The authors of the IPCC Assessment Report are skeptical that warming can be limited below 2 degrees Celsius according to the survey of 211 experts and statistical analysis.

High-resolution topographic mapping of volcanic vents located within Tharsis province on Mars indicates the presence of late Amazonian age pyroclastic deposits similar to those generated by mildly explosive eruptions on Earth.

Concurring warm and dry conditions with high fire risk in South America have become more frequent since 1971, with a three-fold increase in high-fire-risk days per year in northern Amazonia, according to an assessment of reanalysis data.

Adaptation to thermal histories governs differences in coral heat tolerance between reefs, whereas within reefs, variations in heat tolerance cannot be explained by environmental predictors and may instead be a result of genomic variations, suggesting analyses of coral samples from the Great Barrier Reef.

A deep-learning model can estimate the magnitude and focal mechanism of large earthquakes in near-real time using light-speed gravity-induced signals recorded by seismometers before the arrival of seismic waves, advancing tsunami warning systems.

In Rwanda, the projected temperature and precipitation increases may shift malaria transmission risk to the western and northern highlands, according to an analysis that combines the ensemble learning method, historical malaria observation data, and climate scenarios.

A rise in lake levels occurred after the mid-Miocene climate transition, challenging the notion of persistent long-term aridity and indicating a significant influence of westerly winds and East Asian summer monsoons, according to paleorecords and climate models from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau.

Anomalously high Arctic pressures and temperatures are directly and quasi-linearly linked to incidents of severe winter weather in the northern mid-latitudes, especially downstream of maximum regional Arctic warming, according to an analysis using an updated index of accumulated winter severity.

Humid and arid regions in Europe showed opposite trends in the response of irrigated area to drought conditions, according to Europe-wide surveys combined with a process-based crop-water model.

The Madden-Julian Oscillation affects the intensity and duration of marine heatwaves on the central part of South America’s Atlantic coast, whereas El Niño and La Niña events influence those along the northern and southern coasts, according to a K-mean clustering analysis used to identify various types of marine heatwaves along the South American Atlantic coast.

Pyroclastic density currents – fast flows of hot gases, ash, and debris – are some of the most hazardous phenomena associated with explosive volcanic eruptions. Analyses of historical pyroclastic density currents and laboratory experiments show that the rate of volcanic eruptions is the main control for their emplacement and their related volcanic hazards.

Obituaries of scientists are much more often about men than women. At Communications Earth & Environment, we are initiating a series of articles highlighting the lives and work of women scientists, aiming to inspire the next generation with their stories and career paths.

An adventurous ecologist, Cheryl Ann Palm brought together agriculture, forest and social science experts and pioneered interdisciplinary approaches to reduce deforestation and enhance food security.

Achieving the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement relies on every actor maximising their effort to reduce emissions. Generic targets claiming a basis in science have been used to justify inequitable efforts that insufficiently stretch the ambition of the best-resourced countries and companies.

A combination of anthropogenic warming and natural variability led to another record-breaking year of warmth in 2023. Global mean temperatures in 2023 nearly exceeded the 1.5 °C threshold, making it both a scientific and societal imperative to understand the underlying reasons for this warmth.

Attribution of the record-shattering global annual heat in 2023 to human and/or natural factors is fundamentally required for reliable predictions of upcoming global warming and its impacts. An observation-model comparison of global hot areas supports a key role for human-induced climate change, with a small contribution from El Niño.