Snails carry weather records on their backs that could be used to map prehistoric cyclones, a University of Queensland study has shown.

A Food-System Carbon Shift

Tropical islands support important terrestrial and coastal carbon stores while facing strong pressures from development, land conversion, tourism, and climate change. In Hainan Island, food production, aquaculture, processing, and associated supply-chain activities have become increasingly important sources of greenhouse gas emissions within a rapidly developing regional economy.

Authors Zichen Li, Zhaohai Bai, and colleagues from Hainan University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Nanjing University reconstructed the carbon budget of Hainan's food system from 1952 to 2020. Their life cycle assessment framework incorporated offshore ecosystems, land-use and land-use change, crop cultivation, livestock, aquaculture, food processing and consumption, wastewater treatment, and on-farm and off-farm energy use.

Seven Decades of Rising Emissions

Gross food-system emissions increased from 3.29 Mt CO₂ eq in 1952 to 15.13 Mt CO₂ eq in 2020. The analysis attributes this rise principally to fertilizer-related emissions, expansion of tropical crop cultivation, aquaculture growth, and increased energy demand along the food value chain. Nitrogen fertilizer application increased from 223 kg ha⁻¹ to 627 kg ha⁻¹ over the historical period.