News & Views in 2013

It is assumed that the monsoon is the dominant influence on Himalayan glaciers. However, a study now investigates the importance of the mid-latitude Westerlies and shows that glacier changes can be triggered from afar.

Evidence indicates that the continued loss of Arctic sea-ice and snow cover may influence weather at lower latitudes. Now correlations between high-latitude cryosphere changes, hemispheric wind patterns and mid-latitude extreme events are shown for the Northern Hemisphere.

Early warning systems can alert societies about coming irreversible climatic changes, but can they trigger action to avoid them? Research now suggests that to prompt social action, uncertainty about when the changes will occur must be reduced.

Analyses of changes in climate extremes at the local scale are affected by large uncertainties related to climate variability. Now research finds that integration over larger areas reveals consistent intensification of heat and precipitation extremes in projections of the near future.

Some existing conservation strategies may continue to provide secure habitats for species as their ranges move in response to climate change.

Phytoplankton drive productivity in the global ocean, but are sensitive to changes in temperature. Research now demonstrates how phytoplankton cells respond to an increase in seawater temperature and uses this knowledge to predict the resultant impacts on global marine biogeochemistry.

The effects of climate change on vulnerable communities raise ethical concerns about who should help them cope and how. Research suggests that fair and beneficial solutions are possible, but they always come with risks.

Pests and diseases reduce agricultural yields and are an important wildcard in the evaluation of future climate impacts. A unique global record of pests and diseases provides evidence for poleward expansions of their distributions.

A study reveals that recent warming in the Indian Ocean and in the Pacific 'warm pool' has caused a cooling near the top of the tropical troposphere above, leading to less water vapour entering the stratosphere.

The traditional view of the open ocean is that surface waters should change faster and that the deep waters should be relatively stable. Now research shows that the depths of the Southern Ocean are also rapidly freshening and warming, and that these changes are spreading towards the Equator.

Efforts to tackle climate change have met significant financial and political barriers that have been difficult to overcome. Research now shows that such measures are justified on grounds other than mitigation of climate change.

The amount of organic material that microbes assimilate into their biomass is critical in regulating whether soils, the planet's main pool of organic matter, will absorb or emit carbon in a warmer world.

The fate of permafrost soil carbon following thaw depends on hydrology.

The effects of climate change on the extremes of rainfall and the associated floods and droughts have been well documented. Analysis now provides evidence that rainfall seasonality is also changing in some parts of the tropics, which has important implications for ecological as well as human systems.

Using model ensembles for simulating the responses of future crop yields to climate change offers the prospect of more reliable projections, but requires sustained international collaboration and exchange of high-quality data for model testing.

A large share of China's carbon emissions is linked to consumption that takes place in its most developed provinces and overseas. A study highlights the implications of considering those emissions in the country's climate policy.

Accurately determining the warming associated with scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions remains an overarching aim of climate modelling. Research now shows that contemporary measurements significantly reduce uncertainty bounds and indicate that some more extreme warming predictions may be less likely.

Rainfall variability could be a key determinant of the diverse spatial patterns of tree cover in the tropics.

Can we achieve the ambitious mitigation targets needed to avert dangerous global warming? Research now shows that local sanctioning institutions may succeed where global agreements fall short.

Following a period of rapid warming from the 1970s, global temperatures seem to have stalled. New analysis of the uptake of heat by the upper ocean sheds light on the cause and suggests that the slowdown could have been predicted.