Pub Date : 2026-02-23DOI: 10.1038/s44221-026-00603-2
The design of separation membranes depends on accurately interpreting transport processes, making this a timely moment to reassess the models and simulations used in such studies and to consider more optimal approaches.
{"title":"Fundamentals governing membrane engineering","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s44221-026-00603-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44221-026-00603-2","url":null,"abstract":"The design of separation membranes depends on accurately interpreting transport processes, making this a timely moment to reassess the models and simulations used in such studies and to consider more optimal approaches.","PeriodicalId":74252,"journal":{"name":"Nature water","volume":"4 2","pages":"115-115"},"PeriodicalIF":24.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44221-026-00603-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147269044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-18DOI: 10.1038/s44221-025-00580-y
Laila Kasuri, Sam Watkins, Alexandra M. Collins
Indigenous peoples’ rights and responsibilities to water are routinely undermined by dominant or colonial water governance systems. Although the importance of engaging Indigenous peoples in water governance is recognized, few studies have assessed the extent or nature of their participation. Here we present a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature on Indigenous participation in dominant water governance, analysing 226 journal articles and 183 case studies. Case studies span 15 countries, with the majority (77%) from Western settler-colonial countries. Forms of participation differ across regions, and some decision-making scales are better studied than others. Few participatory processes give consideration to Indigenous values and knowledge, and even fewer evaluate Indigenous participation, making it difficult to determine whether such participation was meaningful. Participation in international water governance processes is evident but remains underexamined in the literature. Crucially, Indigenous peoples are influencing and reshaping dominant water governance at all levels. Participation is widely recognized as essential for effective water governance, with growing interest in the meaningful inclusion of Indigenous peoples in decision-making. A global systematic review reveals key trends and gaps: research is concentrated in settler-colonial contexts and local scales, while reporting on procedural quality and consideration of Indigenous knowledge and values remains limited.
{"title":"A systematic review of Indigenous peoples’ participation in dominant systems of water governance","authors":"Laila Kasuri, Sam Watkins, Alexandra M. Collins","doi":"10.1038/s44221-025-00580-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44221-025-00580-y","url":null,"abstract":"Indigenous peoples’ rights and responsibilities to water are routinely undermined by dominant or colonial water governance systems. Although the importance of engaging Indigenous peoples in water governance is recognized, few studies have assessed the extent or nature of their participation. Here we present a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature on Indigenous participation in dominant water governance, analysing 226 journal articles and 183 case studies. Case studies span 15 countries, with the majority (77%) from Western settler-colonial countries. Forms of participation differ across regions, and some decision-making scales are better studied than others. Few participatory processes give consideration to Indigenous values and knowledge, and even fewer evaluate Indigenous participation, making it difficult to determine whether such participation was meaningful. Participation in international water governance processes is evident but remains underexamined in the literature. Crucially, Indigenous peoples are influencing and reshaping dominant water governance at all levels. Participation is widely recognized as essential for effective water governance, with growing interest in the meaningful inclusion of Indigenous peoples in decision-making. A global systematic review reveals key trends and gaps: research is concentrated in settler-colonial contexts and local scales, while reporting on procedural quality and consideration of Indigenous knowledge and values remains limited.","PeriodicalId":74252,"journal":{"name":"Nature water","volume":"4 2","pages":"241-255"},"PeriodicalIF":24.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44221-025-00580-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147269053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-17DOI: 10.1038/s44221-026-00585-1
Hanqing Fan, Makenna Parkinson, Kumar Varoon Agrawal, Mihail Barboiu, Lydéric Bocquet, Bezawit A. Getachew, Qilin Li, Ying Li, Shihong Lin, Chong Liu, Aleksandr Noy, Boya Radha, Dietmar Schwahn, Anthony Szymczyk, Menachem Elimelech
Membranes with nanometre- and subnanometre-scale pores play a vital role in aqueous separations across applications ranging from desalination and wastewater reuse to resource recovery and green hydrogen production. Despite their widespread use, the molecular-level mechanisms that govern water and solute transport in these membranes remain inadequately understood. In this Perspective, we examine advances in membrane and nanochannel transport across macroscopic, microscopic and molecular scales to establish a unified mechanistic framework. We begin by analysing current macroscopic models, highlighting their simplifying assumptions and inherent limitations. We then explore insights from nano- and ångström-scale fluidic studies, revealing unconventional transport phenomena that are not captured by classical continuum theories. Next, we describe how molecular simulations offer atomistic resolution of transport processes, providing mechanistic insight into how water and ions traverse the dynamic, heterogeneous porous networks of real-world, state-of-the-art polymer membranes. Finally, we discuss how to integrate these molecular, microscopic and macroscopic scales to advance theoretical understanding and inform the rational design of next-generation membranes. We conclude by identifying key knowledge gaps and outlining emerging opportunities to bridge scales through advanced characterization techniques and multiscale modelling. This Perspective explores the multiscale transport mechanisms of water and solutes in desalination and ion selective membranes, offering mechanistic insights to guide the design of next-generation membranes and nanoporous systems for applications in water purification, separations, and energy technologies.
