research articles in environmental science

Every print subscription comes with full digital access

Science News

Fiddler crabs are migrating north to cooler waters

The crabs are climate migrants and could be a harbinger of changes to come as more species move in.

Summer-like heat is scorching the Southern Hemisphere — in winter

Mantle waves buoy continents upward and bedeck them with diamonds

More stories in earth.

Extreme heat and rain are fueling rising cases of mosquito-borne diseases

Extreme Climate Update looks at the perfect storm climate change is creating for mosquitoes and the diseases they carry, like dengue and West Nile.

National Geographic’s ‘OceanXplorers’ dives into the ocean’s mysteries

National Geographic’s documentary series ‘OceanXplorers,’ produced by James Cameron, invites you aboard one of the most advanced research vessels in the world.

Can scientists make fruits and veggies resilient to climate change?

Combining traditional plant breeding with new genomics tools is allowing scientists to grow plants that are better adapted to a warming climate.

Zapping sand to create rock could help curb coastal erosion

Low voltages generated minerals that help bind the sand into erosion-resistant rock, offering hope for shorelines ravaged by waves.

‘Turning to Stone’ paints rocks as storytellers and mentors

Part memoir, part geology explainer, Marcia Bjornerud’s latest book explores the hidden wisdom of Earth’s rocks.

The world’s record-breaking hot streak has lasted 14 months. When will it end?

Science News spoke with NOAA climatologist Karin Gleason about the ongoing record-breaking streak of record-high global temperatures.

The asteroid that may have killed the dinosaurs came from beyond Jupiter

The Chicxulub crater, left behind by the impact, contains elemental traces that suggest the origins of the notorious projectile.

More than 4 billion people may not have access to clean water

The new estimate, based on data from 135 low- and middle-income countries, is more than double the World Health Organization’s official count.

Your medications might make it harder for you to beat the heat

Chronic illnesses and the medications that treat them may make it harder to handle extreme heat. It’s even harder to study how.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.

Not a subscriber? Become one now .

PUBLISHING OPTIONS FOR EVERY AUTHOR

Discover journals in environmental science, new environmental science journals.

ACS ES&T Air

ACS Sustainable Resource Management

Environment & Health

ACS Agricultural Science & Technology

ACS Earth and Space Chemistry

ACS Environmental Au

ACS ES&T Engineering

ACS ES&T Water

ACS Food Science & Technology

ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

Chemical Research in Toxicology

Energy & Fuels

Environmental Science & Technology

Environmental Science & Technology Letters

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

The Journal of Physical Chemistry A

ACS Central Science

Journal of the American Chemical Society

Fill out a pre-submission inquiry to find the right journal for your research.

Open Science Resources

Manuscript Preparation and Submission

Submit manuscript.

The Publishing Process

Latest News in Earth, Space and Environmental Chemistry

Special Issue Call for Papers

ACS Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2024 | American Chemical Society | 1155 Sixteenth Street NW | Washington, DC 20036

• svg]:fill-accent-900">

Environment

The changes and wonders of the natural world—and how human interaction influences animals, the ocean, and the rest of the environment.

Latest in Environment

‘remarkable’ fossils offer clues to perplexing pterosaur question ‘remarkable’ fossils offer clues to perplexing pterosaur question.

By Laura Baisas

How farming helped humans evolve to get more energy from carbs How farming helped humans evolve to get more energy from carbs

Where and when were horses domesticated where and when were horses domesticated.

By William Taylor / The Conversation

‘The world is not prepared:’ How AI energy thirst might tap into geothermal power ‘The world is not prepared:’ How AI energy thirst might tap into geothermal power

By Mack DeGeurin

Northern elephant seals know a ‘dinner bell’ when they hear one Northern elephant seals know a ‘dinner bell’ when they hear one

Invasive jellyfish ‘clones’ are spreading into canada invasive jellyfish ‘clones’ are spreading into canada.

By Andrew Paul

The best robot vacuums for pet hair in 2024 The best robot vacuums for pet hair in 2024

By Heather Kuldell , Abby Ferguson , Amanda Reed

The famous railing from ‘Titanic’ has broken off from Titanic The famous railing from ‘Titanic’ has broken off from Titanic

Drought reveals a sunken village in greece drought reveals a sunken village in greece, who ate the pregnant porbeagle shark who ate the pregnant porbeagle shark, watch the world’s fastest backflipping bug watch the world’s fastest backflipping bug, mosquitoes can barely see–but a male’s vision perks up when they hear a female mosquitoes can barely see–but a male’s vision perks up when they hear a female, birds have ‘culture.’ just look at these nests. birds have ‘culture.’ just look at these nests..

By Lauren Leffer

How starfish lose limbs (on purpose) and survive How starfish lose limbs (on purpose) and survive

The ‘internet of animals’ could transform what we know about wildlife the ‘internet of animals’ could transform what we know about wildlife.

By Hillary Rosner / Yale Environment 360

Crocodile attacks sea cow. Tiger Shark picks apart sea cow. Crocodile attacks sea cow. Tiger Shark picks apart sea cow.

After eee death in new hampshire, here’s what to know about the mosquito-borne virus after eee death in new hampshire, here’s what to know about the mosquito-borne virus, new images of deep sea wonders are surprisingly adorable new images of deep sea wonders are surprisingly adorable, the ‘disco’ gene could help moths tell time the ‘disco’ gene could help moths tell time, our pest control is killing the bees our pest control is killing the bees.

By Harri Weber

Explore Environment

• Agriculture
• Climate Change
• Conservation
• Sustainability

Like science, tech, and DIY projects?

Sign up to receive Popular Science’s emails and get the highlights.

Environmental Science - Science topic

• Recruit researchers
• Join for free
• Login Email Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google Welcome back! Please log in. Email · Hint Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google No account? Sign up

Recommended Environmental Science Articles & Journals

Information about what is happening in the scientific community reaches us a variety of ways. Some may be through a group you follow on social media. Some may be via word of mouth, or CNN, BBC, in a class, on the radio as a public notice, overheard at a restaurant, etc. One tried and true way to get news is through print. Articles can be written by any scientific journalist with little regard to the “form” of the article. But a publication that goes through a peer review process, and is published in some of the following magazines, undergoes a much more scientific process of writing.

Daily Environmental Science News Articles

Although we have multiple choices of information for finding out local and national news, most of us have a specific source we use, whether it is radio, TV, or internet, or some combination. Environmental Science has its own news venues, and you may find one whose style is well suited for you.

For up-to-date information about happenings in the scientific world…

• Environmental News Network covers a variety of world environmental issues
• LiveScience also has updates throughout the day in their Planet Earth section
• Even NBCNews has an Environment section in their Science news
• ScienceDaily has an Environmental Science News
• Scientific American has an Earth and Environment section
• The New York Times has an Environmental section in their science news

Environmental Science Journals

If you are going to become an Environmental Scientist, then you need to be familiar with some major publications. Scientific journals that publish peer reviewed research present it in specific formats that should be familiar to you. The sooner you become comfortable reading papers this way, the easier it will be to both “think scientifically”, and to write your own papers. Many journals that are available online are only free to read if you are associated with a college or university that pays to access them. However, you can usually find the abstract, and determine if you need to pursue the article further.

• The American Meteorological Society publishes a number of journals, listed here , dealing with many specialty fields in Environmental Science.
• Energy & Environmental Science links environmental sciences to sciences concerned with energy and its storage.
• Environmental Health Perspectives is a leading magazine looking at the interactions between human health and the environment and is published through a cooperate effort by a number of leading human health agencies.
• Environmental Science and Policy looks to promote political solutions to environmental problems through awareness and communication.
• Environmental Science and Technology is a publication of The American Chemical Society which focuses on the latest worldwide environmental science innovations and issues.
• Journal of Environmental Engineering has a broad scope covering solutions and policies for environmental resources and sanitation and is published by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
• Journal of Environmental Health is published by the National Environmental Health Association and covers current issues concerning health safety such as air and water quality, among other issues.
• Journal of Environmental Sciences is designed to both promote awareness of discoveries, and strengthen professional relationships among academics.
• Journal of Geophysical Research breaks down many subjects of Earth Science into separate journals studying earth and solar system components; Atmospheres , the Biogeosciences , Earth Surface , Oceans , Planets , and Solid Earth . Environmental Scientists work in all of these fields.
• Water, Air, and Soil Pollution cover many aspects of environmental pollution and remediation throughout the world.

Recommended Readings

How ‘Silent Spring' Ignited the Environmental Movement - a little knowledge of environmental science history can go a long way for your career.

Population and Environment - a detailed look at the interaction between humans and their environment, good practice for reading a scientifically formatted article.

• Recent Posts
• Gaining International Experience in Environmental Science - September 11, 2014
• Recommended Environmental Science Articles & Journals - September 11, 2014
• Is Environmental Science Really a Good Major? - August 27, 2014

Related Articles

Meteorology: Something in the Air

Climatology: The Science of Global Weather Systems over the Long Term

Natural Gas 101: Pros & Cons

History of Agriculture

Featured Article

Ambient Air Quality and Environmental Health

Analyzing environmental concerns of sustainable development goals in SAARC region: how carbon emissions policy influence environmental sustainability?

