Skeptical Science New Research for Week #1 2024
19 min read
Skeptical Science New Research for Week #1 2024
Posted on 4 January 2024 by Doug Bostrom, Marc Kodack
Open access notables
Rapid Sea Level Rise in the Tropical Southwest Indian Ocean in the Recent Two Decades, Huang et al., Geophysical Research Letters:
It has been reported that the sea level falls in the tropical Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) from the 1960s to the early 2000s. However, a rising trend of 4.05 ± 0.56 cm/decade has occurred during the recent two decades with our analysis showing that manometric sea level contributes 41% to this sea level rise. 30% of this rise is due to steric sea level (SSL) change in the upper 2,000 m with SSL rise in the upper 300 m of secondary importance. Conversely, thermal expansion below the thermocline (300–2,000 m), likely caused by water mass spread from the Southern Ocean, induces major contribution to SSL changes. Compared to existing studies demonstrating the contribution of thermal variations above the thermocline to sea level variability in the tropical SWIO, this study emphasizes the importance of ocean mass and deeper ocean changes in a warming climate.
Projected soil carbon loss with warming in constrained Earth system models, Ren et al., Nature Communications:
The soil carbon-climate feedback is currently the least constrained component of global warming projections, and the major source of uncertainties stems from a poor understanding of soil carbon turnover processes. Here, we assemble data from long-term temperature-controlled soil incubation studies to show that the arctic and boreal region has the shortest intrinsic soil carbon turnover time while tropical forests have the longest one, and current Earth system models overestimate intrinsic turnover time by 30 percent across active, slow and passive carbon pools. Our constraint suggests that the global soils will switch from carbon sink to source, with a loss of 0.22–0.53 petagrams of carbon per year until the end of this century from strong mitigation to worst emission scenarios, suggesting that global soils will provide a strong positive carbon feedback on warming. Such a reversal of global soil carbon balance would lead to a reduction of 66% and 15% in the current estimated remaining carbon budget for limiting global warming well below 1.5 °C and 2 °C, respectively, rendering climate mitigation much more difficult.
Presenting balanced geoengineering information has little effect on mitigation engagement, Merk & Wagner Wagner, Climatic Change:
“Moral hazard” links geoengineering to mitigation via the fear that either solar geoengineering (solar radiation management, SRM) or carbon dioxide removal (CDR) might crowd out the desire to cut emissions. Fear of this crowding-out effect ranks among the most frequently cited risks of (solar) geoengineering. We here test moral hazard versus its inverse in a large-scale, revealed-preference experiment (n ~ 340,000) on Facebook and find little to no support for either outcome. For the most part, talking about SRM or CDR does not motivate our study population to support a large US environmental non-profit’s mission, nor does it turn them off relative to baseline climate messaging, except when using extreme messengers and framings.
Is it Up to Me or Them? Insights from an Experimental Study on Psychological Reactance Towards Climate Change Mitigation Appeals, Bilfinger et al., Environmental Communication:
This study posits the hypothesis that the lack of an individual’s engagement in mitigating climate change might be due to reactance, a motivational psychological state that occurs when one’s perceived freedom to think or act is being threatened. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design (N = 623), we varied how mitigation recommendations for transportation were communicated (individual vs. policy appeal) in an online article. Additionally, we manipulated how directly the need to act was stressed (high- vs. low-controlling language). Outcome measures to capture reactance were perceived threat to freedom, counterarguing, and support for recommended mitigation efforts. Participants in the individual condition reported higher perceived threat to freedom, counterarguing, and showed lower support for the recommendations compared to those in the policy condition. In addition, high-controlling language increased perceptions of freedom threat. Results help clarify public responses to climate change mitigation appeals and offer insights about people’s perspectives on climate change mitigation.
Substantial and increasing global losses of timber-producing forest due to wildfires, Bousfield et al., Nature Geoscience:
One-third of global forest is harvested for timber, generating ~US$1.5 trillion annually. High-severity wildfires threaten this timber production. Here we combine global maps of logging activity and stand-replacing wildfires to assess how much timber-producing forest has been lost to wildfire this century, and quantify spatio-temporal changes in annual area lost. Between 2001 and 2021, 18.5–24.7 million hectares of timber-producing forest—an area the size of Great Britain—experienced stand-replacing wildfires, with extensive burning in the western USA and Canada, Siberian Russia, Brazil and Australia. Annual burned area increased significantly throughout the twenty-first century, pointing to substantial wildfire-driven timber losses under increasingly severe climate change.
