Online image search results depict climate change differently across the world. Countries with high (versus low) levels of climate concern encounter more emotional images, creating a difference that can change how people think and feel about climate change.

Ocean alkalinity enhancement is a commonly touted method for marine carbon dioxide removal but many questions remain, including its capacity for large-scale carbon removal. Computer models have now been used to map the timescales and efficiency of carbon removal at global scale, revealing important regional differences.

Woody plants have expanded into many grasslands, in part due to anthropogenic suppression of natural fires. Restoring fire to grasslands is a shift in conservation strategy aimed to improve the health of these ecosystems, which depend on fire. However, fire exclusion changes ecosystem characteristics, and particularly in areas that have experienced extensive tree expansion, reintroducing fire can have

Climate-induced disasters can often capture the attention of both the public and the media, which make them effective channels for government accountability as governments could then be pressured into taking action. A dramatic surge of public attention on certain events could largely shape the emergent response of regulatory agencies. Yet the existence and duration of such an effect is still unknown

Mark Kirk, from Murray State University and Allegheny College in the USA, and colleagues, used a 32 year mark–recapture dataset investigating 717 Arizona tiger salamanders (Ambystoma mavortium nebulosum), in the context of climate and population density. While longer growing seasons directly favoured terrestrial metamorphic outcomes, climate impacts including long overwintering cold spells and light

To understand the effect of chlorophyll solar absorption on coastal upwelling regions, Siyu Meng and colleagues use a coupled ocean–biogeochemistry model and find that chlorophyll absorption causes colder, stronger upwelling in the Pacific Ocean, but warmer, weaker upwelling in the Atlantic Ocean. The authors attribute this to phytoplankton spatial differences, with the Pacific Ocean having more surface

Aspirations for a just society can motivate individuals to engage in climate action; however, public awareness of climate justice remains low, and the extent of injustice within the climate crisis is often underestimated.

As attribution studies evolve in complexity and become more present in public discourse, care is needed to ensure that the associated uncertainties and relevant contexts remain clear.

An in-depth examination of the factors driving rising greenhouse gas emissions in the production of wheat, maize and rice uncovers trends that conflict with the objective of reducing emissions while simultaneously boosting production.

Correction to: Nature Climate Change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02149-1, published online 21 October 2024.

Before the 12th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF12), Nature Climate Change spoke to experts across the world to discuss how cities can and should cope with the intensifying climate crisis in the coming decades.

Climate influences when leaves change colour and fall, but not all trees lose their leaves at the same time. Combining field data, mathematical models and remote sensing, researchers show how local-scale variation in tree canopies and understory temperatures alters the start and duration of autumn leaf colouration and forecast reduced autumn delays under climate change.

Relaxing fertility policies and delaying retirement age would increase China’s household carbon footprint mainly by boosting population and labour. Policymakers should synergize policies targeting population ageing and climate change, which are both crucial for sustainable development.

Freshwater ecosystems contribute disproportionately to global biodiversity, but organisms in these ecosystems are declining at faster rates than those in terrestrial or marine environments. Among other stressors, both direct human activities and climate change are leading to increased irregularity of water flow in rivers and streams (flow intermittence), which has been shown to negatively impact biodiversity

The contribution of Antarctica to sea-level rise is highly uncertain. One important source of uncertainty is a lack of consensus on which mechanisms act during the demise of Antarctic ice masses. A particularly debated mechanism is that of marine ice cliff instability (MICI), where the formation of tall ice cliffs could lead to a rapid collapse of ice sheets. In their study, Mathieu Morlighem from

Olivia Guerra-Santin from Eindhoven University of Technology and colleagues in the Netherlands have developed an interdisciplinary behaviour model for residential buildings, based on the empirical results from three monitoring campaigns in the Netherlands. This model links measurable drivers directly to energy outcomes, considers building-related contexts and reflects the complexity of high-performance

Khosro Soleimani-Chamkhorami of Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, and colleagues developed a ML framework to distinguish between climatic and non-climatic failures. They collected datasets on failure reports, asset and weather information for Sweden’s railway system over 23 years. They demonstrate that the random forest model has the highest accuracy. Their analysis also shows that for classifying

The feasibility of certain climate actions needs to be carefully examined to address concerns over their practicality. Researchers across different climate change research fields are increasingly working on this topic.

The dominant paradigm holding that science is always objective needs to be challenged. When scientists’ opinions about climate change and their own fears are seen as irrelevant, it suggests that science is separate from society; however, this perspective ultimately weakens climate science.

Changes in nutrient availability can alter carbon storage and carbon dioxide emissions from tundra soils. Now, work shows that these responses can shift dramatically over long timescales of nutrient addition, by restructuring the interplay between plants and soil microorganisms.

Correction to: Nature Climate Change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-01990-8, published online 17 April 2024.

More understanding of demand-side mitigation is needed for overall emissions reductions. Now, a study evaluates mitigation potential based on a cost–benefit approach, but gaps remain to fully leverage demand-side mitigation to achieve effective climate policies.

Correction to: Nature Climate Change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02131-x, published online 12 September 2024.

Declining youth mental health has been labelled a global crisis. Although raging wars are most emotionally salient, ecological crises such as climate change are more costly for the psychological health of young people.

Ice melt from Antarctica is accelerating. Now, a study shows that more realistic treatment of how Earth’s mantle rebounds as Antarctic glaciers retreat can lower projections of mass loss and the associated sea-level rise.