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; Kristie Ebi; Pierre Friedlingstein; Thomas L. Frölicher; Sabine Fuss; Helge F. Goessling; Nicolas Gruber; Qingyou He; Sophie R. Hebden; Nadja Hedrich; Adrian Heilemann; Marina Hirota; Oivind Hodnebrog; Gustaf Hugelius; Santiago Izquierdo-Tort; Sirkku Juhola; Fumiko Kasuga; Piyu Ke; Douglas I. Kelley; Şiir Kilkiş; 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; Roberto Sánchez-Rodríguez; 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 Weiskopf; Henry Wu; Shupeng Zhu

doi:10.1017/sus.2025.10043

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
, Kristie Ebi
, Pierre Friedlingstein
, Thomas L. Frölicher
, Sabine Fuss
, Helge F. Goessling
, Nicolas Gruber
, Qingyou He

Sophie R. Hebden, Nadja Hedrich, Adrian Heilemann, Marina Hirota, Oivind Hodnebrog, Gustaf Hugelius, Santiago Izquierdo-Tort, Sirkku Juhola, Fumiko Kasuga, Piyu Ke, Douglas I. Kelley, Şiir Kilkiş, 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, Roberto Sánchez-Rodríguez, 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 Weiskopf, Henry Wu, Shupeng Zhu

Future Earth Global Secretariat
Arizona State University
University of Reading
National Centre for Earth Observation
Future Earth Secretariat
Indian Institute of Science
Government of Sikkim
University of Leipzig
University of Oklahoma
Stockholm Environment Institute
Universidade de Brasília
Tsinghua University
Yonsei University
University of Exeter
AgroParisTech INRA
University of Washington
University of Bern
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Sciences
ETH Zurich
South China Sea Institute of Oceanology
E.S.A 8007 du C.N.R.S
University of Zurich
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Center for International Climate Research (CICERO)
Stockholm University
University of British Columbia
University of Helsinki
Future Earth Secretariat
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Sceintific and Technological Research Council of Turkey
Barcelona Super Computing Centre
Future Earth
Concordia University
University of Leeds
Academia Sinica Taiwan
North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power
Rocky Mountain Institute
Instituto de Biofisica da UFRJ
University of Tokyo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Linköping University
Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
University of Cambridge
University of Cape Town
University of Potsdam
University of California, Berkeley
University of Florida
El Colegio de la Frontera Norte
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Simon Fraser University
Umeå University
IMBA Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
Duke University
Marine Biological Association
African Climate Policy Centre
Future Earth Secretariat
Kyoto University
Woodwell Climate Research Center
U.S. Geological Survey
Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon GmbH
Zhejiang University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

Non-Technical Summary This review highlights 10 recent advances in climate change research with high policy relevance, spanning diverse topics: (1) the global temperature jump of 2023-2024; (2) sea surface warming and marine heatwaves; (3) land carbon sinks; (4) interactions between climate change and biodiversity loss; (5) accelerated groundwater decline; (6) global dengue incidence; (7) income and labour productivity loss; (8) strategic considerations for scaling carbon dioxide removal (CDR); (9) integrity of carbon credit markets; and (10) policy mixes for climate change mitigation. Technical Summary 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. Social Media Summary Highlights of climate change research in 2024-2025: 10insightsclimate.science

Original language	English
Article number	e6
Journal	Global Sustainability
Volume	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2025.10043
Publication status	Published - 8 Jan 2026
Externally published	Yes

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 13 Climate Action
SDG 14 Life Below Water
SDG 15 Life on Land

Keywords

Adaptation and mitigation
Earth systems (land, water and atmospheric)
Policies
politics and governance

Access to Document

10.1017/sus.2025.10043

Cite this

Ospina, D., Mirazo, P., Allan, R. P., Basnett, S., Bastos, A., Bhattarai, N., Broadgate, W., Broekhoff, D. J., Bustamante, M., Chen, D., Choi, Y., Cox, P., Domeignoz-Horta, L. A., Ebi, K., Friedlingstein, P., Frölicher, T. L., Fuss, S., Goessling, H. F., Gruber, N., ... Zhu, S. (2026). Ten new insights in climate science 2025. Global Sustainability, 9, Article e6. https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2025.10043

