A new aviation carbon footprint tool improves accuracy and transparency by incorporating nitrogen oxide, water vapor, and contrail impacts, life cycle emissions from aircraft and airports, and adjusting flight emissions with historical flight data.

Cement, brick, and metal use are responsible for more than half of the carbon dioxide emissions from the construction sector, and under a business-as-usual scenario, the sector’s carbon footprint is expected to exceed the annual carbon budget, according to an input-output analysis.

Taxonomically identifiable DNA can be recovered from terrestrial rocks containing as little as 182 ppm of total organic carbon after exposure to radiation equivalent to 136 million years on Mars, suggesting that biosignatures could remain detectable.

Global carbon dioxide intensity declined from 2015 to 2024 following the Paris Agreement, but total emissions still increased due to economic growth, according to a global analysis of population, gross domestic product, and carbon emissions data.

Anthropogenic climate change impacts Arctic Ocean phytoplankton phenology, resulting in phytoplankton blooms which start 34 days earlier and last 15 days longer in 2100 compared with 1970, according to an ensemble of Earth system model simulations.

Earthquakes at Italy’s Campi Flegrei caldera show unusually low seismic radiation efficiency, with most energy dissipated through off-fault damage and frictional processes, according to a time-domain-based analysis of seismic catalogue data.

Functional proteins involved in methanogenesis and organic matter degradation in a natural gas well are from commonly identified groups of residential metagenome-assembled genomes, according to a metaproteomic, metagenomic, and geochemical analyses of Antrim Shale well water, Michigan, USA.

Turbidity currents are driven by surge dynamics within their frontal cell, with fast surges from behind providing momentum, sustaining flow fronts for <1,000 km, as revealed by ocean-bottom seismometer data documenting their internal speed and structure.

Changes in the human geography of Rapa Nui, Easter Island, Chile, in the 16th and 17th centuries and the decline in monument construction coincided with a sustained decrease in annual precipitation of approximately 600–800 millimeters, according to hydrogen isotope data from leaf waxes in sediments.

Fertilization use in Ukraine declined sharply following the Ukraine war in early 2022, associated with severe national nutrient deficits and underscoring an urgent need for an integrated nutrient management plan to improve agricultural sustainability, as shown through scenario analysis

Climate change is disrupting the seasonal rhythms of soil life, which governs how plant carbon is transformed, stabilized, or lost. This Comment argues that a focus on the temporal coordination between above- and belowground biota is critical to sustaining resilient soil carbon sinks in a warming world.

Germany’s energy transition relies on variable renewables and electricity use across sectors, and it needs to accelerate. This Comment argues that consistent policy commitments to proven technologies, such as wind and solar power, heat pumps and electric cars are needed.

Public input is important for governing air quality effectively, yet the United Kingdom's management systems treat public participation as an afterthought. Making air-quality management more participatory requires deep structural change that redefines institutional notions of knowledge and expertise.

The SDG global indicator framework suffers from insufficient data, overlap between indicators, and misalignment with local contexts. Future development goals should distinguish between global core indicators, global optional indicators, and custom indicators for local contexts and priorities.

Small lakes in mountain regions hold significant potential to wreak havoc as a result of sudden drainage. This Comment argues that the risks can be managed within existing disaster reduction frameworks, but must be acknowledged and monitored.

Strong governance, accelerated action, and empowered communities are essential to avoid cascading Earth system tipping points and achieve lasting, transformative change.