Skeptical Science New Research for Week #52 2025

Open access notables

A desk piled high with research reports

Satellite altimetry reveals intensifying global river water level variability, Fang et al., Nature Communications

River water levels (RWLs) are fundamental to hydrology, water resource management, and disaster mitigation, yet the majority of the world’s rivers remain ungauged. Here, using 46,993 virtual stations from Sentinel-3A/B altimetry (2016?2024), we present a global assessment of RWL variability. We find a median global fluctuation of 3.76 m, with pronounced spatial patterns: significant RWL declines across Central North/South America and Western Siberia, and increases across Africa, Oceania, Eastern/Southern Asia, and Northwestern/Central Europe. Seasonality is intensifying in 68% of basins, as high RWLs become more temporally concentrated. Maximum RWLs are declining by 0.88 cm/yr, while minimum RWLs are rising by 1.43 cm/yr. This convergence is reducing seasonal amplitude globally, with the most pronounced changes in the Americas and Central Africa. These shifts coincide with a recent surge in extreme RWL events, particularly after 2021, signaling growing hydrological instability amid concurrent droughts and floods. Our findings underscore the urgent need for adaptive water management in response to accelerating climate pressures.

Gazing into the flames: A guide to assessing the impacts of climate change on landscape fire, Clarke et al., Science Advances

Widespread impacts of landscape fire on ecosystems, societies, and the climate system itself have heightened the need to understand the potential future trajectory of fire under continued climate change. However, the complexity of fire makes climate change impact assessment challenging. The climate system influences fire in many ways, including through vegetation, fuel dryness, fire weather, and ignition. Furthermore, fire’s impacts are highly diverse, spanning threats to human and ecological values and beneficial ecosystem and cultural services. Here, we discuss the art and science of projecting climate change impacts on landscape fire. This not only includes how fire, its drivers, and its impacts are modeled, but critically it also includes how projections of the climate system are developed. By raising and discussing these issues, we aim to foster the development of more robust and useful fire projections, help interpret existing assessments, and support society in charting a course toward a sustainable fire future.

Observed positive feedback between surface ablation and crevasse formation drives glacier acceleration and potential surge, Nanni et al., Nature Communications

Sudden glacier acceleration and instability, e.g. surges, strongly influence glacier ice loss. However, lack of in-situ observations of the involved processes hampers our ability to understand, quantify and model such a role. We present an analysis of the initiation of a surge (Kongsvegen glacier, Svalbard), focusing on the interplay between climatic and glacier-specific drivers. We integrate two decades of in-situ observations (GNSS, borehole and surface seismometers) with runoff simulations, and remotely sensed surface-elevation changes. We show that initial glacier thinning led to localized acceleration and crevassing. Then, we show that stronger surface melt enabled meltwater to reach the glacier bed. This input promotes high basal water pressure and glacier sliding, and in turn further surface crevassing. Our observations suggest that this positive feedback leads to the expansion of the initially localized instability. Our findings highlight mechanisms that could trigger glacier instabilities under a warming atmosphere beyond the High Arctic.

Clinging to power: status threat and attitudes toward the renewable energy transition, Finnegan et al., Environmental Politics

Status threat, defined as the perception that one’s group status, influence, and position in the hierarchy are threatened, has been shown to impact public attitudes across a variety of issue areas. However, the role that status threat plays in forming attitudes on the renewable energy transition is unknown. Using an original survey experiment in the United States, we examine how status threat shapes attitudes toward the renewable energy transition. Our results suggest that status threat, particularly economic status threat, decreases support for renewable energy policies. Since attitudes toward the transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to one dominated by renewable energy remain mixed, our findings suggest that status threat may be directly hindering the renewable energy transition, which is central to efforts to combat climate change.

Who do we trust on climate change, and why?, Sheriffdeen et al., Climate and Development

Trust in climate communicators is a critical determinant of whether the public accepts and acts upon climate change information. Yet most research to date has focused on who is trusted, with less attention to why certain messengers are deemed trustworthy. Using survey data from 6479 participants across 13 countries, this study examines (1) which sources of climate information are trusted, (2) what features make a communicator trustworthy, and (3) how these judgments differ between climate change believers and skeptics. Scientists were the most trusted sources among climate believers, but overall, the most trusted sources are informal and identity-based: “friends and family” and “people like me.” Across the sample, trust was predicted not only by demographic variables but also by specific communicator features: most notably clarity, shared values, sincerity, and being respectful of opposing views. Believers and skeptics prioritized different features, underscoring that trust is not a universal response but shaped by ideological identity. These findings reveal the layered and audience-contingent nature of trust in climate communication. By identifying the features that drive trust across different audiences, this study offers practical guidance for communicators interested in tailoring messages and messengers to more effectively engage the public on climate action.

