Xia Zhang, Bo Huang, Nariê Rinke Dias de Souza, Xiangping Hu, Francesco Cherubini
{"title":"Regional cooling potential from expansion of perennial grasses in Europe","authors":"Xia Zhang, Bo Huang, Nariê Rinke Dias de Souza, Xiangping Hu, Francesco Cherubini","doi":"10.1038/s43247-024-01923-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43247-024-01923-5","url":null,"abstract":"Perennial grasses are an option to mitigate global warming, increase energy security, and alleviate environmental pressures within agricultural landscapes. Their cultivation alters near-surface temperature in ways that are still largely unclear. Here, a regional climate model with an enhanced representation of perennial grasses shows that converting today’s cropland areas in Europe induces annual mean temperature reductions in summer and autumn (up to –1 °C), which are primarily driven by a later harvest of perennial grasses relative to annual crops. Cultivation of perennial grasses where they deliver stronger biogeophysical cooling can achieve a similar annual mean temperature reduction on half of the land. This cooling can counteract up to 50% of the projected future warming and it is three times larger than what is achieved via carbon emission reductions. A sustainable deployment of perennial grasses has the potential to link global mitigation objectives with co-benefits for the local climate and environment. In Europe, converting today’s cropland areas into perennial grasses, such as switchgrass, reduces annual mean temperatures in summer and autumn, according to an analysis that uses a regional climate model and life cycle assessment.","PeriodicalId":10530,"journal":{"name":"Communications Earth & Environment","volume":" ","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01923-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142845225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Public perceptions of mineral criticality and preferences for energy transition strategies in the United States","authors":"Mahelet G. Fikru, Sreeja Koppera","doi":"10.1038/s43247-024-01944-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43247-024-01944-0","url":null,"abstract":"Critical minerals are essential for advancing the energy transition. However, the public’s perception of these minerals and their application is still not well understood. Here, we investigate public awareness and perceptions of critical minerals in the United States, based on a nationally representative survey of 1200 online respondents. While only 38% of respondents stated familiarity with critical minerals, over 80% recognized the importance of minerals in the energy transition. Participants were most supportive of strategies focused on mineral research and improving the environmental impacts of mining, while domestic mining received less support. Regression analysis shows that individuals who perceive mineral criticality based on their importance to clean energy support multiple mineral policies, whereas those concerned about import dependency or shortages prefer domestic mining. Individuals who believe environmental impacts should govern criticality designation oppose domestic mining and support mineral recycling and improving mining’s environmental impacts. These findings highlight the role of differing perceptions of mineral criticality in shaping policy preferences, emphasizing the need for public awareness to foster sustainable mineral strategies for the energy transition. In the United States, the different perceptions about critical minerals influence preferences for mineral use in energy transition strategies, according to a survey-based assessment of the public awareness of critical minerals with 1,200 respondents.","PeriodicalId":10530,"journal":{"name":"Communications Earth & Environment","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01944-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142845258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antonietta Capotondi, Regina R. Rodrigues, Alex Sen Gupta, Jessica A. Benthuysen, Clara Deser, Thomas L. Frölicher, Nicole S. Lovenduski, Dillon J. Amaya, Natacha Le Grix, Tongtong Xu, Juliet Hermes, Neil J. Holbrook, Cristian Martinez-Villalobos, Simona Masina, Mathew Koll Roxy, Amandine Schaeffer, Robert W. Schlegel, Kathryn E. Smith, Chunzai Wang
{"title":"Publisher Correction: A global overview of marine heatwaves in a changing climate","authors":"Antonietta Capotondi, Regina R. Rodrigues, Alex Sen Gupta, Jessica A. Benthuysen, Clara Deser, Thomas L. Frölicher, Nicole S. Lovenduski, Dillon J. Amaya, Natacha Le Grix, Tongtong Xu, Juliet Hermes, Neil J. Holbrook, Cristian Martinez-Villalobos, Simona Masina, Mathew Koll Roxy, Amandine Schaeffer, Robert W. Schlegel, Kathryn E. Smith, Chunzai Wang","doi":"10.1038/s43247-024-01952-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43247-024-01952-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10530,"journal":{"name":"Communications Earth & Environment","volume":" ","pages":"1-1"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01952-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142845153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Forest vegetation increased across China’s carbon offset projects and positively impacted neighboring areas","authors":"Runxin Yu, Shiping Ma, Da Zhang, Xiliang Zhang","doi":"10.1038/s43247-024-01962-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43247-024-01962-y","url":null,"abstract":"As forest-based carbon offset programs gain increasing attention, quantifying their impacts beyond project boundaries remains an open issue, particularly in subtropical and temperate regions. Here we focus on the local spillover effects of 36 forest offset projects in China’s voluntary carbon market. Using matching and difference-in-difference analysis, we compare the forest status of the project areas and buffer zones to their reference areas. Results show overall positive forest gains of 2.25% to 4.25% in project sites, with neighboring areas seeing spillover gains of 0.91% to 1.60%, exhibiting heterogeneity in individual projects. Further analysis finds limited evidence of leakage, possibly due to China’s land policies and project features; instead, positive spillovers are facilitated by knowledge diffusion and information flow, supported by reduced wildfire