{"title":"A multiscale perspective for understanding transport mechanisms in desalination and ion-selective membranes","authors":"Hanqing Fan, Makenna Parkinson, Kumar Varoon Agrawal, Mihail Barboiu, Lydéric Bocquet, Bezawit A. Getachew, Qilin Li, Ying Li, Shihong Lin, Chong Liu, Aleksandr Noy, Boya Radha, Dietmar Schwahn, Anthony Szymczyk, Menachem Elimelech","doi":"10.1038/s44221-026-00585-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44221-026-00585-1","url":null,"abstract":"Membranes with nanometre- and subnanometre-scale pores play a vital role in aqueous separations across applications ranging from desalination and wastewater reuse to resource recovery and green hydrogen production. Despite their widespread use, the molecular-level mechanisms that govern water and solute transport in these membranes remain inadequately understood. In this Perspective, we examine advances in membrane and nanochannel transport across macroscopic, microscopic and molecular scales to establish a unified mechanistic framework. We begin by analysing current macroscopic models, highlighting their simplifying assumptions and inherent limitations. We then explore insights from nano- and ångström-scale fluidic studies, revealing unconventional transport phenomena that are not captured by classical continuum theories. Next, we describe how molecular simulations offer atomistic resolution of transport processes, providing mechanistic insight into how water and ions traverse the dynamic, heterogeneous porous networks of real-world, state-of-the-art polymer membranes. Finally, we discuss how to integrate these molecular, microscopic and macroscopic scales to advance theoretical understanding and inform the rational design of next-generation membranes. We conclude by identifying key knowledge gaps and outlining emerging opportunities to bridge scales through advanced characterization techniques and multiscale modelling. This Perspective explores the multiscale transport mechanisms of water and solutes in desalination and ion selective membranes, offering mechanistic insights to guide the design of next-generation membranes and nanoporous systems for applications in water purification, separations, and energy technologies.","PeriodicalId":74252,"journal":{"name":"Nature water","volume":"4 2","pages":"120-137"},"PeriodicalIF":24.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147269058","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-13DOI: 10.1038/s44221-026-00583-3
Moritz Feigl, Mathew Herrnegger, Karsten Schulz
Estimating parameters for distributed hydrological and land-surface models is challenging, particularly in regions with limited observational data. One possible approach uses transfer functions that relate catchment attributes to model parameters, but these functions have so far been largely specified by hand, limiting flexibility and their practical use. Here we show that variational autoencoders can be used as text-generating models to automatically derive interpretable parameter transfer functions. This approach reformulates equation discovery as an optimization problem in a continuous latent space, improving both efficiency and transparency. We evaluate the method in a prediction-in-ungauged-basins setting using the mesoscale Hydrological Model across 162 German basins. The resulting transfer functions lead to improved runoff predictions compared with established regionalization methods and regional long short-term memory networks. In addition, the learned functions are robust across catchments, scalable to large spatial domains and maintain physical interpretability. These results demonstrate a pathway towards more transparent and transferable parameter estimation for large-scale process-based environmental models. Estimating parameters for distributed hydrological models is challenging, especially in regions with limited data. Here the authors employ variational autoencoders to generate optimal parameter transfer functions, enhancing runoff predictions in ungauged basins and advancing the interpretability and scalability of environmental modelling.
