The effects of climate change encompass the biophysical and socio-environmental consequences arising from long-term shifts in climate variables driven primarily by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Key effects include increased global mean surface and ocean temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, sea-level rise via thermal expansion and cryosphere melt, and increased frequency and intensity of heatwaves, droughts, extreme precipitation events, and some categories of tropical cyclones. These changes cascade into impacts on hydrological regimes, ecosystem structure and function, species distributions, biogeochemical cycles, agricultural productivity, human health, and infrastructure, often interacting nonlinearly and amplifying existing environmental and socioeconomic vulnerabilities.
Under a blazing sun, workers crouch on a shrinking island off India's southern coast, threading bright green seagrass shoots onto wooden frames before anchoring them to the ocean floor.
Ecology
Sep 29, 2026
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21
Changes in rainfall can trigger increases in rodent populations and subsequent spikes in infection, new research has found, revealing how a changing climate could have consequences for human health.
Ecology
Sep 28, 2026
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9
California's iconic coast redwoods are used to growing in cool, coastal areas where the average temperature is around 59 degrees F (15 degrees Celsius). But as average yearly temperatures rise and heat waves push temperatures ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 28, 2026
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33
Australia's first mandatory climate reporting regime is now upon us. Since January 2025, organizations across the economy have been required to comply with AASB S2. It requires organizations to assess their climate risks ...
Environment
Sep 28, 2026
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9
Wildfires, floods and other extreme weather events are no longer the only ways climate change affects children around the world. Increasingly, it also affects their diets. Droughts reduce agricultural production, floods cut ...
Environment
Sep 25, 2026
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29
Returning global temperatures to a climate target does not necessarily undo the damage caused by exceeding it, new Concordia-led research published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment finds.
Earth Sciences
Sep 25, 2026
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27
Dryland ecosystems cover 40% of the Earth's land surface and support more than 2 billion people. According to a new study published in Nature Climate Change, they're becoming increasingly unstable.
Earth Sciences
Sep 25, 2026
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22
In northeastern North America, a stretch of mountains runs 500 miles (800 kilometers) from the Adirondacks in New York to the Gaspé Peninsula in eastern Quebec. Nearly 70 million people live within a day's drive of one of ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 25, 2026
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47
The flora of the Alps is changing: Species are moving to higher elevations, new plants are appearing and others are disappearing.
Ecology
Sep 24, 2026
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12
The Beast from the East ravaged much of the U.K. and Europe in February and March 2018, bringing severe storms, snow showers and bitter winds. But as the climate changes, rising average temperatures will affect the severity ...
Environment
Sep 24, 2026
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11
