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.

Marine clay authigenesis via silicate alteration governs carbon and cation cycling in marine geochemical cycles, according to in-situ major element and silicon isotope analysis in sedimentary glauconite.

Five major explosive volcanic pulses in the Main Ethiopian Rift took place in the last four million years with intensity and magnitude declining over time, based on stratigraphic and geochronology data of volcanic units.

Extending the lifetime and efficiency of solar energy systems can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental impact when combined with wind and geothermal power cycles, according to an analysis that uses life cycle assessment and scenario analysis.

The Arctic is experiencing a significant increase in the area covered by heatwaves, with climate models predicting further heatwave severity in the 21st century, according to results from observed and projected changes in heatwaves over the terrestrial Arctic using advanced atmospheric reanalysis and global climate models.

Energy production and export could be relocated to less-developed regions due to international trade sanctions on the Russia-Ukraine war, exacerbating the uneven distribution of carbon dioxide emissions and air pollutants according to an analysis combining economic and atmospheric source-receptor models.

Analyses of five sedimentary records show that regional diatom diversity in São Miguel Island (Azores) decreased by nearly 30% around 1982, coinciding with a shift in communities and consistently above-average Northern Hemispheric temperatures.

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.