Volume 8 Issue 2, February 2018

A large number of published ecological studies fail to include basic information about the climate data used. In the interest of reproducibility and transparency, we offer recommendations for best practices that we urge Editors, authors, and reviewers to adopt in future publications.

The growing green bond market reflects the financial sector's awakening to climate risk. New research examining the US municipal bond market suggests a positive green bond premium in recent years, driven by differences in credit quality. As climate-risk disclosure becomes more widespread, investors may show willingness to pay green premiums.

Ocean uptake of CO₂ slows the rate of anthropogenic climate change but comes at the cost of ocean acidification. Observations now show that the seasonal cycle of CO₂ in the ocean also changes, leading to earlier occurrence of detrimental conditions for ocean biota.

Thawing of Arctic soils liberates ancient organic carbon and can facilitate massive greenhouse gas emissions from adjacent aquatic ecosystems. Research now shows that Arctic lakes are generally not releasing very much ancient carbon to the atmosphere.

The response of storms, blocks and jet streams to external forcing, basin-to-basin and tropical–extratropical interactions, and non-linear predictive theory, are highlighted as strategic areas to advance understanding of regional climate dynamics

In this Perspective, private company supply-chain initiatives designed to reduce deforestation are assessed. Public–private policy mixes are advocated to increase their efficacy.

Efforts to improve people’s capacity to adapt to climate change have so far focussed on a relatively narrow understanding of adaptive capacity. In this Perspective, the authors propose an approach to build adaptive capacity across a broader set of domains.

To reduce emissions, countries have committed to nationally determined contributions (NDCs). However, countries are also committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and this study looks at the synergies between meeting NDCs and SDGs.

Fossil fuel market response to future climate policies could result in divestment in anticipation, or accelerated extraction—the green paradox. This study projects reduced emissions due to anticipation effects prior to policy implementation.

The future of glaciers and associated runoff is projected for 56 large drainage basins globally, with glacier wastage impacting on runoff and water resources even in basins with limited glacier cover.

Marine biology will be impacted by changes in the ocean carbonate system. This study projects contrasting seasonal changes of the hydrogen ion concentration, pH, and carbonate saturation state, which will exacerbate and ameliorate ocean acidification impacts.

Uptake of anthropogenic CO₂ changes the surface ocean inorganic carbon system. Analysis of observations shows an increase in the seasonal oceanic carbon cycle, amplifying the ocean acidification signal with implications for marine biota.

Biomass-based negative emissions can help to address the planetary boundary (PB) for climate change. However, side-effects likely include pushing us closer to the PBs for freshwater use and further transgression of the PBs for biosphere integrity, land-system change, and biogeochemical flows.

The combination of nutrient enrichment and warming has a synergistic effect on rates of methane ebullition from experimental lakes. This suggests methane emissions from shallow lakes may be significantly underestimated.

In comparison to conventional bonds, green bonds have been penalized on the municipal market. However, in recent years the credit quality of green bonds has improved, and they now represent an increasingly feasible option to unlock climate finance.

A spatially extensive survey of lake CH₄ and CO₂ emissions in Arctic Alaska shows the source material to be primarily relatively young organic matter (up to about 3,500 years old). Contributions from ancient C sources were twice as large in fine textured sediments.