activities and project application patterns. This study demonstrates that well-designed forest offset programs can yield benefits beyond their boundaries, providing insights for offset policy design and project implementation. Across 36 forest offset projects in China, the vegetation increased from 2000 to 2022, and the forest gain is also evident in buffer zones, according to an analysis that uses biophysical and land-use variables and a difference-in-difference model.","PeriodicalId":10530,"journal":{"name":"Communications Earth & Environment","volume":" ","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01962-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142845224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Global upper ocean dissolved oxygen budget for constraining the biological carbon pump","authors":"Ryohei Yamaguchi, Shinya Kouketsu, Naohiro Kosugi, Masao Ishii","doi":"10.1038/s43247-024-01886-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43247-024-01886-7","url":null,"abstract":"One mechanism by which the ocean uptakes carbon dioxide is through the biological carbon fixation and its subsequent transport to the deep ocean, a process known as the biological carbon pump. Although the importance of the biological pump in the global carbon cycle has long been recognized, its actual contribution remains uncertain. Here, we quantify the carbon export from the upper ocean via the biological carbon pump by revealing the upper ocean dissolved oxygen balance. Calculations of dissolved oxygen budget quantified net oxygen removals from the upper ocean by physical processes (air–sea exchange, advection, and diffusion) and indicated net biological oxygen production that compensated for those removals. The derived oxygen production is converted to carbon units using the photosynthetic ratio, and inferred an estimated global annual carbon export through the biological pump of 7.36 ± 2.12 Pg C year−1 with providing insights into the overall ocean carbon cycle. The biological carbon pump exports about 7.36 Pg of carbon globally per year from the upper ocean, according to an estimation of the dissolved oxygen budget that accounts for air–sea exchange, advection, and diffusion.","PeriodicalId":10530,"journal":{"name":"Communications Earth & Environment","volume":" ","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01886-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142826484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Allan Rarai, Eberhard Weber, John Ruben, Meg Parsons
{"title":"Indigenous knowledge with science forms an early warning system for ciguatera fish poisoning outbreak in Vanuatu","authors":"Allan Rarai, Eberhard Weber, John Ruben, Meg Parsons","doi":"10.1038/s43247-024-01931-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43247-024-01931-5","url":null,"abstract":"Indigenous and traditional knowledge of the natural environment is crucial for policymakers and community leaders in Vanuatu. Here, we employ a mixed-methods approach to collect data from East, North, and West Area councils in Ambae Island, Vanuatu, and investigate the integration of science and local indicators to predict the presence of ciguatera fish poisoning to enhance community responses to health risk management. We found fourteen local indicators for the ciguatera outbreak. We also identified uses of scientific information from various sources to verify their Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge before making decisions. This led to the development of ‘The Gigila Framework’ to integrate Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge with science. We also found that both community and government agencies recognize the importance of incorporating community roles into the overall early warning system for ciguatera fish poisoning in Vanuatu. Our study highlights the need for government agencies to collaborate with local communities to evaluate and develop the best practices that enable the integration of Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge with science to improve community responses to health risk management in Vanuatu. Traditional knowledge of plants and animal species, geological hazards, and astronomy combined with Western science observations can create an early warning system for a foodborne illness, Ciguatera fish poisoning in Vanuatu, according to thematic analysis that builds on community interviews.","PeriodicalId":10530,"journal":{"name":"Communications Earth & Environment","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01931-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142811367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Widespread outdoor exposure to uncompensable heat stress with warming","authors":"Yuanchao Fan, Kaighin A. McColl","doi":"10.1038/s43247-024-01930-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43247-024-01930-6","url":null,"abstract":"Previous studies projected an increasing risk of uncompensable heat stress indoors in a warming climate. However, little is known about the timing and extent of this risk for those engaged in essential outdoor activities, such as water collection and farming. Here, we employ a physically-based human energy balance model, which considers radiative, wind, and key physiological effects, to project global risk of uncompensable heat stress outdoors using bias-corrected climate model outputs. Focusing on farmers (approximately 850 million people), our model shows that an ensemble median 2.8% (15%) would be subject to several days of uncompensable heat stress yearly at 2 (4) °C of warming relative to preindustrial. Focusing on people who must walk outside to access drinking water (approximately 700 million people), 3.4% (23%) would be impacted at 2 (4) °C of warming. Outdoor work would need to be completed at night or in the early morning during these events. Farmers and people collecting drinking water outside are projected to be at risk of not achieving sufficient heat dissipation to maintain a stable body temperature at 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, according to an analysis based on a physically based model and heat stress scenarios.","PeriodicalId":10530,"journal":{"name":"Communications Earth & Environment","volume":" ","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01930-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142811351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yinglin Tian, Domenico Giaquinto, Giorgia Di Capua, Judith N. Claassen, Javed Ali, Hao Li, Carlo De Michele
