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Ten new insights in climate science 2025

Daniel Ospina·Paula Mirazo·Richard P. Allan·Smriti Basnett·Ana Bastos·Nishan Bhattarai·Wendy Broadgate·Derik J. Broekhoff·Mercedes Bustamante·Deliang Chen·Yeonju Choi·Peter Cox·Luiz A. Domeignoz-Horta·Krislie Ebi·Pierre Friedlingstein·Thomas L. Frölicher·Sabine Fuss·Helge F. Goessling·Nicolas Gruber·Qingyou He·Sophie R. Hebden·Nadja Hedrich·Adrian Heilemann·Marina Hirota·Øivind Hodnebrog·Gustaf Hugelius·Santiago Izquierdo-Tort·Sirkku Juhola·Fumiko Kasuga·Piyu Ke·Douglas I. Kelley·Şiir Kilkiș·Maximilian Kotz·Nilushi Kumarasinghe·William F. Lamb·Shih-Yu Lee·Junguo Liu·Cara N. Maesano·Maria A. Martin·Guilherme G. Mazzochini·Christopher J. Merchant·Akira S. Mori·Jennifer Morris·Åsa Persson·Hans-Otto Pörtner·Benedict S. Probst·Justine Ramage·Estelle Razanatsoa·Aaron Redman·Johan Rockström·Regina Rodrigues·Sophie Ruehr·Sadie J. Ryan·Carl-Friedrich Schleussner·Peter Schlosser·William A. Scott·Jan C. Semenza·Hansjörg Seybold·Drew T. Shindell·Giles B. Sioen·Kathryn E. Smith·Youba Sokona·Annika H. Stechemesser·Thomas F. Stocker·Sophie H.L. Su·Djiby Thiam·Gregory Trencher·Anna-Maria Virkkala·Lila Warszawski·Sarah R. Weiskopf·Henry Wu·Shupeng Zhu
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Abstract

Interdisciplinary understanding is vital for delivering sound climate policy advice. However, navigating the ever-growing and increasingly diverse scholarly literature on climate change is challenging for any individual researcher. This annual synthesis highlights and explains recent advances across a variety of fields of climate change research. This year, the 10 insights focus on: (1) the record-warmth of 2023/2024 and the elevated Earth energy imbalance; (2) acceleration of ocean warming and intensifying marine heatwaves; (3) northern land carbon sinks under strain; (4) reinforcing feedback between biodiversity loss and climate change; (5) accelerated depletion of groundwater; (6) global dengue incidence; (7) global income losses and labour productivity declines; (8) strategic scaling of CDR; (9) integrity challenges in carbon credit markets and emerging responses; and (10) effective policy mixes for emissions reductions. The insights have been written to be accessible to researchers from different fields, serving as entry-points to specific topics, as well as providing an overview of the evolving landscape of climate change research. In the final section, the insights are used to develop overarching policy-relevant messages. This paper provides the basis for a science-policy report that was shared with all Party delegations ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil.

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Daniel Ospina, Paula Mirazo, Richard P. Allan, Smriti Basnett, Ana Bastos, Nishan Bhattarai, Wendy Broadgate, Derik J. Broekhoff, Mercedes Bustamante, Deliang Chen, Yeonju Choi, Peter Cox, Luiz A. Domeignoz-Horta, Krislie Ebi, Pierre Friedlingstein, Thomas L. Frölicher, Sabine Fuss, Helge F. Goessling, Nicolas Gruber, Qingyou He, Sophie R. Hebden, Nadja Hedrich, Adrian Heilemann, Marina Hirota, Øivind Hodnebrog, Gustaf Hugelius, Santiago Izquierdo-Tort, Sirkku Juhola, Fumiko Kasuga, Piyu Ke, Douglas I. Kelley, Şiir Kilkiș, Maximilian Kotz, Nilushi Kumarasinghe, William F. Lamb, Shih-Yu Lee, Junguo Liu, Cara N. Maesano, Maria A. Martin, Guilherme G. Mazzochini, Christopher J. Merchant, Akira S. Mori, Jennifer Morris, Åsa Persson, Hans-Otto Pörtner, Benedict S. Probst, Justine Ramage, Estelle Razanatsoa, Aaron Redman, Johan Rockström, Regina Rodrigues, Sophie Ruehr, Sadie J. Ryan, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Peter Schlosser, William A. Scott, Jan C. Semenza, Hansjörg Seybold, Drew T. Shindell, Giles B. Sioen, Kathryn E. Smith, Youba Sokona, Annika H. Stechemesser, Thomas F. Stocker, Sophie H.L. Su, Djiby Thiam, Gregory Trencher, Anna-Maria Virkkala, Lila Warszawski, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Henry Wu, Shupeng Zhu. 2026-01-08. Ten new insights in climate science 2025. https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2025.10043

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