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2026
This study provides a short-term, dry-weather multi-compartment assessment of microplastic (MP) contamination in the Choghakhor Wetland, a vital freshwater ecosystem in western Iran. We quantified MPs in air, subsurface water, the surface water microlayer (SML), and sediments and developed a first-order mass-balance framework to clarify transport and fate. The SML showed much higher MP concentrations than the subsurface water when converted to volumetric units, while method-specific SML estimates varied among approaches (4.4–13.8 MP m⁻² using a glass tube; 196–982 MP m⁻² using a sieve; and 130–1754 MP m⁻² using filter paper). Subsurface water contained 0.083–1.5 MP L⁻¹, and the two sediment samples contained 60–400 MP kg⁻¹. Atmospheric deposition during the monitored intervals reached 2363 MP m⁻² h⁻¹. Flux analysis indicated that dry-weather influx exceeded observed outflux by more than three orders of magnitude. Using the conservative combined-outlet scenario, the wetland residence time was at least 168 days, whereas a water-only outlet scenario yielded ∼344 days. FLEXPART suggested that road dust dominated modeled source contributions, with smaller agricultural and soil-related contributions, although site-specific attribution remains model-based. These findings identify wetlands as important sinks and reservoirs of MPs, while emphasizing that the present results represent a dry-weather baseline rather than seasonal or annual conditions.
2026
Global mapping of city-level economic growth decoupling from fossil fuels
Cities seek to generate economic prosperity while reducing their dependence on fossil fuel combustion, yet tracking such progress at the city level remains challenging because of the limited and inconsistent emissions and economic data. Here we introduce an objective, globally consistent framework to measure decoupling between fossil fuel use and economic growth, either through reduced fuel use or shifts toward cleaner/more efficient combustion, proxied by tropospheric nitrogen dioxide columns combined with second-level administrative gross domestic product per capita based on purchasing power parity data. Analysing 5,435 cities globally over 2019–2024, we identify significant trends for 2,475 cities and classify them into 4 decoupling states. We find that 80% of these cities, mainly located in China, Europe and North America, enjoy relative decoupling, whereas 16%, mainly located in India and the Middle East, experience fossil fuel-dependent growth. Beyond these patterns, the described scalable satellite-based methodology can be revisited regularly to monitor city-level green growth and support urban policy effectiveness.
2026
Plastic pellet spills are a major source of microplastic pollution, and pellets are found on beaches worldwide. However, the potential environmental impacts of these spills remain poorly understood. In December 2023, approximately 25,000 kg of polyethylene pellets containing high concentrations of the additive Tinuvin UV-622 were spilled during a shipping accident off the northern coast of Portugal. Pellets collected from an affected beach located in Galicia, Spain, along with solvent extracts and aqueous leachates, were subjected to both target and nontarget chemical analyses and tested in a battery of toxicity assays including a green microalga (Raphidocelis subcapitata), a marine copepod (Apocyclops royi), a fish model (Danio rerio), and a human cell line. Chemical screening identified on the order of 50 chemical substances in addition to Tinuvin UV-622, including a range of known plastic additives and nonintentionally added substances (NIAS). Toxicity assays revealed significant growth inhibition and stress-induced cell aggregation in R. subcapitata and acute toxicity causing immobilization in copepods, which could have potential implications in the environment via the disruption of primary producers and food web dynamics. In contrast, zebrafish embryos showed no significant developmental effects, while human cells exhibited modest, time-dependent reductions in viability. Our findings underscore the complex chemical burden associated with pellet spills and stress the need for policies and regulations to prevent them, reinforcing the importance of applying the precautionary principle in managing the environmental risks linked to plastic pellet production, transport, and accidental release.
2026
Understanding new particle formation (NPF) and the fate of nanoparticles is crucial because of their close links to air quality, cloud formation, and climate. These effects vary spatially and temporally owing to diverse aerosol sources and their relatively short atmospheric lifetime. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of long-term trends in NPF-associated nucleation-mode particles and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations across diverse observation environments using quality-controlled particle number size distribution (PNSD) and CCN data from 37 sites, primarily from Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) stations. We identify declining decadal trends in both NPF occurrences and nucleated particle concentrations across most site types, with the strongest declines in urban areas. We observe simultaneous reductions in both CCN concentrations and nucleation-mode particles, suggesting that newly formed particles are a potential source of CCN. This, in turn, suggests that cloud microphysical properties and radiative effects can be indirectly influenced through aerosol–cloud interactions that modify cloud droplet formation. These findings indicate that decreasing anthropogenic emissions could influence the climate forcing potential of aerosol–cloud interactions, with important implications for future climate projections.
2026
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2026
Moss as an environmental factor
Did you know that stairstep moss can be used as a sampler for air pollution? Researchers at NILU have collected this kind of moss on several occasions and examined it for metals and other pollutants.
