A study reveals that falling water levels trigger a surge in methane emissions from Mediterranean reservoirs

The research, published in the journal ‘Global Change Biology’, has, for the first time in Spain, used a floating platform equipped with eddy covariance technology to continuously measure the greenhouse gases emitted by a reservoir

University of Granada

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The team installed a floating platform equipped with a measurement tower on the Cubillas reservoir.

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Credit: University Of Granada

The research, published in the journal ‘Global Change Biology’, has, for the first time in Spain, used a floating platform equipped with eddy covariance technology to continuously measure the greenhouse gases emitted by a reservoir

Continental aquatic ecosystems, such as lakes and reservoirs, occupy a small proportion of the Earth’s surface, but play a significant role in the global carbon cycle. It is estimated that over 40 per cent of global methane emissions originate from these ecosystems. However, the true scale of these emissions remains uncertain, as most of the available data comes from one-off measurements taken at specific times and locations.

Research carried out by an interdisciplinary team from the Departments of Civil Engineering and Ecology at the University of Granada (UGR), which form part of the Unit of Excellence Modeling Nature, and involving, amongst others, researchers Isabel Reche Cañabate, Francisco Rueda Valdivia and Cintia L. Ramón, has helped to reduce this uncertainty. The study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, has employed a micrometeorological technique known as eddy covariance, which is capable of continuously measuring gas exchange between the water surface and the atmosphere over large areas.

To this end, the team installed a floating platform equipped with a measurement tower on the Cubillas reservoir. This infrastructure has made it possible, for the first time in Spain, to apply the eddy covariance technique from a floating platform to continuously monitor carbon dioxide and methane emissions in a reservoir. The observations, collected over two years under very different hydrological conditions, show that the reservoir acts as a constant source of both greenhouse gases. Continuous measurements made it possible to detect phenomena and variations that one-off sampling failed to identify, particularly in the case of methane, whose emissions can change abruptly over time. They also revealed daily fluctuations and emission episodes that go unnoticed with conventional sampling methods.

The results indicate that, whilst carbon dioxide emissions remained largely unchanged, methane emissions increased significantly during the driest years and when water reserves were declining. Lower water levels promote biogeochemical processes in the sediments that increase the production and release of this gas, particularly through bubbling phenomena. The study also notes that factors such as wind or eutrophication can influence the intensity of emissions.

The research highlights the importance of developing continuous monitoring systems to better understand how these ecosystems function and to improve our ability to predict their contribution to the global greenhouse gas balance. Furthermore, the findings can inform the design of more sustainable water resource management strategies in regions vulnerable to climate change.

Methane has a much higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide in the short term, making these findings particularly relevant in the context of climate change. According to the authors, the predicted increase in droughts and eutrophication processes could significantly boost methane emissions from Mediterranean reservoirs and reinforce their role as a source of greenhouse gases.

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Journal

Global Change Biology

DOI

10.1111/gcb.70979 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

A drier year markedly enhances methane, but not carbon dioxide, emissions in a Mediterranean reservoir,

Article Publication Date

8-Jul-2026

 

The real Moana story: Why the Polynesians suddenly sailed east

University of Southampton

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Prof David Sear (l) and Dr Mark Peaple (r) coring a swamp in Polynesia to collect mud samples that contain records of rainfall over thousands of years

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Credit: University of Southampton

Major drought forced people to migrate across the Pacific beyond Samoa and Tonga and towards the Americas, scientists have discovered.

With the new live action Moana film hitting cinemas on Friday [10 July], a team of geographers and climate scientists from the Universities of Southampton and East Anglia has discovered the true history of the tale.

Moana tells the story of a young Polynesian girl who leaves her threatened home island to sail past its barrier reef to save her island and its people.

The story is built on a period of history called the ‘Long Pause’. Around 3,000 years ago the ancestors of modern Polynesians arrived in Samoa and Tonga, and for 1,700 years they did not sail further east into the Pacific. Then around the years 900-1050 AD, they voyaged east and within 250 years settled the remaining island archipelagos of the South Pacific including Tahiti, Hawai’i and the continental Americas, in what was the greatest seafaring migration in history.

David Sear, Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Southampton and lead author of the study, said: “We have confirmed the theory that the end of the Long Pause coincided with a period of mega drought in the homeland islands of Samoa and Tonga – and also a period of increasing rainfall in the receiving islands. As they headed east, they found wetter islands with nobody on them.

“There was a huge explosion of migration, and within 250 years they had landed and settled every little dot in the South Pacific, from tiny coral atoll islands to larger lands. It was a very rapid process.”

Analysing samples from mud

The research team analysed mud samples from deep beneath swamps and lakes in Samoa, Tonga, French Polynesia and the Cook Islands.

They used ‘biochemical fossils’ produced by freshwater algae and leaves to measure the isotopic ratio of hydrogen to determine historic rainfall levels. This data consistently showed evidence of a severe and prolonged drought just before and during the period of migration.

“Hydrogen in rainwater contains heavier and lighter isotopes, the proportion of which is determined by the amount of precipitation in the tropics– which we were able to analyse in the mud,” explained Dr Mark Peaple, research fellow in paleoclimate at the University of Southampton, who undertook the geochemical analysis. “So analysing the ancient biomarker fossils we can reconstruct rainfall changes from thousands of years.”

When the Long Pause ended, it was the driest period in the last 2,000 years for these islands, so the islands’ populations were forced to move.

Climate modelling

The scientists also used climate modelling to understand the drivers of the dry conditions found in Samoa and Tonga.

Manoj Joshi, Professor of Climate Dynamics at the University of East Anglia, led the climate modelling. He said: “Our research shows that changes in sea surface temperatures across the Pacific Ocean over many decades drove an eastward shift in the vast rain belt that lies over this whole region, causing the dry conditions found in Samoa and Tonga.

“The climate changes we identified would have transformed daily life on these islands. Reduced rainfall would have affected freshwater availability, food production and the resilience of communities, creating powerful incentives for people to seek opportunities elsewhere.”

Dan Skinner, research fellow at the University of East Anglia who undertook climate modelling experiments said: “We now know that the climate – and specifically a period of severe drought for many years, even decades – is a definite factor in forcing this impressive migration.

“These findings illustrate how sensitive human societies can be to long-term changes in climate. Even highly skilled and adaptable communities may be driven to undertake extraordinary journeys when environmental conditions deteriorate over many years.”

Professor Sear added: “Other factors would also have contributed to the tipping point that made the costs of sailing into the eastern Pacific worth risking. There was an increasing population, meaning resources had to stretch further. Also, they had probably developed advanced sailing technology for their voyaging canoes by this point, adapting from U to V-shaped hulls and improving their rigging, which meant they could sail into the wind, which is predominantly east to west across the South Pacific.”  

The research is published in the Journal of Pacific Archaeology.

 

Swamp and lake sediments are found across the Pacific islands often in remote volcanic crater lakes or mountain rain forests like here on Tahiti

 

Professor David Sear with mud extracted from swampland in French Polynesia 

Credit

University of Southampton

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Journal

Journal of Pacific Archaeology

DOI

10.70460/jpa.v16i2.399 

Article Title

How Did changing climate in the tropical South Pacific contribute to the eastward migration and settlement of Polynesia?

 

Modelling reveals Sydney’s 1789 smallpox outbreak killed as many as 220,000 Indigenous Australians

The epidemic had a devastating demographic impact and ramifications for how First Nations people resisted colonization

Flinders University

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Groundbreaking modelling has revealed that as many as 220,000 Indigenous Australians died in a devastating 1789 smallpox outbreak that originated in Sydney, by tracing its origins to the First Fleet in Sydney. Credit: Flinders University.

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Credit: Flinders University

Groundbreaking modelling has revealed that as many as 220,000 Indigenous Australians died in a devastating 1789 smallpox outbreak that originated in Sydney, by tracing its origins to the First Fleet.

Soon after British ships arrived, smallpox swept through First Nations communities in the Sydney area and many died as a result.

The study found that the epidemic had a devastating demographic impact and ramifications for how First Nations people resisted colonisation and their capacity to manage Country, with the impact still being felt today.

“Our modelling shows a rapid smallpox spread and mass mortality after colonial exposure,” says the study’s lead author, Dr Cody Nitschke, a Research Associate in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures based at Flinders University.  “It’s important for Australians to come to terms with this traumatic legacy to inform the national process of healing”.

Published today in the journal Nature Human Behaviour in collaboration with the Gujaga Foundation (Dharawal Nation) whose ancestors were the people at ground zero when the epidemic hit, the findings provide important insights about the outbreak of the deadly disease — including that it spread quickly through Aboriginal communities in south-eastern Australia.

The disease caused fever, severe illness, scarring, and high death rates, especially in Indigenous populations with no previous exposure, and it followed coastlines and major rivers. Importantly, the first epidemic did not spread Australia-wide.

“The epidemic was likely limited to the south-eastern coastal regions of Australia and along major intersecting rivers such as the Murray and Lachlan Rivers. Assuming a 60% lethality, the loss of between 40,000–220,000 people would probably have occurred in these regions,” says Dr Nitschke.

The researchers, including Indigenous scholars, tested whether the epidemic originated from either the Makassans visiting northern Australia from island Southeast Asia, or Europeans on the First Fleet, to confirm its origin and put that argument to bed.

“Rather than relying on assumptions about where the epidemic started, we tested the two main origin stories directly. The data allowed us to weigh those explanations against each other and identify which one was most consistent with how the disease spreads” says Dr Nitschke.

“Before colonial invasion, the movement of people followed known paths — for water, ceremony, food, trade, and family. The disease could only travel where people could realistically walk, rest, and recover.

“Even after adding generous movement rates and idealised contact between populations, the model showed that smallpox was extremely unlikely to have reached Sydney if introduced in the north”.

Co-author and Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures at Flinders University, Professor Corey Bradshaw, says the evidence outlines the catastrophic impact of smallpox on Indigenous communities, including enduring intergenerational effects.

“The smallpox epidemic is arguably one of the most devastating events resulting from colonial invasion, yet there remains widespread disagreement on its origin, scale, impact, and spread until this modelling gave us important new insights.

“Families, knowledge systems, and ways of caring for Country were badly damaged, and the effects are still felt today.”

“This devastating epidemic was concentrated and likely unfolded over many years. Elders, children, and pregnant women were especially vulnerable, meaning that knowledge, language, and culture suffered deep harm alongside population loss. Even survivors were severely compromised, and could often not care for Country in the same way as before the infection”, says Professor Bradshaw.

Although the modelling shows it is unlikely that other parts of Australia were affected by the initial epidemic, the researchers nonetheless recommend revisiting assumptions about the subsequent impact to Indigenous communities by other diseases and frontier violence.

“The modelling does not speak over Aboriginal knowledge, memory, or oral history” says Professor Bradshaw.

“We always believed that it was the First Fleet that spread the smallpox, with many families within community suspecting it was spread deliberately too but this still needs to be looked at.

“This paper shows that it didn’t come from up north. We know it didn’t start with the French visitors. It was started in Sydney Harbour with the First Fleet”, says David Ingrey, a senior Elder in the La Perouse Community of the Dharawal Nation.

Co-author Dr Shane Ingrey of Gujaga Foundation and a Research Associate in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures at the University of New South Wales added, “It is always perceived by the wider community that everyone was wiped out and there were no Sydney Aboriginal people left after the initial outbreak, but we have First Fleet observations of our people back in the harbour within a month or so fishing and living.

“We quickly regrouped and over the next century continued living in and around the Harbour, continuing our cultural ways, continuing talking our language, continuing to apply our knowledge systems right up until the 1880s where the remaining descendants were forcibly relocated on Country out to the old camp turned government reserve at La Perouse. Here we continued to practice and pass on our Dharawal culture and language and still do today. Our connections were disrupted but never broken.”

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Journal

Nature Human Behaviour

DOI

10.1038/s41562-026-02504-6 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Stochastic models indicate rapid smallpox spread and mass mortality of Indigenous Australians after colonial exposure

Article Publication Date

10-Jul-2026

 

Honesty may be more efficient than incentives in organisations, new UTS research finds

Incentives designed to prevent dishonesty may sometimes create the very distrust they are meant to solve.

University of Technology Sydney

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For decades economic theory has often treated people as if they will only do the right thing in organisations when incentives, such as performance pay, force them to. But does this miss the fact that many people also care about honesty? 

A new paper in the Journal of Business Ethics, co-authored by University of Technology Sydney (UTS) researchers Associate Professor Gordon Menzies and Professor Isa Hafalir, challenges one of economics’ most influential ideas about incentives, arguing that trust and professional integrity may be more efficient than performance-based pay.  

By revisiting the classic principal–agent model, the authors show that when people have a genuine commitment to honesty, fixed salaries can outperform incentive contracts and excessive reliance on incentives may even erode trust over time. 

“This research is especially timely for debates about performance pay, executive incentives, professional standards, compliance culture and trust in institutions,” said Professor Menzies.  

This research grew out of Menzies' public lecture at Oxford, which focused on the lessons of the Global Financial Crisis, particularly the way economics can sometimes be used inappropriately to make moral decisions. He became interested in what standard economic analysis assumes about truth-telling, and whether those assumptions reflect how people always behave in organisations. 

The principal-agent model, which has helped justify large bonus contracts since the 1980s, effectively assumes that agents will not tell the truth unless they are incentivised to do so. Menzies teamed up with Professor Isa Hafalir at UTS to model this formally, and the ethical implications were explored by Tom Simpson, a professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford.

“In many business situations, people are neither perfectly self-interested nor perfectly trustworthy. Our model captures that more realistic middle ground,” said Professor Menzies. 

“A key implication is that offering an incentive contract can itself send a signal of distrust. That can discourage honesty, reduce trustworthiness and create a downward spiral where even more incentives are needed.” 

Menzies reflects that could be why salaries remain common in professional roles such as medicine, law and other advisory fields. 

“Doctors, lawyers and other professionals are not just service providers responding to price signals. Their work depends on duties of loyalty, care and truthfulness,” he said.

“The persistence of salaried professional roles is not an accident. It reflects the very economic value and economic efficiency of trust, judgement and moral responsibility.”   

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Journal

Journal of Business Ethics

DOI

10.1007/s10551-026-06380-y 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

The Efficiency of Moral Character: Modelling Principal–Agent Relations and Caring Agents Within the Fiduciary

 

What social media creators can’t say about their job

Cornell University

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ITHACA, N.Y. – Burnout is common among social media creators, but many feel they can't speak openly about it because of financial pressures, audience expectations and a lack of workplace protections, according to new Cornell University research.

“I wanted to understand the nuances of social media content creation from a sociological perspective,” said Brooke Erin Duffy, associate professor of communication and co-author of the paper. “But interview participants kept pointing me toward harms from the psychological domain – ‘I can’t take a break. I’m exhausted. I’m beholden to platforms, sponsors and audiences.’”

Worse, Duffy said, creators have few mechanisms for protection from work-related harms, given their status as independent contractors. 

For the most part, these admissions go unsaid, although the world’s biggest YouTube star, MrBeast – the 28-year-old who boasts more than 500 million followers in a career that started when he was 11 – opened up in an interview last year: “There [were] definitely times where I would cry. But if my mental health was a priority, I wouldn’t be as successful as I am.”  

Duffy, with co-author and doctoral candidate Rosie Nguyen, found that content creator burnout is, in part, “unspeakable” – a product of a complex confluence of factors: the informal structural conditions of platform labor; the privileged status of creative work, seen by many as a “dream job”; and entrenched markers of power and social identity, with gender playing an outsize role.

Nguyen and Duffy analyzed three sources of data – 58 examples of creators’ self-authored content on TikTok and YouTube; 62 news media accounts; and 78 in-depth interviews the researchers conducted with creators – to compare how these workers define, attribute and mitigate burnout.

“Social media content creation is depicted as a ‘dream job’ in the popular imagination,” said Duffy. “It offers flexibility, autonomy, and for some people is quite lucrative. But our research highlights the much less auspicious elements of work in this space, especially the endemic nature of burnout, when your career is essentially shaped by platform conditions, over which you have very little control.”

The nature of creators’ “employment” – as independent contractors, with great freedom but none of the protections that full-time employees have – means that stress, loneliness and burnout loom large. The support, recourse and solidarity found in a traditional work environment don’t apply in this context.

“You are considered in a work relationship with these platform companies, but you’re not legally employed,” Duffy said. “One recurrent theme was, ‘If I take a break, I’m going to get punished by the algorithm.’ That’s one reason why this ‘unspeakability’ is part of the individualized nature of risk in the platform-dependent economy.”

A surprising theme from their findings was the role gender played in addressing the risks of burnout. “The male creators,” Nguyen said, “tend to resort to the ‘grinding’ ethos – keep grinding and you’ll overcome it. The women tend to resort to self-care or restorative practices.”

The researchers said a couple of recent developments – especially legislation introduced earlier this year by Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, establishing a Creator Bill of Rights – are steps in the right direction. And movements like Creators 4 Mental Health, and trade organizations like the American Influencer Council (for which Duffy is an adviser), are important steps in bringing attention to the plight of today’s creative workforce.

For additional information, see this Cornell Chronicle story.

Cornell University has dedicated television and audio studios available for media interviews.

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Journal

New Media & Society

DOI

10.1177/14614448261459667 

Article Title

“Creator burnout is real”: Risk, responsibility, and un/speakability in the creator economy

Article Publication Date

7-Jul-2026

Is workplace culture overtaking corporate prestige in the talent war?

Dr. Tim Sandle
July 7, 2026

 Digital Journal

Image: — © Digital Journal

For decades, employers relied on a simple formula to attract talent: offer a recognised brand name, a prestigious job title and a competitive salary. The assumption was that ambitious workers would tolerate long hours, workplace stress and limited flexibility if the employer’s reputation provided sufficient career value.

According to a global survey conducted by MyIQ involving 18,700 adults across North America, Europe, Latin America and other international markets, employees are increasingly prioritising workplace culture, flexibility, wellbeing and team dynamics over corporate status alone. The findings point towards what the company has termed “vibe employment”. This means selecting jobs based on day-to-day experience rather than prestige.

The survey found that 72 percent of respondents consider workplace culture more important than company prestige, while 68 percent place greater weight on flexibility and work-life balance than on job title or status. Furthermore, 61 percent said they would reject a higher-paying role if it negatively affected their wellbeing.

These findings have important implications for businesses competing for skilled workers. Many organisations continue to invest heavily in employer branding, graduate recruitment campaigns and corporate reputation management. While such efforts remain valuable, they may no longer be sufficient on their own.

The data suggest that prospective employees are increasingly scrutinising what life inside an organisation actually looks like. According to the survey, 64 percent of respondents actively research company culture before applying for a role and 57 percent have left a job because the working environment felt emotionally draining despite satisfactory pay and benefits.

This shift creates a new challenge for employers: culture can no longer be treated as an internal management issue. It has become a recruitment and retention asset.

In an era of online employer reviews, social media discussions and professional networking platforms, employees can often gain insight into workplace realities long before submitting an application.
The Canadian perspective

The trend appears particularly relevant in Canada, where flexible working practices and employee wellbeing have become increasingly important topics since the pandemic.

Canadian organisations have generally embraced hybrid working models more extensively than many traditional sectors anticipated prior to 2020. At the same time, employers continue to face labour shortages in fields including healthcare, technology, engineering and advanced manufacturing.

As the labour market tightens, workers gain greater leverage over employment decisions. This means organisations must compete not only on compensation but also on working conditions, flexibility and organisational culture.

Canada’s technology sector provides a useful example. Many firms are discovering that highly skilled employees can increasingly choose between local, national and even international employment opportunities. When remote and hybrid work allow talent to cross geographical boundaries, workplace experience becomes a stronger differentiating factor than office location or corporate prestige.
A generational shift

The findings also highlight changing attitudes among younger workers. While career ambition remains strong, the definition of success appears to be evolving. According to the survey, 55 percent of respondents define career success through happiness and balance rather than income or seniority. Among workers under 35, this rises to 67 percent.

This does not indicate a rejection of professional achievement. Instead, it suggests that many younger employees view career progression as only one component of a successful life.

Employers that interpret these preferences as a lack of ambition may be misunderstanding the situation. Today’s workforce often seeks advancement, financial stability and professional growth while simultaneously wanting greater control over schedules, mental wellbeing and personal time.

The so-termed concept of “vibe employment” may also help explain why some prestigious employers experience persistent retention challenges. Historically, a well-known corporate brand could offset aspects of workplace dissatisfaction. Employees were often willing to endure stress because of the perceived long-term benefits associated with a particular employer.

However, if workers increasingly assess jobs based on everyday experience, a mismatch can emerge between external reputation and internal reality.

Businesses investing heavily in recruitment but less in management quality, employee development, psychological safety and work-life balance may find that attracting talent becomes easier than retaining it. This represents a significant financial issue. Employee turnover carries substantial costs, including recruitment expenses, onboarding time, productivity losses and knowledge transfer challenges.
Can workplace culture be manufactured?

As workplace culture becomes more valuable, some organisations may attempt to market themselves as employee-centric without making meaningful operational changes. Yet culture is arguably one of the most difficult business attributes to fake.

Employees quickly recognise inconsistencies between corporate messaging and lived experience. A company may advertise flexibility, collaboration and wellbeing, but workers evaluate these claims through management behaviour, workload expectations and day-to-day interactions. This means organisations seeking to benefit from the trend must look beyond branding exercises. Sustainable cultural improvements typically require changes in leadership practices, communication styles, performance management systems and organisational values.

The MyIQ findings suggest a broader transformation in the employment relationship. Prestige remains valuable. Employees still care about career development, compensation and professional recognition. However, status alone appears increasingly insufficient to offset poor workplace experiences.

For business leaders, the lesson is clear. The competition for talent is no longer centred solely on who offers the most prestigious role. It increasingly revolves around who creates the most sustainable, engaging and supportive working environment. In Canada and elsewhere, organisations that successfully align culture, flexibility and employee wellbeing with business performance may gain a significant advantage in recruitment and retention.