Governing the net-zero transition: Strategy, policy, and politics, Meadowcroft & Rosenbloom, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences:
This paper applies insights from the literature on transitions in major consumption–production systems to clarify the nature of the challenge of moving to a net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emission society. It highlights critical features of transitions including their multiactor/multicausal logic, phased development, and distributive impacts. Because current systems are so dependent on fossil energy resources, and on GHG-emitting industrial processes and agricultural practices, multiple transitions across a range of distinct consumption–production systems will be required for net zero. The transformation of each system faces different barriers and enabling conditions and is influenced by varied nonclimate-related disruptions.
Perspectives on funding structures, cross-cultural collaboration and institutional support needed to support the next generation of convergence climate scientists, Blaskey et al., PLOS Climate (opinion):
Climate change presents interrelated ecological, social, economic, and political challenges. Successful adaptation and resiliency efforts require convergent research: an integrative approach that transcends disciplinary boundaries and brings together expertise from across diverse disciplines, nations, cultures, and knowledge systems [1]. Convergent research has emerged as an avenue to facilitate holistic insight into the rapid environmental changes in the Arctic, their ramifications on socio-ecological systems, and the formulation of sustainable mitigation strategies [2]. Given the emerging interest in convergent research approaches that include Indigenous communities by funding agencies [3], there is a need to identify necessary support required for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to use these approaches.
120 articles in 51 journals by 835 contributing authors
Physical science of climate change, effects
Anthropogenic Carbon in the Arctic Ocean: Perspectives From Different Transient Tracers, Raimondi et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023jc019999
Asymmetric Arctic and Antarctic Warming and Its Intermodel Spread in CMIP6, Zhang et al., Journal of Climate Open Access pdf 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0118.1
Observations of climate change, effects
Global increase in tropical cyclone ocean surface waves, Shi et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-023-43532-4
Increased diurnal temperature range in global drylands in more recent decades, Daramola et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access pdf 10.1002/joc.8341
Recent human-induced atmospheric drying across Europe unprecedented in the last 400 years, Treydte et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-023-01335-8
Start&2023&4, Ivanov et al., Open Access pdf 10.3897/bdj.11.e100521.figure4
The impact of extreme heat on lake warming in China, Wang et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-023-44404-7
Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects
Continuity between NASA MODIS Collection 6.1 and VIIRS Collection 2 land products, Román et al., Remote Sensing of Environment Open Access 10.1016/j.rse.2023.113963
The 1991–2020 sea surface temperature normals, Yin et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access pdf 10.1002/joc.8350
Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects
Buffering Effect of Atmosphere–Ocean Coupling on Intensity Changes of Tropical Cyclones Under a Changing Climate, Kanada & Aiki, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl105659
Climate Change Response of Tropical Atlantic Clouds in a Kilometer-Resolution Model, Heim & Schär Schär, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023jd038947
Effects of CO $$&2$$ vegetation forcing on precipitation and heat extremes in China, Chen et al., Climate Dynamics Open Access 10.1007/s00382-023-07046-5
Intense Tropical Cyclones in the Western North Pacific Under Global Warming: A Dynamical Downscaling Approach, Chih et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2023jd038598
Mutating ENSO Impact on Northwest Pacific Tropical Cyclones Under Global Warming, Shi et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl105864
Precipitation Scaling in Extreme Rainfall Events and the Implications for Future Indian Monsoon: Analysis of High-Resolution Global Climate Model Simulations, Varghese et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl105680
Robust changes in global subtropical circulation under greenhouse warming, Zhou et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-023-44244-5
Simulation of extreme precipitation changes in Central Asia using CMIP6 under different climate scenarios, Huang et al., Theoretical and Applied Climatology 10.1007/s00704-023-04802-9
Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection
Asymptotic Matching between Weather and Climate Models, Miura et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Open Access pdf 10.1175/bams-d-22-0128.1
Comparison of methods to estimate aerosol effective radiative forcings in climate models, Zelinka et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access 10.5194/acp-23-8879-2023
Validation of Two Newly Developed Albedo Schemes Based on the Observations Over the Region With Evergreen Broadleaved Forest in Southern China, Wang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2023jd038682
Cryosphere & climate change
