Featured
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Nature Podcast |
Pregnancy’s effect on ‘biological’ age, polite birds, and the carbon cost of home-grown veg
We round up some recent stories from the Nature Briefing.
- Benjamin Thompson
- , Noah Baker
- & Flora Graham
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Correspondence |
Don’t dismiss carbon credits that aim to avoid future emissions
- Edward Mitchard
- , Peter Ellis
- & Roselyn Fosuah Adjei
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Comment |
A 2023 hurricane caught Mexico off guard: we must work together to prepare better
Hurricane Otis yields lessons for researchers and policymakers on how to reduce risks in the face of inequality.
- Gian C. Delgado-Ramos
- , Simone Lucatello
- & Miguel Imaz-Lamadrid
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News & Views |
The surprising history of the Southern Ocean’s super current
Reconstructions of the strength of a powerful current that circles the South Pole reveal that it has undergone no long-term change in the past five million years, even though Earth cooled substantially over that time.
- Natalie J. Burls
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News Explainer |
Divisive Sun-dimming study at Harvard cancelled: what’s next?
As the climate crisis rages on, advocacy for testing controversial solar geoengineering technology is ramping up.
- Jeff Tollefson
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News & Views Forum |
Melting ice solves leap-second problem — for now
Humans’ effect on the polar ice sheets is slowing Earth’s rotation, posing challenges for its alignment with the official time standard. Two researchers discuss the science behind the slowdown and the impact it has on timekeeping.
- Patrizia Tavella
- & Jerry X. Mitrovica
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News |
Climate change has slowed Earth’s rotation — and could affect how we keep time
The effect of melting polar ice could delay the need for a ‘leap second’ by three years.
- Elizabeth Gibney
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Nature Podcast |
How climate change is affecting global timekeeping
Melting polar ice could delay major time adjustment, and the strange connection between brain inflammation and memory.
- Elizabeth Gibney
- & Nick Petrić Howe
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Article
| Open AccessFive million years of Antarctic Circumpolar Current strength variability
The strength of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, as traced in sediment cores from the Pacific Southern Ocean, shows no linear long-term trend over the past 5.3 Myr; instead, the strongest flow occurs consistently in warmer-than-present intervals.
- Frank Lamy
- , Gisela Winckler
- & Xiangyu Zhao
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Correspondence |
Don’t underestimate the rising threat of groundwater to coastal cities
- Daniel J. Rozell
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Editorial |
Deep-sea mining plans should not be rushed
Why are companies and governments determined to start commercial-scale mining for rare metals, when so little is known about its wider impacts?
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News Feature |
How AI is improving climate forecasts
Researchers are using various machine-learning strategies to speed up climate modelling, reduce its energy costs and hopefully improve accuracy.
- Carissa Wong
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Comment |
How a tree-hugging protest transformed Indian environmentalism
Fifty years ago, a group of women from the villages of the Western Himalayas sparked Chipko, a green movement that remains relevant in the age of climate change.
- Seema Mundoli
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Comment |
How to achieve safe water access for all: work with local communities
Four scientists reflect on how to foster a more sustainable relationship between water and society amid complex and wide-ranging challenges.
- Farhana Sultana
- , Tara McAllister
- & Michael D. Blackstock
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Editorial |
Are we in the Anthropocene yet?
Measurement matters, but should not detract from the reality that humans are altering Earth systems.
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News |
It’s final: the Anthropocene is not an epoch, despite protest over vote
Governing body upholds earlier decision by geoscientists amid drama.
- Alexandra Witze
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal prediction of extreme floods in ungauged watersheds
Artificial intelligence-based forecasting improves the reliability of predicting extreme flood events in ungauged watersheds, with predictions at five days lead time that are as good as current systems are for same-day predictions.
- Grey Nearing
- , Deborah Cohen
- & Yossi Matias
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World View |
Climate models can’t explain 2023’s huge heat anomaly — we could be in uncharted territory
Taking into account all known factors, the planet warmed 0.2 °C more last year than climate scientists expected. More and better data are urgently needed.
- Gavin Schmidt
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Essay |
Are we all doomed? How to cope with the daunting uncertainties of climate change
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when thinking about the damage that might be wrought by global warming — but that is missing the point.
- Adam Sobel
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News |
Ditching ‘Anthropocene’: why ecologists say the term still matters
Beyond stratigraphic definitions, the name has broader significance for understanding humans’ place on Earth.
- David Adam
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News & Views |
Drought-fuelled overnight burning propels large fires in North America
Burning events that occur at night have been revealed as a driver of large wildfires. Prolonged drought conditions are to blame, making it easier for fires to spread at night when they would ordinarily slow or extinguish completely.
- Jennifer K. Balch
- & Adam L. Mahood
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Article |
Drought triggers and sustains overnight fires in North America
By examining the hourly diurnal cycle of 23,557 fires in North America during 2017–2020, 1,095 overnight burning events were identified, mostly associated with extreme fires and driven by long-term drought conditions.
- Kaiwei Luo
- , Xianli Wang
- & Mike Flannigan
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News |
China–US climate collaboration concerns as Xie and Kerry step down
The friendship between the two men survived hostile moments between their countries.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Where I Work |
Why I wander with wonder through Lesotho’s wetlands
Lerato Seleteng-Kose studies the unique plants that live in these cold, remote parts of southern Africa.
- Linda Nordling
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Career Q&A |
This geologist communicates science from the ski slopes
How Karin Kirk finds a balance between twin careers of science writing and skiing instruction.
