2026-09-17
Chuan Liao, Shuai Zhou, Seongmin Shin, Danning Lu, Yujin Lee, Shuai Xu, Ying Tu, Krisztina Mosdossy, Lucinda Li, Rebecca Nelson, Johannes Lehmann
Nutrient management is central to global food security, ecosystem health and climate resilience, yet current practices are profoundly inequitable and unsustainable. This Perspective introduces the circular bionutrient economy as a justice-oriented framework for advancing ecological balance and social equity through the recycling of organic waste streams into agrifood systems.
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00831-w2026-09-14
Lei Liu, Xuejun Liu, Xuemei Wang, Wen Xu, Aohan Tang, Enzai Du, Lei Duan, Yuepeng Pan, Lin Zhang, Jianlin Shen, Ling Song, Kaihui Li, Xiaobing Zhou, Xiankai Lu, Yu Zhao, Qian Yu, Mengmeng Li, Xiuying Zhang, Zhang Wen, Tianxiang Hao, Liquan Yao, Keith Goulding, Jeffrey L. Collett Jr., Peter Vitousek, Fusuo Zhang
Reactive nitrogen deposition in China has changed markedly since 1980 owing to variations in emissions from industry and agriculture, with consequences for ecosystems, food systems and pollution control. This Review synthesizes deposition trends, emission and meteorological drivers, ecological impacts and management strategies for sustainable nitrogen mitigation in China.
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00830-x2026-09-08
Jan Zalasiewicz, Julia Adeney Thomas, Kim M. Cohen, Davor Vidas, Sverker Sörlin, Colin N. Waters, Martin J. Head, Colin P. Summerhayes, Reinhold Leinfelder, Nathanaël Wallenhorst, Jaia Syvitski, John R. McNeill, Libby Robin, Mark Williams, Alejandro Cearreta, Juliana A. Ivar do Sul, Buhm Soon Park, Francine M. G. McCarthy, Yongming Han, Simon Turner, Neil Rose, Victor Galaz, Magnus Nyström, Andrew Cundy, Dan Richter, Agnieszka Gałuszka, Michael Wagreich, Jens Zinke, Jacques Grinevald, Anthony D. Barnosky, Elizabeth Hadly, William Shotyk, Jürgen Renn, Yoshiki Saito, John Palmesino, Ann-Sofi Rönnskog, Michinobu Kuwae
The Anthropocene is a term applied across geological, environmental and social sciences, and the humanities and arts. This Perspective explores various applications of the term and discusses how a consistent definition could support transdisciplinary efforts to address modern environmental challenges.
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00820-z2026-09-08
Liping Zhou, Adele Bertini
The rejection of the proposal for Anthropocene as a formal epoch of the Geological Time Scale has attracted wide interest in the stratigraphic aspects of the debate. Here, we clarify the distinction between the established evidence of anthropogenic planetary transformation versus the debate over the representation in the stratigraphic record.
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00822-x2026-09-08
Colin N. Waters, Jan Zalasiewicz, Simon D. Turner, Martin J. Head, Francine M. G. McCarthy, Michinobu Kuwae, Yongming Han, Barbara Fiałkiewicz-Kozieł, Michael Wagreich, Kristine L. DeLong, Jérôme Kaiser, Andrea Borsato, Jens Zinke, Mark Williams, Elizabeth R. Thomas, Neil L. Rose, Juliana A. Ivar do Sul, Agnieszka Gałuszka, Andrew B. Cundy, Alejandro Cearreta, Scott L. Wing, Irka Hajdas, Colin P. Summerhayes, Yoshiki Saito, Reinhold Leinfelder, Anthony D. Barnosky, M. Allison Stegner, Elizabeth Hadly, Catherine Jeandel
The Anthropocene is widely used without fixed definition. This Perspective argues for its base to be defined in 1952 by a sharp plutonium upturn coinciding with changes in multiple proxies, providing a globally correlatable horizon reflecting substantial human-driven Earth system disruption.
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00817-82026-09-08
Dorothy J. Merritts, Robert C. Walter
Defining the Anthropocene as a formal epoch with a fixed stratigraphic marker and global start date remains contentious. This Comment summarizes the arguments for a time transgressive extended Anthropocene event that encompasses cumulative diachronous human impacts over millennia, viewing it as an open-ended and transformative episode in Earth history.
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00823-w2026-09-08
In 2024, geologists rejected the Anthropocene as a new epoch amid dispute over the definition of the term. This Focus issue and online Collection bring together opinion pieces on the renewed Anthropocene debate.
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00829-42026-09-04
Erica R. Siirila-Woodburn, Benjamin J. Hatchett, Alan M. Rhoades
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00826-72026-07-13
Kui Han
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 13 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00809-8 Nature Reviews Earth & Environment interviewed Kui Han about their project investigating the electrical signature of trans-lithospheric shear zones.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00809-82026-06-16
Sara Vulpius
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 16 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00803-0 Understanding how Earth’s atmosphere and hydrosphere formed and evolved could help to explain how Earth became, and remains, habitable. This Review discusses the initial formation and redox evolution of Earth’s surface environments, with implications for other planetary bodies.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00803-02026-06-01
Kun Shi
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 01 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00795-x Widespread declines in dissolved oxygen concentrations in lakes and rivers have ecological and socioeconomic consequences. This Review highlights spatial and temporal trends, climate and anthropogenic drivers, impacts and strategies for the management and mitigation of inland freshwater deoxygenation.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00795-x2026-05-26
Wen Yi
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 26 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00790-2 Arctic shipping is increasing owing to sea ice melt offering more efficient alternatives to traditional shipping routes, leading to negative impacts across the atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. This Review discusses the factors influencing trends in Arctic shipping, the associated environmental impacts and potential pathways towards sustainable solutions.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00790-22026-05-15
Peng Wang
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 15 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00786-y The steel sector is a major greenhouse gas emitter, and decarbonizing steel production is critical to meeting climate targets. This Review outlines the environmental impacts of steel production and discusses process-level and system-wide decarbonization strategies, their technological and regional feasibility, and policy frameworks required to support a globally coordinated transition.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00786-y2026-04-21
José M. Mogollón
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 21 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00778-y Food production systems have negative effects on the environment, and environmental changes threaten global food production and security. This Review discusses the bidirectional effects of food production on the environment and outlines supply-side and demand-side transformations of food systems that are needed to mitigate and adapt to environmental change.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00778-y2026-04-17
R. Valli Divya
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 17 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00787-x Simulating planetary interiors with a diamond anvil cell]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00787-x2026-04-10
Abderrahim Bouhenache
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 10 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00784-0 Abderrahim Bouhenache describes the use of a field-scale rainfall exclusion system to quantify the response of crops to changes in water availability under real-world conditions in Africa.]]>
DOI: 10.1038/s43017-026-00784-02026-03-30
Mojtaba Fakhraee, Peter W. Crockford, Kohen W. Bauer, Virgil Pasquier, Ichiko Sugiyama, Sergei Katsev, Morgan Reed Raven, Maya Gomes, Pascal Philippot, Sean. A. Crowe, Lidya G. Tarhan, Timothy W. Lyons, Noah Planavsky
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Published online: 30 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s43017-026-00781-3 Author Correction: The history of Earth’s sulfur cycle