Articles in 2014

Institutions need to adapt to ensure coequal social and biophysical global change science.

China should take more active participation in a prospective agreement on the global phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons.

Many international river basins are suffering from climate-driven impacts, with implications for national security. Now, research highlights the need to analyse shifting river boundaries to better understand potential socio-political threats.

The use of biomass for energy generation is helping European Union countries meet their renewable energy and emissions targets, but demand from other sectors means policy needs to be developed for maximum climate benefits, reports Sonja van Renssen.

The China–Russia gas deal will play an important role in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and air pollution in China.

Adaptation of water resources management will help communities adjust to changes in the water cycle expected with climate change, but it can't be fixed by innovations alone.

Natural climate variability complicates the detection of anthropogenic climate change in the twenty-first century. Now, research shows that evidence of human influence first emerges from sea level rather than temperature rise.

The regular beat of the seasons and between day and night are far more noticeable than recent increases in surface temperature. Researchers now show that these rhythms are changing in a way that parallels the pattern of long-term surface warming.

Water is a vital resource and as the climate changes so does the hydrological cycle. What this means for water availability (or excess) on the local and regional scale is key for decision makers and communities.

Groundwater depletion the world over poses a far greater threat to global water security than is currently acknowledged.

Energy use is crucial for economic development, but drives greenhouse-gas emissions. A low-carbon growth path requires a radical transformation of the energy system that would be too costly for developing nations. Efforts should focus on feasible mitigation actions such as fossil fuel subsidy reform, decentralized access to modern energy and fuel switching in the power sector.

The authors of this Review argue that changes to carbonate dissolution in an acidifying ocean, which have been relatively overlooked, are potentially more important than calcification for the future accretion and survival of coral reef ecosystems.

The linkages between the two goals of achieving universal access to modern energy and mitigating climate-altering emissions are assessed for the case of India.

This work investigates when the anthropogenic signal in regional sea-level rise will emerge from natural variability. Considering thermal expansion and changes in density and circulation, 50% of the global ocean will show an anthropogenic signal by the early-to-mid 2040s, whereas when all variables are considered, the anthropogenic signal will emerge in over 50% of the global ocean by 2020. This is substantially earlier than for surface air temperature and has little dependence on emissions scenarios.

Mean summer temperature in Eastern China has increased by 0.82 °C since the 1950s and five of the hottest summers have occurred since 2000. This study estimates anthropogenic influence to have caused a greater than 60-fold increase in the likelihood of extreme summer heat and projects that hot summers will continue to increase in frequency.

In recent decades, over nine-tenths of Earth's top-of-the-atmosphere energy imbalance has been stored in the ocean, which is rising as it warms. Combining satellite sea-level data with ocean mass data or model results allows insights into ocean warming.