{"title":"Distilling hydrological and land-surface model parameters from physio-geographical properties using text-generating AI","authors":"Moritz Feigl, Mathew Herrnegger, Karsten Schulz","doi":"10.1038/s44221-026-00583-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44221-026-00583-3","url":null,"abstract":"Estimating parameters for distributed hydrological and land-surface models is challenging, particularly in regions with limited observational data. One possible approach uses transfer functions that relate catchment attributes to model parameters, but these functions have so far been largely specified by hand, limiting flexibility and their practical use. Here we show that variational autoencoders can be used as text-generating models to automatically derive interpretable parameter transfer functions. This approach reformulates equation discovery as an optimization problem in a continuous latent space, improving both efficiency and transparency. We evaluate the method in a prediction-in-ungauged-basins setting using the mesoscale Hydrological Model across 162 German basins. The resulting transfer functions lead to improved runoff predictions compared with established regionalization methods and regional long short-term memory networks. In addition, the learned functions are robust across catchments, scalable to large spatial domains and maintain physical interpretability. These results demonstrate a pathway towards more transparent and transferable parameter estimation for large-scale process-based environmental models. Estimating parameters for distributed hydrological models is challenging, especially in regions with limited data. Here the authors employ variational autoencoders to generate optimal parameter transfer functions, enhancing runoff predictions in ungauged basins and advancing the interpretability and scalability of environmental modelling.","PeriodicalId":74252,"journal":{"name":"Nature water","volume":"4 2","pages":"158-168"},"PeriodicalIF":24.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147269059","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-13DOI: 10.1038/s44221-026-00589-x
Hoshin V. Gupta
Modern deep learning can be used not only to improve predictions, but also to uncover interpretable equations that connect observable properties to the parameters of physically based geoscientific models.
{"title":"Deep learning can facilitate physically interpretable geoscientific modelling","authors":"Hoshin V. Gupta","doi":"10.1038/s44221-026-00589-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44221-026-00589-x","url":null,"abstract":"Modern deep learning can be used not only to improve predictions, but also to uncover interpretable equations that connect observable properties to the parameters of physically based geoscientific models.","PeriodicalId":74252,"journal":{"name":"Nature water","volume":"4 2","pages":"118-119"},"PeriodicalIF":24.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147269046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-13DOI: 10.1038/s44221-025-00581-x
Yuxin Yuan, Miaomiao Jia, Hai Liu, Da Chen, Wanbin Li
Membrane separation provides an efficient alternative to alleviate water scarcity. However, it remains challenging to mitigate membrane fouling, especially biofouling, and surpass performance trade-off limitation. Here we report an antibiotic membrane with broad-spectrum antibacterial properties for highly permeable and selective water purification. Using the antibiotic kanamycin and trimesoyl chloride as monomers, a polyamide-polyester membrane was constructed through interfacial polymerization. This membrane exhibits competitive separation performance, with a high water permeance of 47.9 l m−2 h−1 bar−1, solute rejection of 99.6% and solute–solute selectivity of ~10,000, outperforming most existing membranes. Moreover, this membrane can effectively inactivate Gram-negative/positive, single/multiple-resistant and disinfectant-resistant bacteria at high concentrations of 3 × 107 colony-forming units per millilitre, showing mortality ratios of 93.6–99.9%. In addition, this membrane maintains long-term antibacterial durability during crossflow filtration for at least 170 h. These concepts and findings offer an alternative route to the design of high-performance and antifouling membranes for water treatment. This study reports an ultrathin kanamycin-based composite membrane that overcomes permeability–selectivity trade-offs while delivering strong fouling resistance and broad-spectrum antibacterial activity for water purification.