- Miles Lizak
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Matters Arising |
Model uncertainty obscures major driver of soil carbon
- Xianjin He
- , Rose Z. Abramoff
- & Daniel S. Goll
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Comment |
The world must rethink plans for ageing oil and gas platforms
Earth’s oceans are awash with ageing energy infrastructure. A change in the law is needed to ensure that these structures are decommissioned in ways that maximize environmental and societal benefits.
- Antony Knights
- , Anaëlle Lemasson
- & Paul Somerfield
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News |
Geologists reject the Anthropocene as Earth’s new epoch — after 15 years of debate
But some are now challenging the vote, saying there were ‘procedural irregularities’.
- Alexandra Witze
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News |
Trump versus Biden: what the rematch could mean for three key science issues
Depending on the winner of November’s election, researchers anticipate two completely different paths ahead for the environment, public health and more.
- Jeff Tollefson
- , Natasha Gilbert
- & Mariana Lenharo
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Nature Podcast |
These tiny fish combine electric pulses to probe the environment
Elephantnose fish share electric pulses to extend their senses, and the bumblebees that show a uniquely human trait.
- Nick Petrić Howe
- & Benjamin Thompson
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World View |
Megafires are here to stay — and blaming only climate change won’t help
It’s not just global warming that’s driving the growth in destructive wildfires. Better land management is the first step to mitigating the risks.
- Renata Libonati
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News Feature |
How five crucial elections in 2024 could shape climate action for decades
Some of the world’s biggest carbon emitters are going to the polls this year — the results could determine whether humanity can correct its trajectory of dangerous global warming.
- Smriti Mallapaty
- , Jeff Tollefson
- & Nisha Gaind
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Research Highlight |
Why sunsets were a weird colour after Krakatau blew its top
Evening skies, which are usually red after a volcanic eruption, were instead emerald after the 1883 event.
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News |
This methane-sniffing satellite will leave climate polluters nowhere to hide
Set to launch as early as next week, MethaneSAT will partner with Google to map leaks from the oil and gas industry and beyond.
- Jeff Tollefson
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Career Q&A |
I returned my neuroscience grant to devote my career to the climate crisis
US psychologist Adam Aron says it’s time to act to alleviate the devastating consequences of the planet’s current trajectory.
- Christina Szalinski
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News |
Buried microplastics complicate efforts to define the Anthropocene
Plastic particles in sediments could help to pin down the start of a new geological epoch. But their ability to migrate to older layers is muddying the waters.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Editorial |
Science can drive development and unity in Africa — as it does in the US and Europe
A plan to establish Africa’s first continent-wide science fund should not be delayed any longer.
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News Feature |
Scientists under arrest: the researchers taking action over climate change
Fed up with a lack of political progress in solving the climate problem, some researchers are becoming activists to slow global warming.
- Daniel Grossman
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Article
| Open AccessProgressive unanchoring of Antarctic ice shelves since 1973
Pinning-point changes over three epochs spanning the periods 1973–1989, 1989–2000 and 2000−2022 were measured, and by proxy the changes to ice-shelf thickness back to 1973–1989 were inferred.
- Bertie W. J. Miles
- & Robert G. Bingham
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Book Review |
Greener cities: a necessity or a luxury?
Are urban trees and parks essential to improving the environment and human health — or just a sop to middle-class ideals of gentrification? Two books debate these opposing views.
- Timon McPhearson
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News |
Why is Latin America on fire? It’s not just climate change, scientists say
Rampant planting of flammable non-native species has helped to fuel deadly blazes — even in places known for cool, damp weather.
- Andrew J. Wight
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Analysis
| Open AccessCritical transitions in the Amazon forest system
Analyses of drivers of water stress are used to predict likely trajectories of the Amazon forest system and suggests potential actions that could prevent system collapse.
- Bernardo M. Flores
- , Encarni Montoya
- & Marina Hirota
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Correspondence |
Deep-sea mining opponents: there’s no free lunch when it comes to clean energy
- Saleem H. Ali
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Correspondence |
Replace Norway as co-chair of High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy
- Diva J. Amon
- , Douglas J. McCauley
- & Henrik Österblom
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Editorial |
EU climate policy is dangerously reliant on untested carbon-capture technology
Europe’s ambition for emissions reductions is to be welcomed — but look at the detail, and significant hazards emerge.
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News |
Climatologist Michael Mann wins defamation case: what it means for scientists
Jury awards Mann more than US$1 million — raising hopes for scientists who are attacked politically because of their work.
- Jeff Tollefson
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Article |
Elevated Southern Hemisphere moisture availability during glacial periods
Contrary to expectations from pollen and dust records, Southern Hemisphere subtropical regions experienced the greatest climatic moisture during glacial periods of the Late Pleistocene, which may not have been an obstacle to movement and expansion of animals and plants.
- Rieneke Weij
- , J. M. Kale Sniderman
- & Jay Gordon
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Nature Podcast |
Cancer’s power harnessed — lymphoma mutations supercharge T cells
Genetic changes that help tumour cells thrive can be co-opted to improve immunotherapy’s effectiveness, and looking at the electric vehicle batteries of the future.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Nick Petrić Howe
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News |
EU unveils controversial climate target: what scientists think
The goal leans heavily on the largely unproven approach of carbon removal, concerning researchers.
- Katharine Sanderson
- & Carissa Wong