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The need for new energy storage is often seen as an obstacle to integrating renewable electricity into national power systems. Modelling shows that existing technologies could provide significant emissions reductions in the US without the need for storage, however.
Combined energy and weather modelling suggests that CO2 emissions from the US electricity sector can be reduced by up to 80% using existing technologies, and without increasing the cost of electricity.
Modelling shows that increased beef production in the Brazilian Cerrado could lower greenhouse gas emissions and increase soil organic carbon stocks, provided that it is decoupled from deforestation.
Changes in ocean heat content over the industrial era are investigated from a range of observations. Using this data as input to climate models shows that nearly half of the increase occurred in recent decades, and more than a third occurs below 700 m.
Global warming could trigger irreversible regime shifts—‘tipping points’—in the climate system. This study analyses climate policy in the presence of a potential domino effect resulting from the interaction of such tipping points.
How marine bacteria respond to ocean acidification was investigated by metatranscriptome analysis of mesocosm experiments. Bacteria in low-nutrient sea water had enhanced gene expression under elevated CO2 levels, in order to adapt to environmental stress.
Reducing agricultural emissions during times of increasing food demand is a challenge. Research, using the UK as an example, now shows the technical mitigation potential of increasing agricultural yields, reducing farmed area and restoring habitats.
Modelling of over 25,000 hydro- and thermoelectric power plants shows water constraints are likely to severely reduce usable capacity after 2040. Fuel switching, increasing efficiency and new cooling systems can reduce power plants’ vulnerability.
An analysis of the regional climate response to cumulative CO2 emissions establishes a clear quantitative link between the total amount of CO2 emitted and the magnitude of local climate warming.
Surface melt of the Greenland ice sheet is retained through storage in the surface porous ice. This study shows that successive melt events have caused the formation of near-surface ice layers, preventing this storage and increasing meltwater runoff.