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The material-intensive transition to low-carbon energy will impose environmental and social burdens on local and regional communities. Demand-side strategies can help to achieve higher well-being at lower levels of energy or material use, and an interdisciplinary approach in future research is essential.
It has been postulated that there is a threshold temperature above which permafrost will reach a global tipping point, causing accelerated thaw and global collapse. Here it is argued that permafrost-thaw feedbacks are dominated by local- to regional-scale processes, but this also means there is no safety margin.
In this Perspective, the authors develop a risk assessment framework for forest microbiomes under climate change that unites microbial and forest ecology. They define processes that amplify or buffer microbial sensitivity and exposure risk and feedbacks that mediate impacts on microbial communities.
In this Perspective, the authors develop an integrated framework to understand and predict the joint impacts of climate change and urbanization on biodiversity and ecosystems. They review examples of interacting impacts and present opportunities for future research.
Global climate change will continue to reconfigure water resources and lead to more extreme events. Water markets may provide a low-cost adaptation tool. This Perspective discusses the opportunities and challenges for surface and groundwater markets to manage water resources.
Behavioural science offers valuable insights for mitigating climate change, but existing work focuses mostly on consumption and lacks coordination across disciplines. In this Perspective, the authors make six recommendations for improving the quality and impact of behavioural research on mitigation.
Recent US climate bills mark a major step in domestic climate actions, while their successful implementation relies on strong assumptions. This Perspective discusses potential challenges regarding supply, consumer demand and political polarization and how insights of social science could help to overcome these challenges.
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.
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.
