Featured
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Article
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Rockfall from an increasingly unstable mountain slope driven by climate warming
Climate warming has driven increased rockfall from an unstable mountain slope in the Swiss Alps, according to a record of rockfall activity spanning the past century based on tree damage.
- Markus Stoffel
- , Daniel G. Trappmann
- & Christophe Corona
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Article
| Open Access
Drought response of the boreal forest carbon sink is driven by understorey–tree composition
Carbon sink in young boreal forests is more vulnerable to drought than in mature forests due to the greater contribution and drought sensitivity of understorey relative to trees, according to carbon flux assessments of managed boreal forests in northern Sweden during the 2018 European summer drought.
- Eduardo Martínez-García
- , Mats B. Nilsson
- & Matthias Peichl
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Editorial |
Melting ice core archives
Urgent efforts are needed to collect and preserve ice cores from mountain glaciers before these archives are lost.
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Article
| Open Access
Regional variations in relative sea-level changes influenced by nonlinear vertical land motion
A probabilistic reconstruction of vertical land motion reveals regional variations in relative sea-level changes and large uncertainties in sea-level projections due to nonlinear effects.
- Julius Oelsmann
- , Marta Marcos
- & Florian Seitz
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Brief Communication
| Open Access
High-altitude glacier archives lost due to climate change-related melting
Information on past environmental conditions stored within high-altitude glaciers is being lost due to accelerated melting associated with climate change, according to ice core analysis from a Swiss glacier.
- C. J. Huber
- , A. Eichler
- & M. Schwikowski
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Article |
Relative increases in CH4 and CO2 emissions from wetlands under global warming dependent on soil carbon substrates
Soil carbon substrates affect how methane and CO2 emissions from global wetlands change in response to climate warming, according to global analyses of temperature sensitivity of wetland carbon emissions.
- Han Hu
- , Ji Chen
- & Yuting Liang
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Article
| Open Access
Long-distance migration and venting of methane from the base of the hydrate stability zone
Methane dissociated from the base of the hydrate stability zone off Mauritania during warm interglacials travelled up to 40 km landward beyond where methane hydrates are typically found before venting out, according to 3D seismic imagery.
- Richard J. Davies
- , Jinxiu Yang
- & Mads Huuse
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News & Views |
Plankton reveal past climate
Marine microfossil assemblages refine sea surface temperature patterns and yield insights into discrepancies between paleoclimate models of the last ice age and observations.
- Marci M. Robinson
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Article
| Open Access
Substantial and increasing global losses of timber-producing forest due to wildfires
Wildfires have caused widespread and increasingly severe losses within timber-producing forests in recent decades, according to maps of logging activity and wildfires.
- Christopher G. Bousfield
- , David. B. Lindenmayer
- & David P. Edwards
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Article
| Open Access
Extratropical forests increasingly at risk due to lightning fires
Lightning-induced fires account for 77% of the burned area in extratropical intact forests, and lightning ignitions will probably become more frequent as the global climate warms, according to a global attribution of lightning and anthropogenic fires from 2001 to 2020.
- Thomas A. J. Janssen
- , Matthew W. Jones
- & Sander Veraverbeke
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Article |
Global increase in biomass carbon stock dominated by growth of northern young forests over past decade
A decade of satellite observations suggests that old, degraded and deforested tropical forests are almost carbon neutral whereas northern young forests are the biggest contributor to the rising amount of carbon stored globally in vegetation.
- Hui Yang
- , Philippe Ciais
- & Jean-Pierre Wigneron
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Editorial |
Heatwave resilience
Climate change together with the recent onset of El Niño this year has led to widespread heatwaves. As these events become increasingly commonplace, cities around the world urgently need to build resilience to heat.
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Article |
Recent trends in the chemistry of major northern rivers signal widespread Arctic change
Divergent trends in biogeochemical constituents of the six largest rivers in the Arctic from 2003 to 2019 support multi-faceted changes on the Arctic landscape under global environmental change.
- Suzanne E. Tank
- , James W. McClelland
- & Robert M. Holmes
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Comment |
Communicating the link between climate change and extreme rain events
Extreme rainfall events are often linked to climate change based on simple thermodynamic arguments, but complex dynamic processes also play a role. Scientists have a responsibility to ensure they provide accurate information to the media and public.
- Andrew D. King
- , Kimberley J. Reid
- & Kate R. Saunders
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Editorial |
Reversing climate overshoot
Temporarily overshooting climate targets is a distinct possibility given our current emissions trajectory. It is crucial that we understand which of the associated impacts are reversible, and to what extent.
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Article
| Open Access
Fossil organic carbon utilization in marine Arctic fjord sediments by subsurface micro-organisms
Ancient, rock-derived organic matter is consumed by micro-organisms in Arctic fjord sediments despite its presumed limited bioavailability, representing a potential source of greenhouse gas emissions, according to compound-specific radiocarbon analyses of lipids from living bacteria.
