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This study used AI to map ~29,000 CDR studies—3–4 times more than expected—showing rapid but uneven growth. The map supports stronger evidence synthesis for climate goals and the IPCC. #CDR

The expansion of renewable energy is urgently needed to reduce carbon emissions, but it can entail some trade-offs with biodiversity. Here, we argue that synergistic implementation strategies are possible and should be prioritized. Decision-makers must also consider the counterfactual — that unchecked fossil fuel use is far worse for biodiversity than the modest effects of renewable energy development.

Systemic barriers to sustained academic participation in the activities of international science–policy organizations undermine equitable knowledge co-production — a collaborative multi-actor creation of knowledge. We outline institutional reforms to tackle such barriers to the benefit of researchers, organizations and society at large.

Microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) plays a key role in soil carbon storage. Here, the authors show that CUE declines with soil depth across 60 forest sites, driven by microbial diversity in topsoil and by physicochemical protection in deeper layers.

A sensitive Breakthrough Listen search for technosignatures towards Proxima Centauri has resulted in a viable narrowband signal. The observational approach, using the Parkes Murriyang telescope, is described here, while the signal of interest is analysed in a companion paper by Sheikh et al.

Climate change is expected to release carbon stored in permafrost soils. Sampling of sites across the Tibetan Plateau in the early 2000s and early 2010s reveals increased carbon stocks in shallow soils, which may offset losses from deeper soils.

N fertilization increases N₂O emissions over time by raising soil N availability, lowering pH, and stimulating N₂O-producing microbes, making global fertilizer induced N₂O emissions from cropland ~110% higher than IPCC estimates.

Peer review information

Nature Communications thanks the anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. A peer review file is available.

Land surface modelling suggests that preserving woody debris in managed forests could remove 769–937 GtCO₂ from the atmosphere between 2025 and 2100.

Chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to the emergence of viral variants that show reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma.

Sera from vaccinated individuals and some monoclonal antibodies show a modest reduction in neutralizing activity against the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2; but the E484K substitution leads to a considerable loss of neutralizing activity.

Total aboveground biomass in wetlands of China has gradually increased from 2000 to 2023, indicating notable vegetation greening, and is projected to continue rising under future scenarios, based on complied wetland aboveground biomass data and machine learning models.

Here, the authors warn of the declining stability of soil carbon associated with climate change and human activities. The unprotected soil carbon fraction dominates decadal soil carbon increases.

This manuscript evaluates forecasts of laboratory-confirmed influenza hospital admissions, a new target for influenza forecasting in the United States. Across two influenza seasons, the FluSight ensemble is robust compared to submitted models.

Understanding how global changes affect both aboveground plants and belowground soil organisms is essential for preserving ecosystem functions and biodiversity. This study synthesizes extensive data, revealing decoupled responses in plant and soil biota to global changes across different biomes.

Effective solutions for food systems transformation must be designed in a participatory way. This study illustrates the application of an integrated assessment framework to explore stakeholder-driven scenarios towards climate-smart nutrition security in Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

A study of the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in England between September 2020 and June 2021 finds that interventions capable of containing previous variants were insufficient to stop the more transmissible Alpha and Delta variants.

Reducing agricultural emissions during times of increasing food demand is a challenge. Research, using the UK as an example, now shows the technical mitigation potential of increasing agricultural yields, reducing farmed area and restoring habitats.

China’s large-scale tree planting could sequester 5.9 ± 0.5 PgC by planting 44.7 billion trees. Tree densification in existing forests may be a more cost-effective strategy than afforestation.

Despite their rich biodiversity and high rates of deforestation, Central and South America (excluding Brazil), Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East remain global blind spots in soil health research, according to a meta-analysis of 31999 articles published worldwide on the topic.

Large uncertainties remain in Earth system models in predicting soil carbon-climate feedbacks. Here, the authors constrained projected soil carbon changes in ESMs using observation-derived data, and found that global soil will become a carbon source under future warming.

Managing natural systems to mitigation climate change is a key strategy for limiting warming. In China, such natural climate solutions could offset 6% of CO₂ emissions during 2020–2030, contributing to mitigation goals but highlighting the importance of emissions reductions.

Modern life depends on the petrochemical industry — most drugs, paints and plastics derive from oil. But current processes for making chemical products are not sustainable in terms of resources and environmental impact. Green chemistry aims to tackle this problem, and real progress is being made.

