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The distributions of terrestrial organisms are shifting in response to climate change. Research shows that these changes are happening at a much faster rate than previously estimated.
Some commercial fish species of the northeast Atlantic Ocean have relocated in response to warming. The impact of warming on marine assemblages in the region may already be much greater than appreciated, however, with over 70% of common demersal fish species responding through changes in abundance, rather than range.
Improved regional monitoring and reporting of greenhouse-gas emissions depends on accurate estimates of emissions from different land-use regimes. An analysis suggests that measuring emissions per crop yield may be an optimum metric for refining land-management decisions.
Feeding a growing population in a hotter world will require exploiting a far broader range of crop diversity than now — and that means valuing wild genes.
Avoiding dangerous climate change is an increasingly formidable challenge. Diplomats meeting next month in Durban must propose a persuasive alternative if they are to end the Kyoto Protocol.
As scientists raise alarming questions about the true carbon cost of some biofuels, policymakers must decide how best to promote low-emission versions, reports Sonja van Renssen.
A new report warns of the environmental impact of Asia's rise. But the relationship between pollution and economic growth is not simple, argues Anna Petherick.
With expertise in geography and human health, Marta Jankowska and David López-Carr worked with a team of specialists in climate science, statistics, demography and policy to study climate change impacts on child malnutrition in Mali.
Whether the widely accepted 2 °C limit for climate change is practically achievable depends partly on climate sensitivity, but predominantly on complex socio-economic dynamics.
The ‘pathway’ the world needs to follow to limit global temperature rise to 2 °C remains uncertain. Analysis that takes technical and economic constraints on reducing emissions into account indicates that emissions need to peak in the next decade and then fall rapidly to have a good chance of achieving this goal.
Substituting fossil fuels with bioenergy from forests, as well as thinning forests to reduce wildfire emissions, has been proposed as a means of cutting carbon dioxide emissions. A study based on inventory data for US West Coast forests now challenges this proposal, and finds that it could lead to 2–14% higher emissions than current management practices over the next 20 years.
Climate change projections are usually presented as ‘snapshots’ of change at a particular time in the future. Now a new approach to presenting projections, which should prove useful to policymakers, shows when temperature thresholds might be crossed, shifting the emphasis from ‘what might happen’ to ‘when it might happen’.
Funding for climate change research is looking healthy despite austerity measures and conservatives clamouring for cuts. Nature Climate Change looks at the data.
It is well recognized that species are shifting their distributions and the timing of key life events in response to climate change. What is less appreciated is that many species are also experiencing reductions in body size, with implications for food availability and the balance of ecosystems. This Perspective looks at the evidence for shrinking body size across endothermic and ectothermic organisms and proposes future research directions.
