Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00846-3Chaohui Song explains how a time-lapse mode in wildlife cameras enables sustainable monitoring of forest understory phenology.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00845-4Zongzhi Wu explains how multi-omics approaches can help characterize soil microbiome responses to future climate change.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00844-5Cropland edges are commonly treated as unproductive remnants or generic conservation strips, yet they constitute dynamic and selectively permeable interfaces between cropped fields and surrounding land. Managing complementary edge portfolios, rather than maximizing edge area or prescribing uniform widths, could reconcile production, biodiversity and climate resilience while limiting cross-boundary risks.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00832-9Arctic warming is rapidly transforming belowground processes and carbon cycling. In this Review, the authors synthesize how root and rhizosphere processes shape carbon balance under permafrost thaw and vegetation change and propose integrative approaches to improve mechanistic understanding and model representation.

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.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00840-9Nature Reviews Earth & Environment interviewed Sally Lau about their project investigating the East Antarctic Ice Sheet’s history from the perspectives of animal evolution.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00837-4The environment has an important role in the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This Review discusses the global patterns of AMR distribution and sources and drivers of AMR, and it proposes a standardized surveillance framework to support integrated monitoring, risk assessment and mitigation efforts worldwide.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 06 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00828-5Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is often thought of as a global-scale geoengineering approach to mitigate climate change. This Perspective explores the environmental effects, geochemical constraints, verification and governance of OAE and argues for local-scale, context-led evaluation.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 01 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00841-8Monica McCall explains how the stable and labile fractions of carbon in biochar can be characterized using Rock-Eval pyrolysis.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 30 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00818-7This Review provides a detailed summary of global CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O emissions from inland waters. The authors map emission hot spots, assess anthropogenic drivers and historical increases, evaluate contributions to continental GHG budgets and discuss future trajectories of inland water GHG emissions.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 30 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00842-7Dariana Isamel Avila-Velasquez explains how satellite-derived datasets can help understand surface soil moisture dynamics at regional to global scales.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 30 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00836-5Comprehensive environmental codes, exemplified by China’s new Ecological and Environmental Code, seek to integrate governance across climate, biodiversity and pollution, yet remain misaligned with the dynamic, interconnected nature of Earth system processes. Aligning legal frameworks with these dynamics requires adaptive, process-based governance, predictive monitoring and modelling, and cross-scale coordination.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 30 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00827-6The Wilkes Subglacial Basin is a marine-based sector of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet that is vulnerable to ocean-forced melting and climate warming. This Review assesses changes in ice-sheet extent in the Wilkes Subglacial Basin under past and projected warming and notes large uncertainties in temperature-related and climate-related thresholds for its major retreat.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 28 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00839-2Joseph Boctor explains how machine learning can be used in combination with automated biochemical analyses to identify viable natural biocatalysts to remediate environmental pollution.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 22 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00835-6Urban heat and air pollution exposure are commonly assessed at ground level; however, their intensity can vary with height. Thus, in fast-growing dense high-rise cities, vertically resolved air quality, heat, and epidemiological evidence is needed to support floor-based health risk assessments.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 22 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00833-8Nature Reviews Earth & Environment interviewed James Hammond about their project investigating new opportunities for seismology in environmental science.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 17 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00831-wNutrient management is central to global food security, ecosystem health and climate resilience, yet current practices are profoundly inequitable and unsustainable. This Perspective introduces the circular bionutrient economy as a justice-oriented framework for advancing ecological balance and social equity through the recycling of organic waste streams into agrifood systems.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 14 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00830-xReactive nitrogen deposition in China has changed markedly since 1980 owing to variations in emissions from industry and agriculture, with consequences for ecosystems, food systems and pollution control. This Review synthesizes deposition trends, emission and meteorological drivers, ecological impacts and management strategies for sustainable nitrogen mitigation in China.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 08 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00822-xThe rejection of the proposal for Anthropocene as a formal epoch of the Geological Time Scale has attracted wide interest in the stratigraphic aspects of the debate. Here, we clarify the distinction between the established evidence of anthropogenic planetary transformation versus the debate over the representation in the stratigraphic record.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 08 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00823-wDefining the Anthropocene as a formal epoch with a fixed stratigraphic marker and global start date remains contentious. This Comment summarizes the arguments for a time transgressive extended Anthropocene event that encompasses cumulative diachronous human impacts over millennia, viewing it as an open-ended and transformative episode in Earth history.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 08 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00829-4In 2024, geologists rejected the Anthropocene as a new epoch amid dispute over the definition of the term. This Focus issue and online Collection bring together opinion pieces on the renewed Anthropocene debate.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 08 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00820-zThe Anthropocene is a term applied across geological, environmental and social sciences, and the humanities and arts. This Perspective explores various applications of the term and discusses how a consistent definition could support transdisciplinary efforts to address modern environmental challenges.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 08 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00817-8The Anthropocene is widely used without fixed definition. This Perspective argues for its base to be defined in 1952 by a sharp plutonium upturn coinciding with changes in multiple proxies, providing a globally correlatable horizon reflecting substantial human-driven Earth system disruption.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 04 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00821-ySynthetic fertilizer use has perturbed the global nitrogen cycle by increasing reactive nitrogen inputs to terrestrial systems. This Review synthesizes estimates of global nitrogen pools and fluxes since 1955, assessing flux imbalances and identifying research and policy priorities to rebalance the global nitrogen cycle.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 04 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00826-7Reply to ‘The challenge of defining effectively no snow’

