Brief Communications

Systems that combine agriculture and aquaculture have the potential to intensify food production relatively sustainably. This study shows how models of such co-culture systems based on ecological networks can optimize production based on the species involved.

Accurate models of pro-environmental behaviour can inform interventions to foster sustainability. This study estimates the extent to which psychological factors like attitudes and personal norms explain greenhouse gas emissions from clothing purchasing across four countries.

Deforestation caused by oil palm plantations is threatening biomass carbon sequestration across the tropics. Although large-scale plantations dominate this expansion, smallholder operations responding to high export prices are preferentially eating into mature, carbon-rich forests that promise high yields.

Sand for building material is a vital but increasingly scarce resource. Demand for sand is projected to increase substantially in the coming decades, particularly in lower-income countries. Strategic modifications to building practices, however, can reduce global building sand demand by up to 50%.

Forest conservation contributes to climate change mitigation and delivers a host of other benefits to society, but such benefits are usually assessed qualitatively at the project level. This study provides a quantitative assessment of multiple benefits from forest carbon projects across Southeast Asia.

Perovskite solar cells are an emerging energy technology but their sustainability is jeopardized by the presence of Pb. Here the authors introduce on-device layers that could capture over 99.9% of leaked Pb.

Not all meat sources have equal climate and environmental impacts, leading to hopes that fish and chicken could ‘displace’ red meat. However, this analysis of five decades of international data casts doubt that such a substitution effect is happening, and that instead all meat consumption is rising.

Shifting global food production to plant-based diets by 2050 can sequester 99–163% of the CO₂ emissions budget towards limiting climate warming to 1.5 °C.

Accurate estimates of emissions distribution in a vehicle fleet can help air pollution control. With diesel emissions data from chassis dynamometer tests and on-road remote sensing, this study shows that previous results about a skewed distribution towards the highest 10% emitters may not be correct.

Comparing relevant indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals with other indicators of biodiversity trends shows little relation between the two, because the former more strongly reflect socioeconomic indicators.

Climate change is driving fishery stocks out of their historic ranges. This study finds that the risk of such fishery exits is greatest in the tropics and that policy frameworks are poorly equipped to grapple with this challenge.

Adoption of air conditioning is increasing globally, leading to peaks in electricity consumption and related environmental concerns. Compiling recent data on population and temperature, this study ranks 219 countries and 1,692 cities based on a measure of cooling demand to improve our understanding of future trends.

Recently, ecologists have begun discussing an idea for setting aside half of the Earth for conservation purposes. This study provides some of the first analysis of the impacts of doing so on society, based on assumptions about ecoregions and human footprint.

Reducing agriculture’s impacts while increasing outputs is challenging. This study, of an Indian smallholder system, shows that microsatellite data can detect yield gains from a low-cost fertilizer intervention.

Updated forest inventories are critical for policymaking. This study presents an approach to map coordinated top-down European forest management strategies that spatially weighs the multifunctionality of European forests. Such an approach should help identify pathways to manage forests sustainably.

Implementation of a groundwater conservation policy in northwest India governing rice irrigation is linked to an increase in fires to clear agricultural residue, which itself worsens air quality in urban areas.

Waste plastic can be converted into a potential fuel source using a new nano-scale catalyst. This catalyst has well-defined and uniform surface openings, so it needs only one step to convert low-density polyethylene into a gasoline-type product.

The Sustainable Development Goals agenda is proposed as an interconnected framework that requires policy coherence for implementation. This study shows that the connections across goals are uneven and that gender equality, peace and governance concerns are not adequately integrated.

US coastlines that are exposed to hurricanes are subject to a myriad of regulations regarding building and rebuilding of structures, yet satellite imagery shows that the footprint of residential buildings increases after hurricane events for both new and renovated structures. Such an effect poses a challenge for vulnerable coastlines to build resilience in the face of growing hazards and houses.

In response to continuing habitat and biodiversity loss, leading conservationists have proposed setting aside half the earth for nature. This study evaluates the trade-offs with food production and finds losses in croplands, pasture and calories that vary with the conservation strategy.