construct a scalable and stable CO2-responsive membrane for the smart separation of various oil/water systems.
- Yangyang Wang
- , Shaokang Yang
- & Xiaowei Yang
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Article
| Open AccessPolyamide membranes with nanoscale ordered structures for fast permeation and highly selective ion-ion separation
Membranes with precise ion-ion separation are critical for sustainable water treatment. Here, authors demonstrated controlled construction of a nanofiltration membrane with fast permeation and high Cl-/SO42- selectivity by simultaneous spatial and temporal control of interfacial polymerization.
- Changwei Zhao
- , Yanjun Zhang
- & Sui Zhang
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Article
| Open AccessRecent decrease of the impact of tropical temperature on the carbon cycle linked to increased precipitation
The authors show a recent decoupling of the tropical temperature variations and the carbon cycle that is driven by wetter conditions in the tropics.
- Wenmin Zhang
- , Guy Schurgers
- & Martin Brandt
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Article
| Open AccessSteering carbon dioxide reduction toward C–C coupling using copper electrodes modified with porous molecular films
This study explores how the activity and selectivity of Cu electrodes for CO2 reduction can be tuned with organic films of different porosity and thickness. As a result, the films increase the local CO partial pressures and surface coverages.
- Siqi Zhao
- , Oliver Christensen
- & Kim Daasbjerg