Nature Climate Change Contents August 2013 Volume 3 Number 8 pp 688-764

Advertisement Check out this Frontiers Research Topic on Microbiology of wetlands  Topic Editors: Paul Bodelier and Svetlana N. Dedysh Wetlands are important systems due to their high productivity, their nutrient (re)cycling capacities and their prominent contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. This RT covers physiology, ecology, functioning, biodiversity, biogeography of microbes involved in nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas emissions as well as plant-microbe interactions. TABLE OF CONTENTS August 2013 Volume 3, Issue 8 Editorial Correspondence Commentaries Books and Arts Interview Market Watch Research Highlights News and Views Perspectives Letters Erratum Corrigendum Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter     Advertisement First Impact Factor We are pleased to announce that the first impact factor for Nature Climate Change is 14.472*. This places the journal first among all primary research journals in the 'Environmental Sciences' and 'Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences' categories.  *2012 Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters, 2013)       Editorial Top Certain uncertainty p689 doi:10.1038/nclimate1978 A report that assesses a decade of extreme events provokes thoughts on weather, climate change and what is to come. Correspondence Top Transformation is adaptation p690 Lauren Rickards doi:10.1038/nclimate1933 US maize adaptability pp690 - 691 Wolfram Schlenker, Michael J. Roberts and David B. Lobell doi:10.1038/nclimate1959 See also: Correspondence by Ethan E. Butler et al. Reply to 'US maize adaptability' pp691 - 692 Ethan E. Butler and Peter Huybers doi:10.1038/nclimate1960 See also: Correspondence by Wolfram Schlenker et al. Commentaries Top Triple transformation pp692 - 694 Farrukh I. Khan and Dustin S. Schinn doi:10.1038/nclimate1965 A new business plan that enables policy transformation and resource mobilization at the national and international level, while improving access to resources, will allow the Green Climate Fund to integrate development goals and action on climate change. Loss and damage attribution pp694 - 696 Christian Huggel, Dáithí Stone, Maximilian Auffhammer and Gerrit Hansen doi:10.1038/nclimate1961 If research on attribution of extreme weather events is to inform emerging climate change policies, it needs to diagnose all of the components of risk. Books and Arts Top Requiem for a grand theory p697 William Schlesinger doi:10.1038/nclimate1953 On our bookshelf p697 doi:10.1038/nclimate1971 Interview Top The scientist politician pp698 - 699 Nicola Jones doi:10.1038/nclimate1957 Andrew Weaver has held a prestigious Canada Research Chair, worked on four IPCC assessments and written two popular science books. This May, he was elected as the first Green Party Member of the Legislative Assembly in British Colombia. He talks to Nature Climate Change about what he hopes to achieve. Market Watch Top The city-sized lab in the sky pp700 - 701 Anna Petherick doi:10.1038/nclimate1966 Mexico City is unique among developing megacities for having a 27-year time series of detailed air-quality data. Anna Petherick asks what other cities can learn from its example. Research Highlights Top Ecological impacts: Adapting at pace | Oceanography: Ocean carbon | Science and society: Usable science | Renewable energy: Uneven benefits | Atmospheric science: Monsoon arrives early News and Views Top Policy: Carbon emissions in China's trade pp703 - 704 Valerie J. Karplus doi:10.1038/nclimate1967 A large share of China's carbon emissions is linked to consumption that takes place in its most developed provinces and overseas. A study highlights the implications of considering those emissions in the country's climate policy. Climate projection: Refining global warming projections pp704 - 705 Chris Huntingford doi:10.1038/nclimate1964 Accurately determining the warming associated with scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions remains an overarching aim of climate modelling. Research now shows that contemporary measurements significantly reduce uncertainty bounds and indicate that some more extreme warming predictions may be less likely. See also: Letter by Roger W. Bodman et al. Ecological impacts: Variance and ecological transitions pp706 - 707 Guy Midgley doi:10.1038/nclimate1968 Rainfall variability could be a key determinant of the diverse spatial patterns of tree cover in the tropics. See also: Letter by Milena Holmgren et al. nclimate JOBS of the week Chair, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo University of Waterloo Director of Conservation Research and Chief Scientist The Monterey Bay Aquarium Land use based climate change mitigation under natural disturbances Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Researcher in Climate modelling Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center PhD student position in satellite imaging radar Chalmers University of Technology More Science jobs from nclimate EVENT EMBO Workshop: 'Plant Viruses: Green Viruses, from Gene to Landscape' 07.09.13 Hyéres, France More science events from Perspectives Top The urgency of assessing the greenhouse gas budgets of hydroelectric reservoirs in China pp708 - 712 Yuanan Hu and Hefa Cheng doi:10.1038/nclimate1831 China, already the largest generator of hydroelectricity, plans to accelerate dam construction. This has led to warnings that increased emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly methane, from Chinese reservoirs could constitute a 'global warming time-bomb'. A review of evidence on emissions from the Three Gorges Reservoir — the world's largest — indicates that such fears are probably misplaced. Promoting interdisciplinarity through climate change education pp713 - 716 Aaron M. McCright, Brian W. O'Shea, Ryan D. Sweeder, Gerald R. Urquhart and Aklilu Zeleke doi:10.1038/nclimate1844 Much climate change education research is now being funded in the USA. This Perspective argues that university-level climate change education may promote interdisciplinary, keep talented young people in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics pipeline, and help all students enhance their scientific, quantitative and climate literacies. Letters