A New Method of Diagnosing the Historical and Projected Changes in Permafrost on the Tibetan Plateau, Li et al., Earth’s Future Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023ef003897
A New Method of Diagnosing the Historical and Projected Changes in Permafrost on the Tibetan Plateau, Li et al., Earth’s Future Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023ef003897
Drivers of contemporary and future changes in Arctic seasonal transition dates for a tundra site in coastal Greenland, Liu et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.17118
The Impact of Bare Ice Duration and Geo-Topographical Factors on the Darkening of the Greenland Ice Sheet, Feng et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl104894
Sea level & climate change
Rapid Sea Level Rise in the Tropical Southwest Indian Ocean in the Recent Two Decades, Huang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl106011
Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry
A Model-Data Comparison of the Hydrological Response to Miocene Warmth: Leveraging the MioMIP1 Opportunistic Multi-Model Ensemble, Acosta et al., Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023pa004726
Biotic Response of Plankton Communities to Middle to Late Miocene Monsoon Wind and Nutrient Flux Changes in the Oman Margin Upwelling Zone, Auer et al., Climate of the Past Open Access pdf 10.5194/cp-19-2313-2023
Clay minerals store organic carbon and cool Earth’s climate over millions of years, , Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-023-01353-6
Detecting Paleoclimate Transitions With Laplacian Eigenmaps of Recurrence Matrices (LERM), James et al., Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology Open Access 10.1029/2023pa004700
Influence of plate reference frames on deep-time climate simulations, Zhang et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104352
Biology & climate change, related geochemistry
Active around the year: Butterflies and moths adapt their life cycles to a warming world, Habel et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.17103
Anthropogenic climate change drives non-stationary phytoplankton internal variability, Elsworth et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-20-4477-2023
Atmospheric drying and soil drying: Differential effects on grass community composition, Huynh et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.17106
Benthic functionality under climate-induced environment changes offshore on the Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf, Mohd Nasir et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106341
Changes in evapotranspiration, transpiration and evaporation across natural and managed landscapes in the Amazon, Cerrado and Pantanal biomes, D’Acunha et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Open Access 10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109875
Climate impacts to inland fishes: Shifting research topics over time, Lynch et al., PLOS Climate Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000326
Climate warming restructures food webs and carbon flow in high-latitude ecosystems, Manlick et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-023-01893-0
Human activity and climate change accelerate the extinction risk to non-human primates in China, Li et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.17114
Intensified Structural Overshoot Aggravates Drought Impacts on Dryland Ecosystems, Zhang et al., Earth’s Future Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023ef003977
Lake Superior’s summer cooling of shorelines and adjacent inland forests: Implications for refugia of boreal forests and disjunct arctic–alpine plants, Hillman & Nielsen, Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.10833
More than 17,000 tree species are at risk from rapid global change, Boonman et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-023-44321-9
Predicting microbial adaptability to climate change in the Anthropocene, Qian & Wang, Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.17122
Projected climate and canopy change lead to thermophilization and homogenization of forest floor vegetation in a hotspot of plant species richness, Braziunas et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.17121
Role of Atlantification in Enhanced Primary Productivity in the Barents Sea, Noh et al., Earth’s Future Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023ef003709
The vulnerability of World Heritage seagrass habitats to climate change, Losciale et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.17113
GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry
A Greenhouse Gas Budget for Mexico During 2000–2019, Murray?Tortarolo et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 10.1029/2023jg007667
Carbon Stocks and Potential Greenhouse Gas Production of Permafrost-Affected Active Floodplains in the Lena River Delta, Herbst et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023jg007590
Climate warming restructures food webs and carbon flow in high-latitude ecosystems, Manlick et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-023-01893-0
Differences in organic carbon accumulation in mangrove soils due to foraging by herbivorous crabs, Zhang et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106332
Elevation and temperature are strong predictors of long-term carbon accumulation across tropical Andean mountain peatlands, Hribljan et al., Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 10.1007/s11027-023-10089-y
Impact of Marine Heatwaves on Air-Sea CO2 Flux Along the US East Coast, Edwing et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl105363
