One Earth

Anthropogenic climate change contributed to excess dengue risk related to hydrometeorological conditions in Brazil and China Human-induced climate change may intensify dengue risk by altering local hydrometeorological conditions. This study found that 73.6% of the dengue risk in Brazil and 26.5% in China associated with local hydrometeorological conditions could be attributed to human-induced climate change. Higher urbanization might reduce the attributable impact of anthropogenic climate change, especially in Brazil. Targeted interventions and urban planning are crucial to mitigate future climate-sensitive dengue burdens.

Online now: Anthropogenic climate change contributed to excess dengue risk related to hydrometeorological conditions in Brazil and China

🚀 New Publication!
Recently published in @cp-oneearth.bsky.social: "Ambitious #foodsystem interventions required to mitigate the risk of exceeding Earth’s #environmentallimits"!

👉 To read more, see:
📰 @aunz.theconversation.com: shorturl.at/v3uO8
📖 Full article (free download): shorturl.at/c2sNw

Disparities in NO2-related health burden prevalent across race-ethnicity and income groups in the United States Increasing evidence has linked long-term NO2 exposures to adverse health, while current research on the NO2-related health burden rarely assesses exposure and susceptibility disparities jointly. In this study, we found both exposure and susceptibility disparities in the US by race-ethnicity and income. Racial-ethnic minorities were generally more exposed and susceptible, while the race-ethnicity group bearing the largest mortality burden was location specific. Our findings would help facilitate targeted interventions, mitigate the NO2-related health burden, and ensure environmental justice.

Online now: Disparities in NO2-related health burden prevalent across race-ethnicity and income groups in the United States

Are we zoning out? Biases in the assessment of protected area zoning and a blueprint for a way forward PAs implement zoning—dividing PAs into sections with different levels of human activity—to balance biodiversity conservation and resource use. Few studies measured the influence of zoning schemes on biodiversity conservation worldwide. Most studies are performed in MPAs and focus on species abundance in the fisheries framework, neglecting fundamental biodiversity features and limiting the understanding of zoning’s conservation effectiveness. We propose a framework to align PA zoning assessments with global biodiversity goals, emphasizing a more comprehensive approach to conservation metrics.

Online now: Are we zoning out? Biases in the assessment of protected area zoning and a blueprint for a way forward

📢New paper! Ecosystem collapse depends on internal complexity, like magnetic materials under stress. @cp-oneearth.bsky.social @unisouthampton.bsky.social @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social
🧲🌍
Full story: www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/why-som...

Cost-competitive plant-by-plant strategy for spatially resolved CCUS deployment toward carbon neutrality in global key industries The energy-intensive yet hard-to-abate global key industries contribute to over half of global CO2 emissions and call for CCUS deployment to achieve carbon neutrality. However, how to cost-effectively deploy CCUS at the plant level considering both technical attributes and geophysical conditions remains underexplored, potentially resulting in increased cost burdens. Here, we develop a CCUS-integrated pathway optimization model to design a plant-by-plant cost-effective strategy. This strategy can enable substantial near-term benefits, with cumulative unit costs reduced by >18.5 USD/t globally and unexpected retrofitting potential in some old and small facilities.

Online now: Cost-competitive plant-by-plant strategy for spatially resolved CCUS deployment toward carbon neutrality in global key industries

Register early and save

Excited to hear from our keynotes: Cyrille Boyer, @hartwiggroup.bsky.social @dr-imari-bsky.social Karen Wooley @tamu.bsky.social @CellSymposia #CSPlastics2025
Register before August 1 and take advantage of our early bird rates: http://dlvr.it/TLvZv2

Northern peatlands could seriously complicate efforts to cool the planet, especially after a temporary overshoot of the 1.5°C global warming limit, according to new IIASA-led research just published in @cp-oneearth.bsky.social.

Learn more 👉 iiasa.ac.at/news/jul-202...

Prevalence of multi-micronutrient limitation of phytoplankton growth in the Southern Ocean In the Southern Ocean (SO), major nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are abundant, but micronutrients such as trace metals are very low in concentration and will limit the growth of phytoplankton and thus withdrawal of atmospheric carbon dioxide. We demonstrated with a model based on a large set of data that several micronutrients can limit the phytoplankton growth in the Australian-Pacific sector of the SO. To enhance carbon dioxide withdrawal, our model can thus guide scientifically sound fertilization.

