Environment
press releases.

Environment8 Jan 2026

Scientists find microbes enhance the benefits of trees by removing greenhouse gases

Key points Researchers have revealed trillions of microbes live in the bark of every tree Tree microbes clean the air by removing greenhouse and toxic gases This suggests planting trees offers climate benefits beyond CO2 removal Australian researchers have discovered a hidden climate superpower of trees. Their bark harbours trillions of microbes that help scrub the air of greenhouse and toxic gases. It’s long been known that trees fight global warming by consuming ...

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Environment8 Jan 2026

Evidence of cross-regional marine plastic pollution in green sea turtles

Researchers examined the diet and plastic ingestion of green sea turtles inhabiting waters around the Ogasawara Islands, Japan, and detected plastics in 7 of the 10 individuals studied. By integrating genetic, isotopic, and plastic analyses, they estimated that the ingested plastics originated from areas beyond the turtles’ migratory range, indicating the influence of transboundary marine pollution. Plastics have been found in a wide range of marine organisms, from pelagic fishes and whales to even zooplankton. Among these organisms, sea turtles are frequently ...

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Environment8 Jan 2026

Environment: Up to 4,700 tonnes of litter flows down the Rhine each year

The river Rhine is estimated to carry between 3,000 and 4,700 tonnes of macrolitter — pieces of litter larger than 25 millimetres in size — towards the North Sea every year, according to research published in Communications Sustainability. The upper estimate, extrapolated from the results of 12 months of continuous monitoring in collaboration with citizen scientists in Cologne, is more than 250 times higher than some previous estimates, and suggests that long-term physical litter collection is a crucial monitoring method for estimating ...

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Environment8 Jan 2026

Global study reveals widespread burning of plastic for heating and cooking

A new Curtin University-led study has shed new light on the widespread number of households in developing countries burning plastic as an everyday energy source, uncovering serious international health, social equality and environmental concerns. Published in Nature Communications, the research surveyed more than 1000 respondents across 26 countries who work closely with low-income urban neighbourhoods, such as researchers, government workers and community leaders. One in three respondents said they were aware of households burning plastic, with many personally witnessing ...

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Environment8 Jan 2026

Strategy over morality can help conservation campaigns reduce ivory demand, research shows

Research has shown that conservation campaigns could turn the tide on the illegal ivory trade if they focused less on themes of ‘guilt’ and more on why people want to buy ivory in the first place. Despite decades of awareness campaigns and trade bans, ivory buying in Asia still persists. At the recent 20th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Uzbekistan, the international ban on ivory trade was upheld. Researchers at the University of York say many anti-ivory campaigns have struggled because they miss the human side of the problem - why ...

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Environment8 Jan 2026

Rising temperatures reshape microbial carbon cycling during animal carcass decomposition in water

Using metagenomic sequencing across a realistic temperature gradient, researchers show that carcass decay triggers a surge in carbon-degradation genes, while warming selectively favors pathways that rapidly consume easily degradable carbon. Animal death and decomposition are natural but powerful drivers of nutrient release. Each year, large quantities of animal carcasses enter terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, releasing carbon-rich fluids that alter water chemistry and microbial activity. Aquatic systems are especially important, accounting for more than half of global primary production and playing a central role in carbon fixation and degradation. ...

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Environment8 Jan 2026

Dogs’ dinners can have greater climate impact than owners’

Dogs fed on premium, meat-rich pet food can have a bigger dietary carbon pawprint than their owners, according to the largest study into dog food’s climate impact. In particular, wet, raw and meat-rich products are associated with substantially higher greenhouse gas emissions than dry dog food. Overall, the production of ingredients used in UK dog food is estimated to contribute around one per cent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions. The findings highlight the need for greater transparency and better labelling of dog food ingredients to help consumers make informed choices, as pet ownership continues to rise, experts say. Scientists ...

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Environment7 Jan 2026

Turning farm waste into water filters

Researchers at the University of Delaware have transformed discarded corn cobs and other agricultural byproducts into high performance biochar filters that capture both ammonia and tiny plastic particles from water. In laboratory tests, optimized biochar removed up to 64 percent of dissolved ammonia and more than 97 percent of polystyrene micro and nanoplastics without leaching harmful chemicals back into the water. The study points to a practical way to clean polluted water while recycling agricultural waste and locking ...