Net Methane Production Predicted by Patch Characteristics in a Freshwater Wetland, Sharp et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023jg007814
Post-fire soil carbon emission rates along boreal forest fire chronosequences in northwest Canada show significantly higher emission potentials from permafrost soils compared to non-permafrost soils, Köster et al., Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.3389/fevo.2023.1331018
Projected soil carbon loss with warming in constrained Earth system models, Ren et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-023-44433-2
Relative importance between nitrification and denitrification to N2O from a global perspective, Han et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.17082
Relative increases in CH4 and CO2 emissions from wetlands under global warming dependent on soil carbon substrates, Hu et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-023-01345-6
Size matters: Aerobic methane oxidation in sediments of shallow thermokarst lakes, Manasypov et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.17120
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
Standards and Open Access are the ICOS Pillars: Reply to “Comments on ‘The Integrated Carbon Observation System in Europe’”, Papale et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Open Access pdf 10.1175/bams-d-23-0216.1
The Coastal Carbon Library and Atlas: Open source soil data and tools supporting blue carbon research and policy, Holmquist et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.17098
The Flux You Say?: Comments on “The Integrated Carbon Observation System in Europe”, Kowalski, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Open Access pdf 10.1175/bams-d-22-0274.1
Trade-off in the partitioning of recent photosynthate carbon under global change, Li et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.17110
CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering
Performance evaluation of CO2 capture on using potential adsorbents in a CI engine exhaust–An experimental investigation, Ravi et al., Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology 10.1002/ghg.2256
Decarbonization
Analyzing incentives and barriers to electric vehicle adoption in the United States, Javadnejad et al., Environment Systems and Decisions 10.1007/s10669-023-09958-3
Aquatic plant Nymphaea mexicana as a viable feedstock for second-generation biofuel production, Rashid et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability 10.1007/s10668-023-04310-w
Can green hydrogen production be used to mitigate ocean deoxygenation? A scenario from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Wallace et al., Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change Open Access pdf 10.1007/s11027-023-10094-1
Decarbonisation Index (DCI): an LCA-based key performance indicator for the automotive industry, Neef et al., The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment Open Access pdf 10.1007/s11367-023-02247-w
Evaluation and performance comparison of different models for global solar radiation forecasting: a case study on five cities, Ali et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1007/s10668-023-04307-5
Sulfion oxidation assisting self-powered hydrogen production system based on efficient catalysts from spent lithium-ion batteries, Wang et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access pdf 10.1073/pnas.2317174120
Geoengineering climate
Presenting balanced geoengineering information has little effect on mitigation engagement, Merk & Wagner Wagner, Climatic Change Open Access pdf 10.1007/s10584-023-03671-5
Climate change communications & cognition
American Perceptions and Attitudes about Domestic Climate Migrants and Migration, Harris et al., Weather, Climate, and Society 10.1175/wcas-d-23-0020.1
Experts and expertise in practices of citizen engagement in climate policy: a comparative analysis of two contrasting cases, van Beek et al., Climatic Change Open Access 10.1007/s10584-023-03659-1
Impact of climate change awareness on household attitude toward food waste reduction, Nwankwo-Ojionu et al., Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences 10.1007/s13412-023-00883-0
Is it Up to Me or Them? Insights from an Experimental Study on Psychological Reactance Towards Climate Change Mitigation Appeals, Bilfinger et al., Environmental Communication Open Access pdf 10.1080/17524032.2023.2296844
When Corporations Care: A Reassessment of the Debunking Paradigm in Environmental Communication, Aronczyk, Environmental Communication 10.1080/17524032.2023.2296836
Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change
A systematic literature review of factors influencing the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices, Li et al., Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 10.1007/s11027-023-10098-x
Assessment of impacts of adaptation measures on rice farm economic performance in response to climate change: Case study in Vietnam, Nam et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability 10.1007/s10668-023-04301-x
Diversifying crop rotation increases food production, reduces net greenhouse gas emissions and improves soil health, Yang et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-023-44464-9
Economic valuation of climate induced losses to aquaculture for evaluating climate information services in Bangladesh, Islam et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2023.100582
Effects of climate and winter cover crops on nutrient loss in agricultural watersheds in the midwestern U.S., Hamlet et al., Climatic Change 10.1007/s10584-023-03656-4
