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Analysis of high-resolution climate models reveals a substantial reduction in global oceanic kinetic energy under global warming. This reduction of oceanic kinetic energy is mainly due to weakened mesoscale eddies in the deep ocean.

Studies show climate change will alter the ocean, with increased surface layer kinetic energy. This work, using full ocean depth and high-resolution projections with a high-emission scenario, shows an overall ocean kinetic energy decrease due to a calmer deep ocean with weaker mesoscale eddies.

The future of carbon dynamics in the northern high latitudes is uncertain yet represents an important potential feedback under climate change. This study uses a comprehensive observational dataset to show an increasing carbon sink in non-permafrost systems; in permafrost systems uptake was offset by loss.

Climate change threatens the role of forests as long-term carbon sinks. Tree planting programmes that incorporate assisted migration of tree species and seed sources can help to mitigate this impact.

Assisted migration is the artificial movement of species and populations to increase forest resilience. Here the authors model how targeted assisted migration can preserve or enhance the European forest carbon sink under future climate scenarios.

The greenhouse gas abatement costs for two forest restoration methods — natural regeneration and plantations — are estimated by integrating observations on the costs of reforestation projects with other biophysical and economic data. This analysis reveals that a mix of reforestation methods offers greater potential to mitigate climate change at low cost than previously estimated.

It is important to understand the cost-effectiveness of natural regeneration and plantations, which are common reforestation methods for mitigation. The authors estimate and map abatement costs for the two approaches across low- and mid-income countries, helping to guide reforestation initiatives.

The Southern Ocean takes up substantial amounts of heat and carbon. Here the authors show that it has historically accounted for a much greater proportion of global ocean heat uptake—and link this to aerosols depressing uptake in northern oceans—but that future heat and carbon uptake will become more comparable.

Climate change is increasing ocean temperature, particularly in the surface waters. Here the authors show that accelerated surface warming in the North Pacific in the past decade is driven by shoaling of the ocean mixed layer with some dampening by increased latent heat loss from the ocean.

Inadequate information in national adaptation policies limits the ability to track national adaptation progress in Africa. Enhancing coverage, consistency and robustness of these policies offers a clear path to establish effective, nationally led adaptation-tracking infrastructure.

Tracking adaptation requires countries’ commitments as the baseline for measuring future progress. By analysing 65 African national adaptation documents, this research finds that most countries fail to provide internally consistent and operational plans, while efforts towards adequacy exist.

Currently, no comprehensive scientific methodology of corporate risk quantification, in response to new disclosure regulations, has been proposed in the literature. Here we develop fundamental principles that are important for the appropriate use of climate scenario science in transition risk assessments.

The growth and yield of 3,652 wheat genotypes under past and simulated future climates indicate that adaptation to a wide range of environments will decrease by 8.7% for each 1°C of warming. Thus, future breeding strategies must deliver genetically diverse elite lines that can adapt to the warmer conditions and likely more diverse weather scenarios caused by climate variance.

Given the importance of crop breeding and adaptation for future food security, the authors investigate yield response of wheat cultivars under warming. They find low adaptation to recent warming and low phenotype stability across environments, with further reductions expected under future climates.

Governments are increasingly using industrial policy to develop low-carbon economic sectors and catalyse the energy transition. A recent study provides a framework to explain why governments adopt different types of green industrial policy, depending on industry position in the global supply chain and types of uncertainty.

Projections of the future climate of small island states and territories are currently limited by the coarse resolution of models. We call for rapid global and regional cooperation to develop projections compatible with small island scales, providing relevant local information and decision-making tools.

Small island states and territories have been leading climate action in many ways. In this issue, we highlight climate change research conducted on large ocean islands and how science can improve to help them adapt to changing environments.

Small island states and territories are often seen as particularly vulnerable to climate change, which affects the shape of the land, its ecosystems and the resources that people depend on. Nature Climate Change asked a selection of scientists from different island states and territories to discuss the role that climate science and action has in supporting island communities.

Urban areas are an important focus for effective climate action in the coming decade. This Perspective proposes transformational strategies to accelerate and upscale the impact of the planned Special Report on Climate Change and Cities in the IPCC seventh assessment cycle.