• Original Paper
• Published: 02 September 2024

Cite this article

• H. Akram 1 ,
• J. Li 1 , 2 ,
• M. Irfan   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1446-583X 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 &
• W. A. Watto 9  

Carbon emission policies have gained significant attention internationally as natural disasters are occurring rapidly and the environment worsens. This research aims to determine the causal relationship between various factors, such as the carbon emission of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries from 1990 to 2018. To achieve this, the study employs non-linear auto-regressive distributed lag models to analyze Load capacity factor, Fossil fuel consumption, Economic Complexity, Foreign direct investment, Renewable electricity consumption, and Economic Growth on carbon emission. Using this method also aids in capturing the non-linear interaction and temporal dependencies of the data. More specifically, the findings indicate a positive and direct relationship between economic complexity, renewable electricity consumption, and foreign direct investment in achieving sustainable development targets. In contrast, the direct influence of fossil fuel consumption and economic growth has been negative. These findings help understand the extent of progress toward carbon emissions and help the policymakers and stakeholders to design and implement sound and effective strategies for sustainable development that are appropriate to the economic and environmental realities of the countries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Examining the role of financial inclusion towards CO2 emissions: presenting the role of renewable energy and globalization in the context of EKC

Paving the ways toward sustainable development: the asymmetric effect of economic complexity, renewable electricity, and foreign direct investment on the environmental sustainability in BRICS-T

Mitigating human-induced emissions in Argentina: role of renewables, income, globalization, and financial development

Explore related subjects.

• Environmental Chemistry

Data availability

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the first author on reasonable request.

Ahmed Z, Can M, Sinha A, Ahmad M, Alvarado R, Rjoub H (2022) Investigating the role of economic complexity in sustainable development and environmental sustainability. Int J Sust Dev World 29(8):771–783

Article   Google Scholar  

Al-Silefanee R (2024) The role of economic complexity in shaping the energy-growth nexus: evidence from cross-country panel data. Int J Renew Energy Develop 13(2):256–269

Alharthi M, Hanif I (2020) Impact of blue economy factors on economic growth in the SAARC countries. Marit Bus Rev 5(3):253–269

Anser MK, Alharthi M, Aziz B, Wasim S (2020) Impact of urbanization, economic growth, and population size on residential carbon emissions in the SAARC countries. Clean Technol Environ Policy 22:923–936

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Anser MK, Usman B, Hyder S, Nassani AA, Askar SE, Zaman K, Abro MMQ (2021) Does improvement in the environmental sustainability rating help to reduce the COVID-19 cases? Controlling financial development, price level and carbon damages. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28(36):49820–49832

Asadullah MN, Savoia A, Sen K (2020) Will South Asia achieve the sustainable development goals by 2030? Learning from the MDGs experience. Soc Indic Res 152(1):165–189

Asif K, Sabir S, Qayyum U (2023) Corruption, political instability, and environmental degradation in South Asia: a comparative analysis of carbon footprint and ecological footprint. J Knowl Econ 15:1–25

Google Scholar  

Aust V, Morais AI, Pinto I (2020) How does foreign direct investment contribute to sustainable development goals? Evidence from African countries. J Clean Prod 245:118823

Awan U (2021) Steering for sustainable development goals: a typology of sustainable innovation. In Industry innovation and infrastructure, Springer, 1026–1036

Azam M, Hunjra AI, Bouri E, Tan Y, Al-Faryan MAS (2021) Impact of institutional quality on sustainable development: evidence from developing countries. J Environ Manage 298:113465

Azizuddin M, Shamsuzzoha A, Piya S (2021) Influence of circular economy phenomenon to fulfil global sustainable development goal: perspective from Bangladesh. Sustainability 13(20):11455

Bai X, Wang K-T, Tran TK, Sadiq M, Trung LM, Khudoykulov K (2022) Measuring China’s green economic recovery and energy environment sustainability: econometric analysis of sustainable development goals. Econ Anal Policy 75:768–779

Bansal S, Sharma GD, Rahman MM, Yadav A, Garg I (2021) Nexus between environmental, social and economic development in South Asia: evidence from econometric models. Heliyon 7(1):e05965

Bennett JE, Kontis V, Mathers CD, Guillot M, Rehm J, Chalkidou K, Kengne AP, Carrillo-Larco RM, Bawah AA, Dain K (2020) NCD Countdown 2030: pathways to achieving sustainable development goal target 3.4. The Lancet 396(10255):918–934

Cai Y, Xu J, Ahmad P, Anwar A (2022) What drives carbon emissions in the long-run? The role of renewable energy and agriculture in achieving the sustainable development goals. Econ Res-Ekonomska Istraživanja 35(1):4603–4624

Carlsen L, Bruggemann R (2022) The 17 United Nations’ sustainable development goals: a status by 2020. Int J Sust Dev World 29(3):219–229

Chen J, Su F, Jain V, Salman A, Tabash MI, Haddad AM, Zabalawi E, Abdalla AA, Shabbir MS (2022) Does renewable energy matter to achieve sustainable development goals? The impact of renewable energy strategies on sustainable economic growth. Front Energy Res 10:829252

Chen L (2021) Environmental cost of sustainable development and climate change: can SAARC shift some liability with renewable energy and efficiency? Environ Sci Pollut Res 28:67137–67149

Chien F (2022) The mediating role of energy efficiency on the relationship between sharing economy benefits and sustainable development goals (Case of China). J Innov Knowl 7(4):100270

Chopra R, Magazzino C, Shah MI, Sharma GD, Rao A, Shahzad U (2022) The role of renewable energy and natural resources for sustainable agriculture in ASEAN countries: do carbon emissions and deforestation affect agriculture productivity? Resour Policy 76:102578

D’Orazio P, Schäfer D, Stephan A (2024) Macro-financial policy at the crossroad: addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation-introduction to the special issue. Eurasian Econ Rev 14(1):1–11

Dang H-AH, Serajuddin U (2020) Tracking the sustainable development goals: emerging measurement challenges and further reflections. World Dev 127:104570

Dantas TET, de-Souza ED, DestroHammes IRG, Rodriguez CMT, Soares SR (2021) How the combination of circular economy and industry 4.0 can contribute towards achieving the sustainable development goals. Sustain Prod Consum 26:213–227

Donkor M, Kong Y, Manu EK, Ntarmah AH, Appiah-Twum F (2022) Economic growth and environmental quality: analysis of government expenditure and the causal effect. Int J Environ Res Public Health 19(17):10629

El Wali M, Golroudbary SR, Kraslawski A (2021) Circular economy for phosphorus supply chain and its impact on social sustainable development goals. Sci Total Environ 777:146060

Elavarasan RM, Pugazhendhi R, Irfan M, Mihet-Popa L, Campana PE, Khan IA (2022) A novel sustainable development goal 7 composite index as the paradigm for energy sustainability assessment: a case study from Europe. Appl Energy 307:118173

Famanta M, Randhawa AA, Yajing J (2024) The impact of green FDI on environmental quality in less developed countries: a case study of load capacity factor based on PCSE and FGLS techniques. Heliyon 10(7):e28217

Guloglu B, Caglar AE, Pata UK (2023) Analyzing the determinants of the load capacity factor in OECD countries: evidence from advanced quantile panel data methods. Gondwana Res 118:92–104

Gunawan J, Permatasari P, Tilt C (2020) Sustainable development goal disclosures: do they support responsible consumption and production? J Clean Prod 246:118989

Halkos G, Gkampoura E-C (2021) Where do we stand on the 17 sustainable development goals? An overview on progress. Economic Analysis and Policy 70:94–122

Hassan Q, Viktor P, Al-Musawi TJ, Ali BM, Algburi S, Alzoubi HM, Al-Jiboory AK, Sameen AZ, Salman HM, Jaszczur M (2024) The renewable energy role in the global energy transformations. Renew Energy Focus 48:100545

Herrera Almanza AM, Corona B (2020) Using social life cycle assessment to analyze the contribution of products to the sustainable development goals: a case study in the textile sector. Int J Life Cycle Assess 25:1833–1845

Houssam N, Ibrahiem DM, Sucharita S, El-Aasar KM, Esily RR, Sethi N (2023) Assessing the role of green economy on sustainable development in developing countries. Heliyon 9(6):e17306

Huang L, Dong D, Dong X (2023) Natural resources extraction, financial expansion and remittances: South Asian economies perspective of sustainable development. Resour Policy 84:103767

Hunjra AI, Azam M, Bruna MG, Bouri E (2023) A cross-regional investigation of institutional quality and sustainable development. J Int Finan Markets Inst Money 84:101758

Hunjra AI, Bouri E, Azam M, Azam RI, Dai J (2024) Economic growth and environmental sustainability in developing economies. Res Int Bus Financ 70:102341

Ikram M, Zhang Q, Sroufe R, Shah SZA (2020) Towards a sustainable environment: the nexus between ISO 14001, renewable energy consumption, access to electricity, agriculture and CO2 emissions in SAARC countries. Sustain Prod Consum 22:218–230

Jahanger A, Usman M (2023) Investigating the role of information and communication technologies, economic growth, and foreign direct investment in the mitigation of ecological damages for achieving sustainable development goals. Eval Rev 47(4):653–679

Kaltenborn M, Krajewski M, Kuhn H (2020) Sustainable development goals and human rights. Springer Nature, Cham

Book   Google Scholar  

Khan MB, Saleem H, Shabbir MS, Huobao X (2022a) The effects of globalization, energy consumption and economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions in South Asian countries. Energy Environ 33(1):107–134

Khan S, Yahong W, Zeeshan A (2022b) Impact of poverty and income inequality on the ecological footprint in Asian developing economies: assessment of sustainable development goals. Energy Rep 8:670–679

Khanal U, Wilson C, Rahman S, Lee BL, Hoang V-N (2021) Smallholder farmers’ adaptation to climate change and its potential contribution to UN’s sustainable development goals of zero hunger and no poverty. J Clean Prod 281:124999