From this week's government/NGO section:

Climate Science and Natural Resource LitigationJessica Wentz, Columbia Law School, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Climate change has major implications for sustainable use and conservation of natural resources. Many natural systems are already under severe stress and may be unable to sustain historical use patterns; resource management decisions can also exacerbate or mitigate climate change by affecting the balance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The author describes the legal and scientific basis for recognizing agencies’ obligations to assess and respond to climate change, drawing insights from a survey of U.S. litigation involving forests, fisheries, rangelands, and freshwater resources. Litigants have been somewhat successful in driving more rigorous assessments of climate change. However, agencies still frequently conclude that climate impacts are too uncertain or insignificant to warrant a response, and courts will generally defer unless the agency has overlooked or arbitrarily dismissed actionable scientific information. This underscores the importance of collaboration among resource managers, legal advocates, and scientists to develop, disseminate, and communicate scientific information that can meaningfully inform these decisions.

Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2025Leiserowitz et al., Yale University and George Mason University

With the first primaries in the 2026 midterm elections just around the corner, the authors found that the economy and the cost of living are the top two issues registered voters say will be “very important” when they decide who they will vote for in the 2026 congressional elections (79% and 78%, respectively). In this context, they also found that 65% of registered voters think global warming is affecting the cost of living in the United States. 49% say policies intended to transition away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy will improve economic growth and provide new jobs (versus 27% who think they will reduce economic growth and cost jobs).

105 articles in 49 journals by 551 contributing authors

Physical science of climate change, effects

Are Trends of Gulf Stream Transport Uniform Along the Florida Shelf?, Torres?Córdoba & Valle?Levinson, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118418

Drying Tropical America Under Global Warming: Mechanism and Emergent Constraint, He et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl117131

Lake Ice and Climate Perturbation: Numerical Experiments on a Small Boreal Lake, MacKay et al., Atmosphere Open Access 10.1080/07055900.2025.2587932

Polar Feedbacks in Clear-Sky Radiative–Advective Equilibrium from an Airmass Transformation Perspective, Caballero & Merlis, Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0031.1

Processes Controlling the South American Monsoon Response to Climate Change, Chadwick et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0012.1

Radiative and Precipitation Processes Make it Easier to Match the Temperature Record and Harder to Constrain Future Warming, Song et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl117386

Summer Greenland Blocking in reanalysis and in SEAS5.1 seasonal forecasts: robust trend or natural variability?, Swamidass, Encyclopedia of Production and Manufacturing Management Open Access 10.1007/1-4020-0612-8_620

Surface Warming Over Greenland Amplified by Remote Forcing From Tropical Atlantic, Zhang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd044154

The Role of Convective Intensity in Modulating Earth’s Radiative Balance, Pilewskie & L’Ecuyer, Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0334.1

Ventilation and buffering capacity effects on ocean acidification in low oxygen environments, Xue et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-67807-0

Observations of climate change, effects

Amplified Global Seasonality in Water Availability over Land in Recent Decades, Shi et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0768.1

Climatology and Large-Scale Drivers of Extreme Heatwaves in the Caribbean: From 1971 to 2025, Oppong et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl117649

Human Influence on Seasonal Extreme Precipitation Changes Over the Tibetan Plateau, Dong & Sun, 10.2139/ssrn.4980727

Physical drivers of the November 2023 heatwave in Rio de Janeiro, Ivanovich et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5355924/v1

Satellite altimetry reveals intensifying global river water level variability, Fang et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-67682-9

Tibetan Plateau Warming in May–June Intensified Pakistan Summer Flood in 2022 and 2023, Zhang et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0154.1

Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

Carbon dioxide emissions from global land cover mapping are projected to increase by 2050, Wang et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02990-y

Estimating the AMOC from Argo profiles with machine learning trained on ocean simulations, Wölker et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-2782

Gazing into the flames: A guide to assessing the impacts of climate change on landscape fire, Clarke et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adz2429

Probability of Climate Records and Their Likely Magnitudes Given Climate Data with an Idealized Linear Trend, Wiuff, Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0717.1

Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

Changes of Eurasian Cold Winters and Their Associated Key Variables Based on CMIP6 Global Climate Models, Wu et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd044570

Future Projections of Indochina Peninsula Summer Rainfall in a Warmer World and Their Intermodel Uncertainty from CMIP5/6 Multimodel Ensembles, Wang et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0337.1

Future Sea Surface Temperature as a Key Driver of Antarctic Warming, Zhang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118958

Global climate system response to SOFIA Antarctic meltwater in HadCM3-M2.1, Mistry et al., The Cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-19-6989-2025

Intensification of Compound Extremes Over India Under 1.5°C and 2°C Global Warming Levels: Insights From Bias-Corrected CMIP6 Simulations, Rao et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd044366

Resolved tropical cyclones trigger CO2 uptake and phytoplankton bloom in an Earth system model simulation, Nielsen et al., Open Access 10.31223/x5kf05

Summertime Arctic and North Atlantic–Eurasian circulation regimes under climate change, Müller et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics Open Access 10.5194/wcd-6-1895-2025

Tropical Dynamics and Warming in Simplified Atmosphere–Ocean Simulations, Tuckman & Marshall Marshall, Journal of Climate Open Access 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0685.1

Uncertainties in Projected Tropical Cyclone Genesis Potential Indices at Consistent Warming Levels, Gao & Xi, Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0251.1

Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

A novel multivariate normalized compromised programming approach of ranking CMIP6 models over urban centers for assessing heatwave dynamics, Rashiq et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102743

An improved and extended parameterization of the CO2 15 µm cooling in the middle and upper atmosphere (CO2&cool&fort-1.0), López-Puertas et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-17-4401-2024

Challenges in global climate models to represent cloud response to aerosols: insights from volcanic eruptions, Wang et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-67359-3

Decoupling Land Surface Effects from CO2 Effective Radiative Forcing in a Climate Model, Zhang et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0231.1

Evaluation and Attribution of a Warm Winter Bias over Arctic Sea Ice in a Climate Model, Michalezyk et al., Journal of Climate Open Access pdf 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0482.1

How Do Tropical Cyclones Directly Simulated in High-Resolution Climate Models Differ from Statistically Dynamically Generated Storms?, Bolivar & Zarzycki, Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0454.1

Replicability in Earth System Models, Keller et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-egu25-4259

Responsible intelligence: ethical AI governance for climate prediction in the Australian context, Randeniya et al., AI and Ethics Open Access 10.1007/s43681-025-00909-z

We Need to Simulate More Northern ITCZs and Less Southern ITCZs Over the East Pacific Ocean in Coupled Climate Models, Gonzalez et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd043650

Cryosphere & climate change

Extreme Sea Ice Events in the Ross and Bellingshausen–Amundsen Seas: Associated Weather and Climate Patterns, António et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0190.1

Modelling ocean melt of ice mélange at Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers, Jain et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2024-4081

NAO's Strengthened Role in Post-2004 Kara Sea Ice Growth: Quantifying Thermodynamic and Dynamic Mechanisms, Zhang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl117555

Observed positive feedback between surface ablation and crevasse formation drives glacier acceleration and potential surge, Nanni et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-66349-9

Sea level & climate change

Extending the range and reach of physically-based Greenland ice sheet sea-level projections, Goelzer et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-3098

Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry

More intermittent mid-latitude precipitation accompanied extreme early Palaeogene warmth, Slawson et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-025-01870-6

Quantifying Atmospheric Humidity in the Western Mediterranean During the Iron Age and the Roman Era, Gázquez et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl120424

The Impact of Climate Change on Major Migrations in Turkish History (1700 BC-850 AD), Ozsahin & M?zrak, Anthropocene 10.1016/j.ancene.2025.100519

Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

Aridification enhancing vegetation sensitivities to soil and atmospheric dryness in Northeast Asia, Wang et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105244

Climate change is leading to geographic expansion of tropical birds—range expansion and niche modeling in the White-browed Crake (Pololimnas cinereus), Wanglin et al., BMC Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1186/s12862-025-02455-y

Climate-Induced Changes in Habitat Suitability for a Cold-Water Endemic Species in the Lancang River Basin: A Case Study of Schizothorax lantsangensis, Xu et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.72753

Combined effects of ocean acidification, warming, and salinity on the fertilization success in an Arctic population of sea urchins, Espinel-Velasco et al., Scientific Reports Open Access 10.1038/s41598-025-27725-z

