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Bibliography on: Climate Change

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Robert J. Robbins is a biologist, an educator, a science administrator, a publisher, an information technologist, and an IT leader and manager who specializes in advancing biomedical knowledge and supporting education through the application of information technology. More About:  RJR | OUR TEAM | OUR SERVICES | THIS WEBSITE

RJR: Recommended Bibliography 27 Jun 2025 at 02:02 Created: 

Climate Change

The world is warming up, with 2023 being by far the hottest year since record keeping began and 2024 shaping up to be hotter yet. But these changes only involve one or two degrees. What's the big deal?

The amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one liter of water by one degree is one kilocalorie (kcal). Scaling up, the amount of energy required for a one-degree increase in the water temperature of the Gulf of Mexico is 2,434,000,000,000,000,000 kcals. That's 25 million times more energy than released by the WW-II atomic bomb that destroyed the city of Hiroshima and killed more than 100,000 people.

So, for every one degree increase in water temperature, the Gulf of Mexico takes on 25-million atomic-bombs' worth of new energy, which is then available to fuel hurricanes and other storms. Maybe a one-degree rise in temperature is a big deal.

Created with PubMed® Query: (( "climate change"[TITLE] OR "global warming"[TITLE] )) NOT pmcbook NOT ispreviousversion

Citations The Papers (from PubMed®)

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RevDate: 2025-06-25
CmpDate: 2025-06-25

Duquesne E, D Fournier (2025)

Climate change redefines sea turtle hotspots: Vessel strike risks and gaps in protected areas.

Science advances, 11(26):eadw4495.

Climate change is altering marine ecosystems, driving shifts in sea turtle distributions and challenging conservation efforts. Our study examines how climate change affects the global sea distribution of all seven sea turtle species, intersecting with marine protected areas (MPAs) and shipping corridors. Using species distribution models and environmental data from 2000 to 2024, we project sea turtle habitats under current conditions and three future climate scenarios (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5) for 2050 and 2100. Our results show substantial habitat redistributions, with poleward shifts and contractions, particularly under the SSP5-8.5 scenario. Over 50% of sea turtle hotspots may disappear by 2050, with many new habitats in high shipping intensity areas. Alarmingly, only 23% of current hotspots are within MPAs, highlighting the need for adaptive conservation strategies.

RevDate: 2025-06-25
CmpDate: 2025-06-25

Stewart JD, Tinker MT, Brownell RL, et al (2025)

The future of baleen whales: Recoveries, environmental constraints, and climate change.

Science advances, 11(26):eadv8031.

Most baleen whales were severely overexploited during the past century, but many populations have received near-complete protection from exploitation for more than a half-century. Some of these populations have made remarkable recoveries and are now approaching pre-exploitation levels of abundance. Contrary to expectations of baleen whales making minor oscillations around equilibrium abundances, several populations that have made the strongest recoveries have experienced major mortality events. We review examples from the literature showing increasing demographic variability in recovering populations of baleen whales and present a simulation study on the expected response of recovered versus depleted whale population to environmental variability and climate impacts. We propose that baleen whales are more sensitive to environmental variability than previously recognized; that major demographic fluctuations will become the norm as baleen whales recover; and that climate-driven disruptions to whale population dynamics will be most dramatic in populations with the lowest rates of anthropogenic mortality.

RevDate: 2025-06-25

Wang J, Wang S, Li Y, et al (2025)

Distribution Pattern and Change Prediction of Luprops orientalis (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) Suitable Area in East Asia Under Climate Change.

Insects, 16(6):.

Luprops orientalis (Motschulsky, 1868) is an economically important pest in traditional Chinese medicines, widely distributed in East Asia. However, the primary limiting factors affecting its distribution, potential suitable areas, as well as its response to global warming, remain largely unknown. Utilizing 295 filtered distribution points and 10 environmental variables (9 climate variables and 1 land cover type), this study uses the MaxEnt model to predict the potential distribution of L. orientalis under near-current and future environmental change scenarios. The results indicated that precipitation of the warmest quarter (bio18), temperature seasonality (bio04), and precipitation of the wettest month (bio13) were the most significant environmental variables affecting the distribution of suitable habitats for L. orientalis, while the contribution of average variation in daytime temperature (bio2) was the smallest. Under the near-current climate, the areas of low, moderate, and high suitability for L. orientalis are approximately 1.02 × 10[6] km[2], 1.65 × 10[6] km[2], and 8.22 × 10[5] km[2], respectively. The suitable areas are primarily located in North China, Central China, the Korean Peninsula, and Central and Southern Japan. Under future climate conditions, the potential suitable areas are expected to expand significantly, especially in Central China. However, the high-suitability areas in North China are predicted to experience a slight reduction. With the increase in carbon emission concentrations, the suitable area shows an increasing trend in the 2050s, followed by a declining trend in the 2090s. The centroids of suitable areas will shift to the northeast in the future. These findings enhance our understanding of how climate change affects the distribution of L. orientalis and will assist governments in formulating effective pest control strategies, including widespread monitoring and stringent quarantine measures.

RevDate: 2025-06-25

Espinosa S, Martínez F, Antiñolo M, et al (2025)

Updated global warming potentials of inhaled halogenated anesthetics, isoflurane and sevoflurane from new temperature dependent OH-kinetics.

Environmental science. Processes & impacts [Epub ahead of print].

Despite the use of scavenging systems in anesthesia machines, inhaled halogenated anesthetic gases (HAGs), such as isoflurane (CF3CHClOCHF2) and sevoflurane ((CF3)2CHOCH2F), are still emitted directly into the atmosphere. In 2014, their atmospheric concentrations were 0.097 ppt (isoflurane) and 0.13 pptv (sevoflurane). As halogenated species, their impact on global warming has to be known. Notably, the global warming potential at a time horizon of 100 years (GWP100 years) for sevoflurane differs between IPCC and WMO sources, creating regulatory uncertainty. For that reason, in this work GWP100 years for isoflurane and sevoflurane was reevaluated from the atmospheric chemical lifetimes, τOHHAG, derived from the kinetic study of the gas-phase reactions of hydroxyl (OH) radicals with the HAGs and the radiative efficiencies (REs) derived from the (IR) absorption cross sections in the atmospheric window (1500-500 cm[-1]). The temperature dependence of the OH-rate coefficients (k1(T) for isoflurane and k2(T) for sevoflurane) between 263 and 353 K was determined at 100 Torr by using the pulsed laser photolysis/laser-induced fluorescence technique. The obtained Arrhenius expressions are k1(T) = (1.1 ± 0.5) × 10[-13] exp{-(1234 ± 144)/T} and k2(T) = (1.6 ± 0.7) × 10[-12] exp{-(1065 ± 138)/T} cm[3] molecule[-1] s[-1]. At 272 K, a τOHHAG of 3.0 years for isoflurane and 1.2 years for sevoflurane were estimated relative to CH3CCl3 from k1 and k2. Moreover, the ultraviolet (UV) absorption cross sections were determined between 190 and 400 nm at 298 K, and the absorption was found to be negligible above 290 nm, indicating minimal photolysis by sunlight. In contrast, the IR absorption in the atmospheric window is significant and the IR absorption cross sections (4000-500 cm[-1]) were determined by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy. The lifetime-corrected radiative efficiencies (REs) were 0.44 and 0.30 W m[-2] ppbv[-1] for isoflurane and sevoflurane, respectively. From lifetime-corrected REs and τOHHAG, GWP100 years was estimated to be 508 for isoflurane (5% lower than IPCC/WMO values) and 125 for sevoflurane (36% lower than IPCC and 11% lower than WMO). These findings confirm isoflurane to be a high-GWP gas (above 150) according to the EU 2024 regulation, while sevoflurane does not meet the high-GWP threshold. A reassessment of the IPCC and WMO values is recommended.

RevDate: 2025-06-26

Xiang Y, Li Y, Liu Y, et al (2025)

Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Distribution Dynamics of Lysimachia Christinae in China Through MaxEnt Modeling.

Ecology and evolution, 15(6):e71664.

Lysimachia christinae, a regionally endemic medicinal plant in China, is crucial for ecosystems and traditional medicine. This study evaluates climate change impacts on the geographic spread of L. christinae by employing an optimized MaxEnt model based on 625 valid occurrence points and various climatic variables. The model was refined with ENMeval in R, selecting optimal feature combinations (FC) and regularization multipliers (RM). The model's predictive performance was evaluated via the AUC metric, and the distribution changes were analyzed across three Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) spanning the 2050s, 2070s, and 2090s. The findings indicated that the refined MaxEnt model exhibited strong predictive performance, achieving an AUC of 0.904. The min temperature of coldest month (Bio6) and the standard deviation of temperature seasonality (Bio4) were identified as the principal climatic variables affecting the geographic range of L. christinae, contributing 68.7% and 20.2%, respectively, under current climatic conditions. Within the SSP1-2.6 pathway, the viable habitat zone remained relatively stable, with retention rates of 86.78%, 86.13%, and 82.03% during the decades of the 2050s, 2070s, as well as 2090s. However, in the context of the SSP5-8.5 pathway, the retention rate significantly decreased to 64.77% by the 2090s, indicating greater habitat instability and expansion needs. The research highlights the critical role of thermal variables in shaping L. christinae's distribution and emphasizes the need for adaptive conservation strategies targeting stable or expanding habitats to ensure its long-term survival amid climate change.

RevDate: 2025-06-26

Bailey LA, Childs AR, James NC, et al (2025)

Assessing individual physiological variability and future performance phenotypes is essential for predicting the resilience of fish populations to anthropogenic climate change.

Conservation physiology, 13(1):coaf043.

Changes in ocean temperature are expected to have a considerable effect on fishes through the impact of temperature on physiological performance, vital energetic processes (i.e. metabolism, foraging and swimming style) and reproductive fitness. To understand the sensitivity of an exploited population of Chrysoblephus laticeps in to temperature variability, intermittent-flow respirometry was used to quantify and compare changes in metabolic rate and aerobic scope under different temperatures (10, 16, 21 and 24°C) mimicking thermal variations experienced in the home range of this species. A total performance score was developed to represent aerobic performance across the range of test temperatures. This score was calculated for each temperature from the lower (25%), mid (50%) and upper (75%) percentiles of the aerobic scope range available for the species. The results of this study identified heterogeneity in physiological performance phenotypes amongst individuals of the exploited population. There was significant variation in the aerobic performance of high, intermediate and low performers at higher temperatures. However, differences in performance were not significant at low temperatures, where several intermediate performers maintained high performance. High performers maintained high rates of physiological performance across a broad range of temperatures, whereas low performers were physiologically limited outside of their optimal thermal range. These results suggest that individuals with a broad aerobic scope (i.e. high aerobic scope (AS) values across a range of temperatures) may likely be the most resilient to short-term thermal variability caused by marine heat waves and upwelling events in temperate coastal environments. Since the shape of thermal performance curves differs between individuals and reflects the range at which individuals can function above specified performance thresholds, individual thermal performance must be measured repeatedly in the same individual over a thermal gradient. An understanding of physiological phenotypic diversity amongst individuals is critical to understand the impacts of thermal variability on fished populations.

RevDate: 2025-06-24

Liu M, Wang Z, Wang M, et al (2025)

A framework for optimization and assessment of long-term urban stormwater management scenarios under climate change and performance challenges.

Journal of environmental management, 390:126298 pii:S0301-4797(25)02274-1 [Epub ahead of print].

In the context of global warming and the increase in extreme rainfall events, the introduction of grey-green integrated infrastructure offers new possibilities for urban flood management. However, within these integrated systems, green infrastructure is more vulnerable to climate fluctuations and has a shorter lifespan, posing challenges to maximizing the overall benefits. Consequently, this study conducted a multi-stage optimization at a representative site in Guangzhou, China, to explore the most effective configuration of grey and green infrastructure under climate change, and to assess the short-term and long-term benefits of these optimized layouts. While multi-stage optimized layouts have slightly higher life cycle costs compared to directly optimized layouts with the same level of centralization, they demonstrate superior hydrological performance in simulations. In the short term, these layouts exhibit greater robustness under various design rainfall scenarios, with up to a 56.79 % improvement in runoff reduction compared to traditional direct optimization layouts. Over the long term, multi-stage optimized layouts continue to show better performance, but with an average maximum improvement of 9.47 % in runoff reduction. As global warming intensifies, leading to more frequent and severe rainfall events, urban stormwater management planning and design must embrace a more sustainable and forward-looking approach.