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Environment7 Jan 2026

Researchers identify urban atmosphere as primary reservoir of microplastics

Over the past two decades, microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) have been recognized as emerging pollutants, detected across every environmental compartment of the Earth's system—the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. Their pervasive presence has drawn increasing attention from researchers focused on biogeochemical cycles and climate change. Significant gaps remain, however, in quantifying the stocks, sources, transformation, and fate of plastics, especially within the atmosphere, primarily due to analytical limitations ...

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Environment7 Jan 2026

Oil residues can travel over 5,000 miles on ocean debris, study finds

When oily plastic and glass, as well as rubber, washed onto Florida beaches in 2020, a community group shared the mystery online, attracting scientists’ attention. Working together, they linked the black residue-coated debris to a 2019 oil slick along Brazil’s coastline. Using ocean current models and chemical analysis, the team explains in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology how some of the oily material managed to travel over 5,200 miles (8,500 kilometers) by clinging to debris. “The research findings of our study would not have been possible without the dedication of the Friends of Palm Beach,” says Bryan James, lead author ...

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Environment7 Jan 2026

Global aviation emissions could be halved through maximising efficiency gains, new study shows

A new study co-led by the University of Oxford has found that global aviation emissions could be reduced by 50-75% through combining three strategies to boost efficiency: flying only the most fuel-efficient aircraft, switching to all-economy layouts, and increasing passenger loads. Crucially, the study shows that around a 11% reduction in global aviation emissions is achievable immediately, by using the most efficient aircraft that airlines already have more strategically on routes they already fly. Published today (7 January) in Nature Communications Earth ...

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Environment7 Jan 2026

Solar hydrogen can now be produced efficiently without the scarce metal platinum

A research team led by Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have presented a new way to produce hydrogen gas without the scarce and expensive metal platinum. Using sunlight, water and tiny particles of electrically conductive plastic, the researchers show how the hydrogen can be produced efficiently, sustainably and at low cost. Hydrogen plays a key role in the global pursuit for renewable energy. Although its use produces only water as a by-product, significant challenges remain before hydrogen can be produced both on a large-scale and in an environmentally friendly way. A major challenge is the use of the metal platinum as a co-catalyst when sunlight and water ...

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Environment6 Jan 2026

Revolutionizing biosecurity: new multi-omics framework to transform invasive species management

Beijing, China — Biological invasion has become one of the most significant drivers of global ecological disruption, causing billions of dollars in economic losses annually. Yet, for decades, our response to these "alien" species has been largely reactive-acting only after a species has already established itself and caused damage. In a major review published in the journal Biological Diversity, Professor Aibin Zhan from the Research Center for Eco - Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposes a paradigm shift. The study introduces a "proactive, predictive, and integrative" framework driven by multi - omics technologies, offering a high - resolution ...

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Environment6 Jan 2026

Smart biochar that remembers pollutants offers a new way to clean water and recycle biomass

Scientists have combined molecular imprinting technology with biochar to create materials that can recognize and capture specific molecules with remarkable precision. Biochar is a porous carbon material made by heating biomass such as crop residues in low-oxygen conditions, and is already valued for its low cost, large surface area, and environmental friendliness.​ Molecular imprinting works by “teaching” a polymer to remember the shape and chemical features of a target molecule, then locking that memory into tiny ...

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Environment6 Jan 2026

Turning garden and crop waste into plastics

Turning green waste, hay and algae into fully biodegradable plastics for use in medical products, car components, insulation and packaging is the goal of a new Junior Research Group at the University of Oldenburg in the northwest of Germany. Led by chemist Dr Melanie Walther, the team will combine eco-friendly and application-oriented approaches to develop a cost-effective, energy-efficient technology for making innovative plastics based on polybutylene succinate (PBS) which are made entirely out of organic waste. The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) is providing around 2.7 million euros in funding for the EcoPBS project. “The work of the new Junior Research ...

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Environment6 Jan 2026

House sparrows in northern Norway can help us save other endangered animals

Researchers are trying to understand why some wild species do better than others over time, as the environment changes. Researcher Kenneth Aase's research focuses on a new mathematical approach that could shed light on this question, which in turn could move us closer to understanding the loss of biological diversity. Aase is a statistician and a PhD research fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU's) Department of Mathematical Sciences. He is associated with the GPWILD ...

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Environment6 Jan 2026

Pathways to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions for Southeast Asia

Could Southeast Asia become carbon neutral by 2050, even as energy demand increases? The region is growing quickly and still relies heavily on fossil fuels. A modeling study by Bin Su and colleagues provides an energy system optimization model with pathways to net-zero emissions by 2050 for the electricity and hydrogen sectors in members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Cambodia. The model simulates energy production and demand ...

