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.
Updated: 3 hours 51 min ago
Worldwide rooftop photovoltaic electricity generation may mitigate global warming
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 07 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02276-3
Rooftop photovoltaic systems are often seen as a niche solution for mitigation but could offer large-scale opportunities. Using multi-source geospatial data and artificial intelligence techniques, the authors map their potential for reducing global temperatures and analyse regional differences.The role of non-state actors in shaping UN climate change side event discussions
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 06 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02255-8
How discussions around key climate change topics evolve over time and which organizations drive such change are important questions. We found that business non-governmental organizations affiliated with fossil fuels focus on hosting renewable energy events but remain absent from anti-fossil-fuel discussions, led instead by a tightly connected network of environmental non-governmental organizations.A deep dive into climate connectivity
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 04 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02253-w
Species are shifting their distributions in response to climate change, which on land depends on routes connecting intact habitat patches. Now, an analysis exploring the interaction between climate-driven shifts and human activities across ocean depths reveals threats for deep-sea biodiversity.Climate-driven connectivity loss impedes species adaptation to warming in the deep ocean
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 04 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02256-7
The authors demonstrate that warming will reduce connectivity for ocean species, potentially limiting their capacity to adapt to warming through habitat shifts. The results show particularly strong losses of connectivity in deeper ocean strata, affecting 95% of abyssopelagic species.Cascading impacts of climate change on child survival and health in Africa
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 04 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-024-02197-7
Children will bear considerable burdens of climate change, particularly where impacts intersect with pre-existing vulnerabilities. In this Perspective, the authors highlight how climate factors and socio-political stratifiers increase children’s risks in Africa and propose action to break vulnerability cycles.Tracing inclusivity at UNFCCC conferences through side events and interest group dynamics
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 03 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02254-9
Side events of annual UNFCCC Conferences of Parties are one of several channels by which non-state actors influence climate negotiation. By analysing discourse and networks of actors, this research examines how topics evolve over time and how energy interest groups gain access to agenda setting.Climate change and the global distribution of wealth
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 03 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02268-3
Rising wealth inequality is a major challenge for this century, and climate change could further exacerbate it. Based on an overview of existing studies, this Perspective proposes a framework to advance understanding of wealth inequality in relation to climate change and climate policies.Ocean extremes as a stress test for marine ecosystems and society
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 28 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02269-2
In 2023–2024, widespread marine heatwaves associated with record ocean temperatures impacted ocean processes, marine species, ecosystems and coastal communities, with economic consequences. Despite warnings, interventions were limited. Proactive strategies are needed for inevitable future events.Marine heatwaves are in the eye of the beholder
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 28 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02257-6
Critical methodological choices in marine heatwave detection can yield dramatically different results. We call for context-specific methods that account for regional variability to advance marine heatwave research and socio-ecological outcomes.Governance challenges for domestic cross-border carbon capture and storage
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 28 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02250-z
Governance of domestic cross-border carbon capture and storage faces great challenges, which varies across political systems, economic structures and socio-cultural backgrounds, yet is often overlooked. Overcoming these challenges requires a comprehensive and coordinated approach built on synergistic cluster governance.Onshore intensification of subtropical western boundary currents in a warming climate
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 27 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02258-5
Western boundary currents flow along the western edge of subtropical oceans, transporting heat polewards, and are integral in the climate system. Using high-resolution models, this work shows that western boundary currents will shift shorewards as a result of increased stratification driven by climate change.Incorporating aridity in soil carbon stewardship frameworks
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 25 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02270-9
Stewardship of soil carbon sits at the nexus of efforts to mitigate climate change, improve soil health and increase climate resiliency of agricultural production. Unlocking the full potential of soils to support a sustainable future requires embracing the unique and contrasting realities of soil carbon dynamics in arid versus humid systems.Extreme weather events have strong but different impacts on plant and insect phenology
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 21 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02248-7
Using community data of 581 angiosperm and 172 Lepidoptera species, the authors consider the impacts of extreme weather events (EWE) on the timing of life events (phenology). They show high responsiveness of phenology to EWEs and highlight the potential for EWEs to drive phenological mismatches.Urbanization’s impact on soil carbon
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 20 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02264-7
As urban extent continues to grow, the impact this major land-use change has on soils and their carbon stocks is an increasingly important question. A recent global study suggests that the effects are not straightforward.The role of cross- and interdisciplinary climate research centres
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 19 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02249-6
Climate research centres provide valuable support to scholars wanting to engage with interdisciplinary research. Fully leveraging this support requires strategic individual efforts. We outline how scholars can achieve collaborative synergy at the intersection of top-down institutional support and bottom-up individual action.Atmospheric circulation to constrain subtropical precipitation projections
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 18 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02266-5
The degree to which the tropical circulation changes with warming is not well known. Here, the authors use an emergent constraint to show that the tropical Hadley circulation is weakening more intensely than previously thought, resulting in stronger precipitation increases in subtropical regions.Author Correction: Wildfires offset the increasing but spatially heterogeneous Arctic–boreal CO<sub>2</sub> uptake
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 17 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02279-0
Author Correction: Wildfires offset the increasing but spatially heterogeneous Arctic–boreal CO2 uptakeAuthor Correction: Carbon burial in sediments below seaweed farms matches that of Blue Carbon habitats
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 14 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02278-1
Author Correction: Carbon burial in sediments below seaweed farms matches that of Blue Carbon habitatsPreserving carbon dioxide removal to serve critical needs
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 14 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02251-y
Land-based carbon dioxide removals are critical for meeting the low-warming targets, yet their availability is limited when avoiding excessive risks to sustainability. Scenario-based analysis suggests that they should only be used to compensate for emissions from hard-to-abate sectors and overshoot.