RevDate: 2025-06-24

Ngongo CJ, Bisanzio D, Corrigan G, et al (2025)

Country-level impact of climate change on maternal and newborn health: Associations between temperature, precipitation, maternal mortality, stillbirth, and neonatal mortality in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Environment international, 202:109564 pii:S0160-4120(25)00315-0 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: Evidence connecting extreme heat to maternal and newborn health outcomes is needed at country level, especially in tropical areas. DHIS2 (District Health Information Software 2) collects aggregated population health data by health zone in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

METHODS: Drawing from DHIS2 records of 22·7 million DRC births 2018-2023, spatio-temporal modeling assessed associations between maternal mortality, stillbirth, and neonatal mortality and same-month, remotely sensed temperature, precipitation, anomalous high temperature (>95th percentile), and anomalous heavy precipitation (>95th percentile), controlling for month, year, remoteness, and health zone.

FINDINGS: Temperatures > 34 °C and anomalous heavy precipitation were strongly associated with increases in same-month stillbirth and maternal mortality and less strongly associated with neonatal mortality. The stillbirth rate rose by 2·3/1,000 births for every degree increase above 34 °C (95% CI: 1·9; 2·5) or by 5·9/1,000 births in months > 95th percentile (32·9 °C; 95% CI: 5·1; 6·7). Maternal mortality rose by 27·3 deaths/100,000 live births for every degree increase above 34 °C (95% CI: 19·1; 35·7) or by 95·3 deaths/100,000 live births in months > 95th percentile (95% CI: 71·3; 119·4). Months with anomalous heavy precipitation were associated with an increase of 5·4 stillbirths/1,000 births (95% CI: 4·8; 6·2) and with 120 maternal deaths/100,000 live births (95% CI: 100·9; 139·5).

INTERPRETATION: DHIS2 data offer a readily available opportunity to assess associations between climate and country-level population health outcomes. Further work is needed to hone and evaluate effective approaches that protect mothers and newborns in the face of projected warming and rainfall changes. Risk-based planning, geographic targeting, and stakeholder coordination will support appropriate, context-specific responses.

RevDate: 2025-06-24

Shi L, Zhao Y, Zeng S, et al (2025)

Land-use management and climate change can enhance the autotrophic capacity and reduce the CO2 emissions of karst aquatic ecosystems.

Water research, 284:124031 pii:S0043-1354(25)00939-X [Epub ahead of print].

The carbon flux involved in aquatic metabolism in karst surface waters is an important component of both regional and global carbon cycling. Yet, the mechanisms of how aquatic metabolism and the related carbon flux respond to human land use and climate change in a high-pH aquatic environment remain unclear. To address this, we conducted continuous high-frequency (15-min interval) monitoring of hydrochemical parameters, combined with a bookkeeping model and gas transport velocity model, to estimate the aquatic net ecosystem primary (NEP) and water-air CO2 exchange flux (FCO2) under different land-use types at a simulation test site. We then used a structural equation model (SEM) and Random Forest model (RF) to determine the relationship between NEP, land-use type, and climatic factors, and to determine how NEP variations alter the FCO2. The results showed that the annual NEP of karst surface water systems under bare rock (0.01 g C m[-2] day[-1]) was significantly lower than under vegetated land (shrubs, grass and cropland, 0.38-0.75 g C m[-2] day[-1]). This high NEP demonstrates a strong autotrophic capacity and the potential to reduce CO2 emissions in these aquatic systems. Our results also suggest that differences in groundwater HCO3[-] inputs between bare rock/soil and vegetated land can explain their NEP differences. We applied the RF model to predict the variation of the NEP of different land-use systems by the end of this century, under different CMIP6 scenarios. The results suggested that land-use regulation (the conversion from bare rock or soil to grass or shrubs) can increase the autotrophic capacity of karst surface systems by 42.3 % (SSP126) and 51.5 % (SSP585). The results of this study indicate that human land-use change can potentially enhance the autotrophic capacity and lower the CO2 emissions of high-pH karst aquatic ecosystems.

RevDate: 2025-06-24
CmpDate: 2025-06-24

Mohapatra PR, B Behera (2025)

Melioidosis on the Rise: The Impact of Climate Change and Extreme Weather.

The Journal of the Association of Physicians of India.., 73(6):73-76.

Melioidosis is a bacterial infection caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, primarily a disease in tropical and subtropical regions. The bacteria are typically spread through contaminated soil, water, or air. The incidence of transmission tends to increase during extreme weather conditions. In recent times, there has been a noticeable rise in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events due to global warming. This includes heat waves, storms, cyclones, heavy rainfall, and floods, which have been on the rise. Climate change is expected to increase extreme weather events further and, coupled with human activities, expand the geographical spread of melioidosis. These events have had significant consequences on human health worldwide. Developing a new evidence-based understanding of how melioidosis intersects with natural disasters is crucial. Prioritizing health, well-being, and fairness in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies is essential.

RevDate: 2025-06-25

Pinho M (2025)

Climate change anxiety and pro-environmental behaviours: disentangling gender disparities.

Frontiers in sociology, 10:1589501.

INTRODUCTION: Climate change represents the most significant environmental and social issue of our time. Climate change anxiety has been identified as a relevant consequence of climate change globally.

METHODS: The current study explored how climate change anxiety and pro-environmental behaviour vary with gender and social psychological characteristics, using a nationally representative Portuguese sample.

RESULTS: The findings revealed that women reported higher levels of climate change anxiety compared to men, and this was driven by women's higher levels of climate change anxiety cognitive impairment. Women also indicated more frequent pro-environmental behaviours, higher levels of environmental identity and climate change perceptions than men. The findings further showed similar relations for men and women, between social psychological mechanisms (environmental identity and climate change perceptions) and their impact on climate change anxiety and some types of pro-environmental behaviours. The results also demonstrated that climate change perceptions mediated the effect of environmental identity on pro-environmental behaviours and those mediations were further moderated by gender.

DISCUSSION: The results highlight the importance of exploring the gender gap in environmental related attitudes and behaviours and the incorporation of gender mainstreaming in environmental sustainability policies and programmes.

RevDate: 2025-06-26

Mizsei E, Sos T, Móré A, et al (2025)

Restriction times on the rise: mechanistic modelling of activity time of grassland vipers (Vipera spp.) in the face of climate change.

Frontiers in zoology, 22(1):10.

Climate change threatens species adapted to cool alpine environments, particularly ectotherms like reptiles. Small-sized grassland specialist vipers inhabit such environments in Eurasia and are highly susceptible to overheating and dehydration as global temperature rises. This study modelled activity restriction times, defined as hours when environmental temperatures exceed the thermal tolerance (i.e. not available for essential activities) of the species, for 20 grassland viper taxa to assess climate change impacts. Under future conditions, hours of activity restriction are projected to increase by 21% by the SSP1-2.6 scenario, and by 52.1% by the SSP5-8.5 scenario. Elevation and latitude significantly influenced restriction time changes, with high-altitude and northern populations predicted to be most affected. The taxa Vipera graeca and Vipera ursinii moldavica are expected to experience the greatest increase in restriction times. Despite warmer conditions potentially increasing hours within preferred thermal ranges, vipers are unlikely to exploit lower-elevation habitats due to competition and ecological constraints. These findings emphasise the urgent need for conservation strategies, including habitat preservation and connectivity, to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on grassland vipers, particularly the most vulnerable populations.

RevDate: 2025-06-23

Castelvecchi D (2025)

'Natural history museums can save the world': anti-colonialism, conservation and climate change.

Nature, 642(8069):861-863.

RevDate: 2025-06-23
CmpDate: 2025-06-24

Ittonen M, Nielsen ME, Siemers I, et al (2025)

Winters restrict a climate change-driven butterfly range expansion despite rapid evolution of seasonal timing traits.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122(26):e2418392122.

Climate change pushes species toward higher latitudes and altitudes, but the proximate drivers of range expansions vary, and it is unclear whether evolution facilitates climate change-induced range changes. In a temporally replicated field experiment, we translocated wall brown butterflies (Lasiommata megera) descending from range interior and range margin populations to sites at 1) the range interior, 2) the range margin, and 3) beyond the current northern range edge. Thereby, we tested for local adaptation in seasonal timing and winter survival and evaluated to what extent local adaptation influences the ongoing, climate-driven range expansion. Almost all individuals from all populations entered diapause at an appropriate time, despite previously identified among-population variation in diapause induction thresholds. Caterpillars of northern descent, however, grew faster than those from southern populations at all field sites. This may be a countergradient adaptation to compensate for the short, northern growing seasons, but we found no evidence for prewinter body mass affecting winter survival. In fact, winter survival was low overall-extremely so at the beyond range site-regardless of population origin, indicating that the primary constraint to range expansion is an inability to adapt to winter conditions. Hence, although range-expanding wall browns show clear local evolution of two traits related to seasonal timing, these putative local adaptations likely do not contribute to range expansion, which is instead limited by winter survival. To predict future range changes, it will be important to distinguish between the traits that evolve during range expansion and those that set the range limit.

RevDate: 2025-06-23
CmpDate: 2025-06-24

Boonman CCF, Hoeks S, Serra-Diaz JM, et al (2025)

High tree diversity exposed to unprecedented macroclimatic conditions even under minimal anthropogenic climate change.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122(26):e2420059122.

Tree species worldwide face increasing exposure to unprecedented macroclimatic conditions due to anthropogenic climate change, which may trigger biome shifts and ecosystem disruptions. We quantified climate change exposure-shifts to species' currently unoccupied climate zones-for 32,089 tree species globally by 2100, assessing both species-level and local tree diversity risks. On average, 69% of species are predicted to experience macroclimatic shifts in at least 10% of their range, while 14% face exposure in over 50% of their range under a high-emission (4 °C warming) future scenario. This suggests that most species retain substantial climate refugia within their current range. However, local tree diversity exposure is predicted to be severe in vast regions, including Eurasia, the northwestern United States and Canada, northern Chile, and the Amazon Delta. Under a moderate (2 °C warming) scenario, high tree diversity exposure is mostly restricted to taiga regions in the Northern Hemisphere. These findings provide conservative estimates of climate-driven biodiversity risk, as our approach focuses solely on macroclimate and does not account for additional stressors such as land-use change or species interactions. Identifying tree species and areas of high macroclimatic shift exposure allows for targeted conservation strategies, including species stability monitoring, assisted migration, and the protection of climate refugia. Our results offer a foundation for prioritizing conservation actions in a rapidly changing climate, ensuring long-term ecosystem resilience.

RevDate: 2025-06-23

Lourenço J, MA Geraldes (2025)

The Links Between Dengue Virus, Climate and Climate Change.

Current topics in microbiology and immunology [Epub ahead of print].

Climate plays a crucial role in shaping dengue virus (DENV) transmission dynamics by influencing directly the physical and behavioural traits of mosquito individuals and viral replication. This chapter describes and evidences the intricate relationships between climate variables, mosquito traits and DENV transmission, highlighting the importance of understanding such connections in the context of a growing DENV burden and a global environmental change.

RevDate: 2025-06-25
CmpDate: 2025-06-24

Nazakat R, Ibrahim MF, Arsad FS, et al (2025)

Validation of a questionnaire for assessing household vulnerability to climate change and health among small island communities.

Frontiers in public health, 13:1593880.

INTRODUCTION: Small island communities in tropical regions are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive tool to assess their health vulnerability, particularly at the household level. This study addresses this gap by developing and validating a questionnaire to evaluate household vulnerability to climate change and health in these communities.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The questionnaire was constructed in three phases: questionnaire development, validity assessment, and pilot testing. It was developed using a comprehensive framework that incorporated three key dimensions of vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity.

RESULTS: Content validity, evaluated by a panel of experts, demonstrated excellent item-level and scale-level validity indices with S-CVI/UA and S-CVI/Ave of 0.89 and 0.98, respectively. Pilot testing conducted in Carey Island identified 13.5% of households as highly vulnerable. Key contributing factors include high exposure to drought and shoreline erosion, limited access to healthcare, insufficient financial resources, lack of elevated housing structures, and inadequate community engagement and adaptive behavior.

DISCUSSION: The validated tool provides a reliable and context-specific instrument for identifying vulnerable households, enabling policymakers and practitioners to design tailored interventions. This tool provides a structured and evidence-based approach for assessing vulnerability, supporting more effective planning and resilience-building in small island communities facing climate-related health risks.

RevDate: 2025-06-25

Yin J, Brooks M, Wang D, et al (2025)

Characterizing climate change sentiments in Alaska on social media.

Digital geography and society, 8:.

