Reviews & Analysis

Nature-based solutions, such as urban green spaces, are shown to contribute to carbon emissions reduction and carbon sequestration, and also to have valuable indirect effects and behavioural impacts. Implementing such solutions could achieve carbon neutrality within the decade in several major cities in Europe.

We established a comprehensive assessment framework to explore the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions reduction potential from coal–biomass co-firing power plants with retrofitted carbon capture and storage (CBECCS) in China. Optimal spatiotemporal deployment of the CBECCS transition could achieve CO₂ mitigation of 1.6 Gt yr⁻¹ in 2040 and 41.2 Gt cumulatively over the period 2025–2060.

An endangered turtle population translocated to a higher-latitude (cooler) location grew inadequately. This calls into question the future viability of the population and highlights the difficulties in carrying out climate change-related translocations.

Most models of global climate change impacts and policy do not consider adaptation or societies’ ability to adapt. Here the authors propose a way to better integrate adaptation in such models using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway scenario framework to quantify adaptive capacity via a suite of socioeconomic indicators.

Climate and socioeconomic change are reshaping wildfire patterns and increasing risks globally, leading to potential new conflicts and equity issues. Incorporating justice considerations from different perspectives into integrated wildfire risk management is essential to address these new challenges.

An integrated assessment model calibrated on past economic and climate development is used to estimate the historical time-series of the social costs of carbon from 1950 to 2018. The extent to which individual countries reduced global wealth through their fossil and industrial-process carbon dioxide emissions was then assessed.

In this Perspective, the authors discuss the importance of considering phenotypic plasticity in conservation actions. They propose a framework to directly connect plasticity to management and a road map for developing tools to highlight where considering plasticity could be beneficial or required.

Climate policy adoption in one country increases the probability of adoption in neighbouring countries. Governments can thus support global climate action by adopting a leadership role in climate policy and do not need to worry about freeriding behaviour.

The potential effect of globally expanding organic farming on cropland soil organic carbon stocks has been estimated using a modelling approach. The results reveal that large-scale expansion of organic farming could lead to a reduction in soil organic carbon stocks unless appropriate farming practices, such as increased cover cropping, are adopted.

Better adaptation methods are needed in the face of rapid climate change. A pilot process for inclusive adaptation planning reveals that empowering citizens to identify climate impacts, and to discuss interventions to adapt to them, leads to better awareness of and preparedness for future climate change events.

Under current land-use regulation, carbon dioxide emissions from biofuel production exceed those from fossil diesel combustion. Therefore, international agreements need to ensure the effective and globally comprehensive protection of natural land before modern bioenergy can effectively contribute to achieving carbon neutrality.

Greenland is central to climate research and research now shows that Greenlanders are far more aware of a rapidly changing Arctic climate than of the underlying global causes. However, their willingness to harness new opportunities exceeds fear of climate change’s consequences.

Museum collections are a source for monitoring population changes at an evolutionary timescale. A comparative genomic study across time and space of populations of willow flycatchers (Empidonax traillii) reveals evidence of genetic responses to climate change through adaptation in genes associated with changing climatic conditions in southwestern North America.

Decades of deforestation and climate change have led to the southeastern Amazon becoming a carbon source region. Now, research shows that this carbon source region still sustains its own biomass production, but further degradation would decrease moisture recycling and amplify carbon losses to the atmosphere.

The extent to which sea level will rise under climate change is uncertain, with some of this uncertainty being quantifiable and some unquantifiable. This Review discusses past and present presentations of this uncertainty in IPCC and regional assessments, as well as their influence on users' interpretations.

When the Arctic Ocean will become free of sea ice is uncertain in climate-model projections. If a mismatch between the observed and the modelled sensitivity of sea ice to changes in atmospheric circulation is properly accounted for, then projections show that ice loss is slower and the Arctic could be sea-ice-free a decade later.

A large gap exists between the concerns over the risks of climate change and the support needed for effective climate actions. We show that participating in a market where individuals make predictions on future climate outcomes and earn money can change climate attitudes, behaviour and knowledge.

Environmental justice should be a central concern in adaptation action to avoid reproducing marginalizing power structures. Critical race theory can provide novel and valuable perspectives that contribute to promoting equity in climate change adaptation research and practices.

The deepest reaches of the ocean are ventilated by sinking of cold and relatively saline seawater around Antarctica. Observations from the Australian sector of the Southern Ocean reveal a decline in sinking and abyssal ventilation, linked to dropping ocean salinity on the Antarctic shelf.