Communications earth & environment
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Research for climate adaptation
Adaptation to climate change must be ramped up urgently. This Comment proposes three avenues to transform ambition to action: improve tracking of actions and progress, upscale investment especially in critical areas, and accelerate learning through practice.
Comment 18 Oct 2021
Country-based rate of emissions reductions should increase by 80% beyond nationally determined contributions to meet the 2 °C target
The probability of not exceeding the 2 °C climate warming target if all countries meet their nationally determined contributions and continue to reduce emissions lies at around 26%, according to an analysis with a statistically-based probabilistic framework.
Article 09 Feb 2021
Deforestation and climate change are projected to increase heat stress risk in the Brazilian Amazon
Complete savannization of the Amazon Basin would enhance the effects of climate change on local heat exposure and pose a risk to human health, according to climate model projections.
Article 01 Oct 2021
Announcements
Outstanding reviewer
We thank David MacLeod, a climate scientist at the University of Bristol and an external consultant for the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, for his outstanding contributions to peer review at Communications Earth & Environment. His research focuses on theoretical and practical questions of predicting the human impacts of climate variability.
FAIR data discussion now on YouTube
Take a look at the panel discussion hosted by Nature Nanotechnology on FAIR data in the environmental sciences, including Comms Earth Chief Editor Heike Langenberg.
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Latest Research articles
Decision support systems halve fungicide use compared to calendar-based strategies without increasing disease risk
Using decision support systems to schedule fungicide application based on disease risk provides similar protection to calendar-based strategies but uses 50% less fungicide, according to a global meta-analysis.
Article 22 Oct 2021
Linking the atmospheric Pacific-South American mode with oceanic variability and predictability
South Pacific atmospheric variability can excite a sea surface temperature quadrupole pattern in the extra-tropics that acts as a precursor for the South Pacific decadal oscillation and ENSO, according to reanalysis data and model output.
Article 21 Oct 2021
Cryogenic land surface processes shape vegetation biomass patterns in northern European tundra
Vegetation in tundra ecosystems is constrained by cryogenic land surface processes, despite the fact that models of future biomass changes rarely take these into account, according to field and remote sensing data from northern Europe.
Article 19 Oct 2021
The influence of emissions scenarios on future Antarctic ice loss is unlikely to emerge this century
The Antarctic Ice Sheet’s sea-level contribution in a high-emissions scenario is indistinguishable from that in a low-emissions scenario for the next century, but its long-term contribution depends on warming this century, according to ice sheet simulations and an emulator-based analysis.
Article 15 Oct 2021
Networked configurations as an emergent property of transverse aeolian ridges on Mars
Transverse aeolian ridges on Mars develop into networked configurations by formation of secondary ridges, reactivation of primary ridges and a transition from 3D to 2D air flow, according to analyses of HiRISE images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Article 13 Oct 2021
Influence of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation on the U.S. extreme cold weather
A shutdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation could lead to a disproportionate increase in the occurrence of extremely cold weather in the U.S. via enhanced north-south heat exchange in the atmosphere, suggest simulations with and without a vigorous overturning circulation.
Article 13 Oct 2021
Latest Reviews & Analysis
Connections of climate change and variability to large and extreme forest fires in southeast Australia
Multiple climate contributors to fire risk in southeast Australia have led to an increase in fire extent and intensity over the past decades that will likely continue into the future, suggests a synthesis of climate variability, long-term trends and palaeoclimatic evidence.
Review Article 07 Jan 2021
Stratospheric drivers of extreme events at the Earth’s surface
Coupling between the stratosphere and the troposphere contributes to extreme events at the Earth’s surface, and can help with predictability on timescales from weeks to decades, according to a synthesis of the influence of the stratosphere on surface climate.
Perspective 10 Dec 2020
Variability in historical emissions trends suggests a need for a wide range of global scenarios and regional analyses
Comparing historical carbon dioxide emissions with past projections shows that historical trends have fluctuated around the middle of the projected ranges. Because temporal and geographical variability is high, it is important to use a wide range of emission scenarios.
Perspective 30 Oct 2020
Improved forecasts of atmospheric rivers through systematic reconnaissance, better modelling, and insights on conversion of rain to flooding
A concerted observational campaign in the North Atlantic could help improve forecasts of atmospheric rivers and their impacts via a synthesis of advances in reconnaissance and numerical weather prediction.
Perspective Open Access 28 Oct 2020
Extraordinary human energy consumption and resultant geological impacts beginning around 1950 CE initiated the proposed Anthropocene Epoch
Human energy consumption and productivity have steeply risen around 1950 CE, leading to a departure from the Earth’s Holocene state into the Anthropocene, suggests a quantitative analysis of humanity’s influence on the Earth system.
Review Article 16 Oct 2020
Successful ecosystem-based management of Antarctic krill should address uncertainties in krill recruitment, behaviour and ecological adaptation
Perspective 15 Oct 2020
News & Comment
Research for climate adaptation
Adaptation to climate change must be ramped up urgently. This Comment proposes three avenues to transform ambition to action: improve tracking of actions and progress, upscale investment especially in critical areas, and accelerate learning through practice.
- Bruce Currie-Alder
- Cynthia Rosenzweig
- Yang Wang
Comment 18 Oct 2021
Supereruption doublet at a climate transition
About 74,000 years ago Earth’s climate abruptly transitioned to particularly severe cold and dry conditions, which lasted for several millennia. An incomplete eruption record may be why volcanic eruptions were dismissed as the trigger.
Comment 13 Oct 2021
Asia’s looming Black Elephant events
Devastating disasters that are predicted but ignored are known as Black Elephants—a cross between a Black Swan event and the proverbial elephant in the room. It’s time we acknowledged the looming natural hazard risks that no one wants to talk about.
Comment 08 Oct 2021
Post-publication careers: lockdown to limelight
Media attention to an article on Greenland’s dynamic ice loss provided a Comms Earth author with a way out of pandemic isolation, a broader perspective of her work, and a heavy responsibility to communicate accurately. She found the experience time-consuming, but rewarding.
Comment 02 Sept 2021
A year in numbers, a year in science
Communications Earth & Environment’s first anniversary marks an important milestone on our path to maturity. We would like to share and celebrate how much the journal has grown, quantitatively and qualitatively.
Editorial 02 Sept 2021
Above us only sky
Greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution have changed the composition of the atmosphere, and thereby initiated global warming and reduced air quality. Our editorial board members note the need for a deeper understanding of atmospheric fluxes and processes to tackle climate and human health issues.
Comment 02 Sept 2021
Collections
Nobel Prize in Physics 2021
The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi for their advances in complex physical systems. In
Collection 05 Oct 2021
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