Tom Swinfield, Siddarth Shrikanth, Joseph W. Bull, Anil Madhavapeddy, Sophus O. S. E. zu Ermgassen
{"title":"Nature-based credit markets at a crossroads","authors":"Tom Swinfield, Siddarth Shrikanth, Joseph W. Bull, Anil Madhavapeddy, Sophus O. S. E. zu Ermgassen","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01403-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01403-w","url":null,"abstract":"Continuing to produce nature-based credits using dubious accounting methodologies will yield limited carbon and biodiversity gains. Establishing scientific credibility unlocks the potential of credits to meaningfully contribute to targets of the Paris and Kunming-Montreal agreements.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 10","pages":"1217-1220"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142487176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Phoebe D. Dawkins, Evan A. Fiorenza, Jeffrey L. Gaeckle, Jennifer A. Lanksbury, Jeroen A. J. M. van de Water, William E. Feeney, C. Drew Harvell, Joleah B. Lamb
{"title":"Seagrass ecosystems as green urban infrastructure to mediate human pathogens in seafood","authors":"Phoebe D. Dawkins, Evan A. Fiorenza, Jeffrey L. Gaeckle, Jennifer A. Lanksbury, Jeroen A. J. M. van de Water, William E. Feeney, C. Drew Harvell, Joleah B. Lamb","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01408-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01408-5","url":null,"abstract":"Urban greening offers an opportunity to reinforce food security and safety. Seagrass ecosystems can reduce human bacterial pathogens from coastal sources, but it remains unknown whether this service is conferred to associated food fish. We find a 65% reduction in human bacterial pathogens from marine bivalves experimentally deployed across coastal urban locations with seagrass present compared with locations with seagrass absent. Our model estimates that 1.1 billion people reside in urban areas within 50 km of a seagrass ecosystem. These results highlight the global opportunity to support human health and biodiversity sustainability targets. Seagrass ecosystems often co-occur with urbanized coastal regions, providing important filtration services that reduce human bacterial pathogens from coastal sources. This study examines whether such filtration function is transferred to food fish such as marine bivalves, and its global applicability.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 10","pages":"1247-1250"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142487187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Samuel L. Goldberg, Morgan J. Schmidt, Joshua D. Himmelstein, Michael Heckenberger, Bruna Franchetto, Helena Lima, Jennifer Watling, Bruno Moraes, Wetherbee B. Dorshow, Carlos Fausto, Kumessi Waura, Huke Kuikuro, Taku Wate Kuikuro, Afukaka Kuikuro, J. Taylor Perron
{"title":"Widespread Amazonian dark earth in the Xingu Indigenous Territory","authors":"Samuel L. Goldberg, Morgan J. Schmidt, Joshua D. Himmelstein, Michael Heckenberger, Bruna Franchetto, Helena Lima, Jennifer Watling, Bruno Moraes, Wetherbee B. Dorshow, Carlos Fausto, Kumessi Waura, Huke Kuikuro, Taku Wate Kuikuro, Afukaka Kuikuro, J. Taylor Perron","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01399-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01399-3","url":null,"abstract":"Amazonian dark earth (ADE) is highly nutrient- and carbon-rich soil created by past inhabitants of the Amazon. It would be valuable to know the extent of ADE because of its cultural and environmental importance, but systematic efforts to map its distribution and extent are impractical with traditional field methods. We use remote-sensing imagery and a machine-learning classifier with ground-truthed training data to predict the occurrence of ADE across the 26,000 km2 Território Indígena do Xingu (TIX) in the southeastern Amazon region of Brazil. We find widespread ADE across the TIX, well beyond previously studied archaeological sites, occupying at least 3–4% of the land area. We further estimate that the TIX may sequester 9 Mt of carbon within ADE deposits from past human inputs. Our findings show that ancient inhabitants of the TIX substantially modified their environment, highlighting the importance of conserving this natural and cultural resource given threats from climate change and deforestation. Past human land modification in the Amazon has resulted in nutrient- and carbon-rich soil deposits of great cultural and environmental value. A new remote-sensing and machine-learning approach reveals the extent of Amazonian dark earth and its potentially substantial carbon reservoir.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 10","pages":"1304-1312"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141800508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shu Zhang, Wenying Chen, Qiang Zhang, Volker Krey, Edward Byers, Peter Rafaj, Binh Nguyen, Muhammad Awais, Keywan Riahi
{"title":"Targeting net-zero emissions while advancing other sustainable development goals in China","authors":"Shu Zhang, Wenying Chen, Qiang Zhang, Volker Krey, Edward Byers, Peter Rafaj, Binh Nguyen, Muhammad Awais, Keywan Riahi","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01400-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01400-z","url":null,"abstract":"The global net-zero transition needed to combat climate change may have profound effects on the energy–food–water–air quality nexus. Accomplishing the net-zero target while addressing other environmental challenges to achieve sustainable development is a policy pursuit for all. Here we develop a multi-model interconnection assessment framework to explore and quantify the co-benefits and trade-offs of climate action for environment-related sustainable development goals in China. We find that China is making progress towards