News & Views in 2016

A diverse range of approaches, including contributions based on national interest and local benefits of climate action, is needed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Now, research considers how equitable approaches may play a role.

The decay of floating ice shelves around Antarctica speeds up ice flow from the continent and contributes to increased sea-level rise. Now, meltwater attributed to warm winds has been discovered on an East Antarctic ice shelf, suggesting greater vulnerability than previously thought.

Small island states will experience decreasing freshwater resources under climate change this century.

Moderating the impacts of climate change is a global problem. Research now shows that cultural values determine whether personal environmental concerns actually lead to pro-environmental action.

The sub-tropics are some of Earth's driest regions, and are expected to get even drier under climate change. Now research overturns our previous understanding of this drying, and suggests that it will affect the oceans much more than the land.

Large growth in East Asia's sea-borne trade has increased premature deaths and atmospheric warming in the region. New legislation could reduce these impacts in areas around China, but joint efforts are needed for region-wide benefits.

Malaria risk in West Africa is expected to fall (western region) or remain the same (eastern region) in response to climate change over the twenty-first century. This is primarily due to extreme temperature conditions projected under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario.

The Sahel has suffered through severe droughts but recent years have seen increased rainfall. Now research suggests warming of the Mediterranean Sea surface may dictate future rainfall in the region.

Observed vegetation change in the Northern Hemisphere can, with a high degree of confidence, be attributed to human-caused global change.

Recent observations of Earth's energy budget indicate low climate sensitivity. Research now shows that these estimates should be revised upward, resolving an apparent mismatch with climate models and implying a warmer future.

Oil prices are notoriously tricky to predict. This uncertainty could slow climate mitigation unless policymakers implement stringent climate policy.

Strong positive selection on cold hardiness and relaxed selection on heat hardiness experienced by range-expanding populations may help to explain why ectothermic animals generally have broader thermal tolerance towards the poles, and shed new light on their climate vulnerabilities.

The ratio of global temperature change to cumulative emissions is relatively constant up to two trillion tonnes of carbon emissions. Now a new modelling study suggests that the concept of a constant ratio is even applicable to higher cumulative carbon emissions, with important implications for future warming.

The Earth's climate evolves in response to both externally forced changes and internal variability. Now research suggests that both drivers combine to set the pace of Arctic warming caused by large-scale sea-ice loss.

The unprecedented recent intensification of the Pacific trade winds cannot simply be explained by natural variability alone. Now research finds that the more local influence of sulfate aerosols of human and volcanic origin play a significant role, in addition to the Pacific's coupling to the Atlantic Ocean via the 'atmospheric bridge'.

Detection and attribution of sea-level rise is hampered by the lack of historical model estimates for the individual components. Now research bridges this gap and uncovers an accelerating anthropogenic contribution over recent decades.

After the global financial crisis, regulators turned their attention to non-traditional threats to financial assets, including the impacts of climate change. A new study estimates the magnitude of that threat, and shows investors should take it seriously.

Reducing deforestation and forest degradation offers a quick win for climate mitigation. Using satellite data we are now able to better constrain pantropical estimates of forest loss, reshaping our understanding of the annual to decadal variability in land sources and sinks in the global carbon cycle.

A high-impact weather event that occurred at the end of a decade of weather extremes led to the emergence of extreme event attribution science. The challenge is now to move on to assessing the actual risks, rather than simply attributing meteorological variables to climate change.

The recent slowdown in global warming challenged our understanding of climate dynamics and anthropogenic forcing. An early study gave insight to the mechanisms behind the warming slowdown and highlighted the ocean's role in regulating global temperature.