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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Wind droughts threaten energy reliability
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 28 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02383-1
Wind energy is helping to mitigate climate change. But now a study shows that climate change may make wind power less reliable.Reduction of methane emissions through improved landfill management
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 28 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02391-1
Solid waste disposal is a major source of anthropogenic methane, yet estimating these emissions is difficult. Here the authors use satellite data to assess emissions from high-emitting landfills and find that transforming open sites to sanitary landfills could offer a large mitigation potential.Prolonged wind droughts in a warming climate threaten global wind power security
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 28 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02387-x
Prolonged low wind speeds can lead to a strong reduction in wind power generation. Here, the authors show that such wind drought events become more frequent and extended under global warming, threatening energy security in some regions.Antarctic phytoplankton communities restructure under shifting sea-ice regimes
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 25 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02379-x
The authors use a machine learning approach and in situ pigment samples to identify summer shifts (1997–2023) in the abundance and composition of Antarctic phytoplankton. While smaller phytoplankton groups generally increased, diatom chlorophyll a broadly decreased, with putative impacts on food webs and the carbon sink.Heatwaves disrupt prey behaviour
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 22 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02393-z
Sublethal impacts of heat on reproductive outcomes are beginning to be considered as important drivers of population persistence under climate change. Now, research shows that the impact of transient heat on antipredator behaviours may be an underappreciated source of variation that could have far-reaching implications for survival.Warmer ecosystems save their breath
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 18 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02382-2
Land stores vast amounts of carbon, and how much of it is released as temperatures rise could accelerate climate change. Now research shows ecosystems are more adaptable to climate warming than previously thought, potentially reducing future carbon–climate feedbacks.Thermal adaptation of respiration in terrestrial ecosystems alleviates carbon loss
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 18 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02377-z
Terrestrial ecosystems are expected to release more carbon under warming due to temperature-driven increases in ecosystem respiration. Here the authors use eddy covariance data to show that respiration may adapt to warmer temperatures and carbon losses may be lower than expected.Consequential differences in satellite-era sea surface temperature trends across datasets
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 11 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02362-6
Global datasets of surface temperature and sea surface temperature (SST) are routinely used in climate change studies. Here the authors show that while surface temperature datasets closely agree, four main SST datasets show substantial variation, with implications for their application.Marine heatwaves select for thermal tolerance in a reef-building coral
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 10 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02381-3
The authors evaluate heritable genetic variation in thermal tolerance in a common reef-building coral. They show widespread heritable genetic variation, which is strongly associated with marine heatwave-imposed selective pressure, suggesting adaptation to climate warming.Amplified warming accelerates deoxygenation in the Arctic Ocean
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 09 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02376-0
Rapid warming of the global ocean and amplified Arctic warming will alter the ocean biogeochemistry. Here the authors show that Atlantic water inflow, and the subsequent subduction and circulation, is reducing dissolved oxygen in the Arctic due to reduced solubility with increased temperatures.Challenges of institutional adaptation
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 08 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02388-w
Adaptation efforts require responsive and adaptive institutions. Some progress has been made, but more systematic institutional adaptation is needed given the growing climate hazards.Avoid urban development policy that fuels climate risk
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 08 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02365-3
Urban development policies, designed to improve city resilience, could unintentionally increase the exposure to climate risk. This Comment discusses the impact of misaligned incentives, miscalculated benefits and costs, and overlooked behavioural responses on policy outcomes, as well as future directions.A systems perspective for climate adaptation in deltas
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 07 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02368-0
Deltas are complex and are among the most vulnerable landforms under climate change. Studying them collectively highlights common stressors that drive their most significant challenges. A holistic conceptual framing of a delta and its feeding river basin is fundamental to effective adaptation planning.East Antarctica slides into the spotlight as surface melt hotspot
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 04 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02371-5
Ice-sheet surface melting impacts sea level and ice dynamics. Now two studies provide a wake-up call for monitoring melt in Antarctica.Continent-wide mapping shows increasing sensitivity of East Antarctica to meltwater ponding
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 04 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02363-5
This study provides a continent-wide assessment of surface meltwater area in Antarctica between 2006 and 2021, highlighting recent increases in magnitude and variability in East Antarctica, with indications that the ice-sheet surface is becoming increasingly prone to further meltwater ponding.Rapid increases in satellite-observed ice sheet surface meltwater production
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 04 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02364-4
Surface melt is an important component of ice sheet dynamics, but for many remote regions the melt rates are mainly known from models. Here the authors present satellite observations of melt rates for Greenland and Antarctica, showing that East Antarctica has become a melting hotspot.Promoting targeted heat early warning systems for at-risk populations
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 03 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02374-2
Extreme heat poses a growing threat to vulnerable urban populations, and the existing heat early warning system usually operates at population level. Pairing emerging individualized and population early warning systems could directly and meaningfully extend protection to those most in need.Extreme weather event attribution predicts climate policy support across the world
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 01 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02372-4
Literature produced inconsistent findings regarding the links between extreme weather events and climate policy support across regions, populations and events. This global study offers a holistic assessment of these relationships and highlights the role of subjective attribution.Changing wildfire complexity highlights the need for institutional adaptation
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 26 June 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02367-1
Growing wildfire threats require governing institutions to adapt their responses for effective management, yet institutional adaptation remains unexplored. This study reveals increasingly complex task environments for institutions managing wildfire incidents in the USA over the period 1999–2020.Protect young secondary forests for optimum carbon removal
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 24 June 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02355-5
The authors generate ~1-km2 growth curves for aboveground live carbon in regrowing forests, globally. They show that maximum carbon removal rates can vary by 200-fold spatially and with age, with the greatest rates estimated at about 30 ± 12 years, highlighting the role of secondary forests in carbon cycling.