{"title":"Historical changes in the Causal Effect Networks of compound hot and dry extremes in central Europe","authors":"Yinglin Tian, Domenico Giaquinto, Giorgia Di Capua, Judith N. Claassen, Javed Ali, Hao Li, Carlo De Michele","doi":"10.1038/s43247-024-01934-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43247-024-01934-2","url":null,"abstract":"Changes in hot and dry extremes in central Europe have been attributed to atmospheric circulation anomalies and land-atmosphere interactions. However, the strength of the underlying causal links and their historical trends have not been quantified. Here, we use Causal Effect Networks (based on the Peter and Clark momentary conditional independence algorithm) and show that hot extreme events in central Europe are driven primarily by anomalous atmospheric patterns and soil water deficiency. Dry extreme events are mainly induced by anomalous atmospheric patterns and soil moisture memory, and only marginally by temperature changes. We find that in the period 1979–2020, the influence of dry soil on temperature has been amplified by 67% during compound hot and dry extremes, while the impact of atmospheric drivers on soil moisture has intensified by 50% (36%) during compound (single) extremes. This work highlights the strengthened causal links of compound hot and dry extremes with their underlying drivers under global warming, which can lead to non-linear interactions and increase adaptation challenges. Central Europe experiences hot and dry extreme events due to atmospheric and surface anomalies, with dry soil’s impact on temperature increasing by up to 67% and atmospheric drivers’ impact on soil moisture increasing by up to 50% between 1979 and 2020, according to a Causal Effect Networks analysis.","PeriodicalId":10530,"journal":{"name":"Communications Earth & Environment","volume":" ","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01934-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142811333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tim Repke, Finn Müller-Hansen, Emily Cox, Jan C. Minx
{"title":"Attention and positive sentiments towards carbon dioxide removal have grown on social media over the past decade","authors":"Tim Repke, Finn Müller-Hansen, Emily Cox, Jan C. Minx","doi":"10.1038/s43247-024-01914-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43247-024-01914-6","url":null,"abstract":"Scaling up CO2 removal is crucial to achieve net-zero targets and limit global warming. To engage with publics and ensure a social licence to deploy large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR), better understanding of public perceptions of these technologies is necessary. Here, we analyse attention and sentiments towards ten CDR methods using Twitter data from 2010 to 2022. Attention towards CDR has grown exponentially, particularly in recent years. Overall, the discourse on CDR has become more positive, except for BECCS. Conventional CDR methods are the most discussed and receive more positive sentiments. Various types of users engage with CDR on Twitter to different degrees: While users posting little about CDR pay more attention to methods with biological sinks, frequently engaged users focus more on novel CDR methods. Our results complement survey studies by showing how awareness grows and perceptions change over time. Discourse on carbon dioxide removal on social media has become positive over time, except for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, with 31 percent of tweets from infrequent users, which make up 78 percent of all users, according to an analysis of Twitter (now X) data from 2010 to 2022.","PeriodicalId":10530,"journal":{"name":"Communications Earth & Environment","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01914-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142798593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jian-Jhih Chen, Gen K. Li, Marcus Lin, Justin A. Nghiem, Ziyue Yu, Tianshu Kong, Heather A. Donnelly, Noah P. Snyder, Hanqin Tian, Michael P. Lamb, Xingchen Tony Wang
{"title":"Isotopic evidence for preferential transport of fertilizer nitrogen into the northern Gulf of Mexico during high water discharge","authors":"Jian-Jhih Chen, Gen K. Li, Marcus Lin, Justin A. Nghiem, Ziyue Yu, Tianshu Kong, Heather A. Donnelly, Noah P. Snyder, Hanqin Tian, Michael P. Lamb, Xingchen Tony Wang","doi":"10.1038/s43247-024-01873-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43247-024-01873-y","url":null,"abstract":"Anthropogenic nitrogen inputs from the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin have caused substantial environmental challenges in the northern Gulf of Mexico, such as coastal eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, and seasonal hypoxia. Addressing these issues requires a better understanding of the complex sources of nitrogen, which include fertilizers, groundwater, manure, and sewage. In this study, we analyzed the nitrogen isotopic composition of dissolved nitrate and particulate nitrogen from the Wax Lake Delta, a major distributary of the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin that flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Our findings revealed that during the wet season, δ15N values of both nitrate and particulate nitrogen were consistently 2-3‰ lower compared to the dry season. This suggests that fertilizer-derived nitrogen, which has lower δ15N, is predominantly exported to the Gulf of Mexico during periods of high water discharge. These findings imply that adjusting fertilizer application timing could help reduce nitrogen loading and mitigate its environmental impact on the Gulf of Mexico. Fertilizer-derived nitrogen with low isotopic nitrate and particular matter values is mainly exported to the Gulf of Mexico during wet season, according to an analysis combining hydrographic and nutrient data, and isotope samples.","PeriodicalId":10530,"journal":{"name":"Communications Earth & Environment","volume":" ","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01873-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142798574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}