膜分离为缓解水资源短缺提供了一种有效的替代方法。然而，如何减轻膜污染，特别是生物污染，并超越性能权衡限制仍然是一个挑战。在这里，我们报道了一种具有广谱抗菌特性的抗生素膜，用于高渗透和选择性水净化。以抗生素卡那霉素和三甲酰氯为单体，通过界面聚合法制备了聚酰胺-聚酯膜。该膜具有良好的分离性能，具有47.9 l m−2 h−1 bar−1的高透水性，99.6%的溶质截留率和~10,000的溶质-溶质选择性，优于大多数现有膜。该膜对革兰氏阴性/阳性、单耐/多重耐药和消毒剂耐药菌均有良好的灭活作用，浓度为3 × 107菌落形成单位/毫升，死亡率为93.6 ~ 99.9%。此外，该膜在横流过滤期间保持至少170小时的长期抗菌耐久性。这些概念和发现为设计用于水处理的高性能防污膜提供了另一种途径。本研究报道了一种超薄卡那霉素复合膜，该膜克服了渗透性和选择性的权衡，同时具有强大的抗污性和广谱抗菌活性，用于水净化。
{"title":"Antibiotic membranes with broad-spectrum antibacterial properties for efficient molecular separations","authors":"Yuxin Yuan, Miaomiao Jia, Hai Liu, Da Chen, Wanbin Li","doi":"10.1038/s44221-025-00581-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44221-025-00581-x","url":null,"abstract":"Membrane separation provides an efficient alternative to alleviate water scarcity. However, it remains challenging to mitigate membrane fouling, especially biofouling, and surpass performance trade-off limitation. Here we report an antibiotic membrane with broad-spectrum antibacterial properties for highly permeable and selective water purification. Using the antibiotic kanamycin and trimesoyl chloride as monomers, a polyamide-polyester membrane was constructed through interfacial polymerization. This membrane exhibits competitive separation performance, with a high water permeance of 47.9 l m−2 h−1 bar−1, solute rejection of 99.6% and solute–solute selectivity of ~10,000, outperforming most existing membranes. Moreover, this membrane can effectively inactivate Gram-negative/positive, single/multiple-resistant and disinfectant-resistant bacteria at high concentrations of 3 × 107 colony-forming units per millilitre, showing mortality ratios of 93.6–99.9%. In addition, this membrane maintains long-term antibacterial durability during crossflow filtration for at least 170 h. These concepts and findings offer an alternative route to the design of high-performance and antifouling membranes for water treatment. This study reports an ultrathin kanamycin-based composite membrane that overcomes permeability–selectivity trade-offs while delivering strong fouling resistance and broad-spectrum antibacterial activity for water purification.","PeriodicalId":74252,"journal":{"name":"Nature water","volume":"4 2","pages":"217-227"},"PeriodicalIF":24.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147269050","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-10DOI: 10.1038/s44221-025-00575-9
Yoora Cho, Jay Hyuk Rhee, Yong Sik Ok, William A. Mitch
Despite rapid growth in corporate environmental, social and governance reporting, water use sustainability reporting remains inadequate. Current reporting combines qualitative evaluations of investment pledges to improve sustainability with limited quantitative metrics. Unfortunately, these semi-quantitative metrics differ substantially across reporting entities, and their algorithms may not be publicly available. Their non-uniform and opaque nature raises the potential for greenwashing and hinders identifying cost-effective investments to improve sustainability. To address this deficiency, we propose a transparent and quantitative ‘water sustainability index’ (WSI) as a novel metric. The WSI considers the volume and source water type for watershed withdrawals, the volume and quality of wastewater discharges, the volume of water consumed, and the extent to which facilities reuse water. Weighting factors adjust for operations in stressed watersheds while being tuned to encourage the adoption of sustainable facility improvements. WSI’s quantitative and transparent nature helps corporations identify cost-effective investments to improve water sustainability. Quantifying water sustainability relies on limited and non-uniform metrics that risk greenwashing and hinder effective investment decisions. To address this, the proposed water sustainability index (WSI) offers a transparent, quantitative framework that accounts for water withdrawals, discharges, consumption, reuse and watershed stress to guide cost-effective sustainability improvements.
{"title":"A quantitative metric for industrial water use sustainability for environmental, social and governance reporting","authors":"Yoora Cho, Jay Hyuk Rhee, Yong Sik Ok, William A. Mitch","doi":"10.1038/s44221-025-00575-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44221-025-00575-9","url":null,"abstract":"Despite rapid growth in corporate environmental, social and governance reporting, water use sustainability reporting remains inadequate. Current reporting combines qualitative evaluations of investment pledges to improve sustainability with limited quantitative metrics. Unfortunately, these semi-quantitative metrics differ substantially across reporting entities, and their algorithms may not be publicly available. Their non-uniform and opaque nature raises the potential for greenwashing and hinders identifying cost-effective investments to improve sustainability. To address this deficiency, we propose a transparent and quantitative ‘water sustainability index’ (WSI) as a novel metric. The WSI considers the volume and source water type for watershed withdrawals, the volume and quality of wastewater discharges, the volume of water consumed, and the extent to which facilities reuse water. Weighting factors adjust for operations in stressed watersheds while being tuned to encourage the adoption of sustainable facility improvements. WSI’s quantitative and transparent nature helps corporations identify cost-effective investments to improve water sustainability. Quantifying water sustainability relies on limited and non-uniform metrics that risk greenwashing and hinder effective investment decisions. To address this, the proposed water sustainability index (WSI) offers a transparent, quantitative framework that accounts for water withdrawals, discharges, consumption, reuse and watershed stress to guide cost-effective sustainability improvements.","PeriodicalId":74252,"journal":{"name":"Nature water","volume":"4 2","pages":"138-146"},"PeriodicalIF":24.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147269055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-04DOI: 10.1038/s44221-025-00577-7
