Category: Nature

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 10 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01908-w Ocean eddies impact circulation, heat and gas fluxes between the ocean and the atmosphere. Modelling how warming will alter their occurrence in the Arctic shows that sea ice decline and increased baroclinic instability drive an increase in eddy kinetic energy.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 09 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01912-0 Inland shipping   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 09 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01922-y Soaring temperatures hit the headlines throughout 2023; only time will tell if the annual climate talks have pivoted from discussion and debate to meaningful progress for climate action.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 09 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01913-z Faster melting from below   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 09 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01911-1 Tasty plants and helpful ants   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 09 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-024-01926-2 Publisher Correction: Climate warming restructures food webs and carbon flow in high-latitude ecosystems   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 09 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01914-y Private provisioning of public adaptation   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 08 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01869-0 Justice issues are integral to a variety of climate science and policy processes. This Perspective provides a framework, based on philosophical theory, to explain key justice concepts and how they can be applied in climate discussions.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 08 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01897-w Oxygen loss has been observed in the world’s oceans, due mainly to warming temperatures that reduce oxygen solubility and increase stratification. This study shows climate-induced salinity changes also impact oxygen patterns with effects either accelerating or counteracting warming-driven changes.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 04 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01907-x The increase in atmospheric methane has been accelerating since 2007, and identifying drivers is critical for climate mitigation. In this study, the authors show that the expansion of rice cultivation in Africa accounts for 7% of rising emissions.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 04 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01904-0 Public engagement is necessary for climate action, yet it is difficult to achieve. This Perspective explores three assumptions about public engagement and provides suggestions for overcoming these to facilitate better engagement.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 03 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01894-z A warming climate can alter the food sources that support animals in Arctic ecosystems. Now, research provides empirical evidence of such a shift, with widespread implications for global carbon cycling.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 03 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01893-0 The authors quantify changes in carbon flow to Arctic tundra and boreal forest consumers under warming. Small-mammal specimens separated by 30 years and wolf spiders from short-term warming experiments show similar patterns of change, switching from plant-based to fungal-based food webs.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 03 January 2024; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01898-9 Hydrofluorocarbons are a class of important greenhouse gases, and quantitative estimates of their social cost are still lacking. This research develops a set of direct estimates of their economic costs and shows their rapid phase-down could lead to large climate benefits.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 29 December 2023; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01891-2 The triple climate inequality crisis, or disparities in contributions, impacts and capacity to act within and between countries, is a central issue in addressing climate change. This Comment advocates for progressive wealth taxation as a viable solution to the finance gap.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 29 December 2023; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01900-4 Policies and psychological approaches often overemphasize individual agency, overlooking how socioeconomic inequality can constrain access to low-carbon alternatives. We argue that tackling these inequalities is urgent for impactful, equitable behaviour change.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 27 December 2023; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01899-8 Communal life is characterized by the shared timing of human and environmental events. Climate change is disrupting these timings, creating mismatches in these coordinated temporal patterns and requiring adaptive governance.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 27 December 2023; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01890-3 This Perspective evaluates efforts using machine learning to track global progress on adaptation, focusing on recent efforts in text analysis. It discusses practical and theoretical challenges, lessons learned and ways forward. It urges the adaptation community to prepare for a paradigm shift.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 22 December 2023; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01874-3 Warming temperatures associated with climate change are expected to impact soil carbon stocks, yet the effect of more frequent and intense extreme climate events on soil carbon is yet unclear. This study shows that most extremes enhance soil carbon loss globally, with variation across ecosystems.   

Nature Climate Change, Published online: 22 December 2023; doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01873-4 Both warming and precipitation changes are affecting the global carbon cycle, although the impact of the frequency and intensity of climate extremes on carbon cycling is unclear. Now, research suggests that most extreme events enhance soil organic carbon losses under warming globally.