Reviews & Analysis

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  • This study examines the influence of agricultural irrigation on heat stress and contrasts it against local impacts of urbanization in North American cities using regional climate model simulations. The results indicate that irrigation decreases air temperature and increases relative humidity, with daytime urban moist heat stress reduced according to most indices.

    Research Briefing
  • The intense, efficient transfer of organic carbon from the surface to the deep Southern Ocean make it a key component of the global carbon cycle. Observations show that this process isn’t always driven by sinking diatom skeletons, which often don’t make it past the mid-depth twilight zone, challenging the understanding of how climate change may impact the region.

    • Natalia Llopis Monferrer
    News & Views
  • Geochemical cycling in subduction zones affects the atmosphere and sub-surface environments. Insights from experiments under relevant conditions suggest which sulfur species contribute to the formation of metallic ore deposits below arc volcanoes.

    • Dimitri A. Sverjensky
    News & Views
  • Microbial activity in marine sediment acts as a barrier that generally prevents methane from escaping. However, a survey from the Baltic Sea suggests that in many locations the microbial population falters and methane can pass through freely.

    • David L. Valentine
    News & Views
  • The formation of porphyry copper deposits in regions of thickened continental crust remains enigmatic. Insights from the Laramide Porphyry Province in Arizona suggest a link between shallow-slab subduction and copper mineralization.

    • Joshua J. Schwartz
    News & Views
  • Rhizosphere priming effects are stronger in wetland soils than in upland soils due to the greater variation in the redox condition in the rhizosphere, according to a data analysis of existing observations.

    • Peter Mueller
    • J. Patrick Megonigal
    Perspective
  • The loss of the Conger–Glenzer ice shelf in 2022 was the culmination of a multidecadal process of disintegration, signalling East Antarctica may not be as stable as we once thought.

    • Karen E. Alley
    News & Views
  • Atmospheric CO2 enrichment inhibits the growth and activity of autotrophic nitrifiers through aggravation of anoxic stress in a nitrogen-rich paddy soil, according to a long-term free-air CO2 enrichment experiment. This CO2-induced inhibition effect on nitrifiers might contribute to the decline of inorganic nitrogen pools in lowland soil systems.

    Research Briefing
  • Planting trees in high-latitude regions can be counterproductive to climate change mitigation, according to a synthesis of the biophysical and ecological impacts of planting trees.

    • Jeppe Å. Kristensen
    • Laura Barbero-Palacios
    • Marc Macias-Fauria
    Perspective
  • Field measurements and computer simulations show how fishing methods that drag weighted nets along the seabed counteract the seafloor sediments’ role as a carbon sink. The effect is ambiguous in weakly trawled areas but becomes clear in intensely trawled grounds.

    Research Briefing
  • By incorporating remote sensing and modelling evidence, we show that China’s growing biomass carbon stock over the past two decades has been dominated by the expansion and conservation of woody areas. Approximately half of the biomass carbon sinks were attributed to direct management effects with substantial contributions from national ecological restoration projects.

    Research Briefing
  • Accelerating progress in land-climate science requires a renewed focus on developing theory to complement and underpin Earth system models and observations.

    • Michael P. Byrne
    • Gabriele C. Hegerl
    • Yi Zhang
    Perspective
  • Emerging evidence indicates that groundwater flow significantly impacts the distribution and characteristics of subsea permafrost, as well as the geomorphology of the subarctic seafloor.

    • Michael Angelopoulos
    • Charles K. Paull
    News & Views
  • Laboratory experiments show that Fe(II) oxidizing phototrophic bacteria, or photoferrotrophs, thought to be a major depositor of Archean and Palaeoproterozoic iron formations, are inhibited by toxic intermediates produced during denitrification in iron-rich systems. This identifies a previously overlooked stressor impacting mineral formation by photoferrotrophs during early Earth history.

    Research Briefing
  • As climate change accelerates, fire regimes are increasingly disrupting ecosystems and carbon storage. A modelling study reveals that fire is already acting to substantially weaken global carbon sinks, potentially undermining efforts to limit warming.

    • Jiafu Mao
    News & Views
  • Modelling of the evolution of the Kosi drainage basin near Chomolungma suggests that a river capture event occurred approximately 89 ka ago. Isostatic rebound due to this capture event could contribute 10–50% of the total rock uplift rate in the Chomolungma region and might partly explain Chomolungma’s renewed uplift rate and anomalous elevation.

    Research Briefing