{"title":"Warmer ecosystems save their breath","authors":"Alice S. A. Johnston","doi":"10.1038/s41558-025-02382-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02382-2","url":null,"abstract":"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.","PeriodicalId":18974,"journal":{"name":"Nature Climate Change","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144652246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xiaoni Xu, Jinquan Li, Xiangyi Li, Changming Fang, Bo Li, Ming Nie
{"title":"Thermal adaptation of respiration in terrestrial ecosystems alleviates carbon loss","authors":"Xiaoni Xu, Jinquan Li, Xiangyi Li, Changming Fang, Bo Li, Ming Nie","doi":"10.1038/s41558-025-02377-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02377-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Ecosystem respiration (ER) is the largest contributor to terrestrial carbon loss. ER responds positively to increasing temperature, so a warming world is hypothesized to lead to additional CO<sub>2</sub> release, potentially further exacerbating climate warming. The long-term influence of thermal changes on this carbon–climate feedback, however, remains unresolved. Here, by compiling data from 221 eddy covariance sites worldwide, we observe decreases in the temperature sensitivity and reference respiration rates of ER with increasing mean annual temperature, suggesting that ER adapts to temperature changes. Our results further reveal that thermal adaptation would eliminate 17.91–31.41% of the anticipated increase in the respiration of unadapted ecosystems under future warming scenarios, equivalent to a net carbon loss of 0.85–11.83 Pg C per year. The increase in respiration rates of terrestrial ecosystems in response to climate warming may thus be lower than predicted, with important consequences for modulating future terrestrial carbon–climate feedback.</p>","PeriodicalId":18974,"journal":{"name":"Nature Climate Change","volume":"277 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144652247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Menemenlis, G. A. Vecchi, Wenchang Yang, S. Fueglistaler, S. P. Raghuraman
{"title":"Consequential differences in satellite-era sea surface temperature trends across datasets","authors":"S. Menemenlis, G. A. Vecchi, Wenchang Yang, S. Fueglistaler, S. P. Raghuraman","doi":"10.1038/s41558-025-02362-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02362-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Global surface temperatures since the 1980s, when near-global satellite-based sea surface temperature (SST) measurements became available, are presumed to be well known. Satellite-era warming trends in four commonly used global (land and ocean) temperature reconstructions agree closely, yet whether SST datasets also agree is unclear. Here we show that trends in four widely used SST datasets show first-order differences, with 1982–2024 60° S to 60° N trends ranging from 0.108 to 0.184 °C per decade. These large discrepancies are perplexing given the agreement between global temperature datasets and the fact that 70% of the surface of the Earth is covered by ocean, but are legible upon recognizing that global temperature datasets use two SST fields whose trends agree more closely than those of the four SST datasets. Considering the trend uncertainty across SST datasets widens the range of plausible global temperature trends and impacts interpretations of recent record global temperatures, with implications for observational and model-based climate studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":18974,"journal":{"name":"Nature Climate Change","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144603568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E. J. Howells, D. Abrego, S. Schmidt-Roach, E. Puill-Stephan, H. Denis, S. Harii, L. K. Bay, J. A. Burt, K. Monro, M. Aranda
{"title":"Marine heatwaves select for thermal tolerance in a reef-building coral","authors":"E. J. Howells, D. Abrego, S. Schmidt-Roach, E. Puill-Stephan, H. Denis, S. Harii, L. K. Bay, J. A. Burt, K. Monro, M. Aranda","doi":"10.1038/s41558-025-02381-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02381-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Standing genetic variation in fitness-related traits is critical to determine how fast populations can adapt to climate warming but is unknown for many species. Here we show that heritable genetic variation in heat tolerance in reef-building coral populations is widespread and strongly associated with selective pressure imposed by marine heatwaves. Our findings suggest that coral populations may be adapting to warming consistent with recent increases in their upper thermal limits.