Continuous frost causes a greater reduction in forest growth than isolated frost in the Northern Hemisphere, Yang et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-67861-8

Evaluating climate change impacts on habitat suitability for Iberian freshwater crab “Potamon ibericum Bieberstein, 1808” in Iran, Ghasemian Sorboni et al., Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.3389/fevo.2025.1608518

Expanding Protected Areas to Safeguard Kenya's Herpetofauna Under Climate Change, Kimani et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.72803

Global coral genomic vulnerability explains recent reef losses, Selmoni et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-67616-5

Growth of Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb. is benefitting from the recent climate change at the southern Tarim basin, northwest China, Keyimu et al., Dendrochronologia 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126427

Modelling the Fundamental Niche to Predict the Effects of Climate Warming on Interactions Between Native and Invasive Mussels in South Africa, Monaco & McQuaid Christopher D. McQuaid Christopher D. McQuaid, Diversity and Distributions Open Access 10.1111/ddi.70135

Permafrost dampens long-term vegetation responses to climate change in northern Siberia: Evidence from pollen spectra covering the last 40 kyr, Wang et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105237

Weather Extremes in the Mediterranean Winter Are Associated With Reduced Apparent Survival and Delayed Initiation of Egg-Laying in a Migratory Raptor, Kujala et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.72741

GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

Assessment of CO2 storage potential in global marine sediments based on machine learning methods, Zhang et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105210

Carbon uptake dynamics of cement-based materials: Linking market structure, material use, and the carbon cycle, AzariJafari et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2515116122

Differential Regulation of Hydrodynamics and Anthropogenic Mariculture Activities on the Fate of Sedimentary Organic Carbon, Chang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 10.1029/2025jc023125

Environmental controls of non-growing season carbon dioxide fluxes in boreal and tundra environments, Mavrovic et al., Open Access 10.5194/bg-2023-92

Modelling wildfire and post-fire carbon budgets of a boreal forest under a changing climate, Islam et al., Global and Planetary Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105230

Quantifying the Indirect Environmental Effects of Land Use Change on the Terrestrial Carbon Cycle in China During 1990–2020, Gao et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007260

Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Global Wetland Methane Emissions During 2019–2020 Estimated From Satellite Observations, Chen et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jd044354

Spatial and temporal variations of gross primary production simulated by land surface model BCC&AVIM2.0, Li et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2023.02.001

Tracing the Hotspots of Global Methane Footprint in Emerging Economies, Guo et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2024ef005504

CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering

An Integrated Modelling Framework to Determine Terrestrial Carbon Dioxide Removal via Enhanced Rock Weathering, Zhang et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70650

Biological and geological carbon sequestration monitoring techniques: a review, Elkholy & Anandhi, Carbon Management Open Access 10.1080/17583004.2025.2590609

Challenges of CO2 removal from the atmosphere by capturing, storage, and utilization for avoiding extreme climate change, El-Meligi & Nabawy, Journal of Umm Al Open Access 10.1007/s43994-025-00297-4

Decarbonization

Clinging to power: status threat and attitudes toward the renewable energy transition, Finnegan et al., Environmental Politics Open Access 10.1080/09644016.2025.2604372

Aerosols

Aerosol effects on convective storms under pseudo-global warming conditions: insights from case studies in Germany, Lucas et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access 10.5194/acp-25-18527-2025

Climate change communications & cognition

Communicating Climate Change En Español: A Nationwide Survey of Bilingual Broadcast Meteorologists in the United States, Trujillo-Falcón et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 10.1175/bams-d-25-0189.1

Perceived plasticity of climate-relevant behaviors and policy support among high- and lower-income individuals, Nielsen et al., Open Access pdf 10.31234/osf.io/x6473

Who do we trust on climate change, and why?, Sheriffdeen et al., Climate and Development Open Access 10.1080/17565529.2022.2057905

Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

Climate risk adaptation through disaster insurance: Understanding purchase behavior of farmers threatened by flash floods in rural China, Gao et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2025.100787

Large increases in maize residue carbon inputs in the US Corn Belt from 1980 to 2020, Ruiz et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-03078-3

Modeling biochar effects on soil organic carbon on croplands in a microbial decomposition model (MIMICS-BC&v1.0), Han et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-17-4871-2024

The carbon footprint of the farming of edible brown alga Sargassum naozhouense, Sun et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2025.107738

Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

A Weather Regime-Based Analysis of Freezing Rain Trends in a Warmer Climate for Eastern North America, Britton & Mullens, International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70233

Amplified Global Seasonality in Water Availability over Land in Recent Decades, Shi et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0768.1

Doubling of flood-induced bridge asset failure loss in Mozambique under 2050 climate, Qiao et al., Global Environmental Change 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2025.103103

Amplified Global Seasonality in Water Availability over Land in Recent Decades, Shi et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0768.1

Climatology and Large-Scale Drivers of Extreme Heatwaves in the Caribbean: From 1971 to 2025, Oppong et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl117649

Human Influence on Seasonal Extreme Precipitation Changes Over the Tibetan Plateau, Dong & Sun, 10.2139/ssrn.4980727

Physical drivers of the November 2023 heatwave in Rio de Janeiro, Ivanovich et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5355924/v1

Satellite altimetry reveals intensifying global river water level variability, Fang et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-67682-9

Tibetan Plateau Warming in May–June Intensified Pakistan Summer Flood in 2022 and 2023, Zhang et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0154.1

Estimating changes in precipitation event characteristics with projected temperature increase in the 21st century, Sokol et al., Atmospheric Research Open Access 10.1016/j.atmosres.2025.108698

Human Influence on Seasonal Extreme Precipitation Changes Over the Tibetan Plateau, Dong & Sun, 10.2139/ssrn.4980727

Quantifying the past and future hydrological consequences of climate change and human activities on the upstream of the Anzali Wetland, Parhoun et al., Anthropocene 10.1016/j.ancene.2025.100521

Recent Spatiotemporal Trends in Extreme Rainfall Events in South Korea: From Sub-Hourly to Multi-Day Scales, Thi et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70226

Satellite altimetry reveals intensifying global river water level variability, Fang et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-67682-9

Climate change economics

Climate change has already made the United States poorer, Lemoine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2504376122

Impacts of global warming on subnational poverty and inequality, Dang et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access 10.1038/s41558-025-02516-6

Climate change mitigation public policy research

Carbon footprint assessment and reduction strategies of a university campus in Turkey, Türle & Celen, Carbon Management Open Access 10.1080/17583004.2025.2605344

Green industrial policy is not enough for net-zero decarbonization, Purdon, Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02514-8

Interactive effects of climate physical risks, climate policy uncertainty, and sustainable energy transition in China, , Journal of Development and Social Sciences Open Access pdf 10.47205/jdss.2021(2-iv)74

Reimagining benefits from climate infrastructure and investments, Buck et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104501

Repurposing mines for renewable energy: Socio-environmental implications for local communities in Australia and Germany, Matanzima et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104508

Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

Adaptation-stories for imagining futures adjusting to a changing climate, Pirttioja et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2025.100785

Doubling of flood-induced bridge asset failure loss in Mozambique under 2050 climate, Qiao et al., Global Environmental Change 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2025.103103

Exploring key priorities for climate change adaptation research, Rose & Birchall , PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000794

Extreme climate indices in mountain settlements based on a hierarchical urban–rural classification approach in Qinba, China, Yu et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102660

High-Impact Low-Likelihood Climate Scenarios for Risk Assessment in the UK, Arnell et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef006946

Integrating Intersectionality Into Climate Risk Assessments: Review of Gendered Vulnerability in South Africa, Stadler et al., WIREs Climate Change Open Access 10.1002/wcc.70035

Navigating uncertainty: an assessment of climate change risks to the marine and coastal environment of Sri Lanka, Lincoln et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2025.100782

Systematic literature review on climate change adaptation strategies in Africa: bibliometric analysis and topic modelling, Alobaloke et al., Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2025.2604558

Timing matters: analyzing climate policies and adaptive resilience, D'Amico & Maboudi , Climate Policy Open Access 10.1080/14693062.2025.2601383

Climate change impacts on human health

Food, climate, and the mind: Food (in)security and climate resilience as social determinants of mental health, , Journal of Development and Social Sciences Open Access pdf 10.47205/jdss.2021(2-iv)74

Indigenous peoples’ voices and engagement on climate change: towards improved health and wellbeing, Lansbury et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1693544

Quantifying the contributions of climate change and adaptation to mortality from unprecedented extreme heat events, Callahan et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2503577122

Other

Climate-driven transition in microbial deterioration and protection of stone surfaces at cultural heritage sites, Yang et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02993-9