@article{108af8704cf743b8b9821e46366fd4b1,

title = "Ten new insights in climate science 2025",

abstract = "Non-Technical Summary This review highlights 10 recent advances in climate change research with high policy relevance, spanning diverse topics: (1) the global temperature jump of 2023-2024; (2) sea surface warming and marine heatwaves; (3) land carbon sinks; (4) interactions between climate change and biodiversity loss; (5) accelerated groundwater decline; (6) global dengue incidence; (7) income and labour productivity loss; (8) strategic considerations for scaling carbon dioxide removal (CDR); (9) integrity of carbon credit markets; and (10) policy mixes for climate change mitigation. Technical Summary 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 Bel{\'e}m, Brazil. Social Media Summary Highlights of climate change research in 2024-2025: 10insightsclimate.science",

keywords = "Adaptation and mitigation, Earth systems (land, water and atmospheric), Policies, politics and governance",

author = "Daniel Ospina and Paula Mirazo and Allan, \{Richard P.\} and Smriti Basnett and Ana Bastos and Nishan Bhattarai and Wendy Broadgate and Broekhoff, \{Derik J.\} and Mercedes Bustamante and Deliang Chen and Yeonju Choi and Peter Cox and Domeignoz-Horta, \{Luiz A.\} and Kristie Ebi and Pierre Friedlingstein and Fr{\"o}licher, \{Thomas L.\} and Sabine Fuss and Goessling, \{Helge F.\} and Nicolas Gruber and Qingyou He and Hebden, \{Sophie R.\} and Nadja Hedrich and Adrian Heilemann and Marina Hirota and Oivind Hodnebrog and Gustaf Hugelius and Santiago Izquierdo-Tort and Sirkku Juhola and Fumiko Kasuga and Piyu Ke and Kelley, \{Douglas I.\} and {\c S}iir Kilki{\c s} and Maximilian Kotz and Nilushi Kumarasinghe and Lamb, \{William F.\} and Lee, \{Shih Yu\} and Junguo Liu and Maesano, \{Cara N.\} and Martin, \{Maria A.\} and Mazzochini, \{Guilherme G.\} and Merchant, \{Christopher J.\} and Mori, \{Akira S.\} and Jennifer Morris and {\AA}sa Persson and P{\"o}rtner, \{Hans Otto\} and Probst, \{Benedict S.\} and Justine Ramage and Estelle Razanatsoa and Aaron Redman and Johan Rockstr{\"o}m and Regina Rodrigues and Sophie Ruehr and Ryan, \{Sadie J.\} and Roberto S{\'a}nchez-Rodr{\'i}guez and Schleussner, \{Carl Friedrich\} and Peter Schlosser and Scott, \{William A.\} and Semenza, \{Jan C.\} and Hansj{\"o}rg Seybold and Shindell, \{Drew T.\} and Sioen, \{Giles B.\} and Smith, \{Kathryn E.\} and Youba Sokona and Stechemesser, \{Annika H.\} and Stocker, \{Thomas F.\} and Su, \{Sophie H.L.\} and Djiby Thiam and Gregory Trencher and Virkkala, \{Anna Maria\} and Lila Warszawski and Sarah Weiskopf and Henry Wu and Shupeng Zhu",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press.",

year = "2026",

month = jan,

day = "8",

doi = "10.1017/sus.2025.10043",

language = "English",

volume = "9",

journal = "Global Sustainability",

issn = "2059-4798",

}

Ospina, D, Mirazo, P, Allan, RP, Basnett, S, Bastos, A, Bhattarai, N, Broadgate, W, Broekhoff, DJ, Bustamante, M, Chen, D, Choi, Y, Cox, P, Domeignoz-Horta, LA, Ebi, K, Friedlingstein, P, Frölicher, TL, Fuss, S, Goessling, HF, Gruber, N, He, Q, Hebden, SR, Hedrich, N, Heilemann, A, Hirota, M, Hodnebrog, O, Hugelius, G, Izquierdo-Tort, S, Juhola, S, Kasuga, F, Ke, P, Kelley, DI, Kilkiş, Ş, Kotz, M, Kumarasinghe, N, Lamb, WF, Lee, SY, Liu, J, Maesano, CN, Martin, MA, Mazzochini, GG, Merchant, CJ, Mori, AS, Morris, J, Persson, Å, Pörtner, HO, Probst, BS, Ramage, J, Razanatsoa, E, Redman, A, Rockström, J, Rodrigues, R, Ruehr, S, Ryan, SJ, Sánchez-Rodríguez, R, Schleussner, CF, Schlosser, P, Scott, WA, Semenza, JC, Seybold, H, Shindell, DT, Sioen, GB, Smith, KE, Sokona, Y, Stechemesser, AH, Stocker, TF, Su, SHL, Thiam, D, Trencher, G, Virkkala, AM, Warszawski, L, Weiskopf, S, Wu, H & Zhu, S 2026, 'Ten new insights in climate science 2025', Global Sustainability, vol. 9, e6. https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2025.10043

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ten new insights in climate science 2025

AU - Ospina, Daniel

AU - Mirazo, Paula

AU - Allan, Richard P.

