Climate-change impacts articles from across Nature Portfolio

The economic stakes that impede the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the agrifood sector are high. In the European Union and UK, three dietary transition scenarios representing moderate, low and zero animal-sourced food consumption are estimated to lead to €61 billion, €168 billion and €255 billion in stranded assets, respectively.

A Europe-wide probabilistic assessment of coastal flood risk to road and rail infrastructure, at different levels of global warming, shows that each increment of warming amplifies flood damage. Smaller economies face the greatest relative economic impacts, and several countries will need to increase and potentially realign transport investments towards climate resilience.

Global drifter data reveal that tropical cyclone-induced sea surface cooling in storm-affected areas is far weaker than indicated by estimates from microwave satellites and state-of-the-art climate models. Despite enhanced self-induced cooling driven by greenhouse warming, tropical cyclones are fuelled by a sea surface warming trend that is about twice the tropical mean warming.

This Review describes recent evidence on how climate change and extreme weather can cause social isolation and loneliness, along with the benefits of social connection during such events.

Global heat stress has increased, with 52% of land area showing rising mean intensity and 67% showing more extreme heat stress days. Anthropogenic climate change dominates these trends and widens inequalities across economies.

CO₂-driven warming reduces phosphorus availability in rice paddies by promoting its binding with iron and organic carbon in the soil, according to a ten-year experiment using a free-air CO₂ enrichment system to simulate in situ climate warming.

Ocean salinity could change as the climate warms. Here the authors show that the South Indian Ocean has freshened most of the Southern Hemisphere oceans and highlight the mechanisms behind this freshening, as well as the implications for Indian Ocean stratification and structure.

Climate change is tightening its grip on the world’s drinking water, threatening both safety and supply. Without urgent and coordinated adaptation of treatment systems, this overlooked vulnerability could compromise global water security.

As climate change intensifies, healthcare systems will increasingly face unprecedented climatic emergencies surpassing assumptions underlying their emergency protocols. While conventional scenario-based preparedness and contingency planning will remain relevant for most events, they may falter in unexpected crises. In such cases, a threshold-based framework could become essential for hospital response and resilience. Emerging AI agent technology offers opportunities to develop systems that could drive this paradigm shift in hospital climate preparedness.

The economic stakes that impede the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the agrifood sector are high. In the European Union and UK, three dietary transition scenarios representing moderate, low and zero animal-sourced food consumption are estimated to lead to €61 billion, €168 billion and €255 billion in stranded assets, respectively.

The health effects of climate change are unequal, so adaptation policies must prioritize the most affected communities.

A Europe-wide probabilistic assessment of coastal flood risk to road and rail infrastructure, at different levels of global warming, shows that each increment of warming amplifies flood damage. Smaller economies face the greatest relative economic impacts, and several countries will need to increase and potentially realign transport investments towards climate resilience.