Perspectives

Magmatic systems exhibit characteristics of complex systems, including multiscalar interactions, interconnected networks and power-law distributions. This Perspective explores how tools from complex system science could be used to model magmatic systems.

Tree methane exchange is an important component of the terrestrial and global methane budget. This Perspective explores the mechanisms underlying why wetland trees are a net source of methane to the atmosphere and upland trees are a net sink, and the effect environmental changes will have on these processes.

Soil carbon cycling is closely linked with landscape complexities in soil properties, climate and land use. This Perspective outlines how soil formation theory could provide insight on landscape-scale soil–carbon interactions as well as carbon sequestration and improve predictions of future soil organic matter dynamics.

Global patterns and trends in primary production are estimated using remote-sensing-based models. This Perspective outlines ways to ensure that the next generation of model predictions robustly characterizes how this key element of the terrestrial carbon cycle is changing.

Degradation and loss of blue carbon ecosystems contributes to climate change, weakens coastal protection and threatens biodiversity. This Perspective outlines the actions required to achieve goals to restore and protect these ecosystems.

Human modifications to the environment can amplify the secondary impacts of earthquakes, such as landslides, liquefaction and tsunamis. This Perspective explores the relationships between environmental modification and earthquake-triggered hazards to identify potential solutions for hazard mitigation.

Regions with low electricity generation and minor reliance on fossil fuels have the capacity to avoid fossil fuel dependence and directly transition to renewable energy systems. This Perspective explores the capacity of African countries for this transition while meeting growing electricity demands.

Integrating impacts and cascading hazards to drought monitoring could improve prediction and mitigation of drought events. This Perspective discusses the limitations of existing indicators, the cascading hazards associated with drought and the importance of assessing drought impacts.

Differentiable modelling is an approach that flexibly integrates the learning capability of machine learning with the interpretability of process-based models. This Perspective highlights the potential of differentiable modelling to improve the representation of processes, parameter estimation, and predictive accuracy in the geosciences.

Methods to integrate Earth system modelling (ESM) with deep learning offer promise for advancing understanding of Earth processes. This Perspective explores the development and applications of hybrid Earth system modelling, a framework that integrates neural networks into ESM throughout the modelling lifecycle.

Although model projections indicate increased El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability in the future, contemporary impacts of anthropogenic forcing on ENSO variability have been difficult to ascertain. This Perspective discusses these contemporary effects, outlining that an increase in post-1960 ENSO variability is likely related to greenhouse gas forcing.

Extreme weather and climate events could increase ecosystem disturbances and, potentially, destabilize ecosystems, but different feedbacks between climate and ecosystems are often not accounted for. This Perspective proposes a framework to characterize ecoclimatic events and understand the role of human activities in driving them.

Large quantities of plastics flow from rivers to estuaries, where they potentially converge in frontal zones. This Perspective describes the occurrence, transformation and impact of these processes, highlighting their importance in mitigating plastic pollution.

Atmospheric transport of microplastics could be a major source of plastic pollution to the ocean, yet observations currently remain limited. This Perspective quantifies the known budgets of the marine-atmospheric micro(nano)plastic cycle and proposes a future global observation strategy.

The size and shape of alluvial river channels control and adjust to the flow of water and sediment, with consequences for flooding and ecological habitat. This Perspective examines how the sediment entrainment threshold constrains the size, shape and dynamics of alluvial rivers.

The planetary boundaries framework outlines a safe operating space for humanity according to key Earth system dynamics. This Perspective proposes the addition of a green water planetary boundary based on root-zone soil moisture and demonstrates that widespread green water modifications now present increasing risks to Earth system resilience.

China has implemented various mitigation strategies to lower their CO₂ emissions. This Perspective outlines the progress in reaching these CO₂ reduction targets, and the pending challenges the nation faces to achieve carbon neutrality.

Grasslands provide key ecosystem services, but their protection is often ignored in sustainable policy. This Perspective describes grassland degradation and sets out the steps needed to protect these systems and promote their restoration.

Marine dissolved organic matter can persist for millennia, but the reasons for this phenomenon are unknown. This Perspective describes and compares two concepts — intrinsic and emergent recalcitrance — explaining marine organic matter persistence.

Degradation of soil organic carbon is expected to accelerate with increasing global temperatures, but the magnitude of change is controversial. This Perspective discusses evidence supporting a large loss of soil organic carbon and its broader significance.