Yu Chen, Jia Xu, Kaiyuan Song, Ziying Li, Baiyang Chen, Qijing Huang, Li Yu, Yue Su, Ruijiao Dong
Thin-film composite polyamide membranes remain the benchmark for water desalination and purification. However, conventional polyamide membranes are greatly limited by the trade-off between water permeance and ion permselectivity, but also susceptible to chlorine degradation and membrane fouling. Here we addressed these issues by molecularly creating hierarchically structured polymer nanofilms featuring polyamide/polyethylene glycol (PEG) semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPN) and interconnected hydrated micropores via macromolecule-regulated interfacial polymerization. This strategy enables controlled synthesis of nanofilms with semi-IPN architectures and tunable subnanometre-scale micropores, spanning reverse osmosis to nanofiltration. The resultant semi-IPN networks synergistically enhance water permeance and ion permselectivity to overcome the intrinsic permeability–selectivity trade-off, but also further provide superior resistance to chlorine, biofouling and mineral scaling and long-term operational stability in seawater desalination, outperforming commercial polyamide membranes. This work offers a robust platform for creating hierarchically ordered polymer networks for high-performance seawater desalination to solve the global water crisis. A macromolecule-regulated interfacial polymerization strategy enables control over polymer network architectures and micropore sizes, leading to membranes breaking the intrinsic permeability–selectivity trade-off with resistance to chlorine and membrane biofouling.
{"title":"Hierarchically semi-interpenetrating polymer nanofilms for high-performance seawater desalination","authors":"Yu Chen, Jia Xu, Kaiyuan Song, Ziying Li, Baiyang Chen, Qijing Huang, Li Yu, Yue Su, Ruijiao Dong","doi":"10.1038/s44221-025-00577-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44221-025-00577-7","url":null,"abstract":"Thin-film composite polyamide membranes remain the benchmark for water desalination and purification. However, conventional polyamide membranes are greatly limited by the trade-off between water permeance and ion permselectivity, but also susceptible to chlorine degradation and membrane fouling. Here we addressed these issues by molecularly creating hierarchically structured polymer nanofilms featuring polyamide/polyethylene glycol (PEG) semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPN) and interconnected hydrated micropores via macromolecule-regulated interfacial polymerization. This strategy enables controlled synthesis of nanofilms with semi-IPN architectures and tunable subnanometre-scale micropores, spanning reverse osmosis to nanofiltration. The resultant semi-IPN networks synergistically enhance water permeance and ion permselectivity to overcome the intrinsic permeability–selectivity trade-off, but also further provide superior resistance to chlorine, biofouling and mineral scaling and long-term operational stability in seawater desalination, outperforming commercial polyamide membranes. This work offers a robust platform for creating hierarchically ordered polymer networks for high-performance seawater desalination to solve the global water crisis. A macromolecule-regulated interfacial polymerization strategy enables control over polymer network architectures and micropore sizes, leading to membranes breaking the intrinsic permeability–selectivity trade-off with resistance to chlorine and membrane biofouling.","PeriodicalId":74252,"journal":{"name":"Nature water","volume":"4 2","pages":"183-195"},"PeriodicalIF":24.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147269051","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-04DOI: 10.1038/s44221-025-00569-7
Rebecca L. Hale, Krista Capps, Elizabeth M. Cook, Rachel Scarlett
Urban water hazards, including floods, water scarcity and water contamination, are increasing due to climate change. Risks associated with urban flooding are shaped by past decisions, institutional forms of oppression, their legacies, and the interactions of these legacies with ongoing climate change. When legacies of oppression and the contemporary social landscape are not considered, technocratic adaptation measures perpetuate inequitable infrastructure investment and risk. Here we review the inequitable distribution of urban flood risks within and among cities, discussing the forces driving these inequities and why many adaptation measures to address flooding exacerbate environmental injustices. Transformative approaches for equitable adaptation include systemic changes to planning, governance, and adaptive management and funding, with an explicit focus on social justice to address the underlying causes of urban flood risks. Climate adaptation provides the opportunity not only to increase urban resilience to climate change, but also to address historic injustices. Urban water hazards like flooding and contamination are worsening due to climate change, and their risks are deeply influenced by historical oppression and inequitable infrastructure decisions. This Perspective examines how urban flood risk is inequitably distributed and argues that climate adaptation should prioritize systemic, justice-focused reforms to address both resilience and historic social injustices.