The profound impacts of climate change have spurred global concerns. Yet, public perceptions of this issue exhibit significant variations rooted in local contexts. This study investigates public perceptions of climate change in Alaska on Twitter and explores their connections with local socioeconomic and environmental factors. Using geo-located tweets from 2014 to 2017, we identified a collection of climate-related tweets using a deep learning framework. Employing lexicon-based sentiment analysis, we quantified the sentiments with positive and negative scores, further enriched by extracting eight core emotions expressed in each tweet. Furthermore, we applied regression models to assess the influence of regional socioeconomic and environmental attributes on climate-related sentiments at the census tract level. Our findings reveal an overall upward trajectory of Alaska's Twitter-expressed climate change sentiments over time, particularly during the summer months. Insights into the interplay between local demographics and environmental features and climate change perceptions include: (1) Census tracts with higher Native Alaskan or American Indian populations tend to express more negative sentiments, (2) the inclusion of road density stands out as a significant factor, suggesting that climate change is seen/discussed more in areas with more dense-built infrastructure, and (3) the presence of mixed emotions exhibits a profound connection with climate change sentiments-i.e., emotions of disgust and surprise are inversely related, whereas sadness and trust demonstrate positive associations. These outcomes underscore an evolving situation awareness of climate change among individuals, emphasizing the need to consider local factors in understanding public perceptions of this global issue.

RevDate: 2025-06-25
CmpDate: 2025-06-24

Brennan EJ (2025)

Differential Mortality Trends at the Intersection of Climate Change and Urban Growth From 13th to 18th Century Berlin.

American journal of biological anthropology, 187(2):e70071.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to evaluate differences in adult mortality risk at the intersection of climate change and urbanization between late medieval (c. 1200-1500) and early modern (c. 1500-1800) Berlin. After the founding of the city in c. 1200, the early modern period saw increased population density and the advent of the Little Ice Age (LIA), whose long winters and wet summers destroyed crop yields.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: To test the hypothesis that mortality risk increased in the early modern period, this study examined Gompertz and Gompertz-Makeham mortality curves for adult individuals (n = 274) dated from c. 1200 to 1717 Berlin. To evaluate the magnitude of differences in mortality by time period and estimated sex, a Cox Proportional Hazards analysis was used.

RESULTS: All adults faced a decreased risk of mortality in the early modern period compared to the late medieval period. In both time periods, estimated females faced a higher risk of mortality compared to estimated males, though this difference was only statistically significant in the early modern period.

DISCUSSION: Decreased risk of mortality may indicate protective effects of urban life, even with the climatic variability of the LIA. The early modern period saw the proliferation of public hospitals and an increase in medical publications. Higher mortality risks for estimated females at this time may be a result of differential education and heightened religious tensions that resulted in witchcraft persecutions, possibly affecting social determinants of health for women at the time.

RevDate: 2025-06-23

Anshassi M (2025)

Global warming potential implications of US waste LCA assumptions: A perturbation-based approach for decision support.

Waste management (New York, N.Y.), 204:114953 pii:S0956-053X(25)00364-2 [Epub ahead of print].

Waste management decision makers often rely on LCA findings to determine effective strategies to reduce environmental impacts, of which climate change mitigation has become centerstage. The complexity of conducting an LCA for waste management decision making is typically simplified using comprehensive models developed for wide region (e.g., United States, United Kingdom, Denmark) containing geographic and temporal metadata particular to the region. The aims of this study are to: 1) determine hotspot assumptions triggering the greatest sensitivity to the global warming potential (GWP) indicator for the management of various waste components in the US; and 2) inform on data collection approaches decision makers may use to improve their waste LCA by applying the findings of the first aim to a US context. A perturbation analysis was conducted for several recycling, landfilling, and combusting parameters using the Solid Waste Optimization Framework (SWOLF) Model. For landfilling, critical assumptions included landfill gas management factors such as lifetime gas collection efficiency, the type of gas management employed, and the bulk decay rate. In recycling, the most influential factor was the material substitution ratio. For combustion, key parameters were the avoided emissions from the electrical grid mixture and the types of metals recovered from the ash. Whenever data is available it should be supplemented in place of defaults to reduce uncertainty in waste LCA tools, especially the parameters highlighted that have influential impacts on results.

RevDate: 2025-06-23

Grover P, Verduzco-Gutierrez M, T Annaswamy (2025)

A socioecological approach to understanding and positively affecting the intersectionality between disability, race and ethnicity, climate change, and rehabilitation outcomes: A scoping review.

PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: Health care outcomes for people with disability may be disproportionately affected by climate change through multiple interlinked factors, which are not well understood. Objective With use of scoping review methodology, this study aimed to model this intersectionality using socioecological (SE) levels to connect person-level rehabilitation diagnoses with systems/policy-level climate change and use this model to identify multilevel factors, rehabilitation outcomes, and responsive strategies from literature.

METHODS: A scoping review of literature was conducted using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews methodology from three databases (PubMed Medline, Ovid Medline, CINAHL) using combinations of keywords (climate change), (rehabilitation), (disability), and (race). Logic and SE models were combined to model this intersectionality and create review forms that were used to abstract data. Common themes were collated (results), and additional experiential insight was added to provide contextual relevance (discussion).

RESULTS: Of 32 deduplicated articles, 11 met inclusion criteria for qualitative analysis. Rehabilitation outcomes included physical, economic, mental, cognitive, and mortality (person level); rehabilitation services disruption, medical supply delay, emergency capacity overwhelmed (organizational level); and disabled environment (community level). Responsive strategies included education, backup supplies, planning, social support/utility registration (person level); competency assessment/training, physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians (PM&R) assisting patient in planning, providing pre-/postevent services, and establishing cross-coverage (interpersonal level); telerehabilitation, energy/resources conservation, PM&R inclusion in disaster mitigation planning (organization level); building accessible/resilient infrastructure, evidence-based practice guidelines through professional organizations (community level); and research funding, utility companies prioritizing power, and patients/providers included in planning (system/policy level).

DISCUSSION: Climate change impact on rehabilitation diagnoses such as spinal cord injury and limb loss, as well as intersectionality with rehabilitation outcomes and identified responsive strategies, has been comprehensively modeled using SE levels. Race is not a commonly identified factor.

CONCLUSION: PM&R physicians can play a vital role in this intersectionality of disability, climate change, and rehabilitation outcomes.

RevDate: 2025-06-24
CmpDate: 2025-06-24

Hirata R, Goodarzi L, Rörig FS, et al (2025)

Climate change impacts on groundwater: a growing challenge for water resources sustainability in Brazil.

Environmental monitoring and assessment, 197(7):784.

Despite Brazil's substantial freshwater reserves, regional disparities and increasing anthropogenic pressures have led to recurrent water scarcity, particularly in the northeast and central-west regions. Climate change is expected to intensify these challenges by further stressing surface and groundwater resources. This study estimates the impacts of climate change on future water availability in Brazil using a GIS-based distributed water balance model, particularly the aquifer recharge. Changes in precipitation, temperature, surface runoff, and groundwater recharge (GWR) were evaluated under two emission scenarios (SSP245 and SSP585), based on bias-corrected CMIP6 projections for three future periods: 2025-2050 (F1), 2050-2075 (F2), and 2075-2100 (F3). Climate inputs were used to compute water balance parameters on a monthly basis, which were then aggregated to annual means and compared against a historical baseline (1980-2013). The results indicate an increase in average annual temperature under both emission scenarios. Under SSP245, the projected average temperature rise is 1.02 °C, 1.56 °C, and 1.94 °C for the periods F1, F2, and F3, respectively. Under SSP585, the temperature increase is more pronounced, with projections of 1.38 °C, 2.43 °C, and 3.66 °C for the same periods. Precipitation changes across the country are highly variable; however, the maps generally show a decrease in the northern and eastern regions. Changes in climate parameters are expected to impact annual runoff, with increases projected mainly in the southern and eastern regions. At the same time, decreases are anticipated in the north, west, and southeast regions, reaching up to - 261 mm/year. As surface water availability declines due to climate change, reliance on groundwater resources is expected to increase. However, climate change is projected to reduce GWR by up to - 666 mm/year directly. The Bauru-Caiuá Aquifer System is projected to experience the most severe reduction in GWR, with a decrease of up to - 27.94%. Other aquifers, such as Bambuí Cárstico, Furnas, Guarani, Parecis, Ponta Grossa, and Serra Geral, are also expected to face significant reductions in recharge. Therefore, an integrated approach to water resources management will be critical in these regions to effectively balance future water demand and supply.

RevDate: 2025-06-24

Samarasekera U (2025)

Louise Kelly-Hope-infectious diseases and climate change.

The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 25(7):720.

RevDate: 2025-06-23

Dumitran GE, LI Vuta (2025)

Adapt water reserves to climate change: study case Romania.

Environmental science and pollution research international [Epub ahead of print].

At the regional level, hydrological factors, catchment properties, as well as the way water reserves are utilized, represent major determining factors of the reactions of lake ecosystems to climate change (CC). In this context, lakes also have a negative impact related to the large amounts of water they can consume through evaporation. This paper quantifies the effects of a small artificial lake-Dridu from Romania (with complex usage) on the environment in the context of CC, estimating the blue water footprint (WF) and carbon footprint (CF) under different use scenarios. Thus, an analysis of the evolution of CF and WF is conducted until 2100, considering forecasts of changes in average temperatures, as well as a partial coverage of the lake's surface with floating photovoltaic systems (FPV). During the study period from 2017 to 2021, the average WF was 0.054 million m[3], and the carbon intensity was 120.23 kg CO2e/MWh. By covering 2 ha of the reservoir's surface with FPV, the production and release of CO2 and CH4 into the atmosphere decrease, on average, by 30% for WF and 28.13% for CF. For the CC scenarios, it is observed that WF will increase by an average of 10.4%, while the carbon footprint shows no significant variations. It is worth mentioning that this type of approach, e.g., impact of FPV on WF and CF, as well as the use of FPV as a measure of coping with CC, has not been studied yet in any region of Eastern Europe. This study, given that it deals with relatively new technologies (FPV), has some gaps, since the CF is computed based on estimates, not on measured data. However, the results and the methodology currently presented can be used by various stakeholders to identify the best coping mechanism for preserving the water quantity and for generating clean energy. Also, these types of studies can be a good stimulus for the authorities to develop and permit the placement of FPV on small reservoirs and to investigate the effects of such projects in terms of energy, FPV efficiency, water quantity, and quality, as it will allow the actual quantification of different effects and benefits brought by this technology (water quality indicators, GHG emission, reduction of evaporation, FPV energy output).

RevDate: 2025-06-24
CmpDate: 2025-06-23

Li L, Cole S, Rodriguez-Flores JM, et al (2025)

Synergies Between Agricultural Production and Shorebird Conservation With Climate Change in the Central Valley, California, With Optimized Water Allocation and Multi-Benefit Land Use.

Global change biology, 31(6):e70304.

Conservation planning that enhances the resiliency of biodiversity to climate change requires adaptive water and land use decision-making in the most cost-efficient way. This has many challenges since landscapes with high biodiversity can embrace intense human production activities, particularly agriculture. Conventionally, water and land used for conservation are often regarded as tradeoffs to agricultural productivity. However, this study found that agricultural water and land use synergize with shorebird conservation in the Central Valley, California. If informed decisions are made to guide strategic land use, landscapes can adapt to climate change and offer multiple benefits. This study used a coupled economic optimization model with a species distribution model to consider human factors in ecological impacts. The objective was to assess the impacts of agricultural water and land use decisions under different climate change scenarios on 10 shorebird species populations in California's Central Valley. Our results showed that strategic water and land management can offer favorable habitats to targeted shorebirds with a land composition including diversified crop categories complementary to wetlands. This study demonstrates that agricultural lands can be as important as wetlands to shorebirds to sustain their migratory stages throughout the year. Wetland restoration without species habitat preference information can lead to population shrinkage since wetland types vary in habitat importance to the shorebird species studied in this research. Business as usual, along with land use and climate change, will decrease shorebirds' breeding season and population to the same degree as they impact non-breeding populations. The synergies between agricultural production and shorebird conservation were found in the scenarios that favor agricultural production water use but also favor habitat provisioning to shorebirds in the Central Valley, California, under climate change.

RevDate: 2025-06-24
CmpDate: 2025-06-23

Liu C, Zhang K, Zhao C, et al (2025)

The impact of climate change on depression in rural Chinese older adult.

Frontiers in public health, 13:1610597.

INTRODUCTION: In recent years, the impact of climate change on the economy and society has become increasingly significant, with depression emerging as a major factor hindering individuals' daily functioning and quality of life. Rural older adult, due to their low income and inadequate social security, face particularly prominent depressive symptoms. However, existing research has predominantly focused on developed countries, with insufficient attention paid to depressive disorders among rural older adult populations in China.