Kiani TA, Sabir S, Qayyum U, Anjum S (2023) Estimating the effect of technological innovations on environmental degradation: empirical evidence from selected ASEAN and SAARC countries. Environ Dev Sustain 25(7):6529–6550

Kugele ASH, Sarkar B (2023) Reducing carbon emissions of a multi-stage smart production for biofuel towards sustainable development. Alex Eng J 70:93–113

Leal Filho W, Kovaleva M, Tsani S, Țîrcă D-M, Shiel C, Dinis MAP, Nicolau M, Sima M, Fritzen B, Lange Salvia A (2023) Promoting gender equality across the sustainable development goals. Environ Dev Sustain 25(12):14177–14198

Li C, Umair M (2023) Does green finance development goals affects renewable energy in China. Renewable Energy 203:898–905

Li Q, Cherian J, Shabbir MS, Sial MS, Li J, Mester I, Badulescu A (2021) Exploring the relationship between renewable energy sources and economic growth. C SAARC Ctries Energ 14(3):520

Liu H, Liang S, Cui Q (2021) The nexus between economic complexity and energy consumption under the context of sustainable environment: evidence from the LMC countries. Int J Environ Res Public Health 18(1):124

Majewski S, Mentel U, Salahodjaev R, Cierpiał-Wolan M (2022) Electricity consumption and economic growth: evidence from South Asian countries. Energies 15(4):1327

Mehmood U (2021) Contribution of renewable energy towards environmental quality: the role of education to achieve sustainable development goals in G11 countries. Renew Energy 178:600–607

Mejia R, Hotez P, Bottazzi ME (2020) Global COVID-19 efforts as the platform to achieving the sustainable development goals. Curr Trop Med Rep 7:99–103

Mukarram M (2020) Impact of COVID-19 on the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). Strateg Anal 44(3):253–258

Murshed M, Elheddad M, Ahmed R, Bassim M, Than ET (2021) Foreign direct investments, renewable electricity output, and ecological footprints: do financial globalization facilitate renewable energy transition and environmental welfare in Bangladesh? Asia-Pacific Financ Mark 29:33–78

Nasir SB, Ahmed T, Karmaker CL, Ali SM, Paul SK, Majumdar A (2022) Supply chain viability in the context of COVID-19 pandemic in small and medium-sized enterprises: implications for sustainable development goals. J Enterp Inf Manag 35(1):100–124

Neagu O, Teodoru MC (2019) The relationship between economic complexity, energy consumption structure and greenhouse gas emission: heterogeneous panel evidence from the EU countries. Sustainability 11(2):497

Nguyen TT, Grote U, Neubacher F, Do MH, Paudel GP (2023) Security risks from climate change and environmental degradation: implications for sustainable land use transformation in the Global South. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 63:101322

Nhemachena C, Nhamo L, Matchaya G, Nhemachena CR, Muchara B, Karuaihe ST, Mpandeli S (2020) Climate change impacts on water and agriculture sectors in Southern Africa: threats and opportunities for sustainable development. Water 12(10):2673

Pandey A, Asif M (2022) Assessment of energy and environmental sustainability in South Asia in the perspective of the sustainable development goals. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 165:112492

Parikh M, Hota DR (2023) Comparative analysis of legal framework for disaster management in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. In International Handbook of Disaster Research, Springer, Singapore, p 1781 1792

Perin J, Mulick A, Yeung D, Villavicencio F, Lopez G, Strong KL, Prieto-Merino D, Cousens S, Black RE, Liu L (2022) Global, regional, and national causes of under-5 mortality in 2000–19: an updated systematic analysis with implications for the sustainable development goals. Lancet Child Adolesc Health 6(2):106–115

Rahman MM (2021) Achieving sustainable development goals of agenda 2030 in Bangladesh: the crossroad of the governance and performance. Pub Adm Policy 24(2):195–211

Rahman MM, Ahmed R, Mashud AHM, Malik AI, Miah S, Abedin MZ (2022) Consumption-based CO2 emissions on sustainable development goals of SAARC region. Sustainability 14(3):1467

Ruggerio CA (2021) Sustainability and sustainable development: a review of principles and definitions. Sci Total Environ 786:147481

Sadiq M, Amayri MA, Paramaiah C, Mai NH, Ngo TQ, Phan TTH (2022) How green finance and financial development promote green economic growth: deployment of clean energy sources in South Asia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29(43):65521–65534

Santika WG, Anisuzzaman M, Simsek Y, Bahri PA, Shafiullah G, Urmee T (2020) Implications of the sustainable development goals on national energy demand: the case of Indonesia. Energy 196:117100

Saqib N, Radulescu M, Usman M, Balsalobre-Lorente D, Cilan T (2023) Environmental technology, economic complexity, renewable electricity, environmental taxes and CO2 emissions: implications for low-carbon future in G-10 bloc. Heliyon 9(6):e16457

Sarfraz M, Ozturk I, Yoo S, Raza MA, Han H (2023) Toward a new understanding of environmental and financial performance through corporate social responsibility, green innovation, and sustainable development. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10(1):1–17

Sarkodie SA (2022) Winners and losers of energy sustainability—global assessment of the sustainable development goals. Sci Total Environ 831:154945

Seitalieva GA, (2024) Conflicts over water and energy resources in Central Asia and their impact on women’s rights. BIO Web of Conferences

Shahab S, Mahmood MT (2022) the role of political stability and economic inequality for sustainable growth: analysis of South Asian countries. Bull Bus Econ (BBE) 11(2):362–368

Singh K, Meena RS, Kumar S, Dhyani S, Sheoran S, Singh HM, Pathak VV, Khalid Z, Singh A, Chopra K (2023) India’s renewable energy research and policies to phase down coal: success after Paris agreement and possibilities post-glasgow climate pact. Biomass Bioenerg 177:106944

Stathers T, Lamboll R (2022) Exploring the complex relationships between food loss and waste, climate change, and the environment to support informed sustainable food system transformation decisions with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Enterp Develop Microfinanc 33(4):1–34

Sun H-P, Tariq G, Haris M, Mohsin M (2019) Evaluating the environmental effects of economic openness: evidence from SAARC countries. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:24542–24551

Swain RB, Ranganathan S (2021) Modeling interlinkages between sustainable development goals using network analysis. World Dev 138:105136

Tahir M, Jan AA, Shah SQA, Woon LF, Shad MK, Danial M (2023) Energy consumption and economic growth nexus in the SAARC region. KnE Soc Sci. https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v8i20.14600

Tawiah V, Zakari A, Adedoyin FF (2021) Determinants of green growth in developed and developing countries. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28(29):39227–39242

Udemba EN, Tosun M (2022) Energy transition and diversification: a pathway to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Brazil. Energy 239:122199

Ullah A, Khushnood M, Khan RA (2019) Demographics and financing patterns of SMEs in SAARC countries. J Managerial Sci 13(3):8–15

Ullah A, Pinglu C, Ullah S, Hashmi SH (2022) The dynamic impact of financial, technological, and natural resources on sustainable development in belt and road countries. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29(3):4616–4631

Usman FO, Ani EC, Ebirim W, Montero DJP, Olu-lawal KA, Ninduwezuor-Ehiobu N (2024) Integrating renewable energy solutions in the manufacturing industry: challenges and opportunities: a review. Eng Sci Technol J 5(3):674–703

Viana J, Alt R, Reinhold O (2023) Design options for smart services in energy communities: a multi-criteria mapping analysis among stakeholders. Int J Serv Technol Manage 28(3–4):141–158

Voumik LC, Hossain MI, Rahman MH, Sultana R, Dey R, Esquivias MA (2023) Impact of renewable and non-renewable energy on EKC in SAARC countries: augmented mean group approach. Energies 16(6):2789

Wahab S, Imran M, Safi A, Wahab Z, Kirikkaleli D (2022) Role of financial stability, technological innovation, and renewable energy in achieving sustainable development goals in BRICS countries. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29(32):48827–48838

Wang J, Azam W (2024) Natural resource scarcity, fossil fuel energy consumption, and total greenhouse gas emissions in top emitting countries. Geosci Front 15(2):101757

Wang Q, Huang R (2021) The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on sustainable development goals–a survey. Environ Res 202:111637

Wang Z, Chen H, Teng Y-P (2023) Role of greener energies, high tech-industries and financial expansion for ecological footprints: Implications from sustainable development perspective. Renewable Energy 202:1424–1435

Xiaoman W, Majeed A, Vasbieva DG, Yameogo CEW, Hussain N (2021) Natural resources abundance, economic globalization, and carbon emissions: advancing sustainable development agenda. Sustain Dev 29(5):1037–1048

Yamane T, Kaneko S (2021) Is the younger generation a driving force toward achieving the sustainable development goals? Survey experiments. J Clean Prod 292:125932

Yikun Z, Gul A, Saleem S, Shabbir MS, Bilal K, Abbasi HM (2021) The relationship between renewable energy sources and sustainable economic growth: evidence from SAARC countries. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28:33390–33399

Yu Z, Khan SAR, Ponce P, de Sousa Jabbour ABL, Jabbour CJC (2022) Factors affecting carbon emissions in emerging economies in the context of a green recovery: implications for sustainable development goals. Technol Forecast Soc Chang 176:121417

Zhang L, Khan Z, Abbas S, Ahamed H (2023) The roles of renewable energy, globalization, population expansion and deliberative democracy on sustainable development in South Asia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30(38):88775–88788

Zhuang Y, Yang S, Razzaq A, Khan Z (2022) Environmental impact of infrastructure-led Chinese outward FDI, tourism development and technology innovation: a regional country analysis. J Environ Planning Manage 66(2):367–399

Download references

No funding was received for conducting this study.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

School of Economics and Management, North China Electric Power University, Changping, Beijing, 102206, China

H. Akram & J. Li

Beijing Key Laboratory of New Energy and Low-Carbon Development, North China Electric Power University, Changping, Beijing, 102206, China

Business School, Shandong Management University, Jinan, 250357, China

European Center of Economics, Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC), Istiqlaliyyat Str. 6, Baku, Azerbaijan

University Centre for Research and Development, Chandigarh University, Mohali, Punjab, 140413, India

Department of Economics and Business, Western Caspian University, AZ, 1001, Baku, Azerbaijan

Advanced Research Centre, European University of Lefke, TR-10, Lefke, Mersin, Northern Cyprus, Turkey

School of Business Administration, ILMA University, Karachi, 75190, Pakistan

Department of Accountancy, Superior University Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan

W. A. Watto

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

Hamza Akram: conceptualization, writing—original draft, formal analysis, data handling, variable construction, and methodology. Jinchao Li: Supervision and funding acquisition. Muhammad Irfan: writing, reviewing, and editing. Waqas Ahmad Watto: writing, reviewing, and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Irfan .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Consent to participate

Consent is given for participation.