{"title":"Transformative adaptation needed to break cycles of inequitable urban flood management","authors":"Rebecca L. Hale, Krista Capps, Elizabeth M. Cook, Rachel Scarlett","doi":"10.1038/s44221-025-00569-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44221-025-00569-7","url":null,"abstract":"Urban water hazards, including floods, water scarcity and water contamination, are increasing due to climate change. Risks associated with urban flooding are shaped by past decisions, institutional forms of oppression, their legacies, and the interactions of these legacies with ongoing climate change. When legacies of oppression and the contemporary social landscape are not considered, technocratic adaptation measures perpetuate inequitable infrastructure investment and risk. Here we review the inequitable distribution of urban flood risks within and among cities, discussing the forces driving these inequities and why many adaptation measures to address flooding exacerbate environmental injustices. Transformative approaches for equitable adaptation include systemic changes to planning, governance, and adaptive management and funding, with an explicit focus on social justice to address the underlying causes of urban flood risks. Climate adaptation provides the opportunity not only to increase urban resilience to climate change, but also to address historic injustices. Urban water hazards like flooding and contamination are worsening due to climate change, and their risks are deeply influenced by historical oppression and inequitable infrastructure decisions. This Perspective examines how urban flood risk is inequitably distributed and argues that climate adaptation should prioritize systemic, justice-focused reforms to address both resilience and historic social injustices.","PeriodicalId":74252,"journal":{"name":"Nature water","volume":"4 2","pages":"147-157"},"PeriodicalIF":24.1,"publicationDate":"2026-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147269056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-02DOI: 10.1038/s44221-025-00574-w
Keshab Sharma, Jiuling Li, Tao Liu, John Willis, Yiwen Liu, Zhiyu Zhang, Zhiguo Yuan
Conclusive evidence has emerged showing substantial methane (CH4) emissions from sewer systems, contradictory to the ‘zero emission’ assumption made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. However, the global magnitude of sewer CH4 emissions remains unknown. By ingeniously integrating mechanistic and knowledge-supported data-driven modelling, we have derived from the relatively small datasets available a simple set of robust and interpretable equations to estimate CH4 emissions from sewer networks based on readily available information such as sewer geometry, the design and actual dry weather flows, and wastewater temperature. With this tool, we estimate that, globally, sewers emit 1.18–1.95 Tg CH4 yr−1 (95% confidence interval), adding 15.7–37.6% to the currently estimated carbon footprint of wastewater management and 1.7–3.3% to the currently estimated global methane emissions by the waste sector. Our developed tool can reliably and efficiently estimate sewer methane emissions, supporting water authorities globally to establish emissions inventories and pursue carbon-neutral wastewater management. Sewer systems have long been assumed to be negligible sources of methane, yet emerging evidence suggests that they represent a previously overlooked contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. This study shows that global sewer networks emit ~1.2–2.0 Tg CH4 yr−1, substantially increasing wastewater-sector methane emissions and challenging the IPCC zero-emission assumption.
确凿的证据表明，下水道系统排放了大量甲烷（CH4），这与政府间气候变化专门委员会（ipcc）提出的“零排放”假设相矛盾。然而，下水道甲烷排放的全球规模仍然未知。通过巧妙地整合机制和知识支持的数据驱动模型，我们从相对较小的可用数据集中推导出一套简单可靠且可解释的方程，以根据下水道几何形状、设计和实际干燥天气流量以及废水温度等现成信息估算下水道网络的甲烷排放量。通过该工具，我们估计，全球下水道排放1.18-1.95 Tg CH4 yr - 1（95%置信区间），使目前估计的废水管理碳足迹增加15.7-37.6%，使目前估计的全球废物部门甲烷排放量增加1.7-3.3%。我们开发的工具可以可靠有效地估算下水道甲烷排放量，支持全球水务部门建立排放清单，实现碳中和废水管理。长期以来，人们一直认为下水道系统是可以忽略不计的甲烷来源，但新出现的证据表明，它们是以前被忽视的温室气体排放源。该研究表明，全球下水道网络每年排放约1.2-2.0 Tg CH4 - 1，大大增加了废水部门的甲烷排放量，挑战了IPCC的零排放假设。
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