The number of icebergs in the Arctic has increased sharply since the 2000s. This is due to the destabilisation of large glaciers in north-east Greenland and parts of the Russian Arctic as well as the increasing mobility of sea ice. The result: Stones rain down from the melting icebergs, forming new hard-substrate habitats for marine life on the soft seafloor. This gradually alters the existing communities in the deep sea. At the same time, the increasing presence of icebergs also poses greater risks to shipping and fisheries. These findings were reported by a research team led by the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the journal Nature.

The deep sea is a unique ‘evolutionary engine’ with one of the richest and most unexplored sources of genetic diversity on Earth, according to a major new study that has assessed its potential to transform biotechnology and DNA sequencing technologies.

The sensors, which are being developed by soil scientists at Lancaster University and researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Manchester, track biological activity in soil by having a degradable substrate that is nibbled on by microbes.

The sensors offer the potential to reveal soil secrets including how they respond to climate events as well as their important role in storing carbon.

Soil salinization is one of the world’s most pressing threats to agriculture, especially in dry and semi-dry regions where salts and high pH can build up in the soil. These harsh conditions limit root growth, reduce nutrient uptake, and weaken crop productivity. Now, a new study shows that carefully designed biochar amendments can do more than improve soil chemistry. They can also guide plant metabolism and reshape beneficial microbial communities around the roots.

Soil pollution and degradation are threatening food security, crop productivity, and the long-term health of agricultural land worldwide. A new review published in Biochar suggests that one promising solution may come from pairing two powerful natural tools: biochar and beneficial microbes.

A new global analysis suggests that the climate mitigation potential of biochar could be overestimated if warming-driven carbon losses are not considered, especially in agricultural soils.