Nature Climate Change
Nature Climate Change is a monthly journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research papers that describe the most significant and cutting-edge research on the causes, impacts and wider implications of global climate change. The journal publishes climate research across the physical, biological and social sciences and strives to integrate and communicate interdisciplinary research. The journal aims to play a leading role in: providing accessibility to a broad audience to research published both within and outside the journal; raising the visibility of climate change research in related research communities as well as the mainstream media; and offering a forum for discussion of the challenges faced by researchers and policy makers (and other interested parties) in understanding the complex mechanisms and impacts associated with the Earth’s changing climate.
Updated: 27 min 29 sec ago
Paris Agreement in a new era
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 05 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02492-x
December 2025 marks the tenth anniversary of adoption of the Paris Agreement. Although we have seen both achievements and disappointments in the past decade, we believe that the Paris Agreement will keep playing a key role in international climate actions.Expert retrospective on a decade of the Paris Agreement
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 05 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02477-w
To mark the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, Nature Climate Change asked experts to reflect on the progress of and barriers to several of its key Articles. They share their thoughts on important policy implications, what has been achieved and missed, as well as future directions.Future mesoscale horizontal stirring in polar oceans intensified by sea ice decline
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 05 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02471-2
How mesoscale horizontal stirring changes with warming is not well understood. Here the authors present high-resolution simulations that show that mesoscale horizontal stirring increases in the Arctic Ocean and around Antarctica, mainly due to sea ice reduction.Pathways to a safer planet
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 04 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02468-x
Human greenhouse gas emissions are raising temperatures and sea levels, collapsing ice sheets and acidifying oceans. Now, research maps out the range of emissions pathways that can limit these changes.Spaces of anthropogenic CO<sub>2</sub> emissions compatible with climate boundaries
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 04 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02460-5
This study explores pathways of emissions and mitigation compatible with four climate boundaries—planetary boundaries for the climate system. The results highlight the importance of peak emission timing, limitation of carbon budgets as a sole indicator and trade-offs between mitigation options.Fracturing of Antarctic ice shelves depends on future climate warming rate
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 31 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02479-8
Antarctic ice shelves affect the mass loss of the Antarctic ice sheet and are vulnerable to damage from crevasses and rifts. Decades of satellite observations link this damage to past thinning and retreat of ice shelves. Damage is projected to intensify under future high-emission climate scenarios, further weakening ice shelves and accelerating ice loss.Reorienting climate litigation in a time of backlash
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 31 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02475-y
Restrictions on civil society may drive climate activists to shift from protest to litigation. However, challenges to judicial independence, deregulation and anti-climate litigation mean that activists need to consider the conditions under which litigation leads to strengthened climate ambition and implementation.Anticipating climate impacts on nutrition through climate–crop nutrient modelling
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 31 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02470-3
Climate change influences not only crop yields but also crop nutritional content, which is currently not simulated by process-based crop models. This Perspective proposes a way forward to integrate nutrients into crop models to assess climate impacts and highlights data needs.Fresher waters in the Southern Ocean trapped CO<sub>2</sub> at depth for decades
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 28 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02465-0
A human-driven increase in upwelling of carbon-rich deep waters threatens the efficiency of the Southern Ocean carbon sink, which substantially mitigates global warming. Long-term observations reveal that surface freshening since the 1990s has acted as a barrier, preventing CO2 release to the atmosphere and, temporarily, preserving the Southern Ocean’s role in slowing down climate change.Multi-century global and regional sea-level rise commitments from cumulative greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 24 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02452-5
It is important to understand how much long-term sea-level rise is already committed due to historical and near-term emissions. Here the authors use a modelling framework to show how decisions on global emissions reductions in the coming decades alter multi-century sea-level rise projections.Balancing simplicity and complexity through corporate emissions benchmarking
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 23 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02467-y
Standardized quantitative emissions benchmarking is essential for corporate climate accountability, yet recent literature has critiqued this approach. We argue for structured pluralism with budget compliance — balancing methodological flexibility while preserving the disciplining power of carbon budgets.Duplicating genomes to survive the heat
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 23 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02454-3
Marine diatoms, tiny algae that underpin ocean food webs, face rising ocean temperatures. Now, a study shows that genome duplication helps diatoms adapt faster to warming, reshaping our understanding of phytoplankton resilience in a changing ocean.Polyploidization in diatoms accelerates adaptation to warming
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 23 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02464-1
The authors obtained large-volume individuals of diatom cultures under thermal stress. These polyploids (having more than two sets of chromosomes) are shown to rapidly adapt to high temperatures, highlighting polyploidization as a possible adaptive measure for diatoms under climate change.Heatwaves worsen educational inequality in Brazil
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 22 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02469-w
Heatwaves worsen educational inequality in BrazilEmissions reductions of rooftop solar are overstated by approaches that inadequately capture substitution effects
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 22 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02459-y
Emissions reductions of rooftop solar are overstated by approaches that inadequately capture substitution effectsThe carbon hoofprint of cities is shaped by geography and production in the livestock supply chain
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 20 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02450-7
Meat products represent a large share of the carbon footprints of cities, which are dependent on the characteristics of supply regions. With spatially explicit data, researchers show how the so-called carbon hoofprint varies between cities due to the different carbon intensities of producing regions.Identifying critical intervention points for the prevention of cascading climate impacts
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 20 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02456-1
Bridging traditional disciplinary silos, a study has mapped cascading climate risks to the European Union through stakeholder-co-produced impact chains and network analysis. It provides country-specific risk profiles by identifying critical intervention points — such as water, livelihoods or violent conflict — to support policy coherence in addressing interconnected vulnerabilities and guiding targeted adaptation.Abrupt thaw alters phosphorus cycling in alpine tundra
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 17 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02466-z
The impacts of permafrost thaw are widespread across tundra landscapes. Now, research across a series of thermokarst landscapes on the Tibetan Plateau shows that abrupt permafrost thaw increases plant-available phosphorus, alters the vegetation community and tips the balance of belowground nutrient competition.Accelerated soil phosphorus cycling upon abrupt permafrost thaw
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 17 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02445-4
The response of the phosphorus (P) cycle to permafrost thaw is unknown, but has implications for carbon dynamics. This study assesses changes in the P cycle upon abrupt thaw and shows accelerated soil P cycling and increased plant uptake, which may boost primary production and partially offset soil carbon loss.Southern Ocean freshening stalls deep ocean CO<sub>2</sub> release in a changing climate
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 17 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02446-3
The Southern Ocean carbon sink is predicted to decline under climate change. This study explores why this is yet to be seen in observations, finding that recent surface freshening increases stratification and traps the CO2-rich water in the subsurface layer, which prevents atmospheric outgassing.