Regional vegetation and climate changes are inconsistent with global trends, but what now?, Chavdarov, JOURNAL OF MECHANICS OF CONTINUA AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Open Access 10.26782/jmcms.spl.10/2020.06.00048

Towards Carbon Neutralization: Clean and Efficient Use of Coal, Wen et al., Carbon Neutralization Open Access 10.1002/cnl2.70098

Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

Responsible intelligence: ethical AI governance for climate prediction in the Australian context, Randeniya et al., AI and Ethics Open Access 10.1007/s43681-025-00909-z


Articles/Reports from Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations Addressing Aspects of Climate Change

Winter Heating Costs Expected to Jump 9.2%, Putting Millions of Families at Risk, The National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association

The authors show that U.S. home heating costs are projected to rise 9.2 percent this winter, about three times the overall rate of inflation, driven by surging electricity and natural gas prices and colder-than-average weather conditions. On average, households are expected to spend $995 on heating this winter, an increase of $84 from last year. Families that rely on electricity for heating will see the steepest increases, with costs rising 12.2 percent, from $1,233 to $1,090, followed by those using natural gas which will rise by 8.4 percent from $650 to $704. Families using delivered fuels, heating oil and propane will see prices about the same as last year. Electricity prices continue to rise due to a combination of high interest rates driving grid financing costs, increased reliance on natural gas for power generation, surging demand from data centers, aging infrastructure, and regional capacity shortfalls.

US Energy Storage Monitor, Q4 2025, Gaby Ackermann Logan, Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables/American Clean Power Association

5.3 GW/14.5 GWh of storage was installed in Q3 2025 in the US, pushing 2025 year-to-date installations past 2024 capacity. Almost 93 GW of storage will be installed in the U.S. over the next five years, driven by project economics and policy incentives. The US storage industry is adapting to federal policy changes, including tariffs and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Fossil Fuel Empire, Greenpeace International

The authors detail the transformations in Russia’s environmental governance, climate policy, biodiversity and socioeconomic and political landscape in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine – as well as the impact of these changes at domestic and global levels. Drawing on hundreds of sources gathered from outside Russia after the post-2022 crackdown, the authors are also the first to bring together scattered data into a coherent picture, revealing the desperate state of Russia. The authors show that Russia’s regime is based on a ‘troika’ consisting of extractivism, authoritarianism and war, destroying the country’s environment, biodiversity, society and international relations. However, despite the bleak situation, repressive crackdowns, and a general atmosphere of apathy, environmental issues remain one of the few topics that continue to spark public interest and trigger protest, especially at the local level.

Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2025, Leiserowitz et al., Yale University and George Mason University

With the first primaries in the 2026 midterm elections just around the corner, the authors found that the economy and the cost of living are the top two issues registered voters say will be “very important” when they decide who they will vote for in the 2026 congressional elections (79% and 78%, respectively). In this context, they also found that 65% of registered voters think global warming is affecting the cost of living in the United States. 49% say policies intended to transition away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy will improve economic growth and provide new jobs (versus 27% who think they will reduce economic growth and cost jobs).

Geospatial methods for corporate GHG accounting of deforestation and land occupation, Fitts et al., World Resources Institute and Quantis

Corporate reporting of land-sector greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is complex, with companies using varied methods to calculate emissions from land use change and land occupation. Although frameworks such as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol offer general accounting guidance, their built-in flexibility in data and methods can lead to inconsistent results across companies and supply chains. This guidebook introduces a standardized, geospatially based method for estimating GHG emissions from land use change driven by agricultural expansion and land occupation. The approach uses spatial datasets to produce globally consistent emission factors across crops, jurisdictions, and traceability levels. These metrics give companies a common reference for estimating emissions, identifying high-impact regions, and reporting progress with confidence, transparency, and comparability.

