Warming temperatures driven by climate change are causing species geographic ranges to shift, but factors such as habitat characteristics and species interactions impact these changes. This Review examines range shift documentation, how shifts differ from temperature-based expectations, and the effects of range shifts on natural and human systems.

Tectonic processes can lead to the formation of semi-enclosed seas and the deposition of extensive salt deposits. This Review explores the drivers and impacts of the Mediterranean Messinian salinity crisis, including previously underconsidered impacts on the global carbon cycle.

The Southern Ocean represents a substantial carbon sink and heavily influences global carbon fluxes. This Review describes how an expanding suite of observations are providing increasing insight into the contribution of biota and plankton to the carbon cycle in the Southern Ocean.

Rainfall events are becoming less frequent but more intense with anthropogenic warming. This Review explores the consequences of these changes on plants and investigates how and why plant responses appear to broadly differ between dry and wet ecosystems.