Examining the effects of climate change adaptation on technical efficiency of rice production, Liu et al., Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 10.1007/s11027-023-10092-3
Farmers’ perceptions of climate change affect their adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies in the Brazilian Amazon and Atlantic Forest biomes, Tanure et al., Climatic Change 10.1007/s10584-023-03657-3
How state governance can offer a new paradigm to energy transition in Indian agriculture?, Chatterjee, Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113965
Net greenhouse gas balance in U.S. croplands: How can soils be part of the climate solution?, You et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.17109
Projected irrigation demand for large-scale rice granary under future climate scenarios based on CMIP6 multi-GCM ensemble: a case study of Kerian Irrigation Scheme, Malaysia, Nasir et al., Theoretical and Applied Climatology 10.1007/s00704-023-04812-7
Substantial and increasing global losses of timber-producing forest due to wildfires, Bousfield et al., Nature Geoscience Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41561-023-01323-y
Sugarcane farmers’ perceptions of climate change and their “adaptation” methods in Fiji: adaptation for the industry or for their livelihood?, Rayman, Beyond the Bottom Line Open Access 10.1007/978-1-137-04513-3_2
The Impact of Livelihood Capitals on Farmers’ Adoption of Climate-smart Agriculture Practices: Evidence from Rice Production in the Jianghan Plain, China, Tong et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2023.100583
Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change
A Comprehensive Biogeochemical Assessment of Climate-Threatened Glacial River Headwaters on the Eastern Slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, Serbu et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023jg007745
Higher emissions scenarios lead to more extreme flooding in the United States, Kim & Villarini, Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-023-44415-4
Influence of large-scale climate indices and regional meteorological elements on drought characteristics in the Luanhe River Basin, Li et al., Atmospheric Research 10.1016/j.atmosres.2024.107219
Modeling the Water Systems of the Western US to Support Climate-Resilient Electricity System Planning, Yates et al., Earth’s Future Open Access pdf 10.1029/2022ef003220
Climate change economics
Climate stress testing in the financial industry, Weber, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability Open Access 10.1016/j.cosust.2023.101401
Compounding Uncertainties in Economic and Population Growth Increase Tail Risks for Relevant Outcomes Across Sectors, Kanyako et al., Earth’s Future Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023ef003930
Dissecting climate change risk and financial market instability: Implications for ecological risk management, Ma et al., Risk Analysis 10.1111/risa.14265
The potential of wealth taxation to address the triple climate inequality crisis, Chancel et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-023-01891-2
Climate change mitigation public policy research
Blinded by sunspots: Revealing the multidimensional and intersectional inequities of solar energy in India, Stock & Sovacool, Global Environmental Change 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102796
Determinants of consumption-based and production-based carbon emissions, Emenekwe et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability 10.1007/s10668-023-04311-9
Differential carbon footprint resulting from cooking fuels: a cross-sectional study in rural and urban setup of Kalyani Region, District Nadia, West Bengal, Dey et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability 10.1007/s10668-023-04325-3
Experts and expertise in practices of citizen engagement in climate policy: a comparative analysis of two contrasting cases, van Beek et al., Climatic Change Open Access 10.1007/s10584-023-03659-1
Farmers’ perceptions of climate change affect their adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies in the Brazilian Amazon and Atlantic Forest biomes, Tanure et al., Climatic Change 10.1007/s10584-023-03657-3
Governing the net-zero transition: Strategy, policy, and politics, Meadowcroft & Rosenbloom, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access pdf 10.1073/pnas.2207727120
Mitigating carbon emissions: the role of Chinese foreign direct investment in Ghana, Gyimah et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability 10.1007/s10668-023-04336-0
Policy options to mitigate the fiscal impact of road transport decarbonization: Application to Costa Rica, Victor-Gallardo et al., Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113958
The landscape of European policies in the power sector: first-mover advantages, Govorukha et al., Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change Open Access pdf 10.1007/s11027-023-10081-6
The unfolding low-carbon transition in the UK electricity system, Pearson & Watson, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access pdf 10.1073/pnas.2206235120
Transforming the grid for a more environmentally and socially sustainable electricity system in Great Britain is a slow and uneven process, Lockwood, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access pdf 10.1073/pnas.2207825120
Who is most affected by carbon tax? Evidence from Chinese residents in the context of aging, Yu et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113956
Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research