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 03 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00824-9Biochar applications can help mitigate climate change, improve soil health and support a circular economy. Reducing production costs and safety risks, maximizing design and co-benefits, and scaling up to the carbon markets are key priorities in realizing this potential.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 03 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00825-8Fishing has long been a concern to ocean ecosystems, but it can also impact the carbon cycle by disturbing the biological carbon pump (BCP). This Comment discusses whether a ‘BCP fisheries code of practice’ could and should be developed to incentivize natural resource management mechanisms that protect the BCP.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 02 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00816-9Sea ice modulates the energy exchange between the atmosphere and ocean through complex, time-varying processes. This Review describes changes in Arctic and Antarctic sea-ice properties and processes, discusses the future sea-ice environment and provides recommendations to improve understanding of sea ice and its role in Earth’s changing climate.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 24 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00819-6The challenge of defining effectively no snow

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 19 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00815-wSuspended particulate matter (SPM) influences the transport and fate of carbon and environmental contaminants in natural aquatic systems. This Review explores SPM dynamics along the land–ocean continuum and discusses how human activities and climate change might affect its role in the carbon cycle and sediment transport.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 19 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00814-xIron minerals and dissolved organic matter contribute to elemental cycling, contaminant dynamics and biogeochemical processes. This Review provides an update on iron mineral–dissolved organic matter photochemistry and highlights research priorities that could improve climate model predictions, the accuracy of carbon budgets and understanding of contaminant behaviour under sunlight.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 10 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00813-yGroundwater hosts a vast array of microbiomes that are essential to global water quality and ecosystem function. This Review discusses the diversity, biogeography and community assembly of the groundwater microbiome, and explores its role in biogeochemical cycling and sustainable groundwater management.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 31 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00811-0Digital twin prototypes now exist for assessing and aiding disaster response to geophysical hazards, such as volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and earthquakes. We propose a systematic assessment framework to help determine the accuracy, transparency, reproducibility, and accountability of machine learning components within these emerging prototypes.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 23 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00808-9Plastic agricultural films enhance crop productivity and support food security, but their use also contaminates soils with plastics and chemical additives. This Review examines the global production and use of agricultural films, their environmental impacts, and strategies to support their sustainable production and use.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 21 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00812-zWei Chen explains how differential pulse voltammetry is used to resolve the electron transfer processes underlying microbe–mineral element cycles in soils, sediments and aquifers.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 13 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00809-8Nature Reviews Earth & Environment interviewed Kui Han about their project investigating the electrical signature of trans-lithospheric shear zones.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 10 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00806-xMicrobial metabolism affects the magnitude and stability of soil organic carbon. This Review examines how microbial heterotrophic respiration and soil carbon stocks will be affected by climate change and describes potential strategies to mitigate soil carbon loss.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 07 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00810-1Antonia Siebenbrunner explains how diffusive gradients in thin films can be used to trace labile species in environmental systems.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 24 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00805-yImaging spectroscopy technology is transforming the way Earth is viewed from space, with applications across diverse science communities. A global imaging spectrometer mission with Landsat-like spatial and temporal coverage could fully realize this potential.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 19 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00807-wPatricia Asemann explains how infrared imaging can be used to capture atmospheric boundary layer dynamics at high resolution close to the Earth’s surface.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 18 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00804-zToxic metal(loid)s in paddy soils accumulate in rice grains, leading to human health risks from dietary metal exposure. This Perspective describes metal(loid) sources and biogeochemical strategies to reduce metal(loid) bioavailability and uptake, and it proposes a framework for coordinating science, policy and practice in contaminated paddy fields.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 17 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00801-2Nature Reviews Earth & Environment interviewed Junjie Wu about her project investigating Arctic subglacial carbon reactivity.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 17 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00800-3Greenland Ice Sheet melt has intensified since the 1990s with implications for sea-level rise. This Review synthesises paleoclimate records, observations and regional climate melt model simulations to explore the patterns and drivers of melt variability and extremes, and assess uncertainties in future projections.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 16 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00803-0Understanding how Earth’s atmosphere and hydrosphere formed and evolved could help to explain how Earth became, and remains, habitable. This Review discusses the initial formation and redox evolution of Earth’s surface environments, with implications for other planetary bodies.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 15 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00798-8Climate change impact attribution quantifies the observed consequences of climate change through combining climate attribution aspects with impact modelling. Undorf et al. discuss the key steps and methodological choices required, possible societal uses of impact attribution results and ongoing challenges.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 10 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00796-wImproving agrochemical efficacy is important for safely meeting increasing food demand and responding to environmental change. This Review examines how nano-agrochemicals could boost food production sustainably, discusses their risks and benefits, and outlines approaches to facilitate their safe deployment.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 03 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00797-9Compound weather and climate events in 2025

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 01 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00792-0Although hydrogen is not a direct greenhouse gas, its interactions with atmospheric chemistry lead to indirect climate impacts. This Review discusses sources and sinks of atmospheric hydrogen, including uncertainties and data gaps, and how the warming effect of hydrogen emissions can be estimated and accounted for in policies and standards.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 01 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00795-xWidespread declines in dissolved oxygen concentrations in lakes and rivers have ecological and socioeconomic consequences. This Review highlights spatial and temporal trends, climate and anthropogenic drivers, impacts and strategies for the management and mitigation of inland freshwater deoxygenation.