Consent for publication

Consent is given for publication.

Additional information

Editorial responsibility: Samareh Mirkia.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Akram, H., Li, J., Irfan, M. et al. Analyzing environmental concerns of sustainable development goals in SAARC region: how carbon emissions policy influence environmental sustainability?. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-024-06007-7

Download citation

Received : 10 January 2024

Revised : 12 July 2024

Accepted : 19 August 2024

Published : 02 September 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-024-06007-7

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Load capacity factor
• Ecological footprint
• Environmental quality
• Foreign direct investment
• Economic growth
• Carbon emissions
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Research Topics & Ideas: Environment

F inding and choosing a strong research topic is the critical first step when it comes to crafting a high-quality dissertation, thesis or research project. Here, we’ll explore a variety research ideas and topic thought-starters related to various environmental science disciplines, including ecology, oceanography, hydrology, geology, soil science, environmental chemistry, environmental economics, and environmental ethics.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps . In this post, we’ll kickstart the process by sharing some research topic ideas within the environmental sciences. This is the starting point though. To develop a well-defined research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , along with a well-justified plan of action to fill that gap.

If you’re new to the oftentimes perplexing world of research, or if this is your first time undertaking a formal academic research project, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course. Also be sure to also sign up for our free webinar that explores how to develop a high-quality research topic from scratch.

Overview: Environmental Topics

• Ecology /ecological science
• Atmospheric science
• Oceanography
• Soil science
• Environmental chemistry
• Environmental economics
• Environmental ethics
• Examples  of dissertations and theses

Topics & Ideas: Ecological Science

• The impact of land-use change on species diversity and ecosystem functioning in agricultural landscapes
• The role of disturbances such as fire and drought in shaping arid ecosystems
• The impact of climate change on the distribution of migratory marine species
• Investigating the role of mutualistic plant-insect relationships in maintaining ecosystem stability
• The effects of invasive plant species on ecosystem structure and function
• The impact of habitat fragmentation caused by road construction on species diversity and population dynamics in the tropics
• The role of ecosystem services in urban areas and their economic value to a developing nation
• The effectiveness of different grassland restoration techniques in degraded ecosystems
• The impact of land-use change through agriculture and urbanisation on soil microbial communities in a temperate environment
• The role of microbial diversity in ecosystem health and nutrient cycling in an African savannah

Topics & Ideas: Atmospheric Science

• The impact of climate change on atmospheric circulation patterns above tropical rainforests
• The role of atmospheric aerosols in cloud formation and precipitation above cities with high pollution levels
• The impact of agricultural land-use change on global atmospheric composition
• Investigating the role of atmospheric convection in severe weather events in the tropics
• The impact of urbanisation on regional and global atmospheric ozone levels
• The impact of sea surface temperature on atmospheric circulation and tropical cyclones
• The impact of solar flares on the Earth’s atmospheric composition
• The impact of climate change on atmospheric turbulence and air transportation safety
• The impact of stratospheric ozone depletion on atmospheric circulation and climate change
• The role of atmospheric rivers in global water supply and sea-ice formation

Topics & Ideas: Oceanography

• The impact of ocean acidification on kelp forests and biogeochemical cycles
• The role of ocean currents in distributing heat and regulating desert rain
• The impact of carbon monoxide pollution on ocean chemistry and biogeochemical cycles
• Investigating the role of ocean mixing in regulating coastal climates
• The impact of sea level rise on the resource availability of low-income coastal communities
• The impact of ocean warming on the distribution and migration patterns of marine mammals
• The impact of ocean deoxygenation on biogeochemical cycles in the arctic
• The role of ocean-atmosphere interactions in regulating rainfall in arid regions
• The impact of ocean eddies on global ocean circulation and plankton distribution
• The role of ocean-ice interactions in regulating the Earth’s climate and sea level

Tops & Ideas: Hydrology

• The impact of agricultural land-use change on water resources and hydrologic cycles in temperate regions
• The impact of agricultural groundwater availability on irrigation practices in the global south
• The impact of rising sea-surface temperatures on global precipitation patterns and water availability
• Investigating the role of wetlands in regulating water resources for riparian forests
• The impact of tropical ranches on river and stream ecosystems and water quality
• The impact of urbanisation on regional and local hydrologic cycles and water resources for agriculture
• The role of snow cover and mountain hydrology in regulating regional agricultural water resources
• The impact of drought on food security in arid and semi-arid regions
• The role of groundwater recharge in sustaining water resources in arid and semi-arid environments
• The impact of sea level rise on coastal hydrology and the quality of water resources

Topics & Ideas: Geology

• The impact of tectonic activity on the East African rift valley
• The role of mineral deposits in shaping ancient human societies
• The impact of sea-level rise on coastal geomorphology and shoreline evolution
• Investigating the role of erosion in shaping the landscape and impacting desertification
• The impact of mining on soil stability and landslide potential
• The impact of volcanic activity on incoming solar radiation and climate
• The role of geothermal energy in decarbonising the energy mix of megacities
• The impact of Earth’s magnetic field on geological processes and solar wind
• The impact of plate tectonics on the evolution of mammals
• The role of the distribution of mineral resources in shaping human societies and economies, with emphasis on sustainability

Topics & Ideas: Soil Science

• The impact of dam building on soil quality and fertility
• The role of soil organic matter in regulating nutrient cycles in agricultural land
• The impact of climate change on soil erosion and soil organic carbon storage in peatlands
• Investigating the role of above-below-ground interactions in nutrient cycling and soil health
• The impact of deforestation on soil degradation and soil fertility
• The role of soil texture and structure in regulating water and nutrient availability in boreal forests
• The impact of sustainable land management practices on soil health and soil organic matter
• The impact of wetland modification on soil structure and function
• The role of soil-atmosphere exchange and carbon sequestration in regulating regional and global climate
• The impact of salinization on soil health and crop productivity in coastal communities

Topics & Ideas: Environmental Chemistry

• The impact of cobalt mining on water quality and the fate of contaminants in the environment
• The role of atmospheric chemistry in shaping air quality and climate change
• The impact of soil chemistry on nutrient availability and plant growth in wheat monoculture
• Investigating the fate and transport of heavy metal contaminants in the environment
• The impact of climate change on biochemical cycling in tropical rainforests
• The impact of various types of land-use change on biochemical cycling
• The role of soil microbes in mediating contaminant degradation in the environment
• The impact of chemical and oil spills on freshwater and soil chemistry
• The role of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in shaping water and soil chemistry
• The impact of over-irrigation on the cycling and fate of persistent organic pollutants in the environment

Topics & Ideas: Environmental Economics

• The impact of climate change on the economies of developing nations
• The role of market-based mechanisms in promoting sustainable use of forest resources
• The impact of environmental regulations on economic growth and competitiveness
• Investigating the economic benefits and costs of ecosystem services for African countries
• The impact of renewable energy policies on regional and global energy markets
• The role of water markets in promoting sustainable water use in southern Africa
• The impact of land-use change in rural areas on regional and global economies
• The impact of environmental disasters on local and national economies
• The role of green technologies and innovation in shaping the zero-carbon transition and the knock-on effects for local economies
• The impact of environmental and natural resource policies on income distribution and poverty of rural communities

Need a helping hand?