METHODS: This study, based on data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) from 2013 to 2020 and meteorological monitoring data, employs a two-way fixed effects model to examine the effects of climate change on depressive symptoms in rural older adult.

RESULTS: The findings reveal that: (1) extreme low temperatures are the primary climatic factor increasing depression risks of rural older adult; (2) the depression of women, those with low education levels, those engaged in agricultural activities, and widowed individuals is more significantly affected by low temperatures; (3) climate change directly heightens depression risks among rural older adult through heightened social isolation and loneliness. (4) climate change indirectly exacerbates depression risks through deteriorating physical health, reduced outdoor activities, declining cognitive abilities, and decreased sleep quality.

DISCUSSION: This study provides empirical evidence for policymakers to assess the health costs of climate change and propose targeted interventions for depressive disorders.

RevDate: 2025-06-24
CmpDate: 2025-06-24

Saadat A, Zubair R, Siddiqui UI, et al (2025)

The contemporary spell of heat stroke in Karachi amid global warming and power crisis: a threatened call for medical emergency.

Frontiers in public health, 13:1469486.

The study examines the impact of population density, air pollution, and temperature on heat stroke cases in Karachi, focusing on stroke-related mortality from 2010 to 2024. It develops an intelligent system for adaptive forecasting, incorporating population increase, air quality, meteorological activity, and mortality data, presenting urban vulnerability to health crises. A Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine the association between these factors, which makes it possible to present urban vulnerability to health crises from various angles that are systematically relevant and interdependent at the same time. This study is unique because it takes an integrated approach, relating urban stressors and climate conditions to public health outcomes in Karachi, a context that has been neglected in previous studies.

RevDate: 2025-06-24

Cortés Arbués I, Chatzivasileiadis T, Storm S, et al (2025)

Private investments in climate change adaptation are increasing in Europe, although sectoral differences remain.

Communications earth & environment, 6(1):470.

Climate-induced hazards are becoming more frequent and severe, causing escalating economic losses worldwide. Consequently, climate change adaptation is increasingly necessary to protect people, nature and the economy. However, little is known about who is adapting and how much they spend on adaptation measures, especially in the private sector. This article focuses on firms-the backbone of economic development, yet understudied in climate adaptation research. Here we present insights from a unique panel dataset detailing businesses' adaptation investments across 28 European countries (2018-2022), 5 hazard types, and 19 economic sectors. Our descriptive analysis reveals low but increasing adaptation investments across Europe (0.15-0.92% of national gross domestic product, annually increasing by 30.6-37.4%). Moreover, we highlight considerable differences in adaptation intensity across sectors, including low adaptation intensity in manufacturing and retail trade. Additionally, our econometric analysis indicates that public adaptation spending crowds in private investments in adaptation, highlighting opportunities to facilitate autonomous adaptation.

RevDate: 2025-06-23

Murendo C (2025)

Exposure to pollution and climate change-induced food insecurity on depressive symptoms among adolescents in rural areas of Afghanistan.

Discover mental health, 5(1):92.

BACKGROUND: Research into how pollution and climate change-induced food insecurity affect adolescents' mental health in Afghanistan is still in its infancy. This study analyses the association between pollution exposure, climate change-induced food insecurity and, depressive symptoms among adolescents in Afghanistan.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1416 adolescents and their 1416 parents and/or caregivers in seven provinces of Afghanistan. Exposure to pollution and climate change-induced food insecurity are the explanatory variables of interest. Mental health was measured by the occurrence of depression. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used for estimation.

RESULTS: The multivariate logistic regression results revealed that adolescents exposed to pollution were 2.66 times more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms (OR = 2.66; p < 0.001), and the effects were significant for both boys and girls. Adolescents experiencing climate change (drought and floods) induced food insecurity were 1.39 times more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms (OR = 1.30; p < 0.05). In addition, the study found that the effects of drought and flood induced food insecurity on mental health were pronounced among girls than boys.

CONCLUSION: Exposure to pollution and climate change-induced food insecurity were associated with depressive symptoms among adolescents. The public, private sector, and international organizations should promote pollution, drought, and flood mitigation strategies, as these environmental factors may contribute to mental health challenges among adolescents. There is need for interventions that specifically target female adolescents given their vulnerabilities to climate change-induced food insecurity. There is scope to integrate mental health services, with food security, pollution and climate mitigation interventions in Afghanistan. Policymakers should focus on regular community-based mental health screening programs, training local mental health professionals, and educating adolescents about the symptoms of depression.

RevDate: 2025-06-19
CmpDate: 2025-06-19

Piyasena NMPM, SMGL Bandara (2025)

Utilizing geospatial tools for assessing climate change vulnerability: a case study of the Ratnapura District, Sri Lanka.

Environmental monitoring and assessment, 197(7):774.

This study utilizes geospatial tools to assess the climate change vulnerability of the Ratnapura District, Sri Lanka, by examining three key dimensions: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Ratnapura is particularly prone to climate-related hazards, such as floods, landslides, and droughts, which pose significant threats to its socio-economic stability and environmental health. The assessment employs historical climate data and geographic information to develop exposure maps, while sensitivity is evaluated through an analysis of socio-economic and environmental conditions. Adaptive capacity is measured by examining local institutional frameworks and resource availability. The findings reveal high vulnerability levels, particularly in the Ratnapura and Kalawana Divisional Secretariat (DS) divisions, highlighting the urgent need for targeted adaptation strategies. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of geospatial analysis tools in conducting comprehensive climate vulnerability assessments, providing valuable insights for developing climate-sensitive policies, and enhancing disaster risk reduction efforts. The results offer a foundation for local and regional authorities to implement proactive measures to build resilience against climate change impacts.

RevDate: 2025-06-19
CmpDate: 2025-06-19

Liang L, Chao Y, Wang X, et al (2025)

Seasonal climate change characteristics of the Mu Us Sandy Land based on long time scale.

Environmental monitoring and assessment, 197(7):771.

The study of seasonal-scale climate-vegetation coupling mechanisms is important for coordinating desertification control and climate adaptation. Taking the Mu Us Sandy Land (MUSL) as a case study, we gathered meteorological data from 1959 to 2019 (including maximum temperature, minimum temperature, and precipitation) for seasonal analysis. We conducted M-K significance and mutation analysis, Morlet wavelet periodicity analysis and correlation analysis and investigated the effects of various seasonal and annual climate factors on NDVI using NDVI values collected from 1999 to 2019. The results indicate the following: (1) Both the maximum and minimum temperatures in the MUSL exhibit an upward trend across all four seasons. Precipitation in autumn shows a decreasing trend, while in spring, summer, and winter, it increases, leading to an overall rise in precipitation. (2) The maximum and minimum temperatures in MUSL experienced a mutation in the 1980 and 2000, respectively, while precipitation underwent a mutation in the 1980 and 2019. After these mutations, both temperature and precipitation exhibited an overall upward trend. (3) The first primary cycle for both the maximum and minimum temperatures is 18 years, while the first primary cycle for precipitation is 8 years. (4) The impact of the climate in MUSL on vegetation is as follows: precipitation > temperature.

RevDate: 2025-06-24

Akorli R, Antwi-Agyei P, Davies P, et al (2025)

The impact of climate change on road traffic crashes in Ghana.

International journal of biometeorology [Epub ahead of print].

Despite the substantial injuries and fatalities from Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs), evidence of climate change's impact on RTCs in Ghana is lacking. This study assessed the impact of climate change on RTCs in Ghana by combining quantitative (Mann-Kendall trend tests, Continuous Wavelet Transform analysis, causal inference analysis) and qualitative (15 key stakeholder interviews) methods. The quantitative analysis employed monthly rainfall and temperature data (1991-2021) alongside RTC data (1998-2021) across 10 regions. While rainfall trends varied regionally, the wet season (April through mid-October) showed a strong link to crash severity for all regions across Ghana. Wavelet analysis showed higher crash severity in the wet season within every 2-8 months period in a particular annual year during the study period. Causal inference analysis revealed rainfall's stronger influence (3.59%) on fatal crashes during the wet season compared to temperature (0.04%). Key stakeholder interviews highlighted perceived changes in temperature and intense rainfall patterns affecting RTCs, especially during rainy seasons suggesting an association between increased rainfall and crash severity. These findings emphasize the multifaceted role of climate change on road safety and the need to address weather-specific risks.

RevDate: 2025-06-20

Chau PH, Yu TLT, Hu Y, et al (2025)

Preparedness of nurses for climate change: questionnaire development and preliminary validation.

International journal of nursing studies advances, 8:100337.

BACKGROUND: Nurses are well-positioned to lead climate action efforts. There are several tools currently available for measuring nurses' awareness, attitudes and practices regarding climate change. While each of these existing tools provides valuable insights into nurses' awareness, attitudes, and practices regarding climate change, none of them address preparedness in taking actions in the near future, which is important to inform strategies for motivating climate change actions targeting nurses.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the development and validation an instrument, provides a means to measure nurses internationally regarding their self-perceived engagement (achievement and preparedness), as well as their awareness and attitudes towards climate change.

METHODS: A self-administered structured questionnaire for a cross-sectional multinational survey was developed. The 2018 International Council of Nursing (ICN)'s Position Statement on Nurses, Climate Change and Health was used to guide the achievement and preparedness of climate change actions. An expert panel of six nursing scholars rated the content validity. Scale-level and item-level Content Validity Index (S-CVI and I-CVI) were calculated. Based on the first 509 responses from the survey, internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach's alpha, convergent validity by correlation analyses, and structural validity was assessed by exploratory factor analysis.

FINDINGS: The I-CVI of the final version was above 0.83 for all items except one. The S-CVI was 0.96. The internal consistency assessed by Cronbach's alpha was 0.943. All constructs were significantly positively associated with each other. Eight factors were identified by exploratory factor analysis, which structurally largely agree with the different parts of the questionnaire.

CONCLUSION: The instrument is valid and reliable for assessing nurses' preparedness for climate change.

RevDate: 2025-06-20

Fitzhugh MH, Wang J, JG Powers (2025)

Climate change and rural populations in dermatology: an intersection requiring further exploration.

International journal of women's dermatology, 11(2):e214.

RevDate: 2025-06-20

Wong A, Hoang TH, Ferrara V, et al (2025)

How Systemic Barriers Can Impact Health Inequities When Facing Climate Change Stressors: A Scoping Review of Global Differences.

GeoHealth, 9(6):e2024GH001272.

The objective of this scoping review is to explore the systemic barriers that impact health inequities among vulnerable populations (e.g., racial/ethnic and gender groups, people with disabilities, refugees, immigrants, elders, young children, agricultural and fishery workers, and low-income individuals) when facing climate change stressors. We conducted an extensive review using nine search engines, which yielded 21 publications that focused on the health outcomes and barriers on the topic of climate change among vulnerable populations. Our findings indicated that poverty is the largest challenge preventing people from adequate health access and achieving positive outcomes, particularly for vulnerable populations globally. In addition, institutional and systemic barriers also differ based on regional differences, which suggests that health inequities are context dependent. Our scoping review has implications for (a) enhancing the effectiveness of climate change mitigation strategies and (b) addressing the healthcare barriers of vulnerable populations based on country-specific challenges.

RevDate: 2025-06-18
CmpDate: 2025-06-18

Gechelu GF, Shoro KE, Baisa SM, et al (2025)

Evaluating climate change impacts on future crop and irrigation water requirements in Gojeb river catchment, Ethiopia.

Environmental monitoring and assessment, 197(7):765.

This study aims to investigate the impacts of climate change on future crop and irrigation water requirements in the Gojeb River catchment. Crop water requirements (CWR) and irrigation water requirements (IWR) for Shabe, Jimma, Dedo, and Bonga stations for maize, sorghum, barley, and wheat were assessed for the near future (2025-2060) and far future (2061-2096). RACMO22T, REMO2009, RCA4, and CCLM4.8 regional climate models (RCMs) were used, considering both the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios. Climatic factors, such as precipitation, minimum and maximum temperatures, and potential evapotranspiration (ETO), were used to evaluate future CWR and IWR. The Hargreaves-Samani equation was utilized to estimate ETo in the R programming. The results of the analysis indicate that at the base period and future projections under the RCP 4.5, maize consistently has the highest CWR and IWR at all stations, while barley requires less water. Under the RCP 4.5 scenario, the CWR for maize, sorghum, barley, and wheat is projected to increase at all stations in the near and far future. Similarly, in RCP 8.5, crop water needs increased across all stations. On the other hand, the study calculated IWR for maize, sorghum, barley, and wheat under the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios, showing an increase in water needs for all crops in both the near and far future at all stations. The projected CWR and IWR values under RCP 8.5 are greater than those under RCP 4.5 at every station. The study can serve as benchmark information for future research and guide watershed managers and environmentalists in considering the impacts of climate change on surface water availability and irrigation requirements in the Gojeb River catchment.

