Environmental sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Under continued global warming, lakes will increasingly be covered by white ice, in particular towards the end of the ice cover season when fatal winter drownings occur most often and light limits the growth and reproduction of primary producers.

    • Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer
    • , Ulrike Obertegger
    •  & Roman Zdorovennov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Arctic warming thaws permafrost, leading to enhanced soil mercury transport to the Arctic Ocean. Mercury isotope signatures in arctic rivers, ocean and atmosphere suggest that permafrost mercury is buried in marine sediment and not emitted to the global atmosphere

    • Beatriz Ferreira Araujo
    • , Stefan Osterwalder
    •  & Jeroen E. Sonke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In this study, the authors report that anionic nanoplastics can harness the paracellular space of endothelial cells and puncture blood vasculature ex vivo and in vivo, thereby entailing new environmental and health implications.

    • Wei Wei
    • , Yuhuan Li
    •  & Pu Chun Ke

  • 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

    Cu-SSZ-13 zeolites are highly active for standard NH3-SCR, but their activity is unexpectedly inhibited in the presence of NO2. This work demonstrates that strong oxidation by NO2 forces Cu ions to exist mainly as CuII species with low mobility, which is responsible for this distinctive behavior.

    • Yulong Shan
    • , Guangzhi He
    •  & Hong He

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Characterization of groundwater systems is important for sustainable freshwater management. Here, the authors map the distribution of groundwater storage changes at several hundred meters below the metropolitan Los Angeles during 2000–2020, by developing a cost-effective method using ambient ground vibrations recorded by seismometers.

    • Shujuan Mao
    • , Albanne Lecointre
    •  & Michel Campillo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High extraction capacity with precise selectivity to trace amounts of gold over a wide range of co-existing elements remains a challenge for effective e-waste recycling. Here, authors demonstrate the excellent performance of rGO for gold extraction from e-waste leachate, even at minute concentrations.

    • Fei Li
    • , Jiuyi Zhu
    •  & Hui-Ming Cheng

  • 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

    Persistent organic pollutant (POP) remediation is important for protecting the environment and human health but can be expensive. Here, the authors report on the creation of a plant-based remediation material which can absorb high levels of POPs and then provide the nutrients needed for fungal degradation and detoxification.

    • Jinghao Li
    • , Xiaohan Li
    •  & Susie Y. Dai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rechargeable Li-ion batteries play a key role in the energy transition towards clean energy. It is challenging for end users to ensure that Li comes from environmentally and responsible sources. Here the authors show that Li isotope ‘fingerprints’ are a useful tool for determining the origin of Li in battery.

    • Anne-Marie Desaulty
    • , Daniel Monfort Climent
    •  & Catherine Guerrot

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Snow accumulation rates in Antarctica can now be reconstructed from nitrate isotopes in snow and ice. This independent technique offers scientists a new tool for studying how Antarctic climate changed in the past and how it may change in the future.

    • Pete D. Akers
    • , Joël Savarino
    •  & Jason L. Roberts

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Subnanometer-confined reaction is the frontier of catalytic chemistry, yet it is challenging to form the angstrom channels with distributed atomic catalytic centers within, and to match the internal mass transfer and the reactive species’ lifetimes. Here, the authors resolve these issues by applying the concept of the angstrom-confined catalytic water contaminant degradation.

    • Chenchen Meng
    • , Baofu Ding
    •  & Zhenghua Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The roles of marine plastisphere in global nitrogen cycling are largely unknown. Here, the authors indicate that the plastisphere could act as a potential source of N2O production, which is mainly regulated by the biotic denitrification

    • Xiaoxuan Su
    • , Leyang Yang
    •  & Yong-guan Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Shrub encroachment trends are widespread yet complex. Here the authors demonstrate that not considering dispersal and fire leads to overestimating shrub expansion in Arctic tundra and therefore its role as carbon sink.

