The University of Bath has launched a new research centre focused on tackling some of the world's most pressing sustainability challenges, after welcoming hundreds of international researchers and practitioners to the city for the 2026 Conference on Earth System Governance.

The new Bath Centre for Earth System Governance (BCESG) was announced during the conference, which last week brought together 456 delegates from 51 countries and featured 96 sessions exploring how governments, institutions, businesses, civil society, and communities can respond to climate change, biodiversity loss and other interconnected environmental challenges.

With $2.3 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies is leading the creation of the first large-scale public collection of lake metabolism data. The open-access database, called the Global LAke Metabolism Repository (GLAMR), will help scientists better understand trends in lake health across the world. Cary is receiving $1 million of the award, with the remaining funds supporting project partners at the University of Colorado Boulder, Grand Valley State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

This meta-analysis of 23 studies compared exercise in the hot (ExH) and exercise in thermoneutral conditions (ExN). ExH produced greater improvements in resting and exercise core temperature, exercise heart rate, sweat rate, and aerobic performance in the heat, but not exercise skin temperature. Benefits of ExH were greater with longer interventions and among elite athletes. Nevertheless, ExN also improved exercise core temperature and heart rate, suggesting that exercise alone can induce modest heat-related adaptations.

Few consumers realise that a property’s poor energy rating can directly impact their ability to obtain a mortgage. In the future, flood and other climate-related risks will also play a greater role in lending decisions. Aalto University researchers interviewed 25 green finance experts from major European banks and real estate advisories, finding that a high energy rating helps borrowers access green lending or other financial benefits, while a poor rating can make a property harder to finance.  

Rock weathering is an important process regulating atmospheric CO₂ concentrations and long-term climate evolution, yet how enhanced erosion affects rock weathering and its carbon effects remains poorly understood. Focusing on the Lancang River basin on the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, the authors quantitatively reveal the differential responses of silicate, carbonate, and sulfide weathering to changes in erosion. The results show that, as erosion intensifies, silicate weathering rates decrease while sulfide oxidation rates increase, causing weathering in the basin to tend toward a net carbon source. The related findings have now been published in Science China Earth Sciences.