A new study investigates the environmental factors affecting the occurrence and state of palsa mires, as well as the degradation of palsas. The study covers the entire Northern Hemisphere. The new results are part of a doctoral dissertation to be examined at the University of Oulu, Finland on 6 June 2025.

Microplastics (MPs) and freshwater acidification jointly threaten aquatic ecosystems. This 21-day study on Eriocheir sinensis revealed synergistic toxicity: combined low pH (6.5) and MPs exacerbated oxidative stress and immune suppression, disrupted the TCA cycle and arginine biosynthesis, and altered gut microbiota function. While MPs alone affected pyrimidine metabolism, acidification amplified MPs' toxicity via immune-metabolic crosstalk. The findings underscore the need to evaluate multiple stressors under climate change, providing critical insights for aquatic risk assessment.

Officially started on 1 June 2025, the newly-funded Horizon Europe project GREEN TALENT is to run for 4 years with the overall objectives to unite 17 academic, public and private sector partner institutions from 9 European countries, and the United States. The project’s goal is to develop the capacity of organisations and pathways to combat climate change and biodiversity loss, and support secondments across these countries, fostering international collaboration in research and innovation (R&I), as well as public and private decision-making.

Quaise Energy has moved out of the lab and into the field with the first demonstration of its novel drilling technique on a full-scale oil rig just outside of Houston. The company, formed only seven years ago, is on track to prove that clean, renewable geothermal energy could power the world, according to Carlos Araque, CEO of Quaise and a co-founder.

The IRISCC (Integrated Research Infrastructure Services for Climate Change Risks) project has launched its First General Call for Transnational and Virtual Access. As part of this call, 13 eLTER Sites and eLTSER Platforms are included among the infrastructures available for access. These sites represent some of Europe’s most advanced long-term ecosystem research locations and are situated across Germany, Finland, Hungary, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Austria and Israel.

 (1) Atmospheric transport affects glacial microbes; (2) Community assembly processes are dynamic as glacial microorganisms move downstream; (3) Glacial microbes participate in biogeochemical cycles and feedback to climate; (4) Impacts of mixed pollutants on glacier habitats deserve deeper attention; (5) Climate change, pollutants, and microbes combine to affect glacier habitats.

New research from Colorado State University and Cornell University shows that the presence of solar panels in Colorado’s grasslands may reduce water stress, improve soil moisture levels and – particularly during dry years – increase plant growth by about 20% or more compared to open fields.

As climate change accelerates the spread of plant diseases worldwide, researchers at the College of Design and Engineering (CDE) at the National University of Singapore have developed a precision-targeted spray that could help crops defend themselves. The new system, called SENDS (short for stomata-targeting engineered nanoparticles), uses microscopic zinc-based particles designed to stick to stomata, the tiny pores on leaves where plants exchange gases and where bacteria often enter to cause infection.

Developed by a team led by Assistant Professor Tedrick Lew from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at CDE, the particles carry natural antibacterial compounds and release them only where they are needed. In lab tests, plants treated with the spray were 20 times more resistant to infection than those treated with non-targeted formulations. The spray also remained effective even after rainfall and did not interfere with the plant’s natural functions such as photosynthesis.

The study was published in Nature Communications.

Global warming is continuously advancing. How quickly this will happen can now be predicted more accurately than ever before, thanks to a method developed by climate researcher Gottfried Kirchengast and his team at the University of Graz. For the first time, this method enables reliable monitoring of the Paris climate goals and shows that temperatures are rising faster than expected in the latest IPCC report. Based on this, the researchers propose a four-classes assessment scale to quantitatively gauge to what degree the Paris climate goals are being met or missed. "This creates a completely new compliance assessment basis for the political and legal implementation of the agreement", says Kirchengast.