Top Projections of seasonal patterns in temperature- related deaths for Manhattan, New York pp717 - 721 Tiantian Li, Radley M. Horton and Patrick L. Kinney doi:10.1038/nclimate1902 Rising temperatures may alter the proportions of both heat- and cold-related deaths, leaving the net impact on annual mortality uncertain. Current and future seasonal patterns of temperature-related mortality in Manhattan, New York, are estimated, showing warm season increases and cold season decreases in temperature-related mortality, with positive net annual deaths in all cases. The social cost of CO2 in a low-growth world pp722 - 724 Chris Hope and Mat Hope doi:10.1038/nclimate1935 Climate change mitigation has slowed down as major emitters face economic stagnation. Research now shows that the average cost to society of an additional tonne of carbon dioxide emissions tends to increase during recessions as the impact occurs in a poorer world. This suggests that climate change mitigation should be a priority in a low-growth situation. Uncertainty in temperature projections reduced using carbon cycle and climate observations pp725 - 729 Roger W. Bodman, Peter J. Rayner and David J. Karoly doi:10.1038/nclimate1903 The response of the carbon cycle to climate change, including carbon fluxes, is now shown to be the second largest source of uncertainty in projections of temperature. A simplified climate model using temperature records and historical estimates of CO2 concentrations demonstrates that considering these two factors together reduces uncertainty further than treating them as individual parameters. See also: News and Views by Chris Huntingford Mitigation of short-lived climate pollutants slows sea-level rise pp730 - 734 Aixue Hu, Yangyang Xu, Claudia Tebaldi, Warren M. Washington and Veerabhadran Ramanathan doi:10.1038/nclimate1869 Short-lived climate pollutants are known to contribute to global warming, but the impact of this increased temperature on sea-level rise due to thermal expansion is not known. Curbing emissions of these pollutants is shown to significantly reduce the rate of sea-level rise by 24–50% by 2100; however, delaying mitigation by 25 years reduces the impact on sea-level rise by about a third. Semi-empirical versus process-based sea-level projections for the twenty-first century pp735 - 738 Mirko Orli? and Zoran Pasari? doi:10.1038/nclimate1877 Two dynamical methods are used at present to project sea-level changes during the next century—process-based and semi-empirical. However, semi-empirical projections can exceed process-based projections three-fold. This work tests the robustness of semi-empirical projections to the underlying assumptions, and finds these projections are sensitive to the dynamics considered and the terrestrial-water corrections applied. Pace of shifts in climate regions increases with global temperature pp739 - 743 Irina Mahlstein, John S. Daniel and Susan Solomon doi:10.1038/nclimate1876 This study looks at the pace of change in climate zones as a function of global warming. Using the RCP8.5 scenario, the rate nearly doubles by the end of this century, and about 20% of all land area undergoes a change. In the future, species will have less time to adapt, therefore increasing the risk of extinction. Springtime atmospheric energy transport and the control of Arctic summer sea-ice extent pp744 - 748 Marie-Luise Kapsch, Rune Grand Graversen and Michael Tjernström doi:10.1038/nclimate1884 The causes of interannual variability in Arctic sea-ice extent are not well understood. This study looks at the impact of the greenhouse effect, associated with clouds and water vapour, on sea-ice formation and melt. Enhancement of the greenhouse effect, due to increased cloudiness and humidity, results in increased ice melt. Projected increase in tropical cyclones near Hawaii pp749 - 754 Hiroyuki Murakami, Bin Wang, Tim Li and Akio Kitoh doi:10.1038/nclimate1890 Future tropical cyclone activity is investigated around the Hawaiian Islands. Projections show a consistent and robust increase in the frequency of tropical cyclones by the end of the century. This increase is attributed to changes in large-scale circulation, which alter the cyclone tracks. Effects of interannual climate variability on tropical tree cover pp755 - 758 Milena Holmgren, Marina Hirota, Egbert H. van Nes and Marten Scheffer doi:10.1038/nclimate1906 Climatic warming is intensifying the global water cycle, and is projected to increase rainfall variability. Higher interannual variability in rainfall is shown to reduce tree cover in the wet tropics, but may promote expansion of cover in tropical dry lands. See also: News and Views by Guy Midgley Shorter flowering seasons and declining abundance of flower visitors in a warmer Arctic pp759 - 763 Toke T. Høye, Eric Post, Niels M. Schmidt, Kristian Trøjelsgaard and Mads C. Forchhammer doi:10.1038/nclimate1909 Climate-induced changes in phenology have the potential to push trophic relationships out of synchrony, but evidence of this phenomenon is scant, particularly in the Arctic. A long-term (1996–2009), spatially replicated data set from high-Arctic Greenland now indicates a climate-associated shortening of the flowering season, and a concomitant decline in flower visitor abundance. Erratum Top Building resilience to face recurring environmental crisis in African Sahel p764 Emily Boyd, Rosalind J. Cornforth, Peter J. Lam, Aondover Tarhule, M. Issa Lélé and Alan Brouder doi:10.1038/nclimate1969 See also: Perspective by Emily Boyd et al. Corrigendum Top Atmospheric verification of anthropogenic CO2 emission trends p764 Roger J. Francey, Cathy M. Trudinger, Marcel van der Schoot, Rachel M. Law, Paul B. Krummel, Ray L. Langenfelds, L. Paul Steele, Colin E. Allison, Ann R. Stavert, Robert J. Andres and Christian Rödenbeck doi:10.1038/nclimate1956 See also: Article by Roger J. Francey et al. Advertisement LEARNING IN THE DIGITAL AGE Nature and Scientific American collaborate to probe the revolution underway in education and discuss what it means for learning, teaching and research.   Access the Special online or via specials in the NatureJournals app    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 Publishing Group portfolio please contact natureevents@nature.com More Nature Events

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