A manufacturable platform for quantum computing with photons is introduced and a set of monolithically integrated silicon-photonics-based modules is benchmarked, demonstrating dual-rail photonic qubits with performance close to thresholds required for operation.

The flux of carbon from soils to the atmosphere has apparently increased with climate warming. But does this reflect a net loss of carbon to the atmosphere that could exacerbate climate change?

Efficiency improvements that cause price decreases and consumption increases may offset the benefits of avoided food loss and waste (FLW), hindering progress towards SDG 12. Based on published income-group- and food-type-specific price elasticities of supply and demand, this study quantifies the direct rebound effects from large reductions in FLW of six types of food.

The quantification of greenhouse gas emissions related to food production and consumption is still largely hindered by the availability of spatial data consistent across sectors. This study provides a detailed account of emissions from land-use change, farmland, livestock and activities beyond the farm gate associated with plant- and animal-based foods/diets—culminating in local-, country- and global-level emissions from each major agricultural commodity.

The response of CO₂ release from soils to warming is enhanced at thermokarst sites due to the lower soil substrate quality and higher microorganism abundance than non-thermokarst locations, according to in situ warming experiments at an upland thermokarst on the Tibetan Plateau.

Chinese agricultural production is key to achieve the country’s 2060 carbon neutrality target. Combining meta-analysis and life-cycle assessment, this study estimates the climate change mitigation potential of straw, biochar, and an integrated biomass pyrolysis and electricity generation system.

Snow accumulation rates in Antarctica can now be reconstructed from nitrate isotopes in snow and ice. This independent technique offers scientists a new tool for studying how Antarctic climate changed in the past and how it may change in the future.

Crop rotations including legumes have been proposed as a strategy to enhance food production. Here, the authors conduct a global meta-analysis on legume-based crop rotations, showing that legume pre-crops increase 20% of yield in average across various crops and climatic regions.

Food demand is increasing, while climate change is impacting the magnitude and stability of crop yields. High-quality soils are able to buffer the negative impacts of climate change and lead to smaller yield reduction and higher yield stability, indicating a potential adaptation strategy.

While accounting for intrinsic differences between short- and long-lived greenhouse gases, solely relying on soil carbon sequestration in grasslands to offset warming effect of emissions from current ruminant systems is not feasible

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of blindness. Now, the eosinophil/mast cell chemokine receptor CCR3 is shown to be specifically expressed in choroidal neovascular endothelial cells in humans with AMD, and targeting CCR3 or its ligands in mice inhibits the choroidal neovascularization that underlies AMD. In the mouse model, CCR3 blockade was more effective and less toxic than VEGF-A neutralization, which is currently in clinical use.

RMC-7977, a compound that exhibits potent inhibition of the active states of mutant and wild-type KRAS, NRAS and HRAS variants has a strong anti-tumour effect on RAS-addicted tumours and is well tolerated in preclinical models.

The authors simulated the impact of organic farming expansion on soil organic carbon. They found that soil organic carbon stock may be at risk of decline if the complete conversion to organic farming does not involve additional practices such as widespread cover cropping and residue recycling.

Grasslands, and the livestock that live there, are dynamic sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, but what controls these fluxes remains poorly characterized. Here the authors show that on the global level, grasslands are climate neutral owing to the cancelling effects of managed vs. natural systems.

Take these eight steps to make soils more resilient to drought, produce more food and store emissions, urge Cornelia Rumpel and colleagues.

Based on observations from thermokarst-impacted sites on the Tibetan Plateau, the authors find substantial particulate organic carbon loss but stable mineral-associated organic carbon and enriched iron-bound organic carbon upon permafrost thaw.

Intercalation-type metal oxides are promising anodes for Li-ion batteries but suffer from low energy and power density together with cycling instability. A nanostructured rock-salt Nb₂O₅ formed via amorphous-to-crystalline transformation during cycling with Li⁺ is shown to exhibit enhanced performance.

A radio signal detected in the direction of Proxima Centauri in a Breakthrough Listen programme is analysed for signs that it was transmitted by extraterrestrial intelligent life, using a newly developed framework. However, the signal ‘blc1’ is likely to be terrestrial radio-frequency interference.

Resource depletion and environmental impacts associated with food and feed imports and exports must be measured. This study maps and quantifies land and nitrogen losses from agricultural trade in more than 240 countries for the past six decades through an innovative trade optimality evaluation method.

Meeting China’s growing demand for food, especially for livestock products, will have huge environmental impacts domestically and globally. This study finds large increases in land, water, fertilizer and greenhouse gas emissions that vary based on openness of trade.