    • Yanlan Liu
    • , William J. Riley
    •  & Margaret S. Torn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Using optimization models with climate, crop & economic data, the authors show that India can stop groundwater depletion, reduce energy use and meet food/nutrition targets by changing where it sources crops for its food procurement and distribution system.

    • Naresh Devineni
    • , Shama Perveen
    •  & Upmanu Lall

  • Comment
    | Open Access

    Miscalculating the volumes of water withdrawn for irrigation, the largest consumer of freshwater in the world, jeopardizes sustainable water management. Hydrological models quantify water withdrawals, but their estimates are unduly precise. Model imperfections need to be appreciated to avoid policy misjudgements.

    • Arnald Puy
    • , Razi Sheikholeslami
    •  & Andrea Saltelli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Removal of organic micropollutants from water through advanced oxidation processes is hampered by the excessive input of energy and/or chemicals as well as the large amounts of residuals resulting from incomplete mineralization. Here the authors present a new alternative water purification technology to adsorption and advanced oxidation.

    • Ying-Jie Zhang
    • , Gui-Xiang Huang
    •  & Menachem Elimelech

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plastic pollution in seas is widespread, but some areas lack the high concentrations of plastic debris. Here the authors identified places where large amounts of plastic debris pass in the Mediterranean Sea thus helping to study plastic dispersion in regions where plastic debris does not accumulate, and a tool for mitigation strategies.

    • Alberto Baudena
    • , Enrico Ser-Giacomi
    •  & Maria Luiza Pedrotti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    ‘Human-caused fires and natural fires could have different impacts. Here the authors report a geospatial analysis of lightning-ignited and human-ignited fires in California between 2012 and 2018, finding that the latter were more likely to develop under extreme conditions with larger ecosystem impacts.’

    • Stijn Hantson
    • , Niels Andela
    •  & James T. Randerson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This paper assesses the co-benefits and side-effects of DACCS and BECCS for human health and the planet. The health burden avoided by removing 5.9 Gtonne/yr CO2 is substantial, but only DACCS has a low impact on the Earth system.

    • Selene Cobo
    • , Ángel Galán-Martín
    •  & Gonzalo Guillén-Gosálbez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fire emissions in South America consistently decreased in 2003–2019, although anthropogenic forcing could exacerbate drought and fire risks. Here the authors find that the decreasing fires were associated with climatic conditions unfavorable for intensifying and spreading fires, led by the phase transition of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation.

    • Yanfeng Wang
    •  & Ping Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Giant dunes—stunning landforms that grow in patterns as wind blows sand grains over thousands of years—are measured across the entire planet for the first time. With this data, it’s shown the dunes can, in principle, grow in scale indefinitely.

    • Andrew Gunn
    • , Giampietro Casasanta
    •  & Douglas J. Jerolmack

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultrathin two-dimensional metal oxyhalides show excellent photocatalytic properties with unique electronic and interfacial structures. Here, the authors develop a top-down desalination strategy to engineer ultrathin bimetallic two-dimensional material for photocatalytic atmospheric carbon dioxide reduction.

    • Xuezhen Feng
    • , Renji Zheng
    •  & Hong Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Only 6 percent of US oil and natural gas production output is from low production well sites. Here the authors show that total methane emissions from these low producing well sites in the US is substantial, representing about one-half of all production site methane emissions.

    • Mark Omara
    • , Daniel Zavala-Araiza
    •  & Steven P. Hamburg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Growing emissions from Pacific Northwest wildfires have increased atmospheric carbon monoxide in August, raising questions about potential health impacts as the seasonal pattern of air quality changes for large regions of North America.

    • Rebecca R. Buchholz
    • , Mijeong Park
    •  & Sheryl Magzamen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoplastic particles in aqueous environments are challenging to quantify and characterize due to a lack of methods to capture and analyze them. Here the authors demonstrate that nanocellulose networks can be used to capture colloidal plastics and quantify them through their fluorescence and adsorption, providing kinetic information on their uptake.

    • Ilona Leppänen
    • , Timo Lappalainen
    •  & Tekla Tammelin

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