Nature Climate Change
The expanding role of climate assessments as legal evidence
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 11 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02434-7
The role of climate science is changing — fast. Once positioned to inform policy, scientific assessments are increasingly being used in courtrooms to substantiate claims of harm, causation and state responsibility. Climate knowledge has now become legal evidence in the fight for climate justice.Neglecting land–atmosphere feedbacks overestimates climate-driven increases in evapotranspiration
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 11 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02428-5
How evapotranspiration changes with warming is not well understood. Here the authors show that when often-neglected land–atmosphere feedbacks are considered, evapotranspiration increases less than currently projected by offline models.Showy dragonflies are being driven extinct by warming and wildfire
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 10 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02417-8
The authors use 1,603 estimates of local extinctions from 1980 to 2021 to show that dragonfly species with wing ornamentation have disproportionately gone extinct and lost habitat because of climate change and wildfire. This highlights the important role of mating traits in species survival under change.Africa must lead the governance of solar radiation management
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 09 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02420-z
Africa’s future climate could be shaped by solar radiation management (SRM) decisions made elsewhere. To ensure these technologies, if ever pursued, reflect principles of justice and local priorities, Africa must move from passive recipient to active leader in SRM research, governance and public engagement.Scope for waterfowl to speed up migration to a warming Arctic
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 09 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02419-6
The authors combine tracking and body mass data from five migratory waterfowl species to understand their capacity to accelerate migration in response to earlier spring. They show considerable scope for faster migration by reducing the fuelling time before departure and subsequently on stopoversElection and policy inaction
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 08 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02433-8
Election and policy inactionActivity changes during heatwaves
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 08 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02431-w
Activity changes during heatwavesUnpredictable impacts of previous stress
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 08 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02432-9
Unpredictable impacts of previous stressUnderstanding unexpected slowdown
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 08 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02430-x
Understanding unexpected slowdownSinking carbon sinks
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 08 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02440-9
Terrestrial ecosystems take up approximately a third of anthropogenically emitted carbon and are a key component of climate mitigation strategies. However, recent evidence indicates constraints on land-based carbon uptake and mitigation potential.Rising temperatures increase added sugar intake disproportionately in disadvantaged groups in the USA
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 08 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02398-8
Few studies have evaluated how climate change may affect dietary habits and nutritional health. Here, using transaction data in the USA, the authors show that added sugar consumption increases with temperature, especially between 12 °C and 30 °C, with stronger effects among lower-income and lower-education groups.Truth discernment may not help to overcome misinformation
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 08 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02426-7
Scientists increasingly assess interventions against misinformation mainly via truth discernment. However, pursuing truth discernment may not be sufficiently beneficial to society if interventions do not improve behaviour and other outcomes.Moving beyond projects to achieve transformative adaptation
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 03 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02414-x
Projects are not delivering the transformative change needed for climate change adaptation. This failure is due in part to the delivery of adaptation as projects, but there are viable alternatives that can better address the underlying and structural causes of vulnerability.Unexpected decline in the ocean carbon sink under record-high sea surface temperatures in 2023
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 02 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02380-4
The ocean carbon sink strengthened in previous warm El Niño years due to reduced CO2 outgassing in the tropics. Here the authors show that the ocean carbon sink declined in 2023 despite record-high sea surface temperatures (SSTs), primarily due to SST-driven outgassing of CO2 in the subtropics.The vulnerability of women and children in West Africa
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 01 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02415-w
The vulnerability of women and children in West AfricaImproving the IPCC–UNFCCC relationship for effective provision of policy-relevant science
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 28 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02412-z
IPCC assessments are of limited use to the UNFCCC policy process due to misalignment and lack of relevance, with the situation further exacerbated by the UNFCCC’s weak scientific uptake mechanisms. The interface between the IPCC and the UNFCCC urgently needs to be reformed to facilitate a more effective science–policy connection.Current and future methane emissions from boreal-Arctic wetlands and lakes
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 28 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02413-y
How much methane will be emitted from the boreal-Arctic region under climate change is not well constrained. Here the authors show that accounting for distinct wetland and lake classes leads to lower estimates of current methane loss as some classes emit low amounts of methane.Tropical deforestation is associated with considerable heat-related mortality
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 27 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02411-0
The authors assess the impacts of tropical deforestation and its subsequent local warming on human heat-related mortality. They estimate that deforestation-related warming (+0.27 °C) is associated with approximately 28,000 heat-related deaths per year.Hotter world speeds up ageing
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 25 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02395-x
Many of us have experienced heatwaves and survived unscathed — or so we thought. Research now shows that exposure to heatwaves affects the rate at which we age.Long-term impacts of heatwaves on accelerated ageing
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 25 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02407-w
Ageing is linked to environmental factors. This study shows that although participants gradually adapted to heat over time, cumulative exposure to heatwaves had stable and adverse impacts on ageing, especially among manual workers, rural residents and those with limited air conditioning.