2026
2026
Aerosol-Cloud Interactions: Overcoming a Barrier to Projecting Near-Term Climate Evolution and Risk
Aerosol-cloud interactions (ACI) are a major source of uncertainty in climate science, critically affecting our ability to project near-term climate evolution and assess societal risks. These interactions influence effective radiative forcing, cloud dynamics, and precipitation patterns, yet remain insufficiently constrained due to limitations in observations, modeling, and process understanding. This uncertainty hampers robust policy advice across multiple domains—from estimating remaining carbon budgets and climate sensitivity, to anticipating regional extreme events and evaluating climate interventions such as solar radiation modification. In many cases, the influence of ACI is either underappreciated or excluded from decision-making frameworks due to its complexity and lack of quantification. This perspective outlines a path forward to overcome these barriers by leveraging emerging opportunities in satellite remote sensing, ground-based and airborne observations, high-resolution climate modeling, and machine learning. We identify key areas where rapid progress is feasible, including improved retrievals of cloud microphysical properties, better representation of natural aerosols in a warming world, and enhanced integration of observational and modeling communities. Even as anthropogenic aerosol and its impacts on clouds is reducing owing to emissions controls, addressing ACI uncertainties remains essential for refining climate projections, supporting effective mitigation and adaptation strategies, and delivering actionable science to policymakers in a rapidly changing climate system.
2026
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Indoor environments have shown to be a major source of human exposure of polychlorinated alkanes (PCAs), yet information on their distribution across indoor matrices and associated exposure pathways remains limited. PCAs, the main components in chlorinated paraffin mixtures, are widely used as flame retardants and plastic additives in numerous indoor consumer products and materials. This study quantified PCAs in paired indoor dust and indoor organic films (IOFs) from homes, offices, schools and gym sports halls (n = 41) in Sweden and assess their contribution to human exposure. Mean PCA concentrations in indoor dust were 7.3, 43.2, and 14.6 μg g−1 for ∑PCAs-C10–13, ∑PCAs-C14–17, and ∑PCAs-C18–30, respectively, while corresponding concentrations in IOFs were 38.2, 312, and 123 ng m−2. PCAs-C14–17 dominated both matrices, but IOFs showed an enrichment tendency towards longer-chain, higher-KOA PCAs, reflecting the less frequent cleaning and longer-term PCA accumulation in IOFs. IOF concentrations were particularly elevated in schools, and PCA variation across sites was influenced by differences in ventilation practices and building age. Dermal uptake was the dominant exposure pathway for children, with substantially estimated doses from IOFs, while adults show comparable dust dermal and dust ingestion exposures. PCA transformation products formed through hydroxylation, hydrolysis, and sulfation were also tentatively detected in both matrices. These findings highlight the importance of jointly assessing dust and IOFs to better characterize multipathway exposure to the diverse PCA mixture in indoor environments.
2026
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2026
Tracking the Path to Cleaner Cities using Global Urban NO₂ Monitoring from Space
Tracking air pollution is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of urban air-quality and emission-control policies and their impact on public health. Unlike previous satellite-based urban NO₂ studies that typically rely on linear trends, aggregated data, and limited meteorological correction, we use high-resolution TROPOMI observations with an AirGAM framework to estimate meteorology-adjusted, non-linear NO₂ TVCD trends across 5,435 cities worldwide (2019–2024). Daily satellite observations, together with ERA5 meteorology, are used to remove weather and seasonal effects so that trends primarily reflect changes in emissions. 1,400 cities had significant trends, with 79% showing declines, indicating an overall global drop in urban NO₂ TVCD. East Asia, particularly China (99% of cities with significant trend), and Europe (95%) led the global reductions. Cities in the USA with significant trends (n = 14) also experienced a decline. NO₂ TVCD levels increased most sharply in the cities of the Middle East, Central, and South Asia. The most populated examples are Tehran (3.1% yr-1 [95% CI: 0.7–5.5]) and Cairo (1.4% yr-1 [0.1–2.6]).
2026
Siri (14) gjør en viktig jobb for forskningen i Norge
Hver uke sender Siri Leifsen vannprøver til forskningsinstituttet NILU for analyse av ulike stoffer i nedbør. Tenåringen bidrar til forskning på miljøovervåkning.
2026
A pan-European spatial inventory of agricultural land degradation
Agricultural land degradation is a contemporary reality that increasingly threatens food security and socio-economic stability in Europe and worldwide. Monitoring and controlling this environmental problem are complicated missions, considering that land degradation generally occurs as multiple processes in agricultural environments, which have not yet been thoroughly investigated as an integrated multi-process and multi-scale inventory in Europe. Here we developed a detailed multi-scale (continental to sub-regional) inventory of 12 key agricultural land degradation pathways in Europe, including water erosion, wind erosion, soil organic carbon loss, soil salinization, soil acidification, soil compaction, soil nutrient imbalances, soil pollution via pesticides, soil pollution via heavy metals, vegetation degradation, groundwater decline, and aridity. Using various and (generally) high-resolution geospatial datasets of land degradative pathways, which were mapped at critical levels and statistically explored as a spatial footprint at various territorial levels, we highlighted a complex geographical pattern of agricultural degradation across Europe. Our findings revealed that continental agricultural environments are between 1 and 52 % affected by critical levels of individual degradative processes. Essentially, our results highlighted that soil pollution via pesticides (which impacts 52 % of Europe's evaluated agricultural area), soil nutrient imbalances (39 %), soil pollution via heavy metals (31 %), aridity (25 %), water erosion (15 %), and soil compaction (15 %) are the largest threats to European agriculture. Furthermore, using a Land Multi-degradation Index that integrates the critical conditions of all degradative processes, we emphasized that 31 % of pan-European agricultural landscapes are impacted by significant multi-degradation (lands simultaneously affected by at least three co-occurring processes). This general picture of agricultural degradation becomes however increasingly heterogeneous towards the more detailed (national to sub-regional) territorial levels, according to the multiple maps (52) and statistics provided in this unprecedented integrated inventory, which has the potential to support various land degradation-related policies in Europe.
2026