RevDate: 2025-06-20
CmpDate: 2025-06-20

Simon J, Ibanga EA, Inyang EP, et al (2025)

Assessment of heavy metal pollution from flooded rice farms in Hadejia LGA of Jigawa State Nigeria: an impact of climate change.

Environmental monitoring and assessment, 197(7):764.

This study assessed heavy metal contamination in flooded rice farmlands of Hadejia Local Government Area, Jigawa State, Nigeria, with the aim of investigating the impact of perennial flooding on metal accumulation in soils and rice grains. The research addresses a significant data gap in environmental and public health surveillance within the region. A total of 50 surface soil and 50 rice grain samples were collected and analyzed using microwave plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (MP-AES), validated by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), to determine the concentrations of Zn, Cd, Fe, Cu, Ni, As, Pb, Mn, and Cr. Due to non-normal data distribution, median values were used for the analysis. While most heavy metals were within the permissible limits, arsenic (As) exceeded its maximum allowable concentration (MAC) in soil by 77.5% and surpassed its weekly tolerable intake limit in rice by four orders of magnitude, posing a significant health risk. The contamination was attributed to mine tailings, abandoned pits, agricultural residues, and industrial discharges from nearby regions. Pollution indices indicated particularly high risks from Cd and As. The study recommends detailed geochemical mapping to trace arsenic sources and the adoption of low-arsenic-absorbing rice varieties to reduce dietary exposure and enhance food safety.

RevDate: 2025-06-21
CmpDate: 2025-06-18

Hultgren A, Carleton T, Delgado M, et al (2025)

Impacts of climate change on global agriculture accounting for adaptation.

Nature, 642(8068):644-652.

Climate change threatens global food systems[1], but the extent to which adaptation will reduce losses remains unknown and controversial[2]. Even within the well-studied context of US agriculture, some analyses argue that adaptation will be widespread and climate damages small[3,4], whereas others conclude that adaptation will be limited and losses severe[5,6]. Scenario-based analyses indicate that adaptation should have notable consequences on global agricultural productivity[7-9], but there has been no systematic study of how extensively real-world producers actually adapt at the global scale. Here we empirically estimate the impact of global producer adaptations using longitudinal data on six staple crops spanning 12,658 regions, capturing two-thirds of global crop calories. We estimate that global production declines 5.5 × 10[14] kcal annually per 1 °C global mean surface temperature (GMST) rise (120 kcal per person per day or 4.4% of recommended consumption per 1 °C; P < 0.001). We project that adaptation and income growth alleviate 23% of global losses in 2050 and 34% at the end of the century (6% and 12%, respectively; moderate-emissions scenario), but substantial residual losses remain for all staples except rice. In contrast to analyses of other outcomes that project the greatest damages to the global poor[10,11], we find that global impacts are dominated by losses to modern-day breadbaskets with favourable climates and limited present adaptation, although losses in low-income regions losses are also substantial. These results indicate a scale of innovation, cropland expansion or further adaptation that might be necessary to ensure food security in a changing climate.

RevDate: 2025-06-18

Coronado-Vázquez V, J Gómez-Salgado (2025)

Health professionals face up to climate change: from commitment to action.

Emergencias : revista de la Sociedad Espanola de Medicina de Emergencias, 37(3):226-227.

RevDate: 2025-06-18
CmpDate: 2025-06-18

McLaughlin BC, Kling MM, Jackson ST, et al (2025)

Sustaining Species of the Future: Climatic Nuclei for Climate Change Adaptation.

Global change biology, 31(6):e70253.

Conservation of climatic refugia, or locations that will buffer vulnerable species from the effects of climate change, has recently emerged as a prominent climate adaptation strategy. Here, we introduce an important and complementary concept, 'climatic nuclei'-locations that harbor populations of species that are expected to expand under future conditions-which has so far received little attention. While the climatic refugia concept focuses on threatened species, the climatic nuclei concept focuses on species that are projected to expand with climate change to help create the functional, diverse, and locally unique ecosystems of the future. We evaluate where climatic nuclei are expected to occur; draw on lessons from the paleoecological and modern ecological literature to better understand how climatic nuclei could function; explore the concept's application to land stewardship and conservation; and provide suggestions for future research.

RevDate: 2025-06-20

Xu J, Zhao Y, Wang C, et al (2025)

From current to future projections: modeling habitat suitability changes for Hibiscus syriacus L. in China using MaxEnt under climate change.

Frontiers in plant science, 16:1551684.

Hibiscus syriacus L. (Malvaceae) is widely cultivated for its ornamental value and diverse applications in food, medicine, and textiles. Despite its extensive use, the key environmental factors and geographic patterns influencing its habitat suitability remain poorly understood. We applied the MaxEnt model to assess the current and projected future distribution of H. syriacus using 185 occurrence records and 20 environmental variables. Results showed that the current suitable habitat area covered 188.81 × 10[4] km[2]. Temperature and precipitation played a crucial role in shaping the present geographical distribution of H. syriacus populations. Projections indicated that by the 2050s, the total suitable habitat area would expand, with the SSP585 scenario demonstrating the most substantial increase. However, a general decline was expected by the 2070s. The potential distribution, primarily concentrated in Hunan Province, was projected to shift southwestward. Migration patterns and habitat changes were primarily driven by substantial variations in temperature and precipitation. These findings highlight the impact of climate change on the habitat suitability of H. syriacus and offer a scientific basis for determining planting zones and strategies.

RevDate: 2025-06-20

Zhao Z, Yang W, Hua P, et al (2025)

Deicing salt exacerbates freshwater salinization under climate change and human activities.

Innovation (Cambridge (Mass.)), 6(6):100862.

RevDate: 2025-06-18

Naylor R, E Shaw (2025)

Atmospheres of influence: the role of journal editors in shaping early climate change narratives - ERRATUM.

RevDate: 2025-06-18

Roberge M, Diallo T, Bérubé A, et al (2025)

Climate Change Integration in Nursing Academic Curricula and Continuing Education: A Scoping Review.

The Canadian journal of nursing research = Revue canadienne de recherche en sciences infirmieres [Epub ahead of print].

Background and PurposeThe consequences of climate change on individuals' and communities' health are numerous. Nurses are among the healthcare professionals most confronted with the climate crisis, and have great potential to limit its impact on vulnerable populations. However, our knowledge of educational options for preparing nurses to address climate change remains limited. The aim of this scoping review was to examine how climate change is integrated into the academic curricula or continuing education of nurses.Methods and ProceduresArksey and O'Malley's (2005) framework was used to conduct this scoping review. Documentary search strategies were developed and tested in four databases, and a search of the grey literature was carried out. A two-stage selection process was implemented. Data from 16 scientific articles were extracted and 11 grey literature references were included in the analyses. A narrative summary allowed to synthesize the findings.ResultsAcademic and healthcare organizations are increasingly implementing innovative and participatory educational initiatives to raise nurses' awareness of climate change's health impacts and encourage students and nurses to act in their daily lives and clinical practice. Challenges include a dense curriculum, the absence of a climate competency framework, and theoretical content being presented in an unstimulating manner.ConclusionsThe use of innovative, interactive teaching methods, reference to a theoretical model centered on planetary health, and climate change content distributed throughout the curriculum are some ways to stimulate students' interest in climate issues. Collaborative efforts involving academia and organizations are needed to foster nurses' awareness and encourage a variety of climate-oriented actions with planetary reach.

RevDate: 2025-06-20
CmpDate: 2025-06-18

Levine RL, Verzuh TL, Mathewson PD, et al (2025)

Sex-specific trade-offs influence thermoregulation under climate change.

Ecology, 106(6):e70138.

Increasingly, climate change is pushing species to the limits of their thermal tolerance, with cascading effects across ecosystems. Animals use behavior to prevent these harmful physiological states, but their need and ability to do so varies with their traits. Within species, traits such as sex and reproductive status affect heat sensitivity, perhaps eliciting differences in behavioral responses to thermal extremes. We evaluated whether sex and reproductive status affected thermoregulatory behavior and its efficacy in moose (Alces alces), a heat-sensitive endotherm that relies on thermal refuge. We expected traits associated with elevated heat load would be linked to heightened selection for thermal refuge and that differences in selection would successfully alleviate differing risks of overheating. Thus, reproductive females and males, who are more heat-sensitive, would have stronger selection for thermal refuge than non-reproductive females. We assessed selection of thermal refuge at bed sites and generated biophysical models to evaluate if selection mitigated risk of overheating. Reproductive status did not elicit differences in selection by females. The sexes, however, differed in selection of the trade-off between solar cover and cooling from wind. Females selected refuge with canopy cover and avoided wind. Males did not select cover and had weaker avoidance of wind than females. Yet, both sexes were more likely to overheat in areas of low cover, even if wind speeds were high. Hence, males had weaker selection of refuge than females despite being more likely to overheat, and life history trade-offs failed to explain the sub-optimal thermoregulatory behavior. We identify sex-specific thermoregulatory trade-offs, highlighting the disproportionate effects of climate change on certain demographic groups. Moreover, we emphasize the relevance of trait-based approaches for studying changing ecosystems.

RevDate: 2025-06-20

Attia NM, Hamed AEM, Elbakry MAAE, et al (2025)

Navigating sustainable practice: environmental awareness and climate change as mediators of green competence of nurses.

BMC nursing, 24(1):658.

BACKGROUND: The sustainability of biological, social, and economic systems is essential to safeguarding our collective future and maintaining a balanced relationship between humans and the natural environment. Addressing environmental concerns requires the active involvement of all societal sectors, integrating sustainability awareness into everyday practices and business processes through optimal technology use. This study aims to examine the mediating role of climate change and environmental awareness in the relationship between sustainable practices and green competence among nurses.

SUBJECT AND METHODS: A random sample of 230 nurses was selected from Al-Ahrar Teaching Hospital in Zagazig, Egypt. A descriptive correlational design was used. Five validated instruments were used to assess sociodemographic characteristics, green competence, nurses' perceptions of climate change, environmental awareness, and sustainable development behaviors.

RESULTS: The results of the current study show that green competence was significantly and positively correlated to nurses' sustainable practice, environmental awareness and climate change.

CONCLUSION: Environmental awareness and climate change were mediated of relationship between sustainable practice and green competence.

The findings of this study have significant implications for nursing management and the broader healthcare sector. By elucidating the relationships among green competence, nurses' sustainable practices, environmental awareness, and climate change, this research offers actionable insights for healthcare leaders. Nursing managers can enhance workplace safety and environmental responsibility by supporting green management systems and implementing ongoing green management programs to improve nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward sustainability. Furthermore, healthcare facilities should be encouraged to adopt environmental awareness and green management practices to address climate change and foster sustainable practices across the healthcare workforce.

CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.

RevDate: 2025-06-17

Liu YR, Wen S, Singh BK, et al (2025)

Vulnerability of soil food webs to chemical pollution and climate change.

Nature ecology & evolution [Epub ahead of print].

Soil food webs are critical for maintaining ecosystem functions but are challenged by various stressors including climate change, habitat destruction and pollution. Although complex multitrophic networks can, in theory, buffer environmental stress, the effects of anthropogenic chemicals on soil food webs under climate change remain poorly understood. Here we propose that the effects of chemical pollution on soil communities have been largely underestimated, particularly for climate change-affected ecosystems. We explore the interactive effects of environmental stressors on soil food webs and the importance of integrating chemical pollution impacts into assessing soil food web stability. We also discuss a conceptual framework involving microbiome manipulation, community compensatory dynamics and interaction modulation to mitigate the combined effects of chemical pollution and climate change on soil food webs.

RevDate: 2025-06-17

Dorigatti I, Gaythorpe KAM, Cox VM, et al (2025)

Priorities for modelling arbovirus transmission under climate change.

Trends in molecular medicine pii:S1471-4914(25)00121-2 [Epub ahead of print].

The transmission potential of arboviruses is extremely sensitive to environmental conditions. This sensitivity is due to both their intimate relationship with ectothermic vectors and, in many cases, also to the involvement of multiple host species in zoonotic transmission cycles. Here, we review how climate change will alter the transmission ecology and risk of these important infections. The challenge of predicting how climate change will impact these systems is daunting, but the need for tools to manage arbovirus risk under climate change is urgent and imperative. We argue that the development of climate-driven mechanistic models of disease transmission informed by empirical surveillance data is urgently needed to inform future responses and for generating the evidence that policy needs to tackle this global public health risk.