AU - Basnett, Smriti

AU - Bastos, Ana

AU - Bhattarai, Nishan

AU - Broadgate, Wendy

AU - Broekhoff, Derik J.

AU - Bustamante, Mercedes

AU - Chen, Deliang

AU - Choi, Yeonju

AU - Cox, Peter

AU - Domeignoz-Horta, Luiz A.

AU - Ebi, Kristie

AU - Friedlingstein, Pierre

AU - Frölicher, Thomas L.

AU - Fuss, Sabine

AU - Goessling, Helge F.

AU - Gruber, Nicolas

AU - He, Qingyou

AU - Hebden, Sophie R.

AU - Hedrich, Nadja

AU - Heilemann, Adrian

AU - Hirota, Marina

AU - Hodnebrog, Oivind

AU - Hugelius, Gustaf

AU - Izquierdo-Tort, Santiago

AU - Juhola, Sirkku

AU - Kasuga, Fumiko

AU - Ke, Piyu

AU - Kelley, Douglas I.

AU - Kilkiş, Şiir

AU - Kotz, Maximilian

AU - Kumarasinghe, Nilushi

AU - Lamb, William F.

AU - Lee, Shih Yu

AU - Liu, Junguo

AU - Maesano, Cara N.

AU - Martin, Maria A.

AU - Mazzochini, Guilherme G.

AU - Merchant, Christopher J.

AU - Mori, Akira S.

AU - Morris, Jennifer

AU - Persson, Åsa

AU - Pörtner, Hans Otto

AU - Probst, Benedict S.

AU - Ramage, Justine

AU - Razanatsoa, Estelle

AU - Redman, Aaron

AU - Rockström, Johan

AU - Rodrigues, Regina

AU - Ruehr, Sophie

AU - Ryan, Sadie J.

AU - Sánchez-Rodríguez, Roberto

AU - Schleussner, Carl Friedrich

AU - Schlosser, Peter

AU - Scott, William A.

AU - Semenza, Jan C.

AU - Seybold, Hansjörg

AU - Shindell, Drew T.

AU - Sioen, Giles B.

AU - Smith, Kathryn E.

AU - Sokona, Youba

AU - Stechemesser, Annika H.

AU - Stocker, Thomas F.

AU - Su, Sophie H.L.

AU - Thiam, Djiby

AU - Trencher, Gregory

AU - Virkkala, Anna Maria

AU - Warszawski, Lila

AU - Weiskopf, Sarah

AU - Wu, Henry

AU - Zhu, Shupeng

PY - 2026/1/8

Y1 - 2026/1/8

N2 - Non-Technical Summary This review highlights 10 recent advances in climate change research with high policy relevance, spanning diverse topics: (1) the global temperature jump of 2023-2024; (2) sea surface warming and marine heatwaves; (3) land carbon sinks; (4) interactions between climate change and biodiversity loss; (5) accelerated groundwater decline; (6) global dengue incidence; (7) income and labour productivity loss; (8) strategic considerations for scaling carbon dioxide removal (CDR); (9) integrity of carbon credit markets; and (10) policy mixes for climate change mitigation. Technical Summary 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. Social Media Summary Highlights of climate change research in 2024-2025: 10insightsclimate.science

AB - Non-Technical Summary This review highlights 10 recent advances in climate change research with high policy relevance, spanning diverse topics: (1) the global temperature jump of 2023-2024; (2) sea surface warming and marine heatwaves; (3) land carbon sinks; (4) interactions between climate change and biodiversity loss; (5) accelerated groundwater decline; (6) global dengue incidence; (7) income and labour productivity loss; (8) strategic considerations for scaling carbon dioxide removal (CDR); (9) integrity of carbon credit markets; and (10) policy mixes for climate change mitigation. Technical Summary 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. Social Media Summary Highlights of climate change research in 2024-2025: 10insightsclimate.science

KW - Adaptation and mitigation

KW - Earth systems (land, water and atmospheric)

KW - Policies

KW - politics and governance

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105027376826

U2 - 10.1017/sus.2025.10043

DO - 10.1017/sus.2025.10043

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:105027376826

SN - 2059-4798

VL - 9

JO - Global Sustainability

JF - Global Sustainability

M1 - e6

ER -

Ten new insights in climate science 2025

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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