The Hunga Volcanic Eruption Atmospheric Impacts Report, Zhu et al., Atmospheric Processes adn Their Role in Climate and World Climate Research Program

The 15th January 2022 eruption of Hunga volcano was a high-magnitude (Volcanic Explosivity Index 6) submarine explosive eruption unique in the era of satellite observations. Hunga water vapor led to a cooling of 0.5–1 K in the global mid-to-upper stratosphere over the first two years after the eruption and > 1 K in the mesosphere afterwards. In the months following the eruption, substantial perturbations in stratospheric ozone and related trace gases were observed throughout the Southern Hemisphere. The Hunga eruption had no significant impact on the Antarctic ozone hole or ozone in the Arctic stratosphere. The record-high global surface temperatures in 2023/2024 were not due to the Hunga eruption. After 2024, the Hunga aerosol loading largely disappeared. The remaining Hunga stratospheric water vapor positive radiative forcing is expected to be negligible. The Hunga eruption and its aftermath provided a unique opportunity to assess the impacts of a water-rich volcanic eruption, where sulfate aerosol formed unusually fast. Global chemistry–climate models consistently reproduce key aspects of the observed middle atmospheric transport, temperature change, and mesospheric ozone response after the Hunga eruption.

2027/2028 Base Residual Auction Report (PJM), PJM Interconnection

The capacity of the resources procured in the auction, plus Fixed Resource Requirement (FRR) resources, is short of PJM’s reliability requirement by 6,623 MW, meaning that the committed supply is less than what would be required to meet the one-event-in-10-year reliability standard of a 20% reserve margin. This does not necessarily mean, however, that the PJM system will be unable to serve load reliability in the delivery year. PJM continues to hold a reserve margin of 14.8%, and there are several mitigating factors that could improve the reliability picture for the system in the 2027/2028 Delivery Year.

Tailored for Scale: Designing Electric Rates and Tariffs for Large Loads, Riu et al., Amazon

The authors found that the Amazon data centers evaluated are not being subsidized by other customers on an individual facility level and, in some cases, have generated surplus utility revenues (defined as revenue above the utility’s cost to serve that specific data center) that can create benefits, such as downward pressure on rates. This finding is based on case studies of Amazon data centers in four utility territories: Pacific Gas & Electric (California), Umatilla Electric Cooperative (Oregon), Dominion Energy (Virginia), and Entergy (Mississippi), representing a wide range of sites, geographic regions, and market structures and sizes. The authors compared each facility’s projected utility revenue (i.e., electricity bill payments) to the estimated utility cost to serve the facility and assessed the delta in 2025 and 2030. Across all cases, the authors found that the data centers generate sufficient revenue to cover their costs and, in many instances, generated surplus revenue, providing a potential net benefit to other ratepayers.

Climate Science and Natural Resource Litigation, Jessica Wentz, Columbia Law School, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Climate change has major implications for sustainable use and conservation of natural resources. Many natural systems are already under severe stress and may be unable to sustain historical use patterns; resource management decisions can also exacerbate or mitigate climate change by affecting the balance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The author describes the legal and scientific basis for recognizing agencies’ obligations to assess and respond to climate change, drawing insights from a survey of U.S. litigation involving forests, fisheries, rangelands, and freshwater resources. Litigants have been somewhat successful in driving more rigorous assessments of climate change. However, agencies still frequently conclude that climate impacts are too uncertain or insignificant to warrant a response, and courts will generally defer unless the agency has overlooked or arbitrarily dismissed actionable scientific information. This underscores the importance of collaboration among resource managers, legal advocates, and scientists to develop, disseminate, and communicate scientific information that can meaningfully inform these decisions.

2025 New York State Energy Plan, Energy Planning Board, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

The authors provide a 15-year outlook through 2040 with direction to guide progress toward an abundant, reliable, affordable, and clean energy system for all New Yorkers. New York’s energy policy and programs support the transition to a cleaner energy system and a more productive economy that drives meaningful benefits to local communities. State actions will also help New Yorkers to manage their energy costs and to equitably participate and share in the benefits of our clean energy future. These are all goals that the State can meet, without sacrificing one for another.

Exploring Advanced Energy Solutions for Rural Colorado, Colorado Energy Office

The authors evaluate the potential and corresponding impacts resulting from the development of advanced firm dispatchable energy technologies in certain locations in rural Colorado. For the purposes of this study, advanced firm dispatchable energy technologies are defined as emerging energy solutions, some of which are not currently commercially available, that provide electric capacity in a reliable manner and that can change power output in response to grid operator requests. “Firm” means the resource is reliable and consistently available, while “dispatchable” refers to the ability to increase or decrease the power output on demand to meet fluctuations in electricity use. Resources that are both firm and dispatchable can operate continuously or be dispatched as needed, which can help maintain grid reliability and stability. The authors examine opportunities to develop these resources in three specific parts of the state including northwestern Colorado, western Montrose County, and southeastern Colorado.

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Posted by Doug Bostrom on Thursday, 25 December, 2025


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