Environmental & Planetary
60 articles
Environmental DNA Reveals a Hidden Arsenal of Plastic-Degrading Enzymes
Metagenomic searches are uncovering enzymes that can attack persistent plastics—but turning genetic potential into industrial recycling remains the harder experiment.
Microplastics Move Through Food Webs—But Biomagnification Is Not a Simple Ladder
New research shows that particles can cross trophic boundaries, while their buildup depends on chemistry, size, habitat, and how scientists measure exposure.
Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic Was an Ecological Theory of Belonging
Leopold’s most radical idea was not to save nature from people, but to redefine people as participants in a living community.
Earth Has Crossed Six of Nine Planetary Boundaries
The latest boundary assessment turns a warning system for Earth’s stability into a measurable account of how far human pressure has advanced.
The Sea Otter’s Outsized Role in Holding Coastal Ecosystems Together
By suppressing sea urchins and reshaping kelp forests, a small predator can redirect the fate of an entire coastline.
The Thermodynamic Negotiation: Why Collecting CO₂ Is Not a Climate Solution but a Bargain With Physics
Forests remove carbon cheaply but conditionally; machines remove it reliably but expensively. Neither sink is free — and the atmosphere, in the end, only cares whether the physics works.
The Hidden Power Bill of Air-Capture: How Much Energy Will It Really Take to Pull CO2 from the Sky?
Direct air capture works; the pressing question is whether the energy — and infrastructure — bill makes global-scale deployment feasible.
How the Sea Otter Holds Kelp Forests Together: A Keystone Animal’s Quiet Power
One small predator—playful, furry, and voracious—stitches together entire coastal ecosystems by keeping herbivores in check.
Microbial Fuel Cells Power Remote Sensors: Continuous, Grid‑Free Energy Harvesting at the Edge
Field trials demonstrate that low‑power environmental sensors can run for months on energy harvested from soils and sediments using microbial fuel cells, eliminating reliance on batteries or grid power.
Regenerative Power Systems: Designing Energy Infrastructure That Heals Rather Than Depletes
Treating energy infrastructure as a restorative system — not merely a set of services — redefines engineering criteria and unlocks scalable pathways to climate resilience and biodiversity recovery.
Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic Returns to the Center of Conservation Debate
As restoration targets, biodiversity credits and Indigenous stewardship reshape policy, Leopold’s simple moral turn—respect for the land as community—frames urgent choices about how to govern Earth’s living systems.
Metagenomic hunts expose a global reservoir of plastic‑degrading enzymes
Large-scale environmental DNA surveys are revealing hundreds of enzyme candidates that break down plastics — promising leads, not instant solutions.