Nature Climate Change Contents: August 2017 Volume 7 Number 8 pp 535-610

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Advertisement Measure ecosystem-level gas exchange Announcing the EddyFlux System for simplified eddy covariance measurements. Included is the new LI-7500DS Open Path CO2/H2O Analyzer in a lower cost configuration, with even lower power requirements. See the new EddyFlux System TABLE OF CONTENTS August 2017 Volume 7, Issue 8 Editorial Correspondence Commentaries Feature Research Highlights News and Views Letters Articles Advertisement   KAUST Discovery: Research into sustainable agriculture Plant Scientist Mark Tester's research into growing crops on poor-quality soils or on otherwise barren land is discovering some ground-breaking findings. Find out more on how Tester's research could one day help feed the world.  Read more here >> Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement Chatham House Climate Change conference  9-10 October 2017 Major political changes have impacted global action on climate change. In this context, the ambitions of policy-makers to tackle this issue needs to be reassessed. In the lead-up to the 'global stocktake' in 2018, the challenges of emissions reductions persist and a step change is needed to achieve the Paris Agreement.   Advertisement Focus on sustainable materials To ensure the sustainable development of our planet, we need to consider the implications of the materials we use on the ecosystem and society. This Focus from Nature Materials discusses strategies to assess the life-cycle environmental impact of materials and to make the production of key commodities more sustainable. READ THE FOCUS NOW   Advertisement Springer Nature offers a free open access funding support service to enable authors to discover and apply for article processing charge funding available to them. Visit our website for further advice on the funding options available, and guidance in approaching funders and institutions, or email openaccess@nature.com for more information.     Editorial Top Choices to be made p535 doi:10.1038/nclimate3367 Local and regional authorities are making climate-conscious choices, whilst climate change impacts will soon mean individuals need to make choices to survive. Correspondence Top Pragmatic disaster loss assessment p536 J. Handmer, M. A. Ladds and L. Magee doi:10.1038/nclimate3349 Commentaries Top Cities spearhead climate action pp537 - 538 Mark Watts doi:10.1038/nclimate3358 Following President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, cities worldwide have pledged support to combat climate change. Along with a growing coalition of businesses and institutions, cities represent a beacon of hope for carbon reduction in politically tumultuous times. Stop preaching to the converted pp538 - 540 Asheley R. Landrum and Robert B. Lull doi:10.1038/nclimate3355 Traditional moral arguments fail to persuade conservative climate sceptics. Pope Francis' gifting of his climate encyclical to President Trump prior to his leaving the Paris Agreement shows that even a religious leader's persuasive power is constrained by how his message resonates with conservative moral values. Impacts of the Larsen-C Ice Shelf calving event pp540 - 542 Anna E. Hogg and G. Hilmar Gudmundsson doi:10.1038/nclimate3359 A giant iceberg has calved off the Larsen-C Ice Shelf, the largest remaining ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, reducing its total area by ~10%. Whilst calving events are a natural phenomenon and thus not necessarily indicative of changing environmental conditions, such events can impact ice-shelf stability. Feature Top Businesses lead where US falters pp543 - 546 Erica Gies doi:10.1038/nclimate3360 The Paris Agreement requires commitments from countries to take action and reduce emissions, but the corporate world is also looking at its contribution to mitigation. Research Highlights Top Glaciology: Cloud loss melts Greenland | Mental health: Flood-induced displacement | Biogeochemistry: Primary production uncertainty | Media: Mitigation focus News and Views Top Sea-level-rise impacts: Questioning inevitable migration pp548 - 549 Dominic Kniveton doi:10.1038/nclimate3346 It is assumed that sea-level rise due to climate change will be so severe that those living near sea level will be forced to relocate. However, new research around a series of islands that have suffered subsidence due to a recent earthquake suggests that instead, island residents remain and use a range of strategies to adapt to regular flooding. See also: Article by Ma. Laurice Jamero et al. Climate dynamics: Land warming revives monsoon pp549 - 550 Mathew Koll Roxy doi:10.1038/nclimate3356 A weakening land–ocean temperature difference, owing to a rapidly warming Indian Ocean, has seen the Indian monsoon trending downward since the 1950s. New research gives hope for a revival in monsoon rainfall as land warming catches up with, and exceeds, ocean warming. See also: Article by Qinjian Jin et al. Nature Climate Change JOBS of the week University Professor for Climate Change and Health The Charité Center 1 for Health and Human Sciences and the Berlin School of Public Health (BSPH) in a joint appointment with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Senior Lecturer / Associate Professor in Plant Biology Macquarie University Earth System Dynamics and Trajectories in Past and Future (work location Germany) Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) Earth System Dynamics and Trajectories in Past and Future (work location Sweden) Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University More Science jobs from Nature Climate Change EVENT Climate action in support of the Paris Agreement - SISC V ANNUAL CONFERENCE 26.10.17 Bologna, Italy More science