RevDate: 2025-06-17
CmpDate: 2025-06-17

Booth A, Blake D, M Breheny (2025)

Who's responsible? A media framing analysis of climate change and meat reduction in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Health promotion international, 40(3):.

Addressing climate change requires urgent and impactful action. This includes reducing consumption of red meat for people living in high-income countries. This article seeks to understand the role that media play in the construction of arguments about meat reduction. A framing analysis of 58 news media stories from Aotearoa New Zealand (herein Aotearoa) examines how arguments about meat reduction are made persuasive. It was found that within Aotearoa media, responsibility was mainly framed in terms of 'individual responsibility'; this served to limit understanding of how to mobilize collective action and hold powerful groups to account. Aggregated individual choices were instead given the power to influence political action. 'Collective responsibility' and 'political responsibility' frames were also present; these recognized government inaction and the political and economic challenges of meat. In these frames, citizens were encouraged to undertake civil action against political inaction. While individual responsibility is important, individual action alone is insufficient in the face of the increasing climate crisis. The individual actions of many do not replace political and corporate actions that have the potential to reduce emissions and advance climate justice.

RevDate: 2025-06-17
CmpDate: 2025-06-17

Al-Kindi KM, AH Al-Lawati (2025)

Climate change and its impact on wheat distribution in semi-arid ecosystems: A case study from the Sultanate of Oman.

PloS one, 20(6):e0326198.

Climate change, characterised by long-term shifts in temperature, precipitation, and extreme weather events, poses significant challenges to agricultural sustainability. This study aims to mitigate the impact of climate change on wheat production in Oman by identifying optimal cultivation areas for four temporal periods. Utilising the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model, the study assessed the suitability of wheat cultivation across four periods: 1970-2020 (reference period), 2021-2040, 2041-2060 and 2061-2080. The model considered environmental variables, such as temperature and precipitation, to predict wheat distribution for the present and future climate scenarios. The MaxEnt model demonstrated robust predictive performance, with area under curve (AUC) scores consistently above 0.8 across all periods. The model achieved an AUC of 0.82 for the reference period (1970-2020) and accurately identified the regions suitable for wheat cultivation. The AUC for the immediate future (2021-2040) decreased marginally to 0.81, reflecting potential shifts in environmental conditions that might influence wheat distribution, and returned to 0.82 for the 2041-2060 period, indicating the model's resilience in predicting wheat suitability despite the projected climate change impacts. Notably, the AUC increased to 0.83 for the 2061-2080 period, suggesting that wheat distribution patterns might become more distinct under future climate scenarios or that the environmental variables driving the model gain greater significance as climate change intensifies. These results highlight the effectiveness of the MaxEnt model in identifying suitable wheat cultivation areas in varying climate conditions. The results provide critical insights into Oman's long-term agricultural planning and sustainable practices. Given the historical wheat cultivation in different regions of Oman, it is crucial to identify optimal areas for future production under climate change to ensure food security and support strategic decision-making. This study emphasises the importance of integrating predictive modelling into agricultural planning and calls for further research to refine strategies for climate-resilient wheat production.

RevDate: 2025-06-19
CmpDate: 2025-06-16

Lechat B, Manners J, Pinilla L, et al (2025)

Global warming may increase the burden of obstructive sleep apnea.

Nature communications, 16(1):5100.

High ambient temperatures are associated with reduced sleep duration and quality, but effects on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity are unknown. Here we quantify the effect of 24 h ambient temperature on nightly OSA severity in 116,620 users of a Food and Drug Administration-cleared nearable over 3.5 years. Wellbeing and productivity OSA burden for different levels of global warming were estimated. Globally, higher temperatures (99[th] vs. 25[th]; 27.3 vs. 6.4 °C) were associated with a 45% higher probability of having OSA on a given night (mean [95% confidence interval]; 1.45 [1.44, 1.47]). Warming-related increase in OSA prevalence in 2023 was estimated to be associated with a loss of 788,198 (489,226, 1,087,170) healthy life years (in 29 countries), and a workplace productivity loss of 30 (21 to 40) billion United States dollars. Scenarios with projected temperatures ≥1.8 °C above pre-industrial levels would incur a further 1.2 to 3-fold increase in OSA burden by 2100.

RevDate: 2025-06-16

Penger S, K Conrad (2025)

[Maintaining mobility of older people in urban areas in the face of climate change : Empirical findings on perceived heat stress and potential adaptive behavior].

Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie und Geriatrie [Epub ahead of print].

Urban areas face complex challenges, such as climate change, environmental stressors, urbanization and demographic change. Vulnerable individuals, including older people are particularly affected. In old age health risks increase during heat periods due to multiple burdens resulting from dynamic person-environment interactions. How differently older adults perceive extreme heat and the behavioral adaptations they make in response were investigated in a field study conducted in Stuttgart. The aim of the present work was to form segments using cluster analyses that clearly differed in terms of heat stress levels and independent daily living outside the home. The sample included 211 community dwelling individuals (57% female) aged 65-92 years. Data collection was conducted through personal, standardized interviews. Of the four clusters identified one exhibited an accumulation of vulnerability factors, manifesting in particularly high perception of heat stress, impaired independence in daily life and a greater reduction in outdoor activities during heat compared to the other clusters. While the latter could provide protection from heat-related effects, it also poses risks of supply shortages and reduced social participation during heatwaves. Such segmentation beyond chronological age highlights the need for targeted heat protection and prevention measures, which are addressed in municipal heat action plans. Although the development of such plans has already progressed in Germany, the proposed measures must be implemented on a broader and cross-sectoral basis to strengthen health equity for all.

RevDate: 2025-06-16
CmpDate: 2025-06-16

Braun CB, Rasmussen SA, DJ Jamieson (2025)

Climate Change and Pregnancy Outcomes: A Systematic Approach to Reviewing the Data.

Birth defects research, 117(6):e2493.

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence is accumulating regarding the effects of climate change on human health. In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified six exposure pathways through which climate change might affect health: extreme weather events; heat stress; air quality; food safety and security; water quality and quantity; and vector distribution and ecology. We sought to evaluate the climate change-related effects through these pathways on the health of pregnant persons and neonates.

METHODS: Individual PubMed searches were tailored for each WHO climate change exposure pathway based on the quality and quantity of evidence. Searches for heat stress, air quality, food safety and security, and vector distribution and ecology included systematic reviews only, while those for the remaining exposure pathways included broader quantitative study parameters.

RESULTS: Evidence links heat stress, air quality, and vector distribution and ecology to several adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. While evidence regarding extreme weather events, food safety and security, and water quality and quantity also shows harmful effects on pregnant persons and neonates, the data are less conclusive.

CONCLUSIONS: Climate change-related effects detrimentally affect the health of pregnant persons and neonates, but additional research is required to improve understanding of how climate change exerts its effects on these populations.

RevDate: 2025-06-17

Yang Z, Yang S, Wang X, et al (2025)

Prediction of Global Warming Potential for Gases Based on Group Contribution Method and Chemical Activity Descriptor.

ACS omega, 10(22):22508-22520.

To assess the environmental performance of SF6 substitute gases, it is essential to develop a predictive model for the global warming potential. In this study, 165 molecules are first selected to construct machine learning models using group contribution method. The predictive performance of various models is analyzed, including Artificial Neural Network, Random Forest, Gradient Boosted Decision Trees, and Support Vector Machines. Then 58 chemical activity descriptors are calculated using the M06-2X method and def2-TZVP basis, and the key descriptors are identified through Pearson correlation coefficient. These descriptors are used to build several machine learning models. The performance of these models constructed by the two approaches is compared. The result indicates that the descriptor-based models outperform the group-based models, with the descriptor-based Random Forest model achieving the best performance. The R [2] of test set reached 0.82, with an MSE of 0.015, an RMSE of 0.024, and an MAE of 0.09. Moreover, the descriptor-based model demonstrated higher stability and robustness across 1000 training iterations.

RevDate: 2025-06-17

Omokaro GO (2025)

Multi-impacts of climate change and mitigation strategies in Nigeria: agricultural production and food security.

Science in One Health, 4:100113.

Climate change poses a significant threat to Nigeria's agricultural sector, which is a cornerstone of its economy and food security. The increasing frequency of extreme weather events, erratic rainfall patterns, and rising temperatures have disrupted agricultural productivity, threatening the livelihoods of millions of Nigerians. Through a comprehensive literature review, synthesizing data from peer-reviewed journals, institutional reports, and credible online sources from 2000 to 2023, this study aims to explore the multi-faceted impacts of climate variability on agricultural production, livestock, fisheries, and food security in Nigeria, and to identify effective adaptation strategies to mitigate these impacts. The findings reveal that climate change has significantly disrupted agricultural productivity in Nigeria, with erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, and extreme weather events leading to reduced crop yields, increased pest and disease pressure, and land degradation. Vulnerable crops such as maize, cassava, and rice are particularly affected, while livestock production faces challenges such as heat stress and reduced feed availability. The fisheries sector is also impacted, with shrinking water resources and increasing contamination levels threatening livelihoods. Adaptation strategies, including crop diversification, improved irrigation, and indigenous knowledge practices, offer some resilience but require substantial policy and financial support. The study highlights the urgency of implementing climate-smart agricultural practices, enhancing infrastructure, and promoting public-private partnerships to mitigate climate-induced risks. Recommendations align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2 (Zero Hunger), 13 (Climate Action), and 15 (Life on Land), emphasizing the need for sustainable agricultural practices, ecosystem preservation, and adaptive policy frameworks to ensure food security and economic stability in Nigeria. This study provides valuable insights into the impacts of climate change on Nigeria's agricultural sector and offers practical recommendations for building resilience and ensuring sustainable food systems. It reveals the importance of collaborative efforts at all levels to address the challenges posed by climate change and safeguard the nation's agricultural heritage for future generations.

RevDate: 2025-06-17
CmpDate: 2025-06-16

Ogony J, Mangeni J, Ayodo G, et al (2025)

The stifling burden of climate change on African public healthcare systems.

Frontiers in public health, 13:1559737.

BACKGROUND: Climate change is the greatest health threat of the 21st century to global health and primary health care. Despite being the least contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, Africa is disproportionately facing severe impacts of climate change, particularly on its health systems which is already neglected and underfunded. The crisis poses a fundamental threat to human health by undermining healthcare infrastructure, straining workforce capacity, and diminishing global progress toward universal health coverage. It disrupts the physical environment, natural and human systems, and the functionality of healthcare systems, acting as a multiplier threat that jeopardizes and potentially reverses decades of health gains. The Sendai Framework, a roadmap for making vulnerable and marginalized communities safer and more resilient emphasizes the importance of investing in disaster risk prevention and reduction through both structural and non-structural measures, which are vital for enhancing socio-economic, health, and cultural resilience. This narrative review is based on the insights drawn from Climate Adaptation Research Program scholars across Africa. It explores the current and projected burden of climate change on the continent's healthcare systems. It underscores the urgent need to integrate climate resilience into healthcare planning, fostering cross-sectoral collaboration, and ensures the sustainability of health systems amid escalating climate challenges.

CONCLUSION: The impacts of climate change on health represent a significant global challenge, demanding the establishment of robust and resilient healthcare systems. To mitigate the catastrophic and lasting effects of the climate crisis on healthcare and to prevent millions of climate-related deaths, it is essential to enhance resilience and preparedness.

RevDate: 2025-06-18
CmpDate: 2025-06-16

Rintz CL, Koubbi P, Ramiro-Sánchez B, et al (2025)

Biogeographical Regions and Climate Change: Lanternfishes Shed Light on the Role of Climatic Barriers in the Southern Ocean.

Global change biology, 31(6):e70256.

To predict the spatial responses of biodiversity to climate change, studies typically rely on species-specific approaches, such as species distribution models. In this study, we propose an alternative methodology that investigates the collective response of species groups by modelling biogeographical regions. Biogeographical regions are areas defined by homogeneous species compositions and separated by barriers to dispersal. When climate acts as such a barrier, species within the same region are expected to respond similar to changing climatic conditions, enabling the prediction of entire region shifts in response to future climate scenarios. We applied this approach to the Southern Ocean, which exhibits sharp climatic transitions known as oceanic fronts, focusing on the mesopelagic lanternfishes (family Myctophidae). We compiled occurrence data for 115 lanternfish species from 1950 onwards and employed a network-based analysis to identify two major biogeographical regions: a southern and a subtropical region. These regions were found to be distinct, with minimal overlap in species distributions along the temperature gradient and a separation around 8°C, indicating that temperature likely acts as a climatic barrier. Using an ensemble modelling approach, we projected the response of these regions to future temperature changes under various climate scenarios. Our results suggest a circumpolar expansion of the subtropical region and a contraction of the southern region, with the Southern Ocean becoming a cul-de-sac for southern species. Ultimately, our results suggest that when support is found for the climatic barrier hypothesis, community-level models from a 'group first, then predict' strategy may effectively predict future shifts in species assemblages.

