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Carmenza Robledo brought together a diverse group of experts from resource management to information technology and policy to assess how forest ecosystems help African rural communities cope with extreme weather events.

The inability to verify nations' reported progress towards emission-reduction commitments is a stumbling block in climate change negotiations. Narrowing uncertainties in the global carbon cycle could help overcome this obstacle.

A lack of buy-in by the United States arguably represents the greatest obstacle to tackling climate change. A major new report urges America to take action to cut emissions and begin adapting to climate change.

An introduction needs to be made between the rich cultural knowledge of social studies and the natural sciences.

With its short-term focus, the financial sector is largely turning its back on the climate challenge, shows a new study. Sonja van Renssen reports.

The insurance business must get to grips with climate science faster than most, Anna Petherick reports.

The processes of abstraction, conveyance and treatment of fresh water and wastewater are all energy-intensive processes. This systematic review shows that the growing energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions from the water sector are under-recognized, suggesting the need for energy use to be further quantified and integrated into water resources management.

Estimates of how much food we can grow in a warmer world are out of date. Researchers need to switch to more rigorous multi-model ensembles.

Climate change is known to affect the carbon balance of Arctic tundra ecosystems by influencing plant growth and decomposition. Less predictable climate-driven biotic events, such as disease outbreaks, are now shown to potentially shift these ecosystems from net carbon sinks to sources.

The importance of disease in modulating ecosystem responses to climate change remains poorly understood. A seven-year study of the effects of increased snow cover on tundra plant communities in Sweden found that, although plant growth was favoured by increased snow, biomass and carbon-balance trends were reversed by a pathogen outbreak.

Predicting abrupt changes in ecological systems could help stave off some of the worst impacts of climate change. But how close are we to foreseeing tipping points?

A tipping point occurs when an external forcing causes a qualitative change in a system. Human-induced climate change could push several large elements of the climate system, such as the Greenland ice sheet, past a tipping point. Given the severity of the potential impacts, early warning of these changes would be advantageous. This Review discusses the most promising approaches to early warning of tipping points.

The production of traded goods accounts for a significant proportion of global greenhouse-gas emissions. Now analysis reveals that emissions embodied in imports from developing countries have out-stripped emission reductions made by developed countries at home over the past 20 years.