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Global analysis of obesity trends from 1980 to 2024 in 200 countries and territories using data from 4,050 population-based studies reveals that framing obesity as a single global epidemic masks the highly varied dynamics across countries and age groups.

By comparing newly produced RNA in the nucleus with mature RNA in the cytosol, genetic variants that control gene expression showed striking differences in localization and biological mechanisms, helping explain how they contribute to disease.

Coastal nitrogen pollution is a critical sustainability challenge with environmental, social and economic consequences. Upstream ‘sweet spots’ where interventions will have maximum mitigation effectiveness and social buy-in are attractive but may prove difficult to implement in urban stream networks.

The authors examine public, private, and family time investments in children in the United States using ten nationally representative surveys between 2010 and 2023.

The authors conduct a national inventory on individual tree carbon stocks in Rwanda using aerial imagery and deep learning. Most mapped trees are located in farmlands; new methods allow partitioning to any landscape categories, effective planning and optimization of carbon sequestration and the economic benefits of trees.

Assessment of how 16 taxonomic groups in a lowland tropical forest resist and recover from anthropogenic disturbance shows the potential of protecting naturally regenerating secondary forests to reverse biodiversity losses.

Wild meat is a fundamental component of the diets of rural Central African populations, accounting for 20% of the recommended daily protein intake, compared with 13% and 6% for those living in towns and cities.

To forge a strong climate accord in Paris, nations must agree on a common goal in everyone's self-interest, say David J. C. MacKay and colleagues.

DNA-sequencing data from primary tumours and paired metastases from participants in the TRACERx lung study and PEACE autopsy programme are used to analyse the metastatic diversity of advanced non-small cell lung cancer and the seeding patterns that underpin it.

Dynamic pricing schemes are increasingly employed in on-demand mobility. Here the authors show that ride-hailing services across the globe exhibit anomalous price surges induced by collective action of drivers, uncovered from price time-series at 137 locations, and explain under which conditions they emerge.

The future of food prices is uncertain yet key for food security and climate mitigation policies. This study estimates future food prices for 136 countries and 11 distinct food groups, showing that future food prices will become less sensitive to agricultural market dynamics and land-based mitigation policies, given the global transition towards more complex and industrial food systems.

Green subsidies (carrots) are now becoming a more politically acceptable climate policy option compared with corrective regulations (sticks). However, researcher show that carrots without quick and appropriate sticks will not be sufficient to reach the deep decarbonization goal in the long run.

Many people globally still use solid fuels for cooking and heating, leading to programmes designed to subsidize cleaner alternatives. This study analyses possible effects of climate mitigation policies on fuel costs and hence the effectiveness of such schemes.

The Russia–Ukraine conflict affected the price of staple crops and spurred interest in tropical wheat production. Regional consumption patterns and trade are better placed to guide effective and sustainable food security policy strategies.

The Marshall Institute advocates that the United States should deploy space-based missile interceptors in the near future. At best such weapons would not be cost effective, at worst they would be useless.

Closures of the Strait of Hormuz transmit immediate economic shocks into cities, and drive increasing costs across transport, food and housing. Without targeted social protection and rapid electrification, crisis responses risk entrenching the fossil fuel dependence that underpins urban vulnerability.

This study applies a global food and land system modelling framework to quantify the impact of 23 food system measures on 15 outcome indicators related to public health, the environment, social inclusion and the economy—from today until 2050.

This analysis of net-zero strategies designed in an iterative stakeholder dialogue finds that without behavioral change and with restriction of technologies, the target of greenhouse gas neutrality in the European Union cannot be reached.

To achieve timely restoration of coronary flow in patients with acute myocardial infarction, the decision to call in the cardiac catheterization team has moved ever earlier, and is often made before cardiologist evaluation. Door-to-balloon times have been reduced, but the price of this success is an increase in 'false alarms'.

The recent drop in oil prices is having a profound impact on global energy markets, raising questions about how these markets might evolve over the long term. This study uses scenarios to assess the energy and emissions impacts of diverging oil price futures and which uncertainties they depend upon.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

Former chief science advisor to the UK government David King once said that last month's talks in Copenhagen would be the “last chance saloon” for tackling climate change. But there is hope beyond Copenhagen, says King. Olive Heffernan reports.

Natural gas and carbon removal can play roles in reaching net-zero emissions in the U.S. electric sector and can lower decarbonization costs, though wind and solar have higher generation shares for most regions and scenarios.

Analysis of 15,836 ancient West Eurasian genomes reveals hundreds of instances of directional selection, showing that sustained changes in allele frequency were widespread, rather than being rare over this period as previously assumed.

Peer-to-peer energy trading can foster participation in the energy transition, but little is understood about prosumer preferences and their effect on the grid. Pena-Bello et al. use an online experiment among German homeowners to study decision-making strategies and simulate their impact on the operation of an energy community.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

Bioenergy has been widely viewed as an alternative for fossil fuels and an option for carbon dioxide removal, but there are doubts given the induced land-use changes. This study shows the importance of uniform regulation and comprehensive coverage of carbon-rich areas in reducing total emissions.

This Review will help physicians to make the best case-by-case decisions when treating the three most common types of primary glomerulonephritis that progress to end-stage renal disease—membranous nephropathy, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and IgA nephropathy. The authors systematically assess the benefits of reducing proteinuria in each of these diseases, and then place these benefits in the context of the early and late adverse effects of currently available therapies.

An integrated assessment model analysis shows that a moderately differentiated carbon price could achieve as much climate mitigation as a uniform carbon tax, avoiding concerns regarding equity between participating countries or sovereignty.

Biofuel prices depend on related commodities—such as corn, sugar cane and palm oil—but their connection to other non-feedstock commodities is less well explored. Filip et al. analyse a data set of 33 commodities and assets and examine their relationships to biofuels in Brazil, the US and Europe.

Natural disasters induce power outages with unequal impacts on poverty and non-poverty counties in China. Climate change will further exacerbate this disparity.

Ecosystem accounts quantify trade-offs between the economy and the environment. Here, the authors apply this approach to a regional case study of native forest use to show how it can be used to inform policy about complex land management decisions.

Despite exporting nutrient-rich seafood, developing countries import seafood with higher nutrient density per dollar than developed nations. These nutritional bargains are linked to differences in processing and product forms of traded seafood.

Prior mitigation assessments of atmospheric CO₂ removal rely on bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS), excluding bioenergy-biochar systems (BEBCS). Here, Woolf et al. find that BEBCS offers an alternative cost-effective solution, and may allow earlier CO₂removal at a lower carbon price.

Nanotechnology has the potential to increase the net revenue from agricultural products and alleviate the environmental impact of conventional fertilizers and pesticides. Further improving the efficiency of nanoformulations is necessary for their wide adoption.

Impacts from a climate event can cascade through natural, anthropogenic and socio-economic systems. Here the authors assess cascading climate impacts on the EU and identify intervention points for adaptation related to water, livelihoods, agriculture, infrastructure and economy, and violent conflict.

Data on the nutrient content of almost 3,000 aquatic animal-source foods is combined with a food-systems model to show that an increase in aquatic-food production could reduce the inadequate intake of most nutrients.

Income reduction in high-income regions is insufficient for mitigating food systems greenhouse gas emissions. A deeper transformation is required that changes consumption patterns and prices emissions.