Online now: Prevalence of multi-micronutrient limitation of phytoplankton growth in the Southern Ocean

Mapping mangrove deforestation and blue carbon loss in global supply chains between 2000 and 2019 Human activities have caused a substantial loss of mangrove carbon stocks through deforestation, yet identifying the final consumers responsible for this loss remains challenging. Our results indicated that about 235 Tg CO2e of mangrove blue carbon was lost due to global consumption, primarily from local demand for primary foods and international trade of processed foods, services, and manufactured goods. Our research underscores the need for comprehensive supply chain management to support more effective conservation of mangrove ecosystems.

Online now: Mapping mangrove deforestation and blue carbon loss in global supply chains between 2000 and 2019

Eco-friendly active film and sealant for underwater drug delivery to diseased corals Coral diseases are a major threat to coral reef ecosystems worldwide. Currently, only a few therapies have been found. To address this lack, this work presents an eco-friendly two-step system based on an antibiotic-loaded hydrophilic film and a thermoresponsive sealant that effectively inhibits coral pathogen growth, such as Vibrio coralliilyticus, and blocks the progression of tissue-necrosis-like disease.

Online now: Eco-friendly active film and sealant for underwater drug delivery to diseased corals

Policies slow biological invasions in Europe, but legacies still matter National policies across European Union countries and the United Kingdom have slowed biological invasions, especially when accounting for invasion dynamics and policy timing. Yet, historical invasion levels remain the strongest predictor of new invasions, suggesting persistent national vulnerabilities. This study underscores the need for long-term, adaptive, and coordinated strategies to effectively manage invasive alien species and achieve global biodiversity targets.

Online now: Policies slow biological invasions in Europe, but legacies still matter

Implementation costs of restoring global mangrove forests Mangrove forests provide many ecosystem services, prompting a wave of recent mangrove restoration initiatives. Here, we estimate and map the implementation costs of restoring mangroves globally. This information can help mangrove restoration initiatives prioritize sites with low cost and high impact and provides an indication of the level of funding needed to achieve their ambitions.

Online now: Implementation costs of restoring global mangrove forests

Accelerating progress on the SDGs: Policy guidance from the global modeling literature (One Earth 8, 101286; June 20, 2025)

Online now: Accelerating progress on the SDGs: Policy guidance from the global modeling literature

Warming of northern peatlands increases the global temperature overshoot challenge The study highlights the critical role of northern peatlands in amplifying climate change under overshoot scenarios, that is, when global temperature temporarily exceeds the targeted level. We simulate that in such scenarios the peatland carbon uptake is offset by increased methane emissions, which amplifies and lengthens the overshoot and reduces the anthropogenic emissions compatible with a given warming level. Our findings emphasize the importance of accounting for peatland dynamics in climate models, especially in overshoot pathways.

Online now: Warming of northern peatlands increases the global temperature overshoot challenge

Ambitious food system interventions required to mitigate the risk of exceeding Earth’s environmental limits Transforming the global food system is crucial to staying within Earth’s environmental limits. Studies assessing the efficacy of interventions to reduce the environmental impact of the food system rely on differing models and worldviews. We synthesize previous research to develop a novel risk assessment framework to estimate the risk mitigation potential of thousands of possible intervention combinations against key environmental limits by 2050. Our findings emphasize the importance of ambitious food-system action to ensure unlikely exceedance of all environmental limits.

Online now: Ambitious food system interventions required to mitigate the risk of exceeding Earth’s environmental limits

🧵 2/2: Pubbed in @cp-oneearth.bsky.social‬, study by Leanne Phelps and @ddavis-arch.bsky.social ‬(@lamont.columbia.edu ‬/@climate.columbia.edu‬), Chiamaka Mangut (Lamont), Kristina Douglass (Columbia Climate), Caroline Lehmann (Uni of Edinburgh), Jennifer Chen (Penn State), Shayla Monroe (Harvard).

Land-based resources for engineered carbon dioxide removal in the United States exceed the expected needs We demonstrate that there is sufficient land in the contiguous United States to achieve carbon dioxide removal targets through biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) and direct air capture and storage (DACS). This can be done while having little impact on the decarbonization of the power grid, food production, and the protection of sensitive ecosystems. The main land-use changes would involve planting perennial grasses for BiCRS and locating renewable energy facilities for DACS.

