Climate change is altering the balance between pests and their natural enemies in northern agrosystems. Leafhoppers, which are sap-feeders and vectors of plant pathogens, are particularly sensitive indicators of these shifts. Monitoring in Eastern Canada revealed that community composition is closely tied to climate: migratory species increase rapidly above thermal thresholds, while resident species decline under heavy rainfall. We also report the presence in Canada of the corn leafhopper, a Neotropical species whose range is dangerously expanding northward. Conventional insecticides did little to suppress populations, confirming the limits to chemical control. In contrast, native parasitoid wasps were abundant and responsive to seasonal conditions, successfully parasitizing dominant migratory leafhoppers. Genomic analyses also uncovered unexpected diversity, including the first complete mitochondrial genome for a New World Gonatopus, providing valuable tools for biosurveillance. These findings reinforce leafhoppers as sentinels of climate change and point to the conservation of parasitoids as a foundation for climate-resilient pest management.
Nitrogen fertilizers sustain food security but complicate climate and air-pollution mitigation. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arise mainly from energy-intensive production, whereas reactive nitrogen (Nr) losses occur largely during application. Here, we develop an integrated life-cycle framework that links fertilizer production and cropland nitrogen budgets and apply it to China for 1990–2020. Expanding fertilizer exports widens the disconnect between production and application. In 2020, the system emitted 432 Tg CO2eq and 3.3 Tg Nr, increasing PM2.5 concentrations by up to 5.2 μg m−3 across central and eastern China. Production accounted for 77% of GHG emissions, while application caused 92% of Nr losses. Coordinated management could reduce GHG emissions by 65% and Nr losses by 52% by 2050, lower PM2.5 concentrations by 1.5 μg m−3, and avoid approximately 195,000 premature deaths. These results show that life-cycle coordination is essential for unlocking mitigation synergies in fertilizer systems.
This paper presents a critical perspective on the potential of small modular reactors (SMRs) to address the rapidly increasing energy demands of the digital economy, particularly those driven by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). Drawing on expertise in techno-economic analysis and the modeling and control of advanced nuclear reactors and integrated energy systems, we explore the prospects for deploying SMR technology to power energy-intensive data centers. We examine practical implementation pathways and identify the key technical, regulatory, and operational challenges that must be addressed for effective integration. The SMR-data center discussion is grounded on SMR designs, deployment configurations, grid integration strategies, and interactions with data center cooling systems. This perspective aims to assess the potential of SMR-powered data centers as a scalable and forward-looking solution to escalating electricity demands, emphasizing their role in enhancing energy resilience and sustainability.
The Chinese food system is increasingly strained by rising food demand and tightening resource and environmental constraints, posing major challenges to food security. This study combines a China-tailored agro-economic model (model of agricultural production and its impact on the environment for China [MAgPIE-China]) with ex post data envelopment analysis (DEA) to project total factor productivity (TFP) growth in China’s crop sector under diverse socioeconomic scenarios and to quantify joint effects of TFP growth and agricultural trade on resource and environmental outcomes. We find that TFP in the crop sector is projected to increase by 2050, with cumulative growth ranging from 26% to 42% across shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) relative to 2020 levels. Enhanced TFP, together with demand-driven shifts in crop composition, is associated with lower methane emissions, whereas agricultural trade primarily mitigates cropland pressure in China and contributes to global resource-use efficiency gains. These findings provide insights for policies aimed at balancing food security, resource conservation, and environmental protection in China.
Sustainable aquaculture requires comprehensive chemical oversight, as compounds used in aquaculture can persist in ecosystems, bioaccumulate through food chains, and affect aquatic life and human health. This study presents ReCAnt (Resource on Chemicals used in Aquaculture and their Ecotoxicity), compiling information on 690 aquaculture chemicals, including data on toxic and therapeutic effects curated from published literature. Only a fraction of these chemicals have associated regulatory information, suggesting potential gaps in existing regulations. Integration of data from the comparative toxicogenomics database reveals associations between chemicals and 7,997 genes, 231 phenotypes, and 89 diseases, while ECOTOX data provide toxicity and bioconcentration information for 142 chemicals. Predicted biotransformation pathways and partition coefficients indicate microbial degradation potential, with chemicals generally favoring atmospheric partitioning. Food web network analysis identifies species vulnerable to trophic transfer and common entry points for chemicals into aquatic ecosystems. This resource can aid regulatory decision-making and promote sustainable blue economy practices.
Agricultural waste valorization has emerged as a promising strategy to support the circular bioeconomy by reducing waste streams and generating sustainable alternatives to fossil-derived chemicals. In this review, we discuss the valorization of agricultural waste to value-added chemicals, reporting on secondary metabolites extracted from different waste biomasses. Additionally, we focus on extraction techniques and their environmental impacts, as assessed by life cycle assessment (LCA) studies. Finally, we discuss emerging waste biomass sources, including pine needles, wood bark, and poultry manure, along with their valorization processes. Further research is needed to enable their comprehensive valorization through the integration of experimental investigations and robust LCA approaches. Future studies should adopt harmonized methodological frameworks that include product-oriented functional units, comprehensive system boundaries, transparent allocation procedures, and solvent and energy management strategies, alongside scale-up and sensitivity analyses to improve the robustness, comparability, and industrial relevance of sustainability assessments.
Reducing emissions in hard-to-abate (HTA) sectors is essential for global climate goals. While extensive research covers large-scale HTA sectors like cement and steel, niche HTA sectors remain underexplored. Here, we compile the first global unit-level CO2 inventory for ceramic tile industry and develop a bottom-up model simulating the emission reduction potential of decarbonization strategies. In 2022, 1,861 manufacturers emitted 144.6 MtCO2, with indoor tiles accounting for 79.2% and outdoor tiles for 20.8%. As 76.2% of units are in operation-year of only 5–24 years, committed CO2 emissions will reach 3.76 Gt over the entire lifetime, equivalent to 10.1% of 2024 global emissions. Without intervention, annual emissions could hit 297.84 MtCO2 by 2062, representing 8.6% of global emissions under the 2°C target. Fuel substitution and carbon capture and storage are crucial for deep decarbonization, offering emission reductions of 31.3%–32.8% and 22.3%–46.2%, respectively. Our research provides robust references for decarbonizing niche industrial sectors.
Phosphogypsum, a by-product of phosphate fertilizer production with a global annual output of hundreds of millions of tonnes, poses environmental challenges but also opportunities as a secondary resource. Current recycling approaches often suffer from poor economic viability due to inefficient material utilization and low-value products. Here, we demonstrate a rapid flash carbothermic reduction process for phosphogypsum valorization, enabling simultaneous rare earth recovery and eco-material synthesis. By blending phosphogypsum with conductive carbon and applying a pulsed current for seconds, it is converted into calcium sulfide. This disrupts the lattice, liberating rare earths and transforming hard-to-dissolve species into soluble oxides or oxysulfides, achieving recovery >96%. The calcium sulfide residue also functions as an efficient heavy metal adsorbent comparable with commercial materials. Environmental and economic analyses indicate >83% lower greenhouse gas emissions and >87% lower operating costs. This integrated, scalable strategy offsets processing costs through value-added products, supporting waste mitigation and sustainable material production.
Increasing shares of renewable energy (RE) are reshaping power systems and creating unprecedented challenges in the spatiotemporal synergy of power generation, transmission, storage, and demand (GTSD). Existing fragmented planning strategies inadequately address resource mismatch and the trade-off between RE penetration and cost efficiency. Here, to accelerate the low-carbon transition, we develop a spatiotemporal multi-objective model for China’s power system that optimizes GTSD by minimizing transition costs and maximizing RE penetration. Our results indicate that carbon neutrality can be reached by 2053, 7 years earlier than under the business-as-usual scenario, with an 18.1% reduction in system costs. The synergistically optimized layout increases generation and storage capacities by 24.8% and 95.4%, respectively, and reduces interregional transmission requirements by 15.5%. As a result, the RE share in installed capacity and power generation rises by 8.1% and 16.7%, respectively. This study provides a replicable synergy framework to guide cost-effective decarbonization of power systems.
This study presents the design, experimental evaluation, and energy savings potential of an active thermal switch technology for building envelopes, enabling variable thermal resistance. The switch incorporates a low-power motor and a Raspberry Pi-based control for programmable switching, real-time monitoring, and fault detection. The effective thermal conductivity of a switch inserted into a 10 in × 10 in (0.064 m2) insulation is measured to ∼0.046 W/m-K in the OFF state and 0.258–0.316 W/m-K in the ON state. Cyclability tests over 225 thermal cycles show no performance degradation. Outdoor tests using scaled-down models demonstrate improved performance of wall-integrated phase change materials (PCMs). Building energy simulations on single-family residential homes across various US cities’ climates indicate that integrating these switches with PCM-based thermal storage can reduce annual heating and cooling energy use by up to 1,090 kWh and energy costs by up to $286, with average savings of 738 kWh (24%) and $130 (24%), respectively.
Canada’s ecosystems provide vital climate and water regulation services, but nationally consistent assessments integrating multiple ecosystem services (ESs) remain limited. Here, we report a national assessment of three key regulating ESs: carbon storage, sediment retention, and nutrient retention. Carbon density is highest in western mountain forests, boreal forests, and peatland-rich regions, whereas agricultural watersheds in the Prairies and southern Canada combine lower carbon storage with high nutrient inputs and export. Sediment retention is strongest where steep, erosion-prone landscapes retain forest cover, particularly in western Canada. Integrating services identifies candidate protection priorities in forested mountain watersheds that jointly support high carbon storage and sediment regulation, as well as candidate restoration priorities in intensively farmed watersheds where high nutrient export and reduced carbon storage coincide. Downstream population exposure refines these priorities toward areas where interventions may provide greater societal benefit. This assessment provides a consistent national baseline for cross-jurisdictional watershed management and environmental planning.
