Black carbon (BC) from fossil fuel and biomass combustion darkens the snow and makes it melt sooner. The BC footprint of research activities and tourism in Antarctica has likely increased as human presence in the continent has surged in recent decades.

Drylands cover 41% of Earth’s surface and are the largest source of interannual variability in the global carbon sink. Drylands are projected to experience accelerated expansion over the next century, but the implications of this expansion on variability in gross primary production (GPP) remain elusive.

The emerging resistance of crop pathogens to fungicides poses a challenge to food security and compels discovery of new antifungal compounds. Here, we show that mono-alkyl lipophilic cations (MALCs) inhibit oxidative phosphorylation by affecting NADH oxidation in the plant pathogens Zymoseptoria tritici, Ustilago maydis and Magnaporthe oryzae.

Water temperature is critical for the ecology of lakes. However, the ability to predict its spatial and seasonal variation is constrained by the lack of a thermal classification system. Here we define lake thermal regions using objective analysis of seasonal surface temperature dynamics from satellite observations.

Extreme slip at shallow depths on subduction zone faults is a primary contributor to tsunami generation by earthquakes.

The ~70 km-diameter Yarrabubba impact structure in Western Australia is regarded as among Earth’s oldest, but has hitherto lacked precise age constraints. Here we present U–Pb ages for impact-driven shock-recrystallised accessory minerals.

We evaluate methods to calculate the economic value of protected areas derived from the improved mental health of visitors. A conservative global estimate using quality-adjusted life years, a standard measure in health economics, is US$6 trillion p.a.

Most estimates of global mean sea-level rise this century fall below 2 m. This quantity is comparable to the positive vertical bias of the principle digital elevation model (DEM) used to assess global and national population exposures to extreme coastal water levels, NASA’s SRTM. CoastalDEM is a new DEM utilizing neural networks to reduce SRTM error. Here we show – employing CoastalDEM—that 190 M people (150–250 M, 90% CI) currently occupy global land below projected high tide lines for 2100 under low carbon emissions, up from 110 M today, for a median increase of 80 M.

The nascent field of nanotechnology-enabled metallurgy has great potential. However, the role of eutectic alloys and the nature of alloy solidification in this field are still largely unknown. To demonstrate one of the promises of liquid metals in the field, we explore a model system of catalytically active Bi-Sn nano-alloys produced using a liquid-phase ultrasonication technique and investigate their phase separation, surface oxidation, and nucleation.

Particle transfer across the placenta has been suggested but to date, no direct evidence in real-life, human context exists. Here we report the presence of black carbon (BC) particles as part of combustion-derived particulate matter in human placentae using white-light generation under femtosecond pulsed illumination.