Topics & Ideas: Environmental Ethics

• The ethical foundations of environmentalism and the environmental movement regarding renewable energy
• The role of values and ethics in shaping environmental policy and decision-making in the mining industry
• The impact of cultural and religious beliefs on environmental attitudes and behaviours in first world countries
• Investigating the ethics of biodiversity conservation and the protection of endangered species in palm oil plantations
• The ethical implications of sea-level rise for future generations and vulnerable coastal populations
• The role of ethical considerations in shaping sustainable use of natural forest resources
• The impact of environmental justice on marginalized communities and environmental policies in Asia
• The ethical implications of environmental risks and decision-making under uncertainty
• The role of ethics in shaping the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable future for the construction industry
• The impact of environmental values on consumer behaviour and the marketplace: a case study of the ‘bring your own shopping bag’ policy

Examples: Real Dissertation & Thesis Topics

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various environmental science-related degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

• The physiology of microorganisms in enhanced biological phosphorous removal (Saunders, 2014)
• The influence of the coastal front on heavy rainfall events along the east coast (Henson, 2019)
• Forage production and diversification for climate-smart tropical and temperate silvopastures (Dibala, 2019)
• Advancing spectral induced polarization for near surface geophysical characterization (Wang, 2021)
• Assessment of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter and Thamnocephalus platyurus as Tools to Monitor Cyanobacterial Bloom Development and Toxicity (Hipsher, 2019)
• Evaluating the Removal of Microcystin Variants with Powdered Activated Carbon (Juang, 2020)
• The effect of hydrological restoration on nutrient concentrations, macroinvertebrate communities, and amphibian populations in Lake Erie coastal wetlands (Berg, 2019)
• Utilizing hydrologic soil grouping to estimate corn nitrogen rate recommendations (Bean, 2019)
• Fungal Function in House Dust and Dust from the International Space Station (Bope, 2021)
• Assessing Vulnerability and the Potential for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in Sudan’s Blue Nile Basin (Mohamed, 2022)
• A Microbial Water Quality Analysis of the Recreational Zones in the Los Angeles River of Elysian Valley, CA (Nguyen, 2019)
• Dry Season Water Quality Study on Three Recreational Sites in the San Gabriel Mountains (Vallejo, 2019)
• Wastewater Treatment Plan for Unix Packaging Adjustment of the Potential Hydrogen (PH) Evaluation of Enzymatic Activity After the Addition of Cycle Disgestase Enzyme (Miessi, 2020)
• Laying the Genetic Foundation for the Conservation of Longhorn Fairy Shrimp (Kyle, 2021).

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. To create a top-notch research topic, you will need to be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you’ll need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

Find The Perfect Research Topic

How To Choose A Research Topic: 5 Key Criteria

How To Choose A Research Topic Step-By-Step Tutorial With Examples + Free Topic...

Research Topics & Ideas: Automation & Robotics

Research Topics & Ideas: Robotics 50 Topic Ideas To Kickstart Your Research...

Research Topics & Ideas: Sociology

Research Topics & Ideas: Sociology 50 Topic Ideas To Kickstart Your Research...

Research Topics & Ideas: Public Health & Epidemiology

Research Topics & Ideas: Public Health 50 Topic Ideas To Kickstart Your Research...

Research Topics & Ideas: Neuroscience

Research Topics & Ideas: Neuroscience 50 Topic Ideas To Kickstart Your Research...

📄 FREE TEMPLATES

Research Topic Ideation

Proposal Writing

Literature Review

Methodology & Analysis

Academic Writing

Referencing & Citing

Apps, Tools & Tricks

The Grad Coach Podcast

12 Comments

research topics on climate change and environment

Researched PhD topics on environmental chemistry involving dust and water

I wish to learn things in a more advanced but simple way and with the hopes that I am in the right place.

Thank so much for the research topics. It really helped

the guides were really helpful

Research topics on environmental geology

Thanks for the research topics….I need a research topic on Geography

hi I need research questions ideas

Implications of climate variability on wildlife conservation on the west coast of Cameroon

I want the research on environmental planning and management

I want a topic on environmental sustainability

It good coaching

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Submit Comment

• Print Friendly

Maintenance work is planned from 22:00 BST on Monday 16th September 2024 to 22:00 BST on Tuesday 17th September 2024.

During this time the performance of our website may be affected - searches may run slowly, some pages may be temporarily unavailable, and you may be unable to access content. If this happens, please try refreshing your web browser or try waiting two to three minutes before trying again.

We apologise for any inconvenience this might cause and thank you for your patience.

Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology

Production of birnessite-type manganese oxides by biofilms from oxygen-supplemented biological activated carbon (bac) filters.

Biological oxidation of manganese (Mn) by bacteria results in the formation of biogenic Mn oxides (MnOx), which are known to be strong oxidants and effective catalysts. Manganese-oxidizing bacteria (MnOB) often develop in engineered systems for water treatment under oligotrophic conditions. In this study, we investigated the MnOB within biofilms sampled in two different seasons from full-scale oxygen-supplemented biological activated carbon (BAC) filters performing the complete removal of Mn from wastewater. By applying a novel batch enrichment approach ensuring continuous presence of soluble Mn, after 42 days the start-up microbial community grew into thick, floccular biofilms efficiently oxidizing Mn2+ into numerous black nodules. The amount of Mn oxidized was quantified using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the MnOx formed was a birnessite-type (δ-MnO2) with a crystalline, nanoflower structure. Comparison of the microbial community composition before and after the enrichment by means of 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing showed increases of members of the orders Rhizobiales and Burkholderiales, and identified among the most abundant groups which have rarely or never been associated with Mn oxidation before (Rhodococcus, Ellin6067, Planctomycetota Pir4 lineage, Rhizobiales A0839 and Amb-16S-1323). This study unravels the potential of production of crystalline MnOx by mixed-microbial communities which uniquely generate in a man-made biofilter. The new insights provided implement the knowledge in the field, with the perspective to design innovative biotechnologies to remove recalcitrant compounds where MnOB find optimal growth conditions to produce catalytic forms of MnOx.

Supplementary files

• Supplementary information PDF (1402K)

Article information

Download citation, permissions.

A. Larasati, O. Bernadet, G. W. Euverink, H. P. J. van Veelen and M. C. Gagliano, Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol. , 2024, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D4EW00208C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page .

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page .

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content .

Social activity

Search articles by author.

This article has not yet been cited.

Advertisements

Projects span fundamental scientific research for microelectronics, quantum information science,   manufacturing, and environmental management

WASHINGTON, D.C. -Ten Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) designed to bring together world-class teams of scientists for groundbreaking fundamental research have been funded in nine states by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). 

Since 2009, EFRCs  have brought together diverse, world-class teams of scientists to perform basic research that accelerates ground-breaking scientific advances underlying energy technologies.

The centers develop powerful new tools for characterizing, understanding, modeling, and manipulating matter, while training the next-generation scientific workforce by attracting talented students passionate about energy science.

“Fundamental research in the areas covered in these awards is critical for generating foundational knowledge that underpins technologies that are important for DOE and the nation,” said Harriet Kung, Acting Director of the DOE Office of Science. “Strengthening our understanding of the chemistry and materials science behind advanced manufacturing of polymers, microelectronics, and quantum technologies will foster a cleaner and more energy-efficient future.”  

The funding brings together multidisciplinary scientific teams to advance the basic science for advanced manufacturing, including polymers and co-design of materials and processes to revolutionize fabrication science for microelectronics and quantum information science, and environmental management of nuclear waste tanks. The funding supports three new and five continuing four-year awards and two two-year transition awards.

The projects, which can be up to four years in duration, are led by six universities and four national laboratories. Along with more than 65 additional partner institutions, they join 33 existing EFRCs that conduct fundamental scientific research that generates knowledge to enable future energy technologies and other national priorities such as microelectronics and quantum information science. 

The Office of Science is the lead federal agency supporting scientific research for energy and the largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences. Office of Science-supported researchers have made key scientific advances in a wide variety of energy-related areas including batteries, solar, bioenergy and much more. Projects are:    

• A Center for Power Electronics Materials and Manufacturing Exploration at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO.
• Quantum Photonic Integrated Design Center at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN.
• Center For Plastics Innovation at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE.
• Ion Dynamics in Radioactive Environments and Materials at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA.
• Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics at Ames Laboratory in Ames, IA.
• Center for Energy Efficient Magnonics at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Stanford, CA.
• Center for 3-Dimensional Ferroelectric Microelectronics Manufacturing at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, PA.
• Center for Molecular Quantum Transduction at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL.
• Energy Frontier Research Center for Quantum Sensing and Quantum Materials at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, IL.
• Ultra Materials for a Resilient, Smart Electricity Grid at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ.

The projects were selected by competitive peer review under the DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement for Energy Frontier Research Centers . More information  can be found on the Energy Frontier Research Centers program homepage.

Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicants will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time.    

• Español (Spanish)
• Français (French)
• Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
• Brasil (Portuguese)
• India (English)
• हिंदी (Hindi)
• Feature Stories
• Explore All
• Subscribe page
• Submissions
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Advertising
• Wild Madagascar
• Selva tropicales
• Mongabay.org
• Tropical Forest Network

In Vietnam, environmental defense is increasingly a crime

Share this article.

If you liked this story, share it with other people.

• In the past two years, six prominent environmental defenders have been imprisoned in Vietnam, sending a chill across civil society in the one-party state.
• In the past, activists in Vietnam were often charged with spreading anti-state propaganda. More recently, ambiguous tax laws have been used against environmental experts and advocates, and 2023 saw the use of a novel charge: misappropriation of state documents.
• Analysts say the moves against environment defenders are part of an effort to clamp down on civil society in general, and environmental activism in particular, due to fears that such movements could serve as an engine for broad-based organizing outside of party control.

Until recently, the Hanoi-based nonprofit where Hưng works as a legal advocate distributed its research online, freely circulating information it intended to support policies on climate change and other environment issues. Now, Hưng says, such reports — many of them funded by international organizations— are only circulated internally among trusted working partners.

Hưng (not his real name) explains that this isn’t because his organization doesn’t wish to give the public access to its work. Instead, it is because the plight of a colleague, high-profile energy policy adviser Ngô Thị Tố Nhiên, has sent a chill down their spines.