- Manuel Ruben
- , Jens Hefter
- & Gesine Mollenhauer
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Article
| Open Access
Surface warming and wetting due to methane’s long-wave radiative effects muted by short-wave absorption
Climate simulations suggest that the contribution of methane to climate warming and wetting due to absorption of long-wave radiation is partially counteracted by short-wave absorption.
- Robert J. Allen
- , Xueying Zhao
- & Christopher J. Smith
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Article |
Comparable biophysical and biogeochemical feedbacks on warming from tropical moist forest degradation
Biophysical and biogeochemical effects of forest degradation cause comparable temperature increases in tropical rainforests, according to analyses of high-resolution satellite observations.
- Lei Zhu
- , Wei Li
- & Jingmeng Wang
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Article |
Widespread seasonal speed-up of west Antarctic Peninsula glaciers from 2014 to 2021
Glaciers on the west Antarctic Peninsula flowed on average 12% faster during the summer compared with winter due to a mix of oceanic and atmospheric influences, according to an analysis of remote sensing data from 2014 to 2021.
- Benjamin J. Wallis
- , Anna E. Hogg
- & Michiel R. van den Broeke
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Perspective |
Diminishing lake area across the northern permafrost zone
Lake drainage due to permafrost thaw in the northern permafrost zone is occurring sooner than anticipated.
- Elizabeth E. Webb
- & Anna K. Liljedahl
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Article
| Open Access
Agricultural drought over water-scarce Central Asia aggravated by internal climate variability
The interplay between anthropogenic forcing and internal variability associated with the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation has exacerbated agricultural droughts over southern Central Asia since 1992, according to large ensemble simulations.
- Jie Jiang
- & Tianjun Zhou
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Article |
Siberian carbon sink reduced by forest disturbances
Carbon sequestration by Siberian forests has been low over the past decade due to disturbances that have decreased live biomass and increased dead wood, according to passive microwave observations.
- Lei Fan
- , Jean-Pierre Wigneron
- & Rasmus Fensholt
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Article |
Climate-driven decoupling of wetland and upland biomass trends on the mid-Atlantic coast
Carbon loss from coastal wetlands in eastern North America due to sea-level rise is being offset by warming-driven greening of adjacent upland forests, with a net increase in carbon stored in coastal vegetation, according to an analysis of remote sensing data.
- Yaping Chen
- & Matthew L. Kirwan
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News & Views |
Islands on the move
Sea level rise causes barrier islands to migrate landward. Coastal evolution modelling reveals a centennial-scale lag in island response time and suggests migration rates will increase by 50% within the next century, even if sea level were to stabilize.
- Laura J. Moore
- & A. Brad Murray
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Article
| Open Access
Permafrost cooled in winter by thermal bridging through snow-covered shrub branches
Arctic shrubs cool permafrost in winter by acting as a thermal bridge through the snowpack, according to ground temperature observations and heat transfer simulations.
- Florent Domine
- , Kévin Fourteau
- & Mathilde Poirier
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Article |
Twentieth-century Azores High expansion unprecedented in the past 1,200 years
The Azores High over the North Atlantic has expanded due to anthropogenic climate change, disrupting precipitation patterns in western Europe, according to climate modelling and precipitation proxy records spanning the past millennium.
- Nathaniel Cresswell-Clay
- , Caroline C. Ummenhofer
- & Victor J. Polyak
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Research Briefing |
Daily monitoring reveals global CO2 emission patterns
Monitoring of the daily global CO2 emissions in 2020 reveals the spatial–temporal pattern of the drop in emissions due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The daily CO2 emission changes also reveal different patterns of human activities and fossil CO2 emissions across countries, sectors and periods.
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Perspective |
High Mountain Asia hydropower systems threatened by climate-driven landscape instability
Climate change is exacerbating geohazards in High Mountain Asia that pose a growing risk to hydropower and water infrastructure across the region.
- Dongfeng Li
- , Xixi Lu
- & Tobias Bolch
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Article |
Sub-aerial talik formation observed across the discontinuous permafrost zone of Alaska
Temperature observations from across Alaska show widespread talik formation in the discontinuous permafrost zone due to higher air temperatures and above-average snowfall in recent years.
- Louise M. Farquharson
- , Vladimir E. Romanovsky
- & Dmitry Nicolsky
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Article |
Contrasting effects of aridity and seasonality on global salinization
Aridity and rainfall seasonality have contrasting effects on global salinization, according to an analysis combining soil observations and ecohydrological modelling.
- Saverio Perri
- , Annalisa Molini
- & Amilcare Porporato
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Editorial |
Up in the aerosol
The climatic impacts of aerosols are highly uncertain but critical to understanding human-driven climate change. Monitoring of emissions and a better understanding of the varied pathways through which aerosols can influence climate is vital for reducing these uncertainties.
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Matters Arising |
Atlantic circulation change still uncertain
- K. Halimeda Kilbourne
- , Alan D. Wanamaker
- & Nina M. Whitney
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Article |
Sulfur emissions from consumption by developed and developing countries produce comparable climate impacts
Sulfur dioxide emissions due to consumption by developed and developing countries differ in magnitude but produce comparable climate impacts due to the regional distribution of emissions, according to simulations using an Earth system model.
