You might think adding crop straw to soil is a no-brainer: it enriches the earth, boosts organic matter, and supports sustainable farming. But what if the weather could turn this green practice into a hidden risk for heavy metal pollution? A groundbreaking new study, published on August 1, 2025, in Carbon Research—has uncovered the complex, climate-driven dance between straw incorporation, soil organic matter, and lead (Pb) mobility. And the results are reshaping how we think about safe soil remediation in a changing climate. Led by Dr. Song Cui from the International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances (IJRC-PTS) and Research Center for Eco-Environment Protection of Songhua River Basin, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China, in collaboration with Dr. Yongzhen Ding from the Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin, China, this research dives deep into the invisible world of dissolved organic matter (DOM)—and how it can either lock away or unleash toxic metals.

University at Buffalo researchers are theorizing that core electron bonding may not always require as much pressure as previously thought. In fact, for some elements, it may only take the atmospheric pressure you’re experiencing right now on the Earth’s surface. 

Air quality in America’s largest cities has steadily improved thanks to tighter regulations. However, increased heat, wildfire smoke and other emerging global drivers of urban aerosol pollution are now combining to create a new set of challenges on the East Coast. Research from Colorado State University published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science begins to unpack and characterize these developing relationships against the backdrop of New York City.

Tokyo faces severe risks due to soil liquefaction, a phenomenon where the ground behaves like a liquid during strong seismic events. To improve existing hazard maps, researchers from Japan developed a new framework that combines extensive borehole data with artificial neural networks. Their model can accurately predict soil properties, producing high-resolution 3D liquefaction hazard maps, helping to improve earthquake risk management in Tokyo and other vulnerable megacities.