Reviews & Analysis

Trees can provide a multitude of ecosystem services. The current push to plant trees, motivated by the goal of sequestering carbon, raises the question of how tree diversity affects carbon sequestration and other services offered by afforestation/reforestation projects. This Perspective examines the potential benefits of mixed tree planting over a monoculture approach.

Satellite remote sensing has advanced the understanding of the climate system in the short period of observations. This study highlights remote sensing discoveries that were not detected by climate models or conventional observations, and suggests future challenges for the robust determination of climate trends.

The effects of climate change on the extremes of rainfall and the associated floods and droughts have been well documented. Analysis now provides evidence that rainfall seasonality is also changing in some parts of the tropics, which has important implications for ecological as well as human systems.

Using model ensembles for simulating the responses of future crop yields to climate change offers the prospect of more reliable projections, but requires sustained international collaboration and exchange of high-quality data for model testing.

Climate change poses both practical and theoretical problems for coastal managers, who have to make and implement plans that cope with a highly uncertain, and therefore inherently risky, future. This Perspective uses three examples of ecological engineering — marshes, mangroves, and oyster reefs — to illustrate the synergistic effects and benefits of this approach.

Since the 1950s—after centuries of stock decline and deforestation—European forests started to recover, becoming a persistent carbon sink. The effect was projected to continue for decades, however there are early signs that the sink is saturating. This Perspective calls for a timely reaction from policymakers and forest managers to sustain European forests and thus the carbon sink.

A large share of China's carbon emissions is linked to consumption that takes place in its most developed provinces and overseas. A study highlights the implications of considering those emissions in the country's climate policy.

Accurately determining the warming associated with scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions remains an overarching aim of climate modelling. Research now shows that contemporary measurements significantly reduce uncertainty bounds and indicate that some more extreme warming predictions may be less likely.

Rainfall variability could be a key determinant of the diverse spatial patterns of tree cover in the tropics.

China, already the largest generator of hydroelectricity, plans to accelerate dam construction. This has led to warnings that increased emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly methane, from Chinese reservoirs could constitute a 'global warming time-bomb'. A review of evidence on emissions from the Three Gorges Reservoir — the world's largest — indicates that such fears are probably misplaced.

Can we achieve the ambitious mitigation targets needed to avert dangerous global warming? Research now shows that local sanctioning institutions may succeed where global agreements fall short.

Much climate change education research is now being funded in the USA. This Perspective argues that university-level climate change education may promote interdisciplinary, keep talented young people in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics pipeline, and help all students enhance their scientific, quantitative and climate literacies.

Following a period of rapid warming from the 1970s, global temperatures seem to have stalled. New analysis of the uptake of heat by the upper ocean sheds light on the cause and suggests that the slowdown could have been predicted.

The distribution of dust particles in the stratosphere affects the location of the tropical rainband. The possible implications of this for geoengineering — by injection of particles — need to be taken into account before implementation.

Energy policy is widely debated, with regards to climate change, alternative energy use and responsibility for policy. Research now highlights the role of citizens in public debates about energy and how it can be swayed.

Increased use of IT services can contribute to reducing carbon emissions, given the improvements in efficiency of IT devices and data-centre operations. However, credible metrics to reward the data centres for minimizing carbon emissions are still lacking. This Perspective identifies the characteristics of low-carbon data centres and the factors that govern carbon performance.

The use of land, energy and water can contribute to climate change, which, in turn, affects the systems that provide those resources. Efficient resource management can limit climate impacts and support adaption practices. An approach integrating resource assessments and policy-making is proposed to manage land, energy and water effectively.

Access to timely climate information is critical for empowering proactive decision-making to absorb climate shocks that would otherwise lead to large-scale humanitarian crises. The value of Rainwatch — a prototype geographical information system designed to increase interactions between local climate information users, their providers and supporting groups — is illustrated in the case of the unfavourable West African 2011 monsoon.

Computer models and some theories suggest that global warming causes tropical Pacific trade winds to weaken, even as western tropical Pacific rainfall increases. A new observational study indicates otherwise.