Nhiên, founder and executive director of Vietnam Initiative for Energy Transition Social Enterprise, has been detained since October 2023. In June, she was reportedly sentenced to 42 months in prison time for misappropriating state documents. Her trial was held behind closed doors and, unlike in previous cases involving environmental defenders, her conviction has not been publicized in state-affiliated media. Two state employees who worked with Nhiên on projects related to Vietnam’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) were also arrested in October 2023: Dương Đức Việt, a senior employee from the National Power Transmission Corporation, and Lê Quốc Anh, head of the system analysis department of the Power Engineering Consulting 1 company, faced the same charges as Ngô, though even less is known publicly about the outcomes of their cases.

“We are quite scared now,” says Hưng, adding that security agents frequently pass by his organization’s office to inquire about the group’s activities.

For Hưng and other environmental activists interviewed for the article, the arrest of Nhiên, while chilling, was hardly a surprise. Nhiên is the sixth prominent expert working on environmental issues, particularly on the issues of energy transition, to have been arrested within two years.

“Up to now, we do not know yet which state documents Nhiên and her colleagues have misappropriated,” says Hưng.

Vaguely defined laws have been weaponized to criminalize environmental defenders in the single-party state. To make the matters worse, ambiguous rules on nonprofit organizations, the lack of an independent judiciary and a tightly controlled media make it even harder for environmental defenders to defend themselves and their organizations from charges made against them.

In fact, many environmental advocates approached for this article declined to be interviewed because, as one informant says, “the government is watching closely the environmental sector.”

New bottles, same wine

The charge Nhiên faces, misappropriating public documents, is a new one for activists. Previously, high-profile independent environmental defenders were generally charged with creating and circulating anti-state propaganda or with abusing fundamental freedoms. Such charges have been leveled against activists such as Cù Huy Hà Vũ, Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh and Phạm Thị Đoan Trang, who publicly held governments accountable for environmental disasters and other human rights abuses.

Within the last three years, tax evasion charges have been leveled against leaders of registered nonprofit organizations, including Mai Văn Lợi, Đặng Đình Bách, Nguỵ Thị Khanh and Hoàng Thị Minh Hồng — all environment advocates who were involved in work related to the JETP.

These charges (conducting and disseminating anti-state propaganda and tax evasion) are also similar to those faced by more than 160 Vietnamese prisoners of conscience as of 2023.

While Vietnam has publicly committed to improving its human rights record and currently sits on the U.N. Human Rights Council, its commitment to reform appears to be deeply ambiguous.

“Like in China, NGOs remain heavily controlled by the state and mainly function as extensions of government in policy implementation, program inputs and consultancy, while policy criticism is out of bounds,” says Ole Bruun, professor of society and globalization at Denmark’s Roskilde University, who has spent years doing research on various environmental issues in both China and Vietnam.

Earlier this year, international human rights group Project 88 obtained a copy of a confidential document called Directive 24 , issued in July 2023 by the Political Bureau of the Central Party Committee (Politburo). The organization was unable to fully verify the text, but it corresponds with public statements from the party, and NPR also cross-referenced the contents with a leaked copy from another source. The document, according to Project 88 “frames all forms of international commerce and cooperation as threats to national security” and seeks to block both international and local groups from “using increased international cooperation as a means to promote an independent civil society and domestic political opposition groups.” The directive calls for “developing and organizing the strict implementation of policies and laws on national security” in relation to the activities of NGOs and civil society groups.

For Vietnamese activists interviewed for the article, this directive represents a written officialization of ongoing actions against human rights activists in general and environmental defenders in particular: restrictions on activities, monitoring activists’ travel to international rights events, arbitrary arrests or harassment of activists and a broader proscription of independent civil society.

“Now, you don’t need to be an outright dissident to be jailed,” Hưng says.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese government has repeatedly denied international reports on its human rights issues, with officials criticizing reports from entities like the U.N . as “unobjective” and “unbalanced.”

Effects on policy

Lê Quốc Quân, a human rights lawyer who is now exiled in Canada, has firsthand experience with the weaponization of tax laws against activists. In 2013, he was charged with evading corporate income tax of $30,000 and jailed for 30 months following a hasty closed-door trial. Lê was held incommunicado for months, refused access to his lawyer and denied pre-trial release.

“Tax evasion is the easiest accusation for everyone. It is easy to prove from the perspective of the state, but it causes a lot of difficulties for lawyers when defending against it,” Lê says. “In Vietnam, there is a mentality that ‘everyone evades taxes,’ so judges think that accusing someone of tax evasion is always correct, which reduces their moral qualms.”

However, being convicted of tax evasion brings great shame to activists. In Vietnam, Lê explains, an activist should be seen as a morally exemplary and patriotic citizen. Failing to fulfil tax duties is not only seen as being not law-abiding but also as not being patriotic.

And while prosecutors can count on aid and information from state bodies, lawyers representing activists often fight an uphill battle. “Lawyers often have limited knowledge of tax regulations (which are very complex), lack resources to work on tax cases (as they often work pro bono), and have little chance to meet with authorities to gather documentation and evidence to defend their clients,” Lê says.

The regulations involved are numerous and confusing. In Vietnam, nonprofit organizations are not explicitly exempt from tax, but neither does the law on tax administration stipulate exactly what is required of nonprofit entities. Instead, tax policies for nonprofit organizations come from a hodgepodge of agencies, including the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Moreover, foreign funding is ambiguously taxable.

For example, Ngụy Thi Khanh, director of policy advocacy organisation GreenID was penalized for not paying a 10% tax on the prize money from her in 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize, even though no law clearly supports such taxation.  She was sentenced to two years imprisonment, eventually serving 21 months before being quietly released in 2023.

“It is extremely common for these types of organizations (or even other businesses) to not adhere to all bookkeeping and accounting requirements,” Nguyễn says. “Finding mistakes and legally wrongful conduct within these organizations would be easy.”

However, Nguyễn says, it is equally simple to disprove some of the accusations against activists. Nguyễn cites the example of Mai Phan Lợi, a prominent activist charged with tax evasion. State media report that Mai evaded taxes on 19 billion Vietnamese dong of income in 10 years (roughly $75,000 per year).

That 19 billion dong equals the entire amount of funding Mai received during that period, Nguyễn says. But when deductibles like payroll, service contracts and other expenses are factored in, “there should be nothing left to consider ‘taxable income,’” says Nguyễn, adding that it is customary and mandatory for NGOs to disburse the funding they have received from sponsors for the project.

Nguyễn also argues that punishment is disproportionately high. “Administrative fines and warnings should be enough to keep the NGOs in check,” he says. “The fact that … the regime criminalizes such an insignificant amount … proves that the charges are mostly politically motivated.”

Lan (not her real name), a CSR officer at a private company who has cooperated with many of the arrested NGO leaders, notes that the organizations whose leaders were arrested were part of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA). Yet, VUSTA itself remains exempt from all tax evasion charges, she says.

“Tax is checked rigorously every year in Vietnam. It is quite impossible for a small NGO to evade it for 10 years,” Lan says.

Exiled lawyer Lê said that despite his release in 2015 and current exile in Canada, he has still been under pressure to pay the tax that he had been accused of evading.

“I have never admitted to [tax evasion] and have continued to make a request for cassation . The situation remains unchanged until now,” Lê says.

No land for supporters

With the legislative, executive and judiciary bodies de facto led by the party, there is little possibility of challenging the verdicts.

Even lawyers are far from safe when it comes to defending environmental defenders.

“Most of the lawyers who are working for legal aid activities are facing threats, especially when providing legal aid to arrested individuals, particularly political prisoners,” Hưng says.

“The thing is that if they are fair trials or fair judgment, files should be accessible. Yet none of them [cases of criminalized enironmental defenders] can be found on the website of the Ministry of Justice, though the law stipulates so.”

Finding allies among the domestic public, or even from other advocacy groups, is also out of the question. “Other local NGOs have also been silent about arrests of their domestic peers,” legal advocate Hưng says.

These criminalizations go unquestioned in the context of Vietnam due to top-down smear campaigns by party mouthpieces, cybertroopers and state-affiliated journalists. The Communist Party of Vietnam holds a full monopoly on media. The 2019 National Development and Management Plan for the press until 2025 restricts the coverage of sociopolitical news to a few designated outlets . As a result, coverage of arrests and imprisonment of environmental defenders across all state-affiliated outlets is limited and identical, citing only sources from the government.

Many unsubstantiated articles on state-affiliated media outlets refer to environmental activists as being provoked and incentivized by hostile forces, without evidence.

For example, an article published in The Capital’s Defense ( Quốc phòng thủ đô ), the mouthpiece of the Hanoi party committee, listed organizations led by Hoàng Thị Minh Hồng (director of the environmental advocacy group CHANGE) and Đặng Đình Bách (director of a policy advocacy center, LPSD) as among groups that allegedly “create divisions in public opinion, destabilize political security and social order, undermine government agencies, seek external influences to interfere in Vietnam’s internal affairs, deliberately spread misinformation to diminish Vietnam’s reputation and credibility on the international stage.”

The fear is strongly felt among civil society.

“The crackdown is intended to decapitate the capability of private NGOs in Vietnam, channeling all foreign aid to government-controlled NGOs (especially in important fields like climate justice and community development),” Nguyễn says.

Behind the scenes, there is year-round and long-term harassment of NGO workers in the environmental fields.

Nga (not her real name), an employee in a nonprofit organization in Hồ Chí Minh City, said her team has been stressed by the consecutive arrests. Some have stepped down from leadership positions out of fear, while some others have sought employment in other sectors.

“The NGO world is very precarious. Even if we are not punished yet, it does not mean that we are right in the eyes of the government, Nga says. “It is not that we did not check what is right to avoid the wrong. It is just like we never know what is right or what is really wrong. It is really up to the whim of someone else.”