RevDate: 2025-06-18
CmpDate: 2025-06-16

Kukkurainen HI, BGJS Sonneveld (2025)

Assessment of Sámi food security in Finnish Lapland: climate change impacts and policy effectiveness.

International journal of circumpolar health, 84(1):2516310.

Accelerated climate warming in the Arctic threatens the food security of Indigenous peoples, including the Sámi in Finland. As temperatures rise nearly four times faster than the global average, ecosystems that support traditional Sámi practices, such as reindeer herding, fishing, hunting, and gathering, are increasingly disrupted. These practices are central to Sámi identity, knowledge systems, and social cohesion. However, despite these predictive narratives, the question of how these changes will affect overall food security among the Sámi remains unclear. This study aimed to: 1) investigate how climate change affects Sámi food security, 2) map concerns about anticipated impacts, and 3) assess the effectiveness of Finnish national policies. We addressed four dimensions of food security: availability, access, utilisation, and stability. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews (N = 10), alongside a policy analysis. Findings indicate that climate change compromises the stability of the Sámi food systems and has broad implications on food security in terms of availability, accessibility, and utilisation. Current policy responses lack sufficient attention to the Sámi's cultural-ecological ties and offer limited support for Arctic-specific adaptation. These results underscore the urgency of culturally responsive and place-based policy action to strengthen Sámi food security in a rapidly changing climate.

RevDate: 2025-06-18

Lee EY, Park S, Kim YB, et al (2025)

Ambient environmental conditions and active outdoor play in the context of climate change: A systematic review and meta-synthesis.

Environmental research, 283:122146 pii:S0013-9351(25)01397-0 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: Ambient environmental conditions, both influenced by and contribute to climate change, is affecting many aspects of daily life, including active and playful lifestyle activities. This systematic review and qualitative synthesis investigated the association(s) between ambient environmental conditions and active outdoor play across the lifespan.

METHODS: Seven databases were used to identify studies measuring ambient environmental conditions (meteorological conditions, atmospheric pressure, land-use/environmental factors) and its associations (null, favorable, unfavorable) with active outdoor play. Narrative synthesis and meta-synthesis were performed.

RESULTS: Results across 44 studies encompassed 74,423 individuals, 530,142 observations/counts, and 2029 households. 91% of studies were derived from high-income countries. The average duration of active outdoor play varied by age groups of early years (0-5 years,133.2 min/day), children (6-12 years, 153.2 min/day), adults (18-64 years, 97.2 min/day), and older adults (65+ years, 47.1 min/day). Meteorological (null), atmospheric (unfavorable), and land-use/environmental (unfavorable) factors were associated with active outdoor play (n = 33 studies). Three studies indicated the potential negative impact of active outdoor play on the environment (unfavorable). Grounded in social-ecological resilience theory, deductive coding was applied to categorize outdoor type, play type, impact of climate change on active outdoor play or vice versa, adaptation, and resilience.

CONCLUSION: This review provides a comprehensive overview of current evidence on associations between ambient environmental conditions and active outdoor play in the context of climate change. The findings offer insights into how a changing climate may influence opportunities for active outdoor play and inform strategies to promote resilient outdoor play practices.

RevDate: 2025-06-14

Rudgers JA, Gehring CA, Taylor DL, et al (2025)

Integration of plant-soil feedbacks with resilience theory for climate change.

Trends in ecology & evolution pii:S0169-5347(25)00132-6 [Epub ahead of print].

The resilience of ecosystems to climate disruption requires internal feedbacks that support the stability of ecosystem structure and function. Such feedbacks may include sustained interactions between plants and soil [plant-soil feedback (PSF)]. Theoretically, PSF could either boost or degrade ecosystem resilience. Three criteria must be met to attribute resilience to PSF: (i) The presence or amount of PSF must be manipulated; (ii) the ecosystem must face climate disruption after PSF is manipulated; and (iii) PSF must alter the resistance or recovery of ecosystem structure or function to disruption. Several case studies suggest that PSF may support (or degrade) resilience, but no study has yet met all criteria. Doing so could yield novel insights into how aboveground-belowground interactions shape ecosystem resilience to climate change.

RevDate: 2025-06-14

Roy S, More M, Trivedi A, et al (2025)

Aging and climate change-induced heat stress synergistically increase susceptibility to Vibrio vulnificus infection via an altered gut microbiome-immune axis.

The Science of the total environment, 989:179881 pii:S0048-9697(25)01522-0 [Epub ahead of print].

Climate change is exacerbating heatwaves, significantly increasing public health risks, including heightened vulnerability to Vibrio vulnificus infections, especially among older adults. While heat stress alone impairs immune regulation and compromises gut integrity, the combined effects of aging and climate-induced heat stress on infectious severity remain insufficiently explored. Using young (12-week-old) and aged (24-month-old) mouse models, we examined how aging and periodic heat stress synergistically influence susceptibility to Vibrio vulnificus by assessing gut microbiome alterations, immune responses, and antibiotic resistance gene dynamics. Heat stress markedly impaired intestinal barrier function, induced significant microbiome shifts, elevated systemic inflammation, and promoted enrichment of antibiotic resistance genes particularly those conferring tetracycline resistance with effects significantly amplified in aged mice. Upon Vibrio vulnificus infection, aged heat-stressed mice demonstrated elevated inflammatory responses, severe intestinal damage, and pronounced immune dysregulation compared to younger counterparts. Gut depletion and probiotic recolonization models further validated microbiota involvement, showing that Roseburia intestinalis significantly reduced heat stress-exacerbated CD4[+] T-cell immunosenescence in aged mice. Collectively, this study provides robust experimental evidence highlighting the critical interplay between aging and climate-driven heat stress in intensifying infectious disease severity via microbiome-immune axis disruptions, underscoring the need for microbiota-targeted strategies in climate-vulnerable populations.

RevDate: 2025-06-14
CmpDate: 2025-06-14

Valdez V, Ferreras P, LM Rosalino (2025)

The Effects of Climate Change on Mesocarnivores: A Global Review and Meta-Analysis.

Global change biology, 31(6):e70302.

Climate change is a major threat to biodiversity, affecting a wide range of species in different ecological networks. Higher trophic level species, such as mesocarnivores, are particularly affected due to bottom-up and top-down cascading effects. The magnitude of climate change impacts on mesocarnivores may vary between regions and taxonomic groups, but this variation is poorly understood. We reviewed 119 articles on the effects of climate change on mesocarnivores (Order Carnivora). We found an increase in studies of climate change effects over time, with canids and mustelids being the most studied carnivores, and herpestids, procyonids, viverrids and ailurids being the least studied. Most of the identified studies were from Europe, followed by North and South America. Africa and Oceania had fewer published studies. The most common approach to assessing the impact of climate change on carnivores was based on the study of species spatial ecology and habitat use, but also on population and community ecology. We used 21 of those articles that used ecological niche modelling to assess future distribution changes as the basis for our meta-analysis. Our results show that although some habitat generalists, mainly canids and procyonids, with a wide range of habitats may benefit from climate change, most mesocarnivores are likely to experience range contractions. However, this general pattern varies among carnivore families. Species from arid environments, as well as those that are specialists in montane and tropical forests, are likely to experience the largest declines in range. This is especially true for species from Africa, Asia and South America, as these regions are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Our study highlights that climate change affects carnivores in different ways and that there is also regional variation in impacts; therefore, conservation efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change should be tailored to each continent and species.

RevDate: 2025-06-13

Zhao Y, Qin F, Cui Q, et al (2025)

Three-and-a-half million years of Tibetan Plateau vegetation dynamics in response to climate change.

Nature ecology & evolution [Epub ahead of print].

The Tibetan Plateau supports the largest alpine meadow ecosystem globally. It is considered extremely vulnerable to global warming. Knowledge of past vegetation dynamics under similarly warm climates could shed insights into where the tipping point for regime shifts may lie. We report a continuous multicentennial-resolved pollen record for the last 3.5 Myr from a lake sediment core retrieved from the Zoige Basin (~3,350-3,450 m above sea level) on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. It reveals a detailed picture of the vegetation dynamics across several timescales using the approaches of biomization, numerical analysis, statistical modelling and vegetation simulations. These lines of evidence show that vegetation underwent transformation from stable forest in the mid-late Pliocene Period (3.5-2.73 million years ago (Ma)) to codominance of forest and steppe in the early Quaternary Period (2.73-1.54 Ma) and to a meadow-dominated ecosystem after ~1.54 Ma, along with glacial-interglacial and millennial-scale grassland-forest shifts. These vegetational changes were largely controlled by temperature change. A global warming of ~2-3 °C is the most important threshold for the forest expansion and meadow resilience loss on the Tibetan Plateau. By analogy to the past, we suggest that, without major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the current Tibetan Plateau meadow is at risk of major transformation.

RevDate: 2025-06-17

Burke A, Grove M, Maier A, et al (2025)

The archaeology of climate change: a blueprint for integrating environmental and cultural systems.

Nature communications, 16(1):5289.

Cultural systems play an important role in shaping the interactions between humans and the environment, and are in turn shaped by these interactions. However, at present, cultural systems are poorly integrated into the models used by climate scientists to study the interaction of natural and anthropogenic processes (i.e. Earth systems models) due to pragmatic and conceptual barriers. In this Perspective, we demonstrate how the archaeology of climate change, an interdisciplinary field that uses the archaeological record to explore human-environment interactions, is uniquely placed to overcome these barriers. We use concepts drawn from climate science and evolutionary anthropology to show how complex systems modeling that focuses on the spatial structure of the environment and its impact on demographic variables, social networks and cultural evolution, can bridge the gap between large-scale climate processes and local-scale social processes. The result is a blueprint for the design of integrative models that produce testable hypotheses about the impact of climate change on human systems.

RevDate: 2025-06-13

Parnes MF, Mosley L, Burris HH, et al (2025)

Climate change and environmental degradation: bioethical considerations and impact for neonatal care.

Seminars in perinatology pii:S0146-0005(25)00076-X [Epub ahead of print].

Climate change has severe consequences for neonatal health. Neonates are uniquely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to their developing bodies and immature immune and thermoregulatory systems. Climate change increases the risk of severe weather events, including extreme heat and natural disasters, as well as pollution and chemical exposures. The physiologic fragility of neonates and dependence on a stable environment require healthcare systems and policymakers to ensure protections are in place to mitigate health risks and potential impacts that will have long-lasting effects on individual development and well-being. The current article details the impacts of climate change on neonatal health across the lifecycle as well as the disproportionate consequences for communities most vulnerable to climate change. We provide evidence as to why this is a bioethical issue and offer recommendations for policies to protect neonatal health and promote environmental and climate justice.

RevDate: 2025-06-13

Sharma R, V Pradhan (2025)

Assessing community values of civil society organizations led coastal ecotourism conservation projects on climate change context.

Evaluation and program planning, 112:102624 pii:S0149-7189(25)00091-6 [Epub ahead of print].

The study examines the key community values defining the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) institutional climate capacity of coastal communities in the context of ecotourism-based conservation projects along the Maharashtra coastal belt, India. The study proposes conceptualized dimensions based on the Situation-Actor-Process-Learning (SAP-L) model. Data was collected through consultative approaches involving CSOs, NGOs, and SHGs, using focused group discussions and key informant interviews in the conservation project areas. The study evaluates the CSOs institutional strengths, weaknesses and determines key factors influence their institutional climate capacities. The findings indicate that CSO expertise and collaborations foster communication and trust among ecotourism beneficiaries, incorporating sociocultural factors and promoting climate action orientation. Planning and budgetary processes assist in need-based scenario planning for CSO management decisions. The outcomes contribute to understanding CSO's climate capacity in coastal ecotourism, informing policy and practice. The study also emphasizes the need for further quantitative research in this area.

RevDate: 2025-06-13

Li C, Lei W, Huang Y, et al (2025)

Analysis of the influence of climate change on wetland evolution and its driving process from an integrated perspective of landscape connectivity and fragmentation.

Journal of environmental management, 389:126155 pii:S0301-4797(25)02131-0 [Epub ahead of print].

