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News |
Grand plan to drought-proof India could reduce rainfall
The major engineering scheme aims to interlink several Indian rivers to support irrigation.
- Rishika Pardikar
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News |
Greenland’s massive ice sheet is melting — here’s how to save it
The ice sheet could experience runaway melting if the world overshoots climate targets, but even then quick action could stabilize it.
- Alexandra Witze
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Article
| Open AccessOvershooting the critical threshold for the Greenland ice sheet
Simulations using two state-of-the-art ice-sheet models show that abrupt melting of the Greenland ice sheet following overshooting of the global mean temperature critical threshold can be mitigated by subsequent cooling to below 1.5 °C.
- Nils Bochow
- , Anna Poltronieri
- & Niklas Boers
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Nature Podcast |
An anti-CRISPR system that helps save viruses from destruction
Tactic could be co-opted to make gene-editing more precise, and how much melting of Greenland’s ice sheet can be prevented.
- Nick Petrić Howe
- & Shamini Bundell
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Research Highlight |
A mystery source of pollution fouling the Great Barrier Reef is found at last
Nutrient-laced groundwater seeping up through the sea bed adds to an excess of nitrogen and phosphorus threatening the ecosystem.
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Where I Work |
Every day, I release balloons into the Antarctic sky
Electronic engineer Axel Bres predicts the weather from one of the world’s most isolated islands.
- Patricia Maia Noronha
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Research Highlight |
Snowbanks are set to get whiter — offsetting climate change’s effects
Projected decreases in soot deposition mean that Northern Hemisphere snow will be more reflective and thus less prone to melting before 2100.
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Nature Index |
Climate and conservation science persevere in the face of major challenges
But research will need to renew and redouble efforts to provide solutions as the climate emergency deepens.
- Simon Baker
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Nature Index |
Where is the strongest research focus on the environment?
The alignment of high-quality research to Sustainable Development Goals on climate and conservation varies widely between the world’s regions.
- Simon Baker
- & Bec Crew
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Nature Index |
Three scientists on the front line of climate and conservation research
By bearing firsthand witness to how the climate crisis is affecting life and livelihoods, their fieldwork directly informs policy to protect vulnerable sites.
- Sandy Ong
- & Andy Tay
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Nature Index |
Polar researchers strive for progress despite adverse world events
The pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine have had a significant impact on international collaboration and field access.
- Rachel Nuwer
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Nature Index |
Achieving UN climate goals needs purposeful, persistent action from science
To contribute fully to the Sustainable Development Goals, global research must change gear.
- James Mitchell Crow
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Article |
Precipitation regime changes in High Mountain Asia driven by cleaner air
Dipolar precipitation change in High Mountain Asia during summer is primarily driven by weakened westerly jet and decadal variations in the South Asian monsoon, and the dipolar pattern is projected to shift to a monopolar wetting trend in the 2040s.
- Jie Jiang
- , Tianjun Zhou
- & Ziming Chen
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News |
Extreme heat harms health — what is the human body’s limit?
As deadly heatwaves become more common, researchers are studying what people can tolerate.
- Carissa Wong
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Research Briefing |
Deep learning shows how global warming affects daily rainfall
An artificial-intelligence method called deep learning has been used to detect signals of human-induced climate change in daily precipitation data. The results indicate that global warming has increased day-to-day rainfall variability in tropical and mid-latitude regions over the past 40 years.
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Career Feature |
Climate change pits clan against clan in drought-hit Somalia
Amid battles for water and grazing land, an awareness of local power dynamics is key, says United Nations adviser Christophe Hodder.
- Shihab Jamal
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News |
Flood-prone areas are hotspots for urban development
The settlement trend has continued, even as awareness of the risks of climate change has increased.
- Xiaoying You
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Research Highlight |
Summer storms launch water high into the stratosphere
Thunderstorms can increase the levels of water vapour in the atmosphere, at altitudes as high as 19 km.
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Nature Podcast |
Audio long read: These animals are racing towards extinction. A new home might be their last chance
Researchers are testing a controversial strategy to relocate threatened animals whose habitats might not survive climate change.
- Clare Watson
- & Benjamin Thompson
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World View |
The UK’s rollback of climate policies will cost its citizens and the world
Incoherent new climate-policy messages by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will dissolve the UK’s climate leadership, stifle innovation’s momentum and cost consumers.
- Joeri Rogelj
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Research Highlight |
The ozone layer’s comeback brings a chill to Antarctica’s ocean
Ozone recovery is predicted to shift westerly winds, which will reduce the amount of warm water flowing into the Southern Ocean.
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Research Briefing |
Global warming is advancing the season for intense tropical cyclones
A data analysis shows that these destructive tropical storms are shifting earlier in the season all over the globe, owing mainly to anthropogenic climate warming. This seasonal advance could increase the likelihood of the storms overlapping with other extreme weather events, and has implications for disaster prevention.
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News & Views |
The geography of climate governs biodiversity
To explain the interplay of climate, area and isolation that underlies the marked global differences in biodiversity, a switch in focus from geographic space to climatic space offers a way forwards.
- Antonin Machac
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Article
| Open AccessSeasonal advance of intense tropical cyclones in a warming climate
We identify a seasonal advance of intense tropical cyclones that is closely related to the seasonal advance of rapid intensification events, favoured by the observed earlier onset of favourable oceanic conditions.
- Kaiyue Shan
- , Yanluan Lin
- & Fengfei Song
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World View |
How tackling real-world problems transformed my teaching and research
Designing courses on the basis of what really matters to people is a win–win for students and society.
- Franco Montalto
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News |
This is what Earth’s continents will look like in 250 million years
Only a fraction of the planet’s surface will be habitable to mammals when the next supercontinent, Pangaea Ultima, forms.
