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: 2 hours 17 min ago
Responsible carbon accounting
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 07 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02707-9
Carbon accounting shapes how climate responsibility is allocated, and expanding existing frameworks could provide a stronger basis for effective and equitable climate action.Nepal’s swift embrace of electric vehicles
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 07 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02588-y
The rapid electrification of Nepal’s automobile sector in just five years shows how a robust mix of policies and incentives can catapult climate action.Future-proofing interpretations of the Paris Agreement’s limit of well below 2 °C
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 07 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02685-y
Here the authors show that a common interpretation of the Paris Agreement’s ‘well below 2° C’ target is changing with time, which could lead to higher overall warming. They propose that using median temperatures instead of probability ranges is more robust.People systematically under- and overestimate public engagement in climate action
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 07 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02668-z
Unlike previous work showing that people underestimate others’ support for climate action, this study finds systematic pluralistic ignorance in both directions: frequent attitudes and actual behaviours are underestimated but rare ones are overestimated. This can be explained by general cognitive processes.Publisher Correction: Multi-centennial response of marine carbon pumps to global warming
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 01 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02719-5
Publisher Correction: Multi-centennial response of marine carbon pumps to global warmingWarming dominates over circulation slowdown in reducing marine carbon storage under high-mitigation scenarios
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 30 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02687-w
The ocean absorbs a vast amount of carbon dioxide, mitigating climate change. The projected decrease in this absorption is often attributed to a global-warming-induced slowdown in circulation, but analysis using a mechanistic carbon decomposition and attribution framework reveals that the carbon cycle response depends on the emissions trajectory — with warming dominating under low-emission, high-mitigation scenarios.Uncovering the unequal geography of climate change
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 30 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02674-1
Understanding the socioeconomic impact of climate change at fine scale is essential for promoting real-world actions. Here I look back at a 2018 paper that disaggregated the global economic damages from climate change and discuss how high granularity analyses advance climate impact research and policy progress.Residual emissions may perpetuate community-scale inequalities in US air pollution
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 30 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02675-0
The scale of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) could determine the extent of co-emitted air pollutants in net-zero scenarios and potential health impacts. By linking a series of models and datasets, researchers find that low-CDR pathways lead to a more equitable distribution of health benefits across the USA.Distinguishing leaf scorching from senescence under climate extremes
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 26 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02682-1
Distinguishing leaf scorching from senescence under climate extremesExtreme heat and the limits of tree and forest resilience
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 26 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02679-w
The 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome shows how acute thermal stress challenges prevailing assumptions about ecological resilience and adaptation. Extreme heat events are revealing physiological limits in forests that are not captured by conventional climate risk frameworks.The continuous global greening under climate change
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 26 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02681-2
Global greening has persisted under climate change, with feedbacks for Earth’s future climate. Here I look back on a critical 2016 study that resolved the patterns and drivers of global greening and consider how this work influences studies to monitor, model and manage greening.Mental health as both outcome and determinant in climate adaptation
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 26 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02673-2
Mental health should not be viewed solely as a passive outcome of climate adaptation. Rather, it serves as a key determinant of cognitive capacity and shapes the effectiveness of climate adaptation. Here we call for the integration of mental health into adaptation assessments and policy implementation.Multi-channel analysis suggests the UK faces large climate-related losses
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 25 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02664-3
A methodology that incorporates climate risks to health, productivity and agriculture and other sector-specific channels, as well as catastrophic, cross-boundary and missing risks, has been applied to assess climate impacts in the UK. The results show a 2% reduction in welfare, in gross domestic product-equivalent terms, up to 2030 and losses of more than 10% by 2100, under a baseline scenario.Climate change is causing more local extinction of temperate species than tropical species
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 25 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02671-4
Climate change is driving loss of biodiversity worldwide, yet whether tropical or temperate species are more vulnerable to warming remains debated. Large-scale analyses of more than 5,100 plant and animal species show that climate change has caused more frequent local extinctions of temperate species than tropical species, overturning decades of previous studies.Declining tropical sea surface temperature variability under post-2050s greenhouse warming
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 25 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02684-z
Tropical climate, including sea surface temperatures (SSTs), varies with natural cycles such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, Indian Ocean Dipole and Atlantic Niño/Niña variability. This work shows that the SST variability weakens under future greenhouse warming, with implications for predictability.Multi-centennial response of marine carbon pumps to global warming
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 25 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02686-x
Changes in the ocean in response to climate change could impact its ability to function as a carbon sink. This study shows that under high emissions, circulation changes will reduce anthropogenic carbon uptake even as biological storage increases, whereas under low emissions, temperature is the key factor.Long-term multiple global change interactions amplify belowground carbon allocation
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 23 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02678-x
Soil carbon is a critical component of the terrestrial carbon sink and is impacted by the total belowground carbon allocation (TBCA). This study uses a long-term multifactor grassland experiment to show that elevated temperature and CO2 increased the TBCA over time, modulated by drought and N addition.Global heat stress intensification and its expanding footprint on the human population
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 22 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02670-5
The authors assess global changes in heat stress since 1950, considering daytime extremes, nocturnal heat and compound day–night events. They show multidimensional intensification, with an increased frequency of extremes and expanded spatial and temporal footprints of heat stress on humans.Ecological integrity of avoided deforestation projects
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 22 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02657-2
The authors assess 133 avoided deforestation projects for their ability to safeguard forest ecological integrity. While some projects maintain integrity, most show variable outcomes, with mixed, negligible or negative effects relative to matched controls.Climate change drives ecological novelty and new social challenges
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 19 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02672-3
Ecosystems are changing rapidly because of climate change, and this will have increasing social effects around the globe. We suggest that common social responses to rising novelty are often counterproductive, and we advocate for strategies that also allow for acceptance and adaptation to changes in nature.