events from Advertisement Nature Insight  Biodiversity Rotation 1: Highlighting the origins of Earth's biodiversity and how rapid increases in the human population are putting it to the test. Rotation 2: Access the Insight online   Letters Top Climate impacts of oil extraction increase significantly with oilfield age pp551 - 556 Mohammad S. Masnadi and Adam R. Brandt doi:10.1038/nclimate3347 The footprint of oil typically considers combustion emissions, neglecting extraction emissions. This study shows that production declines with depletion for 25 significant oil fields, whilst emissions increase through greater energy expenditure. Balancing Europe’s wind-power output through spatial deployment informed by weather regimes pp557 - 562 Christian M. Grams, Remo Beerli, Stefan Pfenninger, Iain Staffell and Heini Wernli doi:10.1038/nclimate3338 Weather regimes drive variability in wind-power generation across Europe, affecting energy security. Strategically deployed wind turbines in regions of contrasting weather regime behaviour can be used to balance wind capacity and minimize output variability. Importance of the pre-industrial baseline for likelihood of exceeding Paris goals pp563 - 567 Andrew P. Schurer, Michael E. Mann, Ed Hawkins, Simon F. B. Tett and Gabriele C. Hegerl doi:10.1038/nclimate3345 In order to meet internationally agreed temperature limits, it is important to have a defined baseline. This study shows for low-emission scenarios the likelihood and timing of exceedance are highly dependent on the baseline, as are allowable carbon emissions. Continued increase of extreme El Niño frequency long after 1.5 °C warming stabilization pp568 - 572 Guojian Wang, Wenju Cai, Bolan Gan, Lixin Wu, Agus Santoso, Xiaopei Lin, Zhaohui Chen and Michael J. McPhaden doi:10.1038/nclimate3351 CMIP5 simulations reveal that the frequency of extreme El Niño events doubles under the 1.5 °C Paris target, and continues to increase long after global temperatures stabilize due to emission reductions. Extreme La Niña events, however, see little change at either 1.5° or 2 °C warming. The limits of modifying migration speed to adjust to climate change pp573 - 576 Heiko Schmaljohann and Christiaan Both doi:10.1038/nclimate3336 Analysis synthesizing 49 tracking studies shows that flexibility in the major determinant of migration duration is insufficient to adjust to ongoing climate change, and is unlikely to explain many of the changes in arrival timing already observed. Human disturbance and upward expansion of plants in a warming climate pp577 - 580 Matteo Dainese, Sami Aikio, Philip E. Hulme, Alessio Bertolli, Filippo Prosser and Lorenzo Marini doi:10.1038/nclimate3337 A large proportion of European alpine plants are able to spread upslope faster than current climate velocities. Nevertheless, invasive species tend to be particularly effective dispersers, making them an additional pressure on the vulnerable native flora. Articles Top Small-island communities in the Philippines prefer local measures to relocation in response to sea-level rise pp581 - 586 Ma. Laurice Jamero, Motoharu Onuki, Miguel Esteban, Xyza Kristina Billones-Sensano, Nicholson Tan, Angelie Nellas, Hiroshi Takagi, Nguyen Danh Thao and Ven Paolo Valenzuela doi:10.1038/nclimate3344 It is often assumed that increased flooding due to sea-level rise will lead to mass migration. However, this study shows that residents of island communities in the Philippines prefer to implement local adaptation measures in response to frequent severe flooding rather than relocate. See also: News and Views by Dominic Kniveton A revival of Indian summer monsoon rainfall since 2002 pp587 - 594 Qinjian Jin and Chien Wang doi:10.1038/nclimate3348 Since ∼1950, a significant reduction in Indian monsoon rainfall has been observed. Here, it is shown that land–ocean temperature contrasts have produced more favourable monsoon conditions since 2002, reviving summer monsoon rainfall over India. See also: News and Views by Mathew Koll Roxy Localized rapid warming of West Antarctic subsurface waters by remote winds pp595 - 603 Paul Spence, Ryan M. Holmes, Andrew McC. Hogg, Stephen M. Griffies, Kial D. Stewart and Matthew H. England doi:10.1038/nclimate3335 The subsurface waters west of the Antarctic Peninsula are warming rapidly. This study shows that changes in coastal winds in East Antarctica are remotely impacting this region and drive the upwelling of warm deep water. Arctic sea-ice decline weakens the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation pp604 - 610 Florian Sévellec, Alexey V. Fedorov and Wei Liu doi:10.1038/nclimate3353 Sea-ice loss has exposed the Arctic Ocean to anomalous heat and freshwater. Climate model experiments suggest that these changes, particularly on multi-decadal timescales, may explain the observed slow-down in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Advertisement Nature Communications sea-level rise collection An evolving collection of the latest sea-level rise research published in Nature Communications, editorially curated and updated periodically. The collection draws together articles examining different aspects of this field, from observations and drivers of sea-level variability, to ice sheet dynamics and their contribution to sea-level rise, to coastal vulnerability to flooding and extreme sea levels.  Explore the collection   Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. The contents of the Natureevents Directory are now live. The digital version is available here. Find the latest scientific conferences, courses, meetings and symposia on natureevents.com. For event advertising opportunities across the Nature Research portfolio please contact natureevents@nature.com More Nature Events

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