Nature Climate Change
Nature Climate Change is a monthly journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research papers that describe the most significant and cutting-edge research on the causes, impacts and wider implications of global climate change. The journal publishes climate research across the physical, biological and social sciences and strives to integrate and communicate interdisciplinary research. The journal aims to play a leading role in: providing accessibility to a broad audience to research published both within and outside the journal; raising the visibility of climate change research in related research communities as well as the mainstream media; and offering a forum for discussion of the challenges faced by researchers and policy makers (and other interested parties) in understanding the complex mechanisms and impacts associated with the Earth’s changing climate.
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Climate change on television reaches the engaged but misses distant audiences
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 25 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02575-3
Although widely used, television is underexplored in climate communication. Here analysis of German television programmes and audience perceptions shows that climate change coverage is concentrated in news formats and engages climate supporters, but misses climate-distant audiences drawn to entertainment.Weighting for net zero
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 24 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02556-6
Policy and planning increasingly depend on large ensembles of climate and energy scenarios, but these collections can be biased and hard to interpret. A new weighting framework aims to make these ensembles more transparent, balanced and decision relevant.The hard road back from overshoot
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 24 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02573-5
As global temperatures move beyond 1.5 °C, overshoot now defines the landscape ahead, sharpening legal claims, exposing economic risks and revealing how far politics still trail the pace of change.Emotional responses to state repression predict collective climate action intentions
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 24 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02570-8
As climate activists escalate disruptive protest, authorities respond by intensifying restrictions on protest. This study examines how protest repression shapes climate activism and indicates distinct effects across collective action types and repression experience, with emotions as mediators.A weighting framework to improve the use of emissions scenario ensembles of opportunity
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 24 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02565-5
Scenario ensembles are widely used in climate change research, while their opportunistic nature could lead to biased outcomes in following analysis. Focusing on relevance, quality and diversity, researchers develop a simple and transparent weighting framework to address these challenges.Learning about urban adaptation using similarity-based partnerships
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 23 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02566-4
Adaptation is often viewed as a local, highly contextual challenge; however, given the regional nature of many climate risks, adaptation could benefit from municipal collaboration. Here, I present four avenues of collaboration that support learning, discuss their advantages, and reflect on their effectiveness and challenges for urban adaptation.Emergence of Antarctic mineral resources in a warming world
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 20 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02569-1
Melting ice and associated sea-level change will expose new land in Antarctica. Here the authors quantify this change and combine it with our understanding of known Antarctic mineral occurrences, showing that substantial mineral deposits may become accessible over the next few centuries in Antarctica.Defining transformational adaptation and why it matters
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 16 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02550-4
A three-round survey of climate change adaptation experts — researchers and practitioners from across the globe — reveals that there is broad agreement on 13 elements that are foundational for defining transformational adaptation to climate risks. Nevertheless, there are differences between response groups on which aspects of transformational adaptation matter the most.Mapping tipping risks from Antarctic ice basins under global warming
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 16 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02554-0
Climate change threatens the future of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Here the authors show that individual drainage basins have different thresholds and loss patterns, suggesting the need to consider the dynamical interactive nature of the basins and their individual tipping points.Growing cropland emissions
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 13 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02571-7
Planning for climate action in food systems requires disaggregated spatial information on greenhouse gas emissions and removals. Now, a study on the major emission sources for global croplands yields such emissions estimates, identifies the locations of hotspots and assesses mitigation trade-offs with food productivity.ENSO shapes salinity regimes and fish migration in the China Seas
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 13 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02559-3
This study shows that the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) drives sea surface salinity (SSS) variability in the China Seas through coupled freshwater and oceanic processes, influencing regional fisheries. Under a warming climate, projected intensification of ENSO will amplify SSS heterogeneity.Emergent climate change signals within Antarctic sea ice and associated ecosystems
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 13 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02561-9
The authors model the emergence of climate-driven changes in Antarctic sea ice, phytoplankton, krill, fish and penguins. They show earlier emergence for higher trophic levels, as well as highly seasonal and regional responses.Spatially explicit global assessment of cropland greenhouse gas emissions circa 2020
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 13 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02558-4
Emissions from croplands are an important source of GHG emissions that can be shaped by management. This study presents maps of emissions globally for different crops, showing that drained peatlands, rice paddies and fertilizer were the main drivers, and highlights differences in emission intensity.Heat exposure disrupts brain development
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02564-6
Early life stages are particularly critical for human brain development. A large-scale study in China shows that heat exposure in early life is associated with increased risks of delayed neurodevelopment in preschool children.Inconsistent national reports undercount wastewater emissions
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02555-7
National greenhouse gas inventories systematically undercount methane and nitrous oxide emissions from wastewater due to outdated methods and incomplete coverage. Addressing these discrepancies is essential to strengthen transparency in global climate efforts and improving the effectiveness of national mitigation strategies.Discrepancies in national inventories reveal a large emissions gap in the wastewater sector
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02540-6
The wastewater sector is a major source of non-CO2 emissions, but accurate emissions accounting remains challenging, despite guidelines for basic inventories provided by the IPCC. This research reveals that national inventories widely omit key sources and apply inconsistent methods, which lead to greatly under-reported emissions.Early-life heat exposure increases risk of neurodevelopmental delay in preschool children
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 11 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02560-w
The authors use data from over 100,000 children (3–5.5 years old) across 551 Chinese cities, to show that risk of suspected neurodevelopmental delay increases under both prenatal and postnatal heat exposure. Steep increases at high temperatures highlight future potential vulnerability increases.Mountains magnify mechanisms in climate change biology
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 09 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02549-x
Mountains, with their sharp climatic contrasts, are emblematic of climate-driven species movement and, ultimately, loss. Here, we argue that these same contrasts make mountains powerful natural laboratories for discovering the mechanisms that underlie biological change.Preserving mountains
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 09 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02572-6
Disappearing glaciers and missing snow in mountain regions are some of the most immediate signs of global change today. In this issue, we focus on the broader changes in mountains and how they affect people living both within and far away from their peaks and valleys.Melting glaciers as symbols of tourism paradoxes
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 09 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02544-2
Visitors are increasingly drawn to disappearing glacier landscapes for their beauty and scientific value. This Comment examines the paradoxes reshaping relationships among glaciers, people and communities, and highlights research needed to avoid maladaptation harming local communities.