Articles

Negative emissions technologies at scale are seen as essential for the overall decarbonization effort to achieve the Paris Agreement targets. However, private ownership of these technologies could largely increase regional or international inequality by financing them through carbon markets.

The authors incorporate terrestrial biosphere models with ecological optimality theory, remote sensing and global carbon budget estimates to constrain the historical effects of CO₂ on photosynthesis. They show that CO₂ fertilization likely increased global photosynthesis by 13.5% between 1981 and 2020.

Forest restoration is emerging as a key climate mitigation strategy. In this study, the authors find that formalized local control and substantive involvement in rule-making are associated with synergies for carbon sequestration, biodiversity and rural livelihoods.

The impact of climate change on soil carbon remains uncertain. This study shows that soil carbon in forests increases in response to elevated CO₂, but the response to warming and nitrogen deposition depends on mycorrhizal associations, indicating a trade-off between soil and plant carbon.

Climate change is a major human rights challenge. This research shows how climate change is impeding the human rights of Ni-Vanuatu, outlines what can be done in response, and discusses how the future loss and damage fund should consider human rights restoration and compensation packages.

Non-tornadic thunderstorm winds are associated with particularly strong damages. Here, the author assesses changes in these winds in the central USA and shows that they have intensified stronger than other extreme winds over the past decades, while the affected area increased 4.8-fold.

The low-carbon transition would bring both challenges and opportunities for the labour market, which have important implications for a just transition. In the US power system, the lowest-skilled workers in fossil fuel-dependent states will face more uncertain employment and job training will be necessary.

The remaining carbon budget (RCB) is a critical estimate of the carbon that can be emitted while staying within a particular temperature threshold. This study provides an updated assessment of the RCB using recent data and robustness checks to increase confidence in the estimate.

The authors use fisheries databases and predictive models to understand past and future changes in the availability of iron, calcium omega-3 and protein from seafood. They show disproportional loss of nutrients in tropical low-income countries, which will be exacerbated by higher levels of global warming.

The authors use a regional ocean model to project ocean-driven ice-shelf melt in the Amundsen Sea. Already committed rapid ocean warming drives increased melt, regardless of emission scenario, suggesting extensive ice loss from West Antarctica.

Wildfire can lead to shifts in forest composition to more deciduous tree cover, which can have a biophysical cooling effect on climate. This study finds no net increase in deciduous cover or biophysical cooling over boreal North America in recent decades, despite widespread landscape scale change.

Assessing adaptation progress is key to reducing risk associated with climate change, yet the status of adaptation in most sectors is unclear. This study assesses the state of coastal adaptation globally and finds that current efforts fulfil about half of the total potential.

Projections of ocean heat transport show a decrease which is driven by a decline in overturning circulation. Such a decrease in ocean heat transport can dampen the global warming signal in Northwest Europe.

Protest plays an essential role in promoting climate actions, yet individual participation decisions are influenced by expectations about other people’s attendance. This study displays evidence on strategic substitutability, that is, respondents are less motivated if they expect high turnout.

Autonomous sampling enables increased data collection in the ocean to understand circulation and water property changes. This study uses data from underwater gliders and profiling floats to show a shoreward lateral shift in Gulf Stream waters, which have warmed and become lighter since 2001.

Fire impacts soil organic carbon stocks, in addition to aboveground biomass, yet changes are not well constrained. This study shows that more soil carbon is lost from drier ecosystems than humid ones and that the carbon sink is increasing in savannah–grassland regions with declining burned area.

Changes in air temperature are usually considered for quantifying changes in temperature extremes such as heatwaves. This study shows that the incidence of heat extremes in soils is increasing faster than air temperature in some regions, with implications for hydrological and biogeochemical processes.

The decarbonization of the global iron and steel industry is important for energy systems mitigation. Using a facility-level database, this Article presents cost-effective, region-specific strategies targeting plants with a large age-to-capacity ratio and/or high emissions intensity.

Recent decades have seen the increasing frequency of multiyear La Niña events. Here the authors find that there are two different types of multiyear La Niña that are each linked to different mechanisms related to warming in the western equatorial Pacific.

The authors estimate the intensity, duration and number of global marine heatwaves from 1993 to 2019, from the surface to 2,000 m. They show generally higher intensity of marine heatwaves at 50–200 m, but increased duration with depth, and predict ocean regions of higher biodiversity exposure.