Climate-driven changes in vegetation are already reshaping air quality across East Asia, according to a new study. Researchers found significant changes in biogenic emissions that drive the formation of ground-level ozone and biogenic secondary organic aerosols by replacing two-decade-old vegetation data with recent satellite observations. The findings show that updating vegetation information alone can substantially change air pollution estimates, highlighting the importance of keeping atmospheric models current as ecosystems continue to respond to climate change.

The occurrence of fires in the Arctic is linked not only to warming temperatures and increasingly dry conditions, but also human activity in the region. An international research team led by the University of Zurich found that fires occurred 2.5 times more often in lit areas associated with human activity than in climatically similar unlit areas. Effective fire prevention and response can help reduce risks whose impacts extend far beyond the Arctic.

Many threatened or understudied oak tree species are at risk of extinction in Southeast and East Asia, where more than half of their native range is subject to sharply increasing human pressure. Should these species of oak disappear from the wild, most of them do not have a single backup in a managed botanical collection anywhere in the world.

Those are among the findings in the first comprehensive Conservation Gap Analysis of Select Native Asian Oaks, conducted by scientists at The Morton Arboretum alongside collaborators in the region. Oaks are a crucial species that anchor entire ecosystems—supplying food and shelter for humans and wildlife alike—and by addressing vast disparities in data about these at-risk trees, this report informs the most practical next steps for conserving them.

The EU project SYNCHRONY will launch on August 1st, 2026. It aims to contribute to a better understanding of the rapid changes taking place in the complex system comprising the ocean, ice and atmosphere in the Southern Ocean and around the Antarctic ice shelves, as well as their impacts on the global climate and biodiversity. Led by the Alfred Wegener Institute, researchers from a total of 27 global partner institutions from around the world will work in interdisciplinary work packages to optimise and expand the existing observing system, harmonise data streams, and create new data products that document the state of the climate system and biodiversity. The project thus also provides an important foundation for the international UN Ocean Decade initiative Antarctica InSync and builds on existing research consortia. The EU will fund SYNCHRONY with around 8.5 million euros over the next four years.

Permafrost in the Arctic stores large quantities of organic carbon. When the frozen ground thaws or coastal sections erode, this carbon can enter the sea, where microorganisms can break it down and convert it into climate-damaging greenhouse gases. The extent to which this carbon actually enters the atmosphere, however, and how much remains in the ocean has hardly been quantified to date. Researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute and MARUM – Centre for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen have now been able to answer this question for the first time for the permafrost coast of Qikiqtaruk (Herschel Island) in Canada. With the help of sediment cores, they discovered that considerable amounts of terrestrial carbon are stored in the seabed. It also became apparent that microorganisms are particular gourmets who decidedly prefer fresh marine carbon. The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Geoscience.