Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00834-7Globally, rivers export ~1015 grams of carbon to the ocean each year. This Review explores the mobilization, modulation and transport of different species of carbon within watersheds and rivers, with the aim to help inform and improve land-to-ocean carbon flux estimates.

Ancient carbon is leaking from two lakes in the Congo Basin, revealing a previously unknown link between tropical peatlands and the atmosphere.

Abstract. Deforestation for cropland expansion in tropical sloping landscapes causes severe soil erosion and thus the loss of fertile, organic rich topsoil. Whether there is variation in the effect of...

Two major humic lakes in the Congo Basin emit ancient carbon from nearby peatlands into the atmosphere, as shown by the isotopic signatures of their carbon pools.

Lake Mai Ndombe is supersaturated in CO2 ${\text{CO}}_{2}$, CH4 ${\text{CH}}_{4}$, and N2O ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}\mathrm{O}$, with outgassing fluxes of 375 ± 32 Gg C yr−1, 623 ± 136 Mg C yr−1, and 223 ...

Nature Geoscience - We revealed that carbon dioxide emissions from the Congo Basin’s largest humic lakes partially originate from millennia-old peat. This discovery identifies a pathway...

Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) is a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy that converts atmospheric CO2 to stable carbonates by applying minerals to agricultural land. This Perspective discusses the p...

Over thousands of years, the swamps and peatlands in the Congo Basin have accumulated and stored huge amounts of carbon. A research team led by ETH Zurich has now shown that large lakes in this ecosys...

Over thousands of years, the swamps and peatlands in the Congo Basin have accumulated and stored huge amounts of carbon. A research team led by ETH Zurich has now shown that large lakes in this ecosys...

Two major humic lakes in the Congo Basin emit ancient carbon from nearby peatlands into the atmosphere, as shown by the isotopic signatures of their carbon pools.

Far from frozen and sterile environments, glaciers are biogeochemical reactors and regulators. This Review outlines key biogeochemical and associated physical processes occurring in glacierized enviro...

A data scientist rebuts 50 arguments against green technology with lively pragmatism and authority

Setting up the world’s biggest giant tropical forest reserve in the Congo Basin is a step towards conserving the area and creating jobs for local communities.

The Ruki is a pristine blackwater tributary in the Congo Basin draining tropical lowland forest. Daily discharge and fortnightly concentrations, isotopic ratios, and molecular composition of carbon a....

Bedrock lithology drives differences in streamflow and carbon export in adjacent catchments, controlling variability in shallow flow paths Both catchments display similar in-stream major ion conc...