Comment

Soil models include a key parameter known as carbon use efficiency, which impacts estimates of global carbon storage by determining the flow of carbon into soil pools versus the atmosphere. Microbial-explicit versions of these models are due for an update that recasts carbon use efficiency as an output variable emerging from microbial metabolism.

The hottest boreal summer on record has driven widespread humid heat mortality across every continent of the Northern Hemisphere. With critical physiological limits to human heat tolerance drawing ever closer, this Comment highlights the urgent need to limit further climate warming and emphasizes the adaptation challenge ahead.

A carbon tax will not curb current emissions in sub-Saharan Africa and is unlikely to prevent future carbon lock-in effects. Meanwhile, a carbon tax could hit the poor in this region, thus the international community should be careful in pushing sub-Saharan Africa towards carbon taxation.

Recent discussions have raised concerns about the long-term effectiveness of coral reef restoration efforts, questioning whether current interventions can effectively address the ongoing loss of reef ecosystems. However, details matter and vary greatly with respect to scale, social context and benefits, and diverse approaches are needed to maintain functional coral reef ecosystems.

There is a closing window of opportunity to ensure a sustainable future for all, with deep and rapid action needed this decade. Inclusive and just climate resilient development advances sustainable development and keeps open pathways to a liveable planet but requires urgent and fundamental shifts in prevailing development politics and practice.

Climate change poses a substantial threat to global health by altering environmental conditions and impacting vaccine effectiveness. We explore how climate change impacts vaccines and worsens inequities, highlighting the need for further research and targeted interventions.

Record-breaking temperatures pose critical risks to the global food supply, particularly endangering fresh produce. Urgent enhancements in food safety measures, including re-evaluating the impact of food production, improving cold chain logistics and adapting dietary practices, are required to ensure the resilience of food systems and public health.

The dominant paradigm holding that science is always objective needs to be challenged. When scientists’ opinions about climate change and their own fears are seen as irrelevant, it suggests that science is separate from society; however, this perspective ultimately weakens climate science.

The IPCC holds the gold standard for climate change scientific knowledge and authority at the science–policy interface. Here we reflect on our experience of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report and discuss how diversity in authorship and inclusion of different disciplinary backgrounds can be improved.

Night-time activities substantially impact climate change yet remain widely overlooked in climate research and action. We advocate for incorporating night studies into discussions surrounding climate socio-ecological dynamics to develop equitable and effective adaptation and mitigation strategies, especially in cities.

Large animal conservation and rewilding are increasingly considered to be viable climate mitigation strategies. We argue that overstating animal roles in carbon capture may hinder, rather than facilitate, effective climate mitigation and conservation efforts.

US healthcare contributes 8.5% of national greenhouse gas emissions, but its policies to guide mitigation and waste reduction are underdeveloped. We recommend national policies to streamline the adoption of best practices, address implementation challenges to achieve net-zero goals and serve as useful exemplars for other nations.

Climate impacts are triggering a host of novel bio- and geoengineering interventions to save coral reefs. This Comment challenges heroic scientific assumptions and advocates for a more systemic, evidence-based approach to caring for coral reefs.

Reef-building corals are declining globally, putting important ecosystem services at risk. Here we discuss the potential risks and benefits of coral ecological replacement, in which new species are introduced to replace the functional roles of species that have declined or disappeared.

Coral reefs are at risk from ongoing climate change. We can best serve the reefs by invoking realistic scenarios, empiricism, artificial intelligence and falsification to self-correct the current scientific limits that hinder climate science predictions, communication and policies.

Currently, no comprehensive scientific methodology of corporate risk quantification, in response to new disclosure regulations, has been proposed in the literature. Here we develop fundamental principles that are important for the appropriate use of climate scenario science in transition risk assessments.

Projections of the future climate of small island states and territories are currently limited by the coarse resolution of models. We call for rapid global and regional cooperation to develop projections compatible with small island scales, providing relevant local information and decision-making tools.

Adaptation evidence and knowledge are diverse and unequally represented in global adaptation discourse. The Adaptation Futures 2023 conference sought to bring this diversity together to advance more inclusive and impactful adaptation science, and confronted both the benefits and the trade-offs that this effort entails.

To accept carbon pricing, citizens desire viable alternatives to fossil fuel-based options. As inflation and higher interest rates have exacerbated access barriers for capital-intensive green substitutes, the political success of carbon pricing will be measured by how well policy design enables consumers to switch.

Recent policy progress in the United States shows how populism can help advance climate goals, but at a steep cost. Avoiding setbacks will require curbing protectionist reflexes and harnessing opportunities for global cooperation.