Adaptation requires attuning to shifting temporal patterns, Bremer et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-023-01899-8
Climate-resilient development in developing countries, Sánchez Rodríguez & Fernández Carril , Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability Open Access 10.1016/j.cosust.2023.101391
Incremental and transformational adaptation to climate change among Indigenous Peoples and local communities: a global review, Zant et al., Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change Open Access pdf 10.1007/s11027-023-10095-0
The next generation of machine learning for tracking adaptation texts, Sietsma et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-023-01890-3
Climate change impacts on human health
Identifying heat thresholds for South Africa towards the development of a heat-health warning system, Kapwata et al., International Journal of Biometeorology Open Access pdf 10.1007/s00484-023-02596-z
Premature Deaths Due To Heat Exposure: The Potential Effects of Neighborhood-Level Versus City-Level Acclimatization Within US Cities, Shindell et al., GeoHealth Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gh000970
Other
Performance of Fire Danger Indices and Their Utility in Predicting Future Wildfire Danger Over the Conterminous United States, Yu et al., Earth’s Future Open Access 10.1029/2023ef003823
Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives
Accelerating actions for leveraging a climate-neutral sustainable society, Kainuma et al., Sustainability Science Open Access pdf 10.1007/s11625-023-01445-7
Critical hydrologic impacts from climate change: addressing an urgent global need, Falk et al., Sustainability Science Open Access pdf 10.1007/s11625-023-01428-8
Editorial: Carbon sequestration in forest plantation ecosystems, Chen et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access pdf 10.3389/ffgc.2023.1343488
ESD Ideas: Arctic amplification’s contribution to breaches of the Paris Agreement, Duffey et al., Open Access pdf 10.5194/egusphere-2023-810
Perspectives on funding structures, cross-cultural collaboration and institutional support needed to support the next generation of convergence climate scientists, Blaskey et al., PLOS Climate Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000330
Tackling inequality is essential for behaviour change for net zero, Kukowski & Garnett, Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-023-01900-4
The Future in Anthropocene Science, Keys et al., Earth’s Future Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023ef003820
The potential of wealth taxation to address the triple climate inequality crisis, Chancel et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-023-01891-2
Thirty years of climate change research: A fine-grained analysis of geographical specialization, Debernardi et al., Environmental Science & Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.envsci.2023.103663
US–China science collaboration to solve global grand challenges, Beachy & Seto, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access pdf 10.1073/pnas.2320207120
Obtaining articles without journal subscriptions
We know it’s frustrating that many articles we cite here are not free to read. One-off paid access fees are generally astronomically priced, suitable for such as “On a Heuristic Point of View Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light” but not as a gamble on unknowns. With a median world income of US$ 9,373, for most of us US$ 42 is significant money to wager on an article’s relevance and importance.
- Unpaywall offers a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that automatically indicates when an article is freely accessible and provides immediate access without further trouble. Unpaywall is also unscammy, works well, is itself offered free to use. The organizers (a legitimate nonprofit) report about a 50% success rate
- The weekly New Research catch is checked against the Unpaywall database with accessible items being flagged. Especially for just-published articles this mechansim may fail. If you’re interested in an article title and it is not listed here as “open access,” be sure to check the link anyway.
How is New Research assembled?
Most articles appearing here are found via RSS feeds from journal publishers, filtered by search terms to produce raw output for assessment of relevance.
Relevant articles are then queried against the Unpaywall database, to identify open access articles and expose useful metadata for articles appearing in the database.
The objective of New Research isn’t to cast a tinge on scientific results, to color readers’ impressions. Hence candidate articles are assessed via two metrics only:
- Was an article deemed of sufficient merit by a team of journal editors and peer reviewers? The fact of journal RSS output assigns a “yes” to this automatically.
- Is an article relevant to the topic of anthropogenic climate change? Due to filter overlap with other publication topics of inquiry, of a typical week’s 550 or so input articles about 1/4 of RSS output makes the cut.
A few journals offer public access to “preprint” versions of articles for which the review process is not yet complete. For some key journals this all the mention we’ll see in RSS feeds, so we include such items in New Research. These are flagged as “preprint.”
The section “Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives” includes some items that are not scientific research per se but fall instead into the category of “perspectives,” observations of implications of research findings, areas needing attention, etc.
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