Online now: Land-based resources for engineered carbon dioxide removal in the United States exceed the expected needs

Unpacking the risks of zoonotic and vector-borne pathogen transmission to humans in the context of environmental change Carvalho et al. reviewed studies on zoonotic and vector-borne diseases (ZVBDs) to evaluate how the components of transmission risk (exposure, hazard, and vulnerability) have been assessed. Their findings indicate that hazard is the most commonly evaluated component in risk assessments, appearing alone in approximately 52% of the studies. In contrast, only 7.4% of studies incorporate all three components of risk assessment. This demonstrates that most studies do not capture the full complexity of ZVBD transmission risk.

Online now: Unpacking the risks of zoonotic and vector-borne pathogen transmission to humans in the context of environmental change

Crop yields are not greater outside centers of origin It has long been assumed that crops yield more outside their centers of origin due to escape from pests and pathogens. Using global data and spatial machine learning across 12 major crops, we found no consistent evidence to support this assumption. Yields, yield gaps, and an index of pesticide requirements were similar regardless of distance from origin.

Online now: Crop yields are not greater outside centers of origin

Did a Q&A for @cellpress.bsky.social about trust in (climate) science, political polarization, and what evidence-based strategies scientists can take amidst political attacks on climate and sustainability science! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@cp-oneearth.bsky.social

Submit here

Abstract deadline extended! Submit to #CellSymposia #CSPlastics2025 before June 30 for a chance to present your work and join editors from @cp-chem.bsky.social @cp-chem-catalysis.bsky.social & @cp-oneearth.bsky.social at this exciting symposium in Amsterdam http://dlvr.it/TLNYZ3

A software package for assessing terrestrial planetary boundaries Planetary boundary (PB) assessments are hampered by the lack of a generic computation tool. Here we developed an R-based, open source software package, boundaries, that can calculate and visualize the spatiotemporal status of different PBs. Building on outputs from a biosphere model we demonstrate how the tool provides transparent and robust evaluation of PBs for land-system change, biosphere integrity, biogeochemical flows and freshwater change. Guidance is provided on how to use boundaries for processing outputs from other models and datasets.

Online now: A software package for assessing terrestrial planetary boundaries

(9/9) That concludes May’s thematic pieces. The rest of the issue features important work on black carbon, the long-term impacts of floods on child mortality, nitrogen management for sustainable tropical agriculture, and more. Give it a read: www.cell.com/one-earth/is...

One Earth's May 'Visual Earth' piece features a mural by artist Daniel Webb. The piece is entitled Everyday Plastic, and exhibits every single piece of plastic Webb used in 2017. This mural of 2,280 liters of plastics among 4,490 items, currently installed at Dreamland in Margate, illuminates the overproduction and overconsumption of the epidemic plastic products.

(8/9) Visual Earth – “Everyday Plastic”
To accompany our more wordy featured pieces, we also love to feature artwork illustrating the challenge. This month, we feature Daniel Webb’s mural which documents every piece of plastic he used in 2017.
doi.org/10.1016/j.on...

(7/9) Commentary – “Cleanups are an important part of the solution to global plastic pollution"
Hannah De Frond and colleagues emphasize cleaning up the vast accumulations of plastic waste is vital to controlling pollution.
doi.org/10.1016/j.on...

(6/9) Commentary – “Preventing corporate capture: Democratic legitimacy and the global plastics treaty”
Rob Ralston and colleagues argue that the plastic industry has captured space, time and interests during negotiations to further their own agenda.
doi.org/10.1016/j.on...

(5/9) Commentary – “Legally binding reduction targets for primary plastics production: A necessity to end plastic pollution”
Tara Olsen, Bethanie Carney Almroth & colleagues discuss what is needed for science-informed targets for safe levels of plastic production & waste.
doi.org/10.1016/j.on...

(4/9) Commentary – “Unpacking plastic credits: Challenges to effective and just global plastics governance”
Sangcheol Moon and colleagues discuss why proposals for plastic credits analogous to carbon credits are not an optimal solution to the plastics crisis
doi.org/10.1016/j.on...

(3/9) Voices – "The Global Plastic Treaty odyssey"
This month we asked: What is needed to build capacity and consent for a Plastics Treaty?
Insight from: E Cowan, M Wagner, T Kantai, F C Lit, BHuijben, E Paredis, M Erckens-Cloodt, K Raubenheimer, J Vandenberg, B Bharadwaj
doi.org/10.1016/j.on...