many of the sustainable development goals, but still insufficiently. The net-zero transition leads to substantial sustainability improvements, particularly in energy and water systems. However, the co-benefits alone cannot ensure a sustainable energy–food–water–air quality system. Moreover, uncoordinated policies may exacerbate threats to energy security and food security as variable renewables and bioenergy expand. We urge the implementation of pragmatic measures to increase incentives for demand management, improve food system efficiency, promote advanced irrigation technology and further strengthen air pollutant control measures. The net-zero transition will bring co-benefits to various sectors but also potential trade-offs that could undermine sustainable development efforts. A study shows that in China, the co-benefits from the transition alone will not secure a sustainable energy–food–water–air quality system.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 9","pages":"1107-1119"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141805915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kajsa Resare Sahlin, Line J. Gordon, Regina Lindborg, Johannes Piipponen, Pierre Van Rysselberge, Julia Rouet-Leduc, Elin Röös
{"title":"An exploration of biodiversity limits to grazing ruminant milk and meat production","authors":"Kajsa Resare Sahlin, Line J. Gordon, Regina Lindborg, Johannes Piipponen, Pierre Van Rysselberge, Julia Rouet-Leduc, Elin Röös","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01398-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01398-4","url":null,"abstract":"The production and consumption of animal-source foods must be transformed to mitigate negative environmental outcomes, including greenhouse gas emissions and land-use change. However, livestock are also key for food production and for livelihoods in some settings, and they can help preserve biodiversity and certain ecosystems. Previous studies have not yet fully explored sustainability limits to the use of grazing lands for food production in the context of biodiversity. Here we explore ‘biodiversity limits’ to grassland ruminant production by estimating the meat and milk production from domestic ruminants limited to grazing areas and stocking densities where livestock can contribute to the preservation or restoration of biodiversity. With biodiversity-friendly grazing intensities at 0–20% biomass removal depending on aridity, this take on biodiversity limits corresponds to 9–13% and 26–40% of the current grassland-based milk and meat production, respectively. This equals only 2.2 kg of milk and 0.8 kg of meat per capita per year, globally, but altered management and moving from meat-specialized to meat-and-dairy systems could increase the potential production while still remaining within this approach to biodiversity limits. Grazing lands make important contributions to society, including meat and milk, but there are sustainability limits to their use for production. This study explores milk and meat production from grazing ruminants within biodiversity limits.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 9","pages":"1160-1170"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-024-01398-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141802943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tackling resistance to change","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01405-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01405-8","url":null,"abstract":"The sustainability community is increasingly calling for transformation, but action to transform is too slow. Nature Sustainability and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation have convened an expert panel to address the issue and recommend a way forward.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 7","pages":"835-835"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-024-01405-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141808281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Best practices for hydrogen peroxide (photo)electrosynthesis","authors":"Yaovi Holade, Srabanti Ghosh, Teko W. Napporn","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01394-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01394-8","url":null,"abstract":"Green production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) with a sunlight-driven or renewable-energy-powered electrochemical process provides a path to its decentralized production and sustainable end-use. Here, we discuss how to develop a fairer basis for performance evaluation of (photo)electrosynthesis of H2O2.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 9","pages":"1085-1087"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141810171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tonghuan Yang, Kun Zhang, Yuxuan Zuo, Jin Song, Yali Yang, Chuan Gao, Tao Chen, Hangchao Wang, Wukun Xiao, Zewen Jiang, Dingguo Xia
{"title":"Ultrahigh-nickel layered cathode with cycling stability for sustainable lithium-ion batteries","authors":"Tonghuan Yang, Kun Zhang, Yuxuan Zuo, Jin Song, Yali Yang, Chuan Gao, Tao Chen, Hangchao Wang, Wukun Xiao, Zewen Jiang, Dingguo Xia","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01402-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01402-x","url":null,"abstract":"Nickel-rich layered transition metal oxides are leading cathode candidates for lithium-ion batteries due to their increased capacity, low cost and enhanced environmental sustainability compared to cobalt formulations. However, the nickel enrichment comes with larger volume change during cycling as well as reduced oxygen stability, which can both incur performance degradation. Here we show an ultrahigh-nickel cathode, LiNi0.94Co0.05Te0.01O2, that addresses all of these critical issues by introducing high valent