Support is needed from international actors

“Efforts to build a green and truly sustainable future and those to ensure the protection of environmental and climate defenders can seem distinct, but in fact they are intrinsically linked,” says Maureen Harris, senior adviser at International Rivers and also part of the Vietnam Climate Defenders Coalition, a group of more than 30 international and regional organizations supporting environment defenders in Vietnam.

“We are experiencing a global shift toward clean energy solutions, and pressure from civil society — from grassroots organizations to large NGOs — is pivotal in accelerating this movement,” Harris says.

Bruun says that environmental activism is a thorn in the side of the CPV due to its power to gather crowds. According to Bruun, Vietnam is folowing the footsteps of China, which in the 1990s quashed civil society due to it being seen as the vanguard of democracy.

“Environmental issues have the potential for broad and powerful organizing, and when the regime feels threatened, it cracks down,” Brunn says.

In order to continue to work for the cause, Hưng, Nga and several other NGO workers say they are considering switching their organizations’ status from nonprofit to for-profit in order to make it easier to ensure they are complying with tax laws. “There will be less challenges when the law is clearer,” Loan says.

Liangyi Chiang, Asia managing director at 350.org, a grassroots organization that promotes renewable energy, stresses the importance of educating donors on the challenges facing Vietnamese activists. “It is important to keep donors updated on the tax policies,” Chiang says. “Every single donor is different. Not all donors are aware of tax regulations’ complexity, especially rapid changes in the policies not only for civil society but also for the private sector.”

In parallel, Chiang emphasizes the importance of telling the stories of those Vietnamese defenders, celebrating activists as inspirations rather than treating their stories as cautionary tales. “We need to show donors the great jobs they [activists] did in the past. The more we do, the stronger support there will be for the activists,” Chiang says. “We make sure that their stories are to be remembered.”

Banner image: A Nicobar pigeon, a bird found in Vietnam. Image by cuatrok77 via Flickr ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ).

Reporting for this story was supported by a grant from GRID-Arendal .

‘The police are watching’: In Mekong countries, eco defenders face rising risks

FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.

To wipe or to wash? That is the question

Toilet paper: Environmentally impactful, but alternatives are rolling out

Rolling towards circularity? Tracking the trace of tires

Getting the bread: What’s the environmental impact of wheat?

Consumed traces the life cycle of a variety of common consumer products from their origins, across supply chains, and waste streams. The circular economy is an attempt to lessen the pace and impact of consumption through efforts to reduce demand for raw materials by recycling wastes, improve the reusability/durability of products to limit pollution, and […]

Free and open access to credible information

Latest articles.

The future of extractive industries in the Pan Amazon

In Nepal, a humble edible fern is at heart of human-tiger conflict

Ecotourism offers new hopes for Bhutanese youth — and local environments

For Indonesian oil palm farmers, EU’s deforestation law is another top-down imposition

The ocean ‘belongs to all of us’: Interview with Palau President Whipps

African environment ministers meet over pressing challenges

Drought forces Amazon Indigenous communities to drink mercury-tainted water

Mysterious African manatees inspire a growing chorus of champions

you're currently offline

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts

Environmental sciences articles within Nature Climate Change

Correspondence | 19 August 2024

Brazil’s coastline under attack

• Marcus V. Cianciaruso

Article | 30 July 2024

Vulnerability of mineral-associated soil organic carbon to climate across global drylands

Protection afforded by inorganic minerals is assumed to make mineral-associated organic carbon less susceptible to loss under climate change than particulate organic carbon. However, a global study of soil organic carbon from drylands suggests that this is not the case.

• Paloma Díaz-Martínez
• , Fernando T. Maestre
•  &  César Plaza

Comment | 26 June 2024

Engaging diverse knowledge holders in adaptation research

Adaptation evidence and knowledge are diverse and unequally represented in global adaptation discourse. The Adaptation Futures 2023 conference sought to bring this diversity together to advance more inclusive and impactful adaptation science, and confronted both the benefits and the trade-offs that this effort entails.

• , B. Harvey
•  &  E. Totin

Article | 12 June 2024

Early life cold and heat exposure impacts white matter development in children

Using magnetic resonance imaging assessment of 2,681 children from the Netherlands, the authors investigate effects of cold and heat exposure during pregnancy, infancy and childhood. They found that these exposures can have lasting impacts on white matter microstructure at preadolescence.

• Laura Granés
• , Esmée Essers
•  &  Mònica Guxens

Brief Communication 11 June 2024 | Open Access

A decrease in radiative forcing and equivalent effective chlorine from hydrochlorofluorocarbons

Hydrochlorofluorocarbons are important ozone-depleting substances. Here the authors show that the radiative forcing and equivalent effective chlorine from hydrochlorofluorocarbons has decreased in recent years, 5 years earlier than expected.

• Luke M. Western
• , John S. Daniel
•  &  Stephen A. Montzka

Perspective | 04 June 2024

Demand-side strategies key for mitigating material impacts of energy transitions

The material-intensive transition to low-carbon energy will impose environmental and social burdens on local and regional communities. Demand-side strategies can help to achieve higher well-being at lower levels of energy or material use, and an interdisciplinary approach in future research is essential.

• Felix Creutzig
• , Sofia G. Simoes
•  &  Charlie Wilson

Article 03 June 2024 | Open Access

Novel temperatures are already widespread beneath the world’s tropical forest canopies

The authors use a mechanistic microclimate model to model the below-canopy conditions for 300,000 tropical forest locations across 30 years. They show that small temperature increases have already resulted in novel temperature regimes across most sites, and highlight areas that may act as refugia.

• Brittany T. Trew
• , David P. Edwards
•  &  Ilya M. D. Maclean

News & Views | 29 May 2024

Climate change and geohazards

Long-term monitoring is required to determine whether climate change is having an impact on shallow geohazard frequency and magnitude; however, these records rarely exist. An innovative approach, using tree damage as evidence, suggests climate change has shifted the seasonality of alpine rockfalls as well as increasing their frequency and volume.

• Anna Harrison
•  &  Claire Dashwood

News & Views | 23 April 2024

Extreme weather threatens informal settlements

Residents of informal settlements suffer from extreme weather due to their precarious living environment. Now, findings show that extreme weather event thresholds do not fully capture the negative impacts experienced by women in Nairobi, Kenya.

• Lauren Broyles

Article 16 April 2024 | Open Access

Revisiting Copenhagen climate mitigation targets

The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) in Copenhagen marked an important step in global climate action with parties submitting 2020 mitigation targets. However, this retrospective study shows that many countries either have failed to meet their targets or have reduced their emissions through carbon leakage.

• , Jing Meng
•  &  Dabo Guan

Analysis 21 March 2024 | Open Access

Expert review of the science underlying nature-based climate solutions

Nature-based climate solutions are widely incorporated into climate change mitigation plans and need firm scientific foundations. Through literature review and expert elicitation, this analysis shows that for some major pathways there is strong support, while for others their efficacy remains uncertain.

• , D. R. Gordon
•  &  S. P. Hamburg

Article 01 March 2024 | Open Access

Climate threats to coastal infrastructure and sustainable development outcomes

Increasing exposure to climate hazards under climate change will disproportionately impact poor communities. This study shows that disruptions to infrastructure service threaten progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals in coastal Bangladesh, but impacts can be mediated through adaptation.

• Daniel Adshead
• , Amelie Paszkowski
•  &  Jim W. Hall

Article | 08 February 2024

Methane oxidation minimizes emissions and offsets to carbon burial in mangroves

Carbon sequestration in mangroves has been proposed as a mitigation strategy for climate change, yet the benefits of carbon burial may be offset by methane emissions. This study shows that methane offsets are small in saline and tropical mangroves, leading to greater net carbon sequestration.

• Luiz C. Cotovicz Jr
• , Gwenaël Abril
•  &  Isaac R. Santos

Brief Communication | 04 January 2024

African rice cultivation linked to rising methane

The increase in atmospheric methane has been accelerating since 2007, and identifying drivers is critical for climate mitigation. In this study, the authors show that the expansion of rice cultivation in Africa accounts for 7% of rising emissions.

• Zichong Chen
• , Nicholas Balasus
•  &  Daniel J. Jacob

Brief Communication 27 November 2023 | Open Access

Loss-of-function gs3 allele decreases methane emissions and increases grain yield in rice

Rice paddies are a source of the potent greenhouse gas methane. The authors demonstrate that a rice variety containing naturally lost function in the gene GS3 has reduced allocation of photosynthates to roots, which results in a reduction of methane emissions during growth.

• Youngho Kwon
• , Ji-Yoon Lee
•  &  Choong-Min Ryu

Research Highlight | 03 November 2023

Ensuring data continuity

• Alyssa Findlay

Perspective | 30 October 2023

Realizing the social value of impermanent carbon credits

Nature-based solutions are essential to avoid climate crisis, yet how best to estimate their long-run effects is unclear. Here the authors propose a new dynamic accounting method that captures the impermanence of these carbon impacts, allowing investors to make robust comparisons across projects.

• Andrew Balmford
• , Srinivasan Keshav
•  &  Tom Swinfield

Article 30 October 2023 | Open Access

Climate change exacerbates nutrient disparities from seafood

The authors use fisheries databases and predictive models to understand past and future changes in the availability of iron, calcium omega-3 and protein from seafood. They show disproportional loss of nutrients in tropical low-income countries, which will be exacerbated by higher levels of global warming.