</p>","PeriodicalId":18974,"journal":{"name":"Nature Climate Change","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144594183","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Amplified warming accelerates deoxygenation in the Arctic Ocean","authors":"Yingxu Wu, Zijia Zheng, Xianyao Chen, Wanqin Zhong, Xu Yuan, Wenli Zhong, Ruibo Lei, Chenglong Li, Yanpei Zhuang, Xiang Gao, Xichen Li, Hongmei Lin, Liqi Chen, Wei-Jun Cai, Di Qi","doi":"10.1038/s41558-025-02376-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02376-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Overall ocean health depends critically on dissolved oxygen, which is increasingly impacted by global warming. The Arctic and subarctic regions are experiencing exceptionally rapid warming, known as Arctic amplification, yet its impact on oceanic oxygen remains poorly understood. Here we show that inflowing Atlantic Water (AW) drives deoxygenation in the upper eastern Arctic Ocean and the intermediate layers of the western Arctic Ocean at rates from −0.41 ± 0.17 to −0.47 ± 0.07 µmol kg<sup>−1</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>, six times the global mean. Amplified Arctic warming is the primary driver, significantly reducing oxygen solubility in the Arctic gateway regions. Rapid subduction and circulation of AW further transmit the deoxygenation signal into Arctic deeper layers, greatly threatening marine ecosystems. Our findings highlight the dominant role of warming Atlantic inflow in shaping the Arctic Ocean oxygen dynamics, indicating that ongoing temperature increases will perpetuate deoxygenation trends and underscoring the need for widespread attention.</p>","PeriodicalId":18974,"journal":{"name":"Nature Climate Change","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144586653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Avoid urban development policy that fuels climate risk","authors":"Sumit Agarwal, Mingxuan Fan, Yu Qin","doi":"10.1038/s41558-025-02365-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02365-3","url":null,"abstract":"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.","PeriodicalId":18974,"journal":{"name":"Nature Climate Change","volume":"740 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144578019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Challenges of institutional adaptation","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41558-025-02388-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02388-w","url":null,"abstract":"Adaptation efforts require responsive and adaptive institutions. Some progress has been made, but more systematic institutional adaptation is needed given the growing climate hazards.","PeriodicalId":18974,"journal":{"name":"Nature Climate Change","volume":"697 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144586654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sepehr Eslami, Gualbert Oude Essink, Amelie Paszkowski, Katharina Seeger, Philip S. J. Minderhoud, Kees Sloff, Robert J. Nicholls
{"title":"A systems perspective for climate adaptation in deltas","authors":"Sepehr Eslami, Gualbert Oude Essink, Amelie Paszkowski, Katharina Seeger, Philip S. J. Minderhoud, Kees Sloff, Robert J. Nicholls","doi":"10.1038/s41558-025-02368-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02368-0","url":null,"abstract":"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.","PeriodicalId":18974,"journal":{"name":"Nature Climate Change","volume":"105 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144568363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Peter A. Tuckett, Andrew J. Sole, Stephen J. Livingstone, Julie M. Jones, James M. Lea, Ella Gilbert
{"title":"Continent-wide mapping shows increasing sensitivity of East Antarctica to meltwater ponding","authors":"Peter A. Tuckett, Andrew J. Sole, Stephen J. Livingstone, Julie M. Jones, James M. Lea, Ella Gilbert","doi":"10.1038/s41558-025-02363-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02363-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Surface meltwater is predicted to become increasingly important for Antarctic mass loss as atmospheric temperatures rise, due to its potential to influence ice dynamic, hydrofracture and radiative processes. However, our understanding of Antarctic surface meltwater is limited, with previous studies restricted in spatial or temporal scope. Here, using cloud computing, we produce an Antarctic-wide, monthly dataset of surface meltwater for 2006 to 2021. Surface meltwater covered 3,732 km<sup>2</sup> across Antarctica on average during each melt season, with 30% on grounded ice. High interannual variability in meltwater area across the Antarctic Peninsula and in East Antarctica correlates with large-scale modes of climate variability. In west Antarctica, meltwater area is comparatively low and this correlation is absent. An increase in the magnitude and variability of surface meltwater area without a coincident increase in modelled snowmelt in East Antarctica indicates that the ice-sheet surface might be becoming more favourable to meltwater ponding.</p>","PeriodicalId":18974,"journal":{"name":"Nature Climate Change","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144565932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"East Antarctica slides into the spotlight as surface melt hotspot","authors":"Alexandra L. Boghosian","doi":"10.1038/s41558-025-02371-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02371-5","url":null,"abstract":"Ice-sheet surface melting impacts sea level and ice dynamics. Now two studies provide a wake-up call for monitoring melt in Antarctica.","PeriodicalId":18974,"journal":{"name":"Nature Climate Change","volume":"661 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":30.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144566083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}