- Jintai Lin
- , Chunjiang Zhou
- & Yongyun Hu
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Article |
Pyrogenic carbon decomposition critical to resolving fire’s role in the Earth system
Vegetation plays an important role in the aggregate carbon balance of fires, according to a 1901 to 2010 land surface model study that, assuming steady state, shows potentially greater pyrogenic carbon production than legacy losses at global scale, due mostly to grassland adaptations to fire.
- Simon P. K. Bowring
- , Matthew W. Jones
- & Samuel Abiven
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Article |
Rapid glacier retreat rates observed in West Antarctica
The Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers in West Antarctica have exhibited faster than expected retreat rates in recent years, according to grounding-line observations from satellite radar interferometry.
- P. Milillo
- , E. Rignot
- & L. Dini
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Editorial |
Complexities of coastal resilience
Mitigating the risks of coastal flooding as sea levels rise requires management of sediment as well as water.
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Article |
Marsh resilience to sea-level rise reduced by storm-surge barriers in the Venice Lagoon
Sediment supply to the Venice Lagoon is substantially reduced by flood barriers inhibiting storm-related sediment reworking and transport, according to observations through multiple storm events before and after barrier installation.
- Davide Tognin
- , Andrea D’Alpaos
- & Luca Carniello
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Article |
Recent strengthening of snow and ice albedo feedback driven by Antarctic sea-ice loss
Recent strengthening of the snow/ice albedo feedback is due to Antarctic sea-ice loss, according to satellite observations of surface albedo.
- Aku Riihelä
- , Ryan M. Bright
- & Kati Anttila
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Article |
Attribution of global lake systems change to anthropogenic forcing
Anthropogenic climate change is impacting the temperature and ice cover of lakes across the globe, according to an attribution analysis based on hindcasts and projections from lake models.
- Luke Grant
- , Inne Vanderkelen
- & Wim Thiery
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Article |
Conservation slows down emission increase from a tropical peatland in Indonesia
During a period of drought, an intact tropical peatland in Indonesia released half the amount of greenhouse gases as was released from a degraded site, according to a direct comparison of eddy covariance measurements at a pair of peatland sites in Sumatra.
- Chandra S. Deshmukh
- , Dony Julius
- & Chris D. Evans
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Perspective |
Rapid decline in Antarctic sea ice in recent years hints at future change
The combined effects of decades-long warming and particularly vigorous injections of atmospheric heat from lower latitudes were the likely culprits for sharp declines in sea-ice extent around Antarctica starting in 2016.
- Clare Eayrs
- , Xichen Li
- & David M. Holland
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Article |
Different climate sensitivity of particulate and mineral-associated soil organic matter
Particulate and mineral-associated soil organic carbon have different climate sensitivity and distributions in Europe, according to analyses of measurements of soil carbon fractions from 352 topsoils.
- Emanuele Lugato
- , Jocelyn M. Lavallee
- & M. Francesca Cotrufo
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Article |
Half of global methane emissions come from highly variable aquatic ecosystem sources
Methane emissions from aquatic systems contribute approximately half of global methane emissions, according to meta-analysis of natural, impacted and human-made aquatic ecosystems and indicating potential mitigation strategies to reduce emissions.
- Judith A. Rosentreter
- , Alberto V. Borges
- & Bradley D. Eyre
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Article |
Arctic sea-ice loss fuels extreme European snowfall
The loss of Arctic sea-ice enhances evaporation and fuels extreme European winter snowfall, according to an analysis of atmospheric water vapour isotope measurements.
- Hannah Bailey
- , Alun Hubbard
- & Jeffrey M. Welker
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Article |
Projections of tropical heat stress constrained by atmospheric dynamics
Limiting global warming to 1.5 °C will prevent tropical regions from reaching the limit of human adaptability, according to robust dynamical constraints on projected heat stress.
- Yi Zhang
- , Isaac Held
- & Stephan Fueglistaler
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Editorial |
Mountains of change
The world’s glaciers are shrinking, with knock-on impacts for local communities. We need a better grasp of the hazards they leave behind.
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Article |
Increased outburst flood hazard from Lake Palcacocha due to human-induced glacier retreat
Human-induced warming is responsible for the retreat of Palcaraju glacier and the associated increase in glacial lake outburst flood hazard, according to an analysis of observations and numerical models.
- R. F. Stuart-Smith
- , G. H. Roe
- & M. R. Allen
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Article |
Moist heat stress extremes in India enhanced by irrigation
Intensive irrigation in India cools the land surface, but increases the moist heat stress in South Asia, according to an analysis of observational datasets and meteorological models.
- Vimal Mishra
- , Anukesh Krishnankutty Ambika
- & Matthew Huber
Amplified positive effects on air quality, health, and renewable energy under China’s carbon neutral target
Himalayan glaciers threatened by frequent wildfires