The evolution of wetland ecosystems from the perspectives of landscape connectivity and fragmentation is a critical interdisciplinary topic in contemporary wetland science and landscape ecology. In the context of global warming, the mechanisms by which wetland patches respond to climate change through changes in landscape connectivity and fragmentation require further elucidation. This study introduces an SEMD-XGboost-SHAP ecological modeling framework that systematically examines the evolution of wetland landscape patches and their responses under multiple climate scenarios. The findings indicate: (1) From 2000 to 2022, Permanent water, Marsh, and Flooded flat were the primary drivers of wetland evolution in Dongting Lake. Rapid warming led to a significant reduction in wetlands area, whereas slow warming resulted in a notable increase. (2) At the patch scale, aggregation was the predominant form of wetland evolution, while dissection characterized degradation. Under rapid warming and cooling scenarios, patches underwent significant evolution with connectivity increasing by 9.2 % and 48.63 %, respectively. Conversely, under slow warming and cooling scenarios, patches experienced significant degradation, with fragmentation increasing by 9.75 % and 40.62 %. (3) Annual average maximum temperature was a common factor influencing land type conversion across climate scenarios. In terms of patch evolution, annual average temperature, annual average maximum temperature, minimum temperature, and annual average evapotranspiration were key drivers. Moreover, the interaction between temperature and precipitation played a crucial role in maintaining the stability of wetland patterns. This study provides a foundation for understanding the critical responses of wetland patterns to climate change and offers insights into nature-based solutions for wetland conservation.

RevDate: 2025-06-13

Yang Q, Shi X, Wang F, et al (2025)

Trends in Fishery Ecosystem Stability in the East China Sea under Dual Pressures of Fishing and Global Warming.

Environmental science & technology [Epub ahead of print].

Fishery ecosystem stability, requiring balanced biomass and biodiversity, is vital for sustainability but is being threatened by fishing and global warming. Here, we developed an Ecopath model for the East China Sea (ECS) with 45 functional groups and constructed an Ecosim model with 15 scenarios, using fishing effort (FE) and sea surface temperature (SST) as driving variables. The resistance resilience stability (RRS) index was proposed to quantify the comprehensive changes in total biomass and stability of the ECS under dual pressures from 2000 to 2100. SST increase led to biomass declines eight to 12 times greater than FE increase, though 63.06% of economic species were negatively affected by rising FE. Notably, several key economic species may face the risk of extinction by the end of the century under a 10% FE increase and 4.0 °C SST rise. This will pose a significant disturbance to the ecosystem stability. However, our results suggest that reducing FE to 50% of current levels and limiting SST rise to within 1.5 °C could effectively prevent a further biomass reduction and keep the RRS index within reasonable limits. The research contributes to a quantitative analysis of ecosystem stability under dual pressures, providing a scientific basis for sustainable fishery resource management.

RevDate: 2025-06-15
CmpDate: 2025-06-13

Shinan-Altman S, Y Hamama-Raz (2025)

Climate change worry, awareness, risk appraisal, and pro-environmental behaviors: Are these factors different for individuals with and without chronic diseases?.

PloS one, 20(6):e0325836.

BACKGROUND: Climate change poses significant risks to human health, particularly exacerbating conditions for individuals with chronic diseases. This study aimed to examine differences in climate change awareness, risk appraisal, pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs), and climate change worry between individuals with and without chronic diseases, and to investigate their interrelationships.

METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design was employed, using convenience sampling. Participants included 405 Israeli adults (146 with chronic diseases, and 259 without) who completed validated self-report questionnaires assessing climate change awareness, risk appraisal, PEBs, and worry. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and multivariate analysis of covariance, using SPSS version 29. Moderated serial mediation analysis was conducted using Hayes' PROCESS macro (model 92) with 5,000 bootstrap samples.

RESULTS: Participants with chronic diseases reported significantly higher levels of climate change awareness, F(1, 400)=5.88, p = .016; risk appraisal, F(1, 400)=12.68, p < .001; PEBs, F(1, 400)=4.00, p = .046; and worry, F(1, 400)=6.81, p = .009, than did participants without chronic diseases. The moderated serial mediation model was significant (effect = 0.02, SE = 0.01, 95%CI [0.001, 0.04]), explaining 44% of the variance in climate change worry. Awareness positively predicted risk appraisal (B = 0.33, p < .001), which in turn predicted both PEBs (B = 0.23, p < .001) and worry (B = 0.29, p < .001). The indirect pathway from awareness to worry via PEBs was significant only among participants with chronic diseases (B = 0.04, SE = 0.02, 95%CI [0.01, 0.10]). Similarly, the complete serial mediation path-from awareness to risk appraisal, to PEBs, and finally to worry-was significant for participants with chronic diseases (B = 0.02, SE = 0.01, 95%CI [0.01, 0.05]) but not for participants without chronic diseases.

CONCLUSIONS: The results emphasize the need for targeted communication strategies and policy initiatives that address the specific vulnerabilities and behaviors of chronically ill populations. Future research should utilize longitudinal approaches and objective assessments to deepen our understanding of these dynamics and inform effective interventions.

RevDate: 2025-06-13

Selçuk Tosun A, Ünsal Yüceer Ü, DemirdaÄŸ B, et al (2025)

Climate Change Worry and Environmental Sensitivity Among Nursing Students.

Public health nursing (Boston, Mass.) [Epub ahead of print].

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between nursing students' worry about climate change and their environmental sensitivity.

DESIGN AND METHOD: This research is a descriptive and correlational study. It was conducted with 432 nursing students. The data were collected using a Personal Information Form, the Climate Change Worry Scale, and the Environmental Sensitivity Scale. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation), independent groups t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, one-way ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS: The mean score of nursing students on Climate Change Worry Scale was 30.74 ± 6.92, and the mean score on the Environmental Sensitivity Scale was 4.24 ± 0.44. A statistically significant moderate negative correlation was found between nursing students' worry about climate change and their level of environmental sensitivity (r = -0.694, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed a moderate negative correlation between climate change worry and environmental sensitivity among nursing students. Reducing worry about climate change and enhancing environmental sensitivity may enable the students to take an active role in protecting public health in their professional careers.

RevDate: 2025-06-13

Wahl HW, A Budnick (2025)

[Theory-driven examination of available data on age(ing) and climate change: an explorative contribution].

Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie und Geriatrie [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: The socioemotional selectivity theory and the concept of generativity lead to two contradictory predictions, namely (1) a decrease in the significance and importance of climate issues with age, but (2) a similarly high level of engagement at the behavioral level, at least compared to younger age groups.

METHOD: Marking survey studies from German-speaking and European countries are used to provide a descriptive test of the two predictions.

RESULTS: On the one hand, the selected studies confirm a decrease in the significance and importance of climate issues as people get older. On the other hand, the age segment of people between around 60 and 75 years old in particular shows a similar or even higher level of commitment in many climate-relevant areas of behavior compared to younger people.

CONCLUSION: We apply the theory of planned behavior to explain the at first glance inconsistent findings driven by our predictions. Future research on aging and climate change needs a more theory-driven approach.

RevDate: 2025-06-13
CmpDate: 2025-06-13

Sagar Kumar M, NV Umamahesh (2025)

Assessing low-impact development strategies using synthetic rainfall under climate change across different urbanization densities.

Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research, 91(11):1220-1233.

Urban flooding, exacerbated by climate change and rapid urbanization, presents major global challenges. This study assesses flood dynamics and proposes management strategies for Hyderabad, India, focusing on urbanization density zones XII, IV, and V. Urban flood modeling evaluates the combined impacts of climate and land use/land cover (LULC) changes from 2020 to 2075, covering both present and future scenarios. The modeling uses the PCSWMM framework, integrating synthetic rainfall data derived from Hyderabad's Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curve for 2-, 5-, and 10-year return periods, and rainfall generated through the Markov chain method for 1- to 10-day durations. These datasets support both flood modeling and the development of management strategies. Low-impact development (LID) strategies are implemented based on critical catchment prioritization and available open spaces. PCSWMM results indicate significant reductions of 8-16.41% and 3.57-12.4% in maximum flow at outlets following LID implementation during extreme 1-10-day events in zones IV & V and XII, respectively. Additional reductions of 0.59-5.58% and 0.24-0.45% are noted for synthetic rainfall events with 2-, 5-, and 10-year return periods. The study recommends adopting multiple LID types to effectively mitigate flood damage and highlights the importance of enhancing LID infrastructure for improved flood resilience.

RevDate: 2025-06-15

Sousa AC, Sousa AM, Corrêa WC, et al (2025)

Bioclimatic Zoning and Climate Change Impacts on Dairy Cattle in Maranhão, Brazil.

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 15(11):.

To build climate-resilient livestock systems, public policies must be informed by bioclimatic zoning, enabling region-specific interventions and more efficient resource allocation. This study aimed to conduct bioclimatic zoning for dairy cattle farming in the state of Maranhão, Brazil. Big data analysis techniques and predictive geostatistical modeling were applied to historical (2012-2023) and future climate scenarios under intermediate (RCP4.5) and high-intensity (RCP8.5) greenhouse gas emissions. Kriging maps of THI revealed a decreasing north-south thermal gradient, with values exceeding 80 during critical years. Milk yield losses were more pronounced in high-producing cows, reaching up to 5 kg/cow/day under extreme heat. Areas identified as drought-prone exhibited spatial patterns consistent with THI distributions. The projections indicate that, under the RCP 4.5 scenario, over 60% of Maranhão will exhibit average THI values between 78 and 81 by the end of the century. Under the RCP 8.5 scenario, large areas of the state are expected to reach THI values above 86. Under these conditions, estimated milk production losses may exceed 4 kg/cow/day for moderate-yielding animals and 9 kg/cow/day for high-yielding ones, respectively. The results reinforce the importance of bioclimatic zoning to support informed policymaking in the context of climate change.

RevDate: 2025-06-15

Lee KC, Song YG, Koo HJ, et al (2025)

Effects of Climate Change Scenarios on Growth, Flowering Characteristics, and Honey Production Potential of Pseudolysimachion rotundum var. subintegrum.

Plants (Basel, Switzerland), 14(11):.

Climate change significantly influences plants' physiology, flowering phenology, and nectar production, affecting pollinator interactions and apicultural sustainability. This study examines the physiological responses of Pseudolysimachion rotundum (Nakai) Holub var. subintegrum (Nakai) T.Yamaz. (Plantaginaceae) under projected climate change scenarios, focusing on flowering traits, nectar secretion, and honey production potential. Elevated CO2 levels enhanced its net photosynthesis and water-use efficiency, supporting sustained carbohydrate assimilation and promoting aboveground biomass accumulation. However, the increased nitrogen demand for vegetative growth and inflorescence production may have led to reduced allocation of nitrogen to the nectar, contributing to a decline in its amino acid concentrations. The flowering period advanced with rising temperatures, with peak bloom occurring up to four days earlier under the SSP5 conditions. While the nectar secretion per flower remained stable, an increase in floral abundance led to a 3.8-fold rise in the estimated honey production per hectare. The analysis of the nectar's composition revealed that sucrose hydrolysis intensified under higher temperatures, shifting the nectar toward a hexose-rich profile. Although nectar quality slightly declined due to reductions in sucrose and nitrogen-rich amino acids, phenylalanine-the most preferred amino acid by honeybees-remained dominant across all scenarios. These findings confirm the strong climate resilience of P. rotundum var. subintegrum, highlighting its potential as a sustainable nectar source in future apicultural landscapes. Given the crucial role of nitrogen in both plant growth and nectar composition, future research should explore soil nitrogen dynamics and plant nitrogen metabolism to ensure long-term sustainability in plant-pollinator interactions and apicultural practices.

RevDate: 2025-06-15

Xie C, Li M, Jim CY, et al (2025)

Distribution Pattern of Endangered Cycas taiwaniana Carruth. in China Under Climate-Change Scenarios Using the MaxEnt Model.

Plants (Basel, Switzerland), 14(11):.

Understanding the potential distribution patterns and habitat suitability of threatened species under climate change scenarios is essential for conservation efforts. This study aimed to assess the current and future distribution patterns of the endangered Cycas taiwaniana in China using the MaxEnt model under two contrasting climate change scenarios: SSP1-2.6 (low emissions) and SSP3-7.0 (high emissions), projected for the 2050s and 2070s periods. The model identified key bioclimatic variables influencing habitat suitability, including Annual Mean Temperature, Mean Diurnal Range, and Temperature Seasonality. Under current climate conditions, the species' most suitable habitats are primarily located in southern coastal regions, with Hainan Island showing exceptional suitability. However, future projections under the moderate emission (SSP1-2.6) scenario suggest a significant shrinking of suitable habitat areas, particularly a 27.5% decline in excellent and a 35% decrease in good categories by the 2070s. In contrast, under the high-emission scenario (SSP3-7.0), while an initial decline in suitable habitats is projected, the model predicts an unexpected expansion of highly suitable areas by 2070, particularly in Guangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian coastal regions. