Nature Reviews Earth & Environment April 2021
Volume 2 Issue 4, April 2021
Estimates of global dryland changes are often conflicting. This Review discusses and quantifies observed and projected aridity changes, revealing divergent responses between atmospheric and ecohydrological metrics owing to plant physiological responses to elevated CO2. See Lian et al.
Image: Felix Cesare / Getty Images. Cover design: Carl Conway.
Research Highlights
Research Highlight | 11 March 2021
Farm to fork emissions
An article in Nature Food documents how food systems contribute approximately one-third of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
- Graham Simpkins
Research Highlight | 22 March 2021
Fleeting flows
A study in the Journal of Hydrology explores the connections between climate conditions, intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams across four countries.
- Laura Zinke
Tools of the Trade | 16 March 2021
Sedimentary ancient DNA as a tool in paleoecology
Sarah Crump explains the use of sedimentary DNA analyses in paleoecology studies.
- Sarah E. Crump
Tools of the Trade | 17 March 2021
Satellite remote sensing of deforestation for oil palm
Matthew Payne describes the use of satellite imagery in tracking and understanding deforestation for oil palm.
- Matthew Payne
News & Views
Snapshot | 11 March 2021
Left in the wake of the 2011 Japan tsunami
The 2011 Mw 9.1 earthquake and tsunami caused incomprehensible damage along the northeast coast of Japan. This Snapshot discusses the measures that have been put in place over the past 10 years to mitigate hazards of a future tsunami disaster.
- Erin Scott
Collection:
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Researchers think lateral and act global
Current global problems are complex and researchers say solutions require a multidisciplinary approach
Reviews
Review Article | 09 March 2021
Multifaceted characteristics of dryland aridity changes in a warming world
Estimates of global dryland changes are often conflicting. This Review discusses and quantifies observed and projected aridity changes, revealing divergent responses between atmospheric and ecohydrological metrics that can be explained by plant physiological responses to elevated CO2.
- Xu Lian
- Shilong Piao
- & Michael L. Roderick
Review Article | 02 March 2021
Building the Himalaya from tectonic to earthquake scales
Mountain building involves complex and debated feedback cycles between both permanent tectonic and transient seismic processes. This Review discusses how the fault architecture and tectonic segmentation of the Himalaya influence the seismic cycle, which in turn impacts the long-term growth of the mountain range.
- Luca Dal Zilio
- György Hetényi
- & Laurent Bollinger
Review Article | 16 March 2021
Vegetation uptake of mercury and impacts on global cycling
Mercury, a semi-volatile and globally abundant pollutant, is transported through the atmosphere and taken up by vegetation. This Review discusses the mechanisms of vegetation mercury uptake and the role of vegetation in the mercury cycle, highlighting its importance for redistribution in the terrestrial environment and influence on atmospheric mercury concentrations and deposition to oceans.
- Jun Zhou
- Daniel Obrist
- & Andrei Ryjkov
Review Article | 23 March 2021
Geological constraints on the mechanisms of slow earthquakes
The discovery of slow earthquakes transformed the understanding of how tectonic plate motions are accommodated; however, the mechanics of slow earthquakes remain enigmatic. This Review synthesizes geological observations of ancient deformation structures that likely hosted slow earthquakes and discusses the insights into the mechanics of fault slip.
- James D. Kirkpatrick
- Åke Fagereng
- & David R. Shelly
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