- Jonathan O'Callaghan
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News |
Earth’s average 2023 temperature is now likely to reach 1.5 °C of warming
But to breach the Paris agreement’s limit, the heating must be sustained for many years.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Spotlight |
Changing old viticulture for all the right rieslings
Can the French wine industry, built on history and terroir, adapt fast enough to withstand climate change?
- Rachel Nuwer
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Research Briefing |
Wildfires are worsening air quality in the United States
Air-pollution data from pollution-monitoring stations and satellites show that wildfire smoke has influenced trends in levels of fine particulate matter in nearly three-quarters of the contiguous United States, undoing around 25% of air-quality improvements made between 2000 and 2016. Wildfires are likely to further erode air quality in the country as the climate warms.
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News |
World recommits to 2030 plan to save humanity — despite falling short so far
United Nations secretary-general António Guterres proposes US$500-billion annual stimulus package to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Jeff Tollefson
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Article
| Open AccessEvidence for the earliest structural use of wood at least 476,000 years ago
Wooden artefacts from waterlogged deposits in Zambia dating back 477 ka indicate hitherto unknown sophistication in woodworking at an early date.
- L. Barham
- , G. A. T. Duller
- & P. Nkombwe
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Where I Work |
‘We’re losing our glaciers’: scientist caches ice from the Antarctic climate record
As coordinator and caretaker at an ice-core facility, Rebecca Pyne preserves these precious records of past climate.
- James Mitchell Crow
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Nature Careers Podcast |
This alternative way to measure research impact made judges cry with joy
Research managers, citizen scientists, librarians and technicians rarely make it onto author lists. But an initiative to assess their hidden contributions to team science moved some judging panel members to tears.
- Dom Byrne
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News |
Octopuses used in research could receive same protections as monkeys
For the first time in the United States, research with cephalopods might require approval by an ethics committee.
- Sara Reardon
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News Explainer |
Libya floods: how climate change intensified the death and devastation
Climate change, civil war and international sanctions all contributed to the devastation caused by some of Libya’s worst flooding ever, researchers say.
- Michael Marshall
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Article |
Tropical Atlantic multidecadal variability is dominated by external forcing
Anthropogenic and volcanic aerosols dominate multidecadal variability in aspects of the tropical Atlantic climate, such as sea surface temperatures, Sahel rainfall and hurricanes.
- Chengfei He
- , Amy C. Clement
- & Lisa N. Murphy
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News |
Russia’s war in Ukraine is disrupting Antarctic science
The polar region is demilitarized, but the conflict is posing a threat to important climate data collected at Ukraine’s research station.
- Layal Liverpool
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Comment |
How science bolstered a key European climate-change case
A group of older women in Switzerland has taken the government to court over its inaction on climate change. Our experience of preparing evidence for the case offers six lessons for researchers.
- Charlotte E. Blattner
- , Ana M. Vicedo-Cabrera
- & Judith Wyttenbach
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News Explainer |
India’s Moon mission: four things Chandrayaan-3 has taught scientists
In just two weeks, the Indian mission has made some surprising discoveries about the composition of the Moon
- T.V. Padma
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Comment |
With the arrival of El Niño, prepare for stronger marine heatwaves
Record-high ocean temperatures, combined with a confluence of extreme climate and weather patterns, are pushing the world into uncharted waters. Researchers must help communities to plan how best to reduce the risks.
- Alistair J. Hobday
- , Michael T. Burrows
- & Thomas Wernberg
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Comment |
Four steps to curb ‘ocean roadkill’
There is increasing evidence that ship strikes are a major cause of mortality for whales, sharks and other ocean giants. With the global fleet growing, some simple actions can turn things around.
- Freya C. Womersley
- , Alexandra Loveridge
- & David W. Sims
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Editorial |
Hypocrisy is threatening the future of the world’s oceans
A few powerful nations are undermining progress towards global ocean sustainability. Scientists can help hold them to account.
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News Feature |
These animals are racing towards extinction. A new home might be their last chance
Some of the most threatened animals might not survive in their current habitat because of climate change. Researchers are testing a controversial strategy to relocate them before it’s too late — starting with Australia’s rarest reptile.
- Clare Watson
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Book Review |
Dust: how the pursuit of power and profit has turned the world to powder
From atmospheric nuclear testing to the US Dust Bowl, human activities have left a toxic legacy of particulate pollution — and the unseen fallout continues to this day.
- Alexandra Witze
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Career Column |
How we set our lab on an environmentally sustainable path
Leading a drive to lower your lab’s carbon footprint alongside your PhD research is tough. Start by celebrating small successes, says Caroline Giuglaris.
- Caroline Giuglaris
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Article |
Climate warming increases extreme daily wildfire growth risk in California
Quantification of climate warming in California using machine learning shows increased daily wildfire growth risk by 25%, with an expected increase of 59% and 172% in 2100, for low- and very-high-emissions scenarios, respectively.
- Patrick T. Brown
- , Holt Hanley
- & Craig B. Clements
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News & Views |
A drowned future for coastal ecosystems
Tidal marshes, mangroves and coral reefs support the livelihoods of millions of people. Most of these ecosystems will be vulnerable to submergence owing to rapid sea-level rise if global warming exceeds 2 °C above pre-industrial levels.
- Qiang He
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Article |
Marine heatwaves are not a dominant driver of change in demersal fishes
Of 248 marine heatwaves between 1993 and 2019 in North American and European seas, the effects on fish biomass were often minimal, and the heatwaves were not consistently associated with tropicalization or deborealization.
- Alexa L. Fredston
- , William W. L. Cheung
- & Malin L. Pinsky