Atmospheric chemistry articles from across Nature Portfolio

Spectra of temperate sub-Neptunes reveal strikingly different atmospheric chemistries, hinting at diverse origins and interiors.

Over 90% of the biomass burning-related black carbon in Southeast Asia is char, leading to models overestimating absorption, according to thermal-optical analysis and radiocarbon source attribution of black carbon particles in Southeast Asia.

Hygroscopic gels can harvest atmospheric water but face efficiency challenges. Here, authors developed a heterogeneous gel with a pectin shell and graphene oxide core, enhancing water uptake and release. This design achieves high water yield and rapid desorption, outperforming existing systems.

Sunlight triggers ammonium chloride in aerosols to produce Cl₂ gas, explaining 12-55% of daytime levels. This chlorine source, boosted by black carbon, impacts atmospheric oxidation.

The marine particulate zinc pool is overwhelmingly dominated by aerosol-derived anthropogenic inputs, according to isotope analyses of marine particulate and aerosol data from the remote South Pacific Ocean.

Planet-evolution models explain JWST data for L 98-59 d through a new scenario: while cooling and escape shrank this planet, a permanent magma ocean supplies sulfur to its atmosphere, in which SO₂ is produced by photochemistry.

Reliable 5-day, 3-hourly forecasts of aerosol optical components and surface concentrations are obtained in 1 minute using a machine-learning-driven forecasting system.

Spectra of temperate sub-Neptunes reveal strikingly different atmospheric chemistries, hinting at diverse origins and interiors.

Top-down inversion modelling, coupled with data from ten observing stations across China, reveals that the country’s emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) grew during the period 2011–2021. However, over a similar period, non-Annex 1 countries (mostly developing countries under the UN climate framework), excluding China, are shown to be the largest contributors to the global growth in HFC emissions.

JWST observations of WASP-107 b reveal extended pre-transit and post-transit helium absorption, suggesting the planet has a giant escaping atmosphere. The results provide fresh insight into the planet’s inflated envelope, mass loss and migratory past, and demonstrate the power of long-baseline transit spectroscopy for tracing exoplanet evolution.

The recent launch of JWST has allowed us to reach new milestones in the understanding of exoplanet characterization — starting off with the first detection of carbon dioxide in an exoplanet atmosphere.

Water is ubiquitous in the atmospheres of hot and warm exoplanets. Detecting, quantifying and mapping atmospheric water has revealed a great deal about dynamical and chemical processes on distant worlds.

Ahead of her 73rd birthday, Lidia Morawska, Distinguished Professor at Queensland University of Technology, discusses her life as a researcher and advocate of clean air.