A Nature-family academic journal publishing reviews and commentary on Earth and environmental science, including climate, geology, and sustainability research.
Tasmanian researchers argue ocean alkalinity enhancement, once billed at gigatonnes a year, should serve local targets such as a city's wastewater emissions. They say the chemistry is predictable, but current models cannot yet handle delivery from point sources or its effects on local marine life.
Reality
Researchers from 14 countries say the Wilkes Basin's ice could raise seas 3 to 4 meters, though its pace of retreat and its trigger are still unknown. Until someone measures the sea floor and ocean at its glacier fronts, the basin's share of future sea-level rise cannot be dated.
Reality
Joseph Boctor of Murdoch University argues that machine learning should mine the millions of enzymes already in databases to break down pollutants. He frames it as a quicker response to contaminants that are already in the environment and causing harm.
Reality
Max Planck researchers argue in Earth's Future that most votes cast in the 12-to-4 rejection of an Anthropocene epoch were invalid under IUGS rules. They ask the geology union to publish the records behind the decision and open the process to an independent review.
Reality
The International Commission on Stratigraphy turned the epoch down in 2024 after reading a case that stayed unpublished. That case is now in print in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, and its authors argue the idea's real work has moved outside geology.
Reality
Melinda Webster's group updated 50 years of sea ice records and found the lengthening sits mostly at the autumn end, which moves the baseline for anyone whose season is defined by when the ice comes back.
Reality