• William W. L. Cheung
• , Eva Maire
•  &  Christina C. Hicks

Matters Arising | 05 October 2023

Detecting long-term Arctic surface water changes

• , Robert H. Fraser
•  &  Hana Travers-Smith

Viewpoint | 02 October 2023

Facing climate change across Latin America and the Caribbean

Over the past years, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have seen a range of developments around climate mitigation and environmental policy. Nature Climate Change asked a selection of scientists from the region to share their thoughts on research questions and responses to climate change in their area of study.

• Alfonso Fernández
• , Matías Franchini
•  &  Marisol Yglesias-González

Article | 14 September 2023

Widespread deoxygenation in warming rivers

Warming waters in a changing climate have led to declining oxygen levels in oceans and lakes; the impact on rivers has been less clear. This study shows that widespread deoxygenation in rivers in the United States and Central Europe may accelerate under climate change and influence water quality.

• , Christoph Klingler
•  &  Li Li

Research Highlight | 05 September 2023

Footprint of agri-food systems

• Danyang Cheng

Viewpoint | 04 August 2023

Linking sea-level research with local planning and adaptation needs

Studies on sea-level rise often claim to be useful for local decision-makers and adaptation planning. We asked researchers and practitioners to discuss the different ways in which science can inform local to global decision-making and what researchers can do to improve the utility of their findings.

• Brian Blankespoor
• , Susmita Dasgupta
•  &  Daniella Hirschfeld

Research Briefing | 24 July 2023

Nature-based solutions can pave the way to carbon-neutral cities in 2030

Nature-based solutions, such as urban green spaces, are shown to contribute to carbon emissions reduction and carbon sequestration, and also to have valuable indirect effects and behavioural impacts. Implementing such solutions could achieve carbon neutrality within the decade in several major cities in Europe.

Brief Communication 20 July 2023 | Open Access

Systemic risks from climate-related disruptions at ports

Climate-induced extreme events could disrupt the operation of ports globally, which could affect maritime transport, trade and supply chains. The authors estimate wider impact on the trade and economic activities across different sectors, finding that globally large economic cost is at-risk.

• Jasper Verschuur
• , Elco E. Koks

Analysis 20 July 2023 | Open Access

Contribution of prioritized urban nature-based solutions allocation to carbon neutrality

Effective spatial allocation of the nature-based solutions is important for city mitigation through various pathways. This Analysis allocates prioritized urban nature-based solutions to major European cities and estimates their potential contribution to emission reductions, then the carbon neutrality targets.

• , Jessica Page
•  &  Zahra Kalantari

Comment | 03 July 2023

Urgent abatement of industrial sources of nitrous oxide

The industrial emissions of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas and stratospheric ozone-depleting substance, have increased since 2010. However, untapped abatement potential for industrial emissions currently exists through low-cost technologies.

• Eric A. Davidson
•  &  Wilfried Winiwarter

Research Briefing | 29 June 2023

Expansion of organic farming could reduce soil organic carbon stocks

The potential effect of globally expanding organic farming on cropland soil organic carbon stocks has been estimated using a modelling approach. The results reveal that large-scale expansion of organic farming could lead to a reduction in soil organic carbon stocks unless appropriate farming practices, such as increased cover cropping, are adopted.

Article | 29 June 2023

Soil organic carbon stocks potentially at risk of decline with organic farming expansion

The authors simulated the impact of organic farming expansion on soil organic carbon. They found that soil organic carbon stock may be at risk of decline if the complete conversion to organic farming does not involve additional practices such as widespread cover cropping and residue recycling.

• Ulysse Gaudaré
• , Matthias Kuhnert
•  &  Thomas Nesme

Research Briefing | 26 June 2023

Citizen-led planning increases climate change impact awareness and preparedness

Better adaptation methods are needed in the face of rapid climate change. A pilot process for inclusive adaptation planning reveals that empowering citizens to identify climate impacts, and to discuss interventions to adapt to them, leads to better awareness of and preparedness for future climate change events.

News & Views | 19 June 2023

The forest is not yet lost

Decades of deforestation and climate change have led to the southeastern Amazon becoming a carbon source region. Now, research shows that this carbon source region still sustains its own biomass production, but further degradation would decrease moisture recycling and amplify carbon losses to the atmosphere.

• Gabrielle F. Pires

Correspondence | 22 May 2023

Ensure forest-data integrity for climate change studies

• Risto Päivinen
• , Rasmus Astrup
•  &  Iddo K. Wernick

Correspondence | 18 May 2023

Funding African-led climate initiatives

• Heba Bedair
• , Quadri Agbolade Anibaba
•  &  Mubaraka S. Alghariani

Comment | 06 April 2023

Representation of adaptation in quantitative climate assessments

Adaptation is a key societal response to reduce the impacts of climate change, yet it is poorly represented in current modelling frameworks. We identify key research gaps and suggest entry points for adaptation in quantitative assessments of climate change to enhance policy guidance.

• Nicole van Maanen
• , Tabea Lissner
•  &  Detlef P. van Vuuren

News & Views | 23 March 2023

Defence against the rising seas

The rate of sea-level rise varies around the world, as do local infrastructure and standards for defending against the risks of flooding. Now research indicates that coastal communities can also have very different times left to act before defences fall short of those standards.

• David R. Johnson

Research Briefing | 23 March 2023

Soils worldwide suffer from the combined effects of multiple global change factors

A statistical analysis of data from global surveys reveals that soils react to the number of stressors as well as to the individual stressor types. Moreover, the increasing number of stressors above a critical threshold reduces soil biodiversity and impedes the delivery of various ecosystem processes.

News & Views | 20 March 2023

Climate feedback on methane from wetlands

Strong positive wetland methane climate feedbacks from global warming may occur but have not been accounted for in Earth system models. Now, model simulations show a substantial increase in methane emissions due to the stronger impact of warming over tropical wetlands.

• Euan G. Nisbet

Matters Arising | 16 March 2023

Autumn cooling paused increased CO 2 release in central Eurasia

• Masayuki Kondo
• , Motoki Sasakawa
•  &  Tetsuya Hiyama

Research Highlight | 08 March 2023

Warming worsens air quality

• Jasper Franke

News & Views | 30 January 2023

Warming to increase cropland carbon sink

Temperature affects both erosion and carbon cycling in the soil. Research now shows that under warming, the replacement of soil organic carbon lost by erosion increases but the preservation of deposited carbon decreases, with an overall rise in the cropland carbon sink.

• Julian Campo

News & Views | 05 January 2023

Connected climate tipping elements

Tipping elements are regions that are vulnerable to climate change and capable of sudden drastic changes. Now research establishes long-distance linkages between tipping elements, with the network analysis offering insights into their interactions on a global scale.

• Valerie N. Livina

Research Briefing | 24 November 2022

Analysing the 2021 North American heatwave to understand extraordinary heat events

Investigating the unprecedented 2021 heatwave in the North American Pacific Northwest revealed that a complex interaction between atmospheric dynamics, soil moisture and temperature nonlinearly amplified the event beyond a five-sigma anomaly. These findings may contribute to a better understanding of the physical drivers of future heat extremes.

Article | 24 November 2022

2021 North American heatwave amplified by climate change-driven nonlinear interactions

The North American Pacific Northwest experienced an unprecedented heatwave in summer 2021. This study shows that atmospheric circulation features and regional soil dryness both amplified the event’s severity; future warming increases the chance of an equivalent or stronger event.

• Samuel Bartusek
• , Kai Kornhuber
•  &  Mingfang Ting

Research Briefing | 31 October 2022

Temperature variability under climate change increases extinction risk of insects

Temperature projections from global climate models integrated with simple dynamical models suggest that there will be a systematic increase in the extinction risk of insect populations in the twenty-first century. The risks due to warming are amplified when temperature variability is taken into account.

Redistribution of snowmelt dependence and risks through international trade

The global redistribution of agricultural snowmelt dependence and risks was characterized by integrating sub-annual irrigation water demand with snowmelt runoff dynamics and an international trade model. This analysis highlights the global implications of the risks related to changes in snowmelt under climate change, indicating the wider importance of climate adaptation strategies.

Article | 31 October 2022

Snowmelt risk telecouplings for irrigated agriculture

Agriculture dependent on snowmelt will face serious challenges under climate change, which increases risks for countries that import these crop products. Food security and livelihoods in countries heavily exposed to global food trade may be vulnerable even though domestic production is not affected.

• , Chaopeng Hong
•  &  Nathaniel D. Mueller

Article 20 October 2022 | Open Access

Climate-mediated shifts in temperature fluctuations promote extinction risk

The authors project changes in mean thermal stress, as well as its persistence and variability. They show complex impacts on species stability but universal increases in extinction risk, and highlight the need to go beyond average-temperature-based projections of biological performance.

• , Tarik C. Gouhier
•  &  Auroop R. Ganguly

Research Briefing | 29 September 2022

Pathways towards 90% decarbonization of aviation by 2050

Demand for aviation will increase by 2–3-fold by 2050. Nonetheless, 90% decarbonization compared with 2019 can be achieved by continued efficiency gains in aircraft and operations, and by the use of ultra-green fuels derived from biomass or clean electricity. Achieving this decarbonization goal will require an increase in airfares of up to approximately 15%.

Research Highlight | 01 September 2022

Combined force of fire and water

Research Briefing | 15 August 2022

Climate change exacerbates almost two-thirds of pathogenic diseases affecting humans

A comprehensive and systematic literature review reveals that over 58% of human pathogenic diseases are aggravated by climatic hazards that are sensitive to greenhouse gas emissions.

Browse broader subjects

• Earth and environmental sciences

Browse narrower subjects

• Environmental chemistry
• Environmental impact

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies