Policies aiming to preserve vegetated coastal ecosystems (VCE; tidal marshes, mangroves and seagrasses) to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions require national assessments of blue carbon resources. Here, we present organic carbon (C) storage in VCE across Australian climate regions and estimate potential annual CO2 emission benefits of VCE conservation and restoration. Australia contributes 5–11% of the C stored in VCE globally (70–185 Tg C in aboveground biomass, and 1,055–1,540 Tg C in the upper 1 m of soils). Potential CO2 emissions from current VCE losses are estimated at 2.1–3.1 Tg CO2-e yr-1, increasing annual CO2 emissions from land use change in Australia by 12–21%. This assessment, the most comprehensive for any nation to-date, demonstrates the potential of conservation and restoration of VCE to underpin national policy development for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Organic cation rotation in hybrid organic-inorganic lead halide perovskites has previously been associated with low charge recombination rates and (anti)ferroelectric domain formation. Two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy (2DIR) was used to directly measure 470 ± 50 fs and 2.8 ± 0.5 ps time constants associated with the reorientation of formamidinium cations (FA, NHCHNH) in formamidinium lead iodide perovskite thin films. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal the FA agitates about an equilibrium position, with NH groups pointing at opposite faces of the inorganic lattice cube, and undergoes 90° flips on picosecond time scales. Time-resolved infrared measurements revealed a prominent vibrational transient feature arising from a vibrational Stark shift: photogenerated charge carriers increase the internal electric field of perovskite thin films, perturbing the FA antisymmetric stretching vibrational potential, resulting in an observed 5 cm shift. Our 2DIR results provide the first direct measurement of FA rotation inside thin perovskite films, and cast significant doubt on the presence of long-lived (anti)ferroelectric domains, which the observed low charge recombination rates have been attributed to.

2D-IR spectroscopy is used to measure protein amide I bands in water, avoiding the need for deuteration. We show that H/D exchange affects protein vibrational relaxation dynamics and that the ability to perform 2D-IR in water enables blood serum protein analysis.