Microplastics aren’t just a problem for oceans. Researchers found these tiny plastic particles in 95% of sediment samples from a protected freshwater wetland along Florida’s St. Lucie River. Nearly half were fibers, suggesting that synthetic textiles and other everyday materials may be contributing to plastic pollution in the preserve. Concentrations were highest near the river and a flood-control canal, suggesting water movement helps transport and concentrate pollution. Findings from the study underscore the need to address plastic pollution in wetland conservation and stormwater management.

The use of fossil fuels alters both the concentration and the carbon isotope composition of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Since surface water exchanges carbon dioxide with the atmosphere, this also alters the isotopic composition of the carbon dissolved in the ocean. In a study, a team from MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen has now determined how deep this so-called Suess effect has already penetrated into the North Atlantic.

A large scale study of nearly 700 species reveals the evolutionary relationships and history of Neogastropoda, a diverse group of marine snails. The findings provide new evidence for their single origin, identify four new families and reveal a previously undetected burst of diversification in the early Cenozoic.

In a paper published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences, a team of researchers conducted a series of CESM2 ensemble simulations under SSP2-4.5 to examine the impact of marine cloud brightening (MCB) on terrestrial drought. By injecting sea salt aerosols over certain subtropical ocean regions, they found that MCB could produce about 0.9°C global cooling and mitigate global land drying trend via reduced potential evapotranspiration by 2100 relative to that of SSP2-4.5. However, regional differences in drought response to MCB are evident, indicating the underlying complexity of terrestrial hydrological responses to artificial climate intervention. It sheds new light on the potential and risks of solar geoengineering for drought mitigation.

Titanium is widely used in marine engineering and biomedical implants because of its excellent corrosion resistance. Researchers have discovered that marine electroactive bacteria can weaken titanium’s protective oxide layer through flavin-mediated extracellular electron transfer. The findings reveal a previously unknown bioelectrochemical corrosion pathway and provide new insights for designing titanium materials with improved resistance to microbiologically influenced corrosion.