tellurium cations (Te6+). The as-prepared material exhibits an initial capacity of up to 239 milliampere-hours (mAh) per gram and an impressive capacity retention of 94.5% after 200 cycles. The resulting Ah-level lithium metal battery with silicon-carbon anode achieves an extraordinary monomer energy density of 404 watt-hours (Wh) per kilogram with retention of 91.2% after 300 cycles. Advanced characterizations and theoretical calculations show that the introduction of tellurium serves to engineer the particle morphology for a microstructure to better accommodate the lattice strain and enable an intralayer Te–Ni–Ni–Te ordered superstructure, which effectively tunes the ligand energy-level structure and suppresses lattice oxygen loss. This work not only advances the energy density of nickel-based lithium-ion batteries into the realm of 400 Wh kg−1 but suggests new opportunities in structure design for cathode materials without trade-off between performance and sustainability. Increasing the Ni content to replace Co can increase the capacity and sustainability of cathode for batteries but leads to performance degradation issues. Here the authors address the structural and oxygen instabilities of Ni-rich cathodes by doping with tellurium.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 9","pages":"1204-1214"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-024-01402-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141811346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Wei Liu, Yukun Wu, Aikaterini Vriza, Cheng Zhang, Hyocheol Jung, Shiyu Hu, Yuepeng Zhang, Du Chen, Peijun Guo, Benjamin T. Diroll, Glingna Wang, Richard D. Schaller, Henry Chan, Jianguo Mei, Sihong Wang, Jie Xu
{"title":"Depolymerizable and recyclable luminescent polymers with high light-emitting efficiencies","authors":"Wei Liu, Yukun Wu, Aikaterini Vriza, Cheng Zhang, Hyocheol Jung, Shiyu Hu, Yuepeng Zhang, Du Chen, Peijun Guo, Benjamin T. Diroll, Glingna Wang, Richard D. Schaller, Henry Chan, Jianguo Mei, Sihong Wang, Jie Xu","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01373-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01373-z","url":null,"abstract":"Luminescent polymers are of great interest in a number of photonic technologies, including electroluminescence, bioimaging, medical diagnosis, bio-stimulation and security signage. Incorporating depolymerizability and recyclability into luminescent polymers is pivotal for promoting their sustainability and minimizing their environmental impacts at the end of the product lifecycle, but existing strategies often compromise the light-emitting efficiencies. Here we develop a strategy that utilizes cleavable moiety to create depolymerizable and recyclable thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) polymers without compromising their high light-emitting efficiencies. The electroluminescent devices based on the TADF polymers achieved a high external quantum efficiency of up to 15.1 %. The TADF polymers can be depolymerized under either mild acidic or heating conditions, with precise control of the kinetics, and the obtained pure monomers can potentially be isolated and repolymerized for subsequent life applications. This work promotes the end-of-life environmental friendliness and circularity of luminescent materials, paving the way to a sustainable photonic industry. Developing depolymerizable and recyclable polymers with high light-emitting efficiencies is of vital importance for sustainable photonic technologies, but remains challenging. Here the authors design a strategy to develop such polymers based on the use of controllable cleavable moiety.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 8","pages":"1048-1056"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141816885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Youxun Xu, Chao Wang, Xiyi Li, Lunqiao Xiong, Tianyu Zhang, Liquan Zhang, Qinghua Zhang, Lin Gu, Yang Lan, Junwang Tang
{"title":"Efficient methane oxidation to formaldehyde via photon–phonon cascade catalysis","authors":"Youxun Xu, Chao Wang, Xiyi Li, Lunqiao Xiong, Tianyu Zhang, Liquan Zhang, Qinghua Zhang, Lin Gu, Yang Lan, Junwang Tang","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01401-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01401-y","url":null,"abstract":"The oxidation of methane to value-added chemicals provides an opportunity to use this abundant feedstock for sustainable petrochemistry. Unfortunately, such technologies remain insufficiently competitive due to a poor selectivity and a low yield rate for target products. Here we show a photon–phonon-driven cascade reaction that allows for methane conversion to formaldehyde with an unprecedented productivity of 401.5 μmol h−1 (or 40,150 μmol g−1 h−1) and a high selectivity of 90.4% at 150 °C. Specifically, with a ZnO catalyst decorated with single Ru atoms, methane first reacts with water to selectively produce methyl hydroperoxide via photocatalysis, followed by a thermodecomposition step yielding formaldehyde. Single Ru atoms, serving as electron acceptors, improve charge separation and promote oxygen reduction in photocatalysis. This reaction route with minimized energy consumption and high efficiency suggests a promising pathway for the sustainable transformation of light alkanes. Sustainable methane oxidation has the potential to green the petrochemical industry. Here the authors demonstrate a cascade catalysis process involving photoconversion and then thermal decomposition at mild temperatures to form formaldehyde with a high selectivity and a high yield rate.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 9","pages":"1171-1181"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-024-01401-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141826389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}