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Environment6 Jan 2026

CFRI special issue call for papers: New Frontiers in Sustainable Finance

China Finance Review International (CFRI) has announced a call for papers for a forthcoming special issue titled “New Frontiers in Sustainable Finance,” inviting original research that examines the growing role of sustainability in financial markets, corporate decision-making, and regulatory frameworks. The special issue aims to capture recent advances in sustainable finance as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations become increasingly central to the global ...

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Environment6 Jan 2026

On-demand upgraded recycling of polyethylene and construction of sustainable multifunctional materials based on the "LEGO" strategy

Academician Yu-Zhong Wang's team at Sichuan University proposed an innovative "LEGO" strategy, successfully upgrading and recycling waste polyethylene (PE) into high-performance materials with multiple functions. This strategy degrades PE into oligomers, which are then modularly assembled with different functional monomers through dynamic imine bonds. This allows for customized functionalization, achieving multiple functions such as flame retardancy, antistatic properties, UV shielding, and dyeability. Simultaneously, the resulting material exhibits good physical and chemical recyclability. ...

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Environment5 Jan 2026

New insights reveal how advanced oxidation can tackle emerging water pollutants

Scientists have taken a major step toward improving how wastewater treatment systems deal with emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, and endocrine disrupting chemicals. In a new perspective article published in New Contaminants, researchers present a comprehensive framework explaining how advanced oxidation processes, or AOPs, remove these hard to eliminate pollutants from water. Emerging contaminants are often present at very low concentrations, but they can pose long term risks to ecosystems and human health. Many conventional ...

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Environment5 Jan 2026

New review shows how biomass can deliver low-carbon gaseous fuels at scale

A new comprehensive review highlights how converting biomass into gaseous fuels such as hydrogen, methane, and syngas could play a critical role in the global transition to low-carbon energy systems. By combining techno-economic analysis with life-cycle assessment, the study provides one of the clearest pictures to date of when and where biomass-based gaseous fuels can be both climate-friendly and economically viable. The review, published in Energy & Environment Nexus, examines thermochemical conversion pathways that transform agricultural residues, forestry waste, and other ...

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Environment5 Jan 2026

Climate change is quietly rewriting the world’s nitrogen cycle, with high stakes for food and the environment

Climate change is not only warming the planet and disrupting rainfall, it is also quietly rewiring the way nitrogen moves through the world’s croplands, forests, and grasslands. This hidden shift in the global nitrogen cycle carries major consequences for food security, water quality, biodiversity, and climate policy. Nitrogen is a basic building block of proteins and DNA, and healthy terrestrial ecosystems depend on a steady but balanced flow of nitrogen through soils, plants, and microbes. When that balance is disturbed, harvests can fall, rivers can turn green with algae, and more greenhouse gases can escape into the atmosphere.​ “In a warming world, nitrogen ...

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Environment5 Jan 2026

Greenland’s Prudhoe Dome ice cap was completely gone only 7,000 years ago, first GreenDrill study finds

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The first study from GreenDrill — a project co-led by the University at Buffalo to collect rocks and sediment buried beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet — has found that the Prudhoe Dome ice cap was completely gone approximately 7,000 years ago, much more recently than previously known. Published today (Jan. 5) in Nature Geoscience, the findings suggest that this high point on the northwest section of the ice sheet is highly sensitive to the relatively mild temperatures of the Holocene, the interglacial period that began 11,000 years ago and continues today. “This is a ...

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Environment5 Jan 2026

Longest observation of an active solar region

Our sun rotates around its axis once every 28 days. From earth, therefore, active regions of the sun can only be observed for up to two weeks at a time. After this, they rotate beyond our field of view, remaining hidden from us for two weeks. “Fortunately, the Solar Orbiter mission, launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2020, has broadened our perspective,” says Ioannis Kontogiannis, solar physicist at ETH Zurich and the Istituto ricerche solari Aldo e Cele Daccò (IRSOL) in Locarno. The Solar Orbiter ...

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Environment2 Jan 2026

Anthropologists offer new evidence of bipedalism in long-debated fossil discovery

In recent decades, scientists have debated whether a seven-million-year-old fossil was bipedal—a trait that would make it the oldest human ancestor. A new analysis by a team of anthropologists offers powerful evidence that Sahelanthropus tchadensis—a species discovered in the early 2000s—was indeed bipedal by uncovering a feature found only in bipedal hominins. Using 3D technology and other methods, the team identified Sahelanthropus’s femoral tubercle, which is the point of attachment for the largest and most powerful ligament in the human body—the iliofemoral ligament—and ...

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