Flowing in the wrong direction
Many marine species have migrated towards the poles as water temperatures warm. In this issue, Heidi Fuchs and colleagues show that, in contrast, benthic invertebrates on the Northwest Atlantic continental shelf are pushed into warmer waters due to changes in timing of spawning and transport. This transport away from thermal niches could lead to increased mortality for these species, which include some commercial shellfish such as…
Image: Michele Constantini / PhotoAlto Agency RF Collections / Getty. Cover Design: Valentina Monaco
Editorial
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Editorial | 27 October 2020
Climate connections
The climate crisis highlights just how connected the world is. But understanding the changes cascading throughout the natural world calls for even greater connectivity: between countries, scientists and scientific disciplines.
Comment
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Comment | 26 October 2020
Renewable energy targets may undermine their sustainability
As the world’s economies seek to use new renewable energy developments to address climate change and reinvigorate economies post-COVID-19, avoiding a fixation on targets in decision-making will ensure positive social and environmental outcomes.
- Scott Spillias
- Peter Kareiva
- Eve McDonald-Madden
Research Highlights
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Research Highlight | 27 October 2020
The pattern effect and climate sensitivity
- Baird Langenbrunner
News & Views
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News & Views | 21 September 2020
A preference for constant costs
Raising the cost of carbon is critical for effective climate policy, but is politically challenging because the public are averse to costs. Conventional wisdom suggests this could be addressed by giving the public time to adjust by gradually increasing costs. However, new research shows that the public actually prefers a constant cost curve.
- Christopher Warshaw
News & Views | 05 October 2020
A darker cryosphere in a warming world
Dust and black carbon deposition in high-mountain Asia darkens snow and ice, increases sunlight absorption and causes melt — a reinforcing feedback. Now research shows the increasing importance of dust over black carbon at higher altitude, and the sensitivity of aerosol transport and delivery to Arctic sea-ice melt.
- Biagio Di Mauro
News & Views | 28 September 2020
Climate change disturbs wildlife microbiomes
While large-scale climate-associated changes are becoming increasingly visible, our understanding of changes in the microbial world remains limited. Now a study takes advantage of a tropical microecosystem to disentangle the direct and indirect impacts of increased temperatures on the microbiomes of animals.
- Obed Hernández-Gómez
Perspectives
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Perspective | 27 October 2020
The future of Arctic sea-ice biogeochemistry and ice-associated ecosystems
The Arctic is warming and undergoing rapid ice loss. This Perspective considers how changes in sea ice will impact the biogeochemistry and associated ecosystems of the region while calling for more observations to improve our understanding of this complex system.
- Delphine Lannuzel
- Letizia Tedesco
- Pat Wongpan
Matters Arising
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Matters Arising | 27 October 2020
Sandy beaches can survive sea-level rise
- J. A. G. Cooper
- G. Masselink
- D. W. T. Jackson
Matters Arising | 27 October 2020
Reply to: Sandy beaches can survive sea-level rise
- Michalis I. Vousdoukas
- Roshanka Ranasinghe
- Luc Feyen
Letters
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Letter | 14 September 2020
Weakening Atlantic overturning circulation causes South Atlantic salinity pile-up
The slowdown in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is remotely detected in an increasing South Atlantic salinity trend. This salinity pile-up is caused by reduced divergence of surface salinity transport under a weakened AMOC.
- Chenyu Zhu
- Zhengyu Liu
Articles
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Article | 21 September 2020
Constant carbon pricing increases support for climate action compared to ramping up costs over time
Introducing carbon prices is considered central to climate change mitigation. This study shows that publics prefer constant carbon cost schedules rather than those that gradually increase, even when average costs are the same, because of a desire to smooth consumption over time.
- Michael M. Bechtel
- Kenneth F. Scheve
- Elisabeth van Lieshout
Article | 17 August 2020
A near-term to net zero alternative to the social cost of carbon for setting carbon prices
Wide-ranging estimates of the social cost of carbon limit its usefulness in setting carbon prices. Near-term to net zero is an alternative modelling approach that focuses on the prices, combined with other policies, needed to set an economy on a pathway consistent with a net-zero emissions target.
- Noah Kaufman
- Alexander R. Barron
- Haewon McJeon
Article | 24 August 2020
Performance determinants show European cities are delivering on climate mitigation
Cities have an important role in climate mitigation. Textual analysis techniques and regression modelling show the progress made by over 1,000 cities reporting in the European Covenant of Mayors initiative, active in climate action at the urban level.
- Angel Hsu
- Jonas Tan
- Nihit Goyal
Article | 24 August 2020
The climate change mitigation potential of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage
Negative emissions technologies are a cornerstone of many mitigation scenarios that limit global warming under 2 °C. Depending on the conditions, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage can provide negative emissions but requires large amounts of land and should be deployed early and with limits.
- S. V. Hanssen
- V. Daioglou
- M. A. J. Huijbregts
Article | 17 August 2020
Human-induced changes to the global ocean water masses and their time of emergence
Climate models predict that by 2020, 20–55% of the three key ocean basins express an anthropogenic fingerprint of change. The well-ventilated Southern Ocean water masses are particularly sensitive, emerging as early as the 1980–1990s, consistent with observations of change over the past 30 years.
- Yona Silvy
- Eric Guilyardi
- Paul J. Durack
Article | 31 August 2020
Arctic sea-ice loss intensifies aerosol transport to the Tibetan Plateau
Aerosol transport from South Asia to the Tibetan Plateau (TP) peaks in the pre-monsoon period, but the controlling dynamics remain unclear. Observational analysis shows that low February Arctic sea ice boosts the Asian subtropical jet in April, which can loft aerosols over the Himalayas onto the TP.
- Fei Li
- Xin Wan
- Shichang Kang
Article | 05 October 2020
Dust dominates high-altitude snow darkening and melt over high-mountain Asia
Dust deposition in high-mountain Asia lowers snow albedo and hastens melt. Satellite data and models show that dust arrives via transport in elevated aerosol layers and outweighs black carbon impacts at high altitudes, suggesting a growing importance of dust on snowmelt as snowlines rise with warming.
- Chandan Sarangi
- Yun Qian
- Thomas H. Painter
Article | 07 September 2020
Wrong-way migrations of benthic species driven by ocean warming and larval transport
Many marine species have migrated towards the poles as water temperatures warm. In contrast, due to changes in the timing of spawning and transport, benthic invertebrates on the Northwest Atlantic continental shelf are pushed into warmer waters where mortality could be higher.
- Heidi L. Fuchs
- Robert J. Chant
- Emily Y. Chen
Article | 28 September 2020
Warming drives ecological community changes linked to host-associated microbiome dysbiosis
Replicated bromeliad microecosystems were used to examine warming-induced community shifts and changes to tadpole gut microbiome. Tadpole growth was more strongly associated with cascading effects of warming on gut dysbiosis than with direct warming effects or indirect effects on food resources.
- Sasha E. Greenspan
- Gustavo H. Migliorini
- C. Guilherme Becker
Amendments & Corrections
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Publisher Correction | 10 September 2020
Publisher Correction: Climate-driven changes in the composition of New World plant communities
- K. J. Feeley
- C. Bravo-Avila
- D. Zuleta
Publisher Correction | 22 September 2020
Publisher Correction: A recent decline in North Atlantic subtropical mode water formation
- Samuel W. Stevens
- Rodney J. Johnson
- Nicholas R. Bates
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