Integrating natural capital into economic development and environmental management has become globally embraced. As a highly biodiverse country, China has begun incorporating natural capital into mainstream decision-making to support environmental sustainability. This article reviews the development of natural capital accounting in China, synthesizes local practices, and identifies key challenges and future research priorities. The findings show that over 90 percent of provinces have implemented gross ecosystem product accounting under national guidelines, spanning provincial, municipal, and county levels. The practice is evolving from focusing on accounting alone toward emphasizing application, particularly in linking accounting results with ecosystem product value realization. However, challenges remain in comparability, data accessibility and timeliness, accounting capacity, and application scope. Establishing a unified national accounting platform and strengthening incentive mechanisms are essential. This study offers valuable insights into environmental management to guide natural capital accounting and mainstreaming in other regions.
Japan’s rapid expansion of solar and wind energy—ranking sixth globally in installed capacity—is creating a growing stream of retired energy infrastructure, raising new challenges for waste management and opportunities for resource recovery. Here, we report a spatially explicit assessment of Japan’s renewable energy urban mine by combining stock projections, dynamic material flow analysis, and mapping across 47 administrative units. Annual material outflows increase rapidly after 2030, and cumulative waste reaches 12.4 to 16.6 Mt by 2050. Iron, glass, and aluminum dominate waste mass, whereas silver and rare earth elements account for a large share of the economic value, which can reach 3.5 billion USD in 2050. Decommissioning is spatially concentrated, with the top 5% of grids contributing more than 35% of the retired capacity. Recycling these materials avoids more than 2,500 kt CO2-equiv annually by 2050, demonstrating triple sustainability benefits for resource recovery, economic value, and carbon mitigation.
Archaea are important yet often neglected microorganisms, and their role in the wastewater nitrogen cycle remains unclear. Here, we analyze the distribution and nitrogen-cycling activity of archaea in swine wastewater using metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches based on samples collected from 34 large-scale swine wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) across China. We find that archaea harbor diverse nitrogen-cycling genes, including several archaea-specific genes with high expression levels. Additionally, they carry relatively few antibiotic resistance genes and virulence factors. We also observe gene exchange involving nitrogen-related genes both among archaea and between archaea and bacteria. Archaea alone explain 2.0% of the variation in nitrogen-cycling genes, whereas their co-contribution with bacteria reaches 34.3%, suggesting that archaea not only directly participate in the nitrogen transformation but also interact synergistically with bacteria. These findings identify archaea as key functional microorganisms with low biosafety risk potential, underscoring their unique value for sustainable wastewater treatment.
High-latitude forests are critical carbon sinks, yet their future capacity under climate change remains uncertain due to unidentified climatic thresholds. Based on data from 4,011 forest inventory sites in Northeast China, we find that both aboveground and belowground carbon pools saturate with forest aging, with the belowground pool saturating earlier. We identify distinct temperature (0.33°C vs. −0.08°C) and precipitation (626 mm vs. 689 mm) thresholds for aboveground and belowground carbon sink potential. Crossing these thresholds leads to noticeable shifts in carbon-climate associations. Furthermore, tree diversity enhances carbon accumulation across all scenarios with varying intensities. Under future climate change projections, 18.2%–22.7% of the region is expected to surpass the temperature threshold for aboveground carbon, and 16.6%–20.7% for belowground carbon, by 2060. This study quantifies the nonlinear climatic constraints on carbon sink potential, providing a mechanistic basis for predicting vulnerability and guiding climate-adaptive forest management strategies to preserve carbon sequestration.
Protected areas (PAs) are expanding to meet biodiversity and climate goals, yet their consequences for resident communities remain underexplored. Here, we report a village-level assessment of how PA status relates to staple-grain yield gains and local shortfall exposure in China’s traditional villages. Using georeferenced data from 8,151 villages, including 1,808 inside PAs, we find that staple-grain yield gains are weaker inside PAs from 2000 to 2020. PA slowdown is spatially uneven and concentrates within China’s staple-grain functional regions, revealing a production-consumption mismatch that aggregate comparisons would miss. Incorporating local consumption demand, we show that PA villages exhibit larger self-sufficiency gaps and higher shortfall exposure. A mid-century climate sensitivity test suggests that downside risk intensifies in the lower tail. These results identify where staple-grain shortfalls are most likely to emerge, informing targeted monitoring and support for remote PA villages.
Over the past decade, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices have drawn attention, yet critics question their role in financing a low-carbon transition. This commentary explores ESG’s evolution and its implications for sustainable investment and net-zero strategies, urging critical engagement with its strengths and limitations.
Writing in Green Chemistry, Chloe Balhatchet et al. present a life cycle assessment of a conductive metal-organic framework electrode material for supercapacitor applications. Despite promising electrochemical performance, the material exhibits environmental impacts several orders of magnitude higher than conventional carbon-based electrodes, highlighting sustainability challenges for future energy storage technologies.
Writing in Environmental Research Letters, Ane Loroño Leturiondo and colleagues quantify the impacts of rising temperatures on the health of the elderly and the associated economic costs in Europe. Results show that heat-related mortality among older adults could reach between 213,000 and 436,000 cases in low- and high-emission scenarios, respectively, with economic costs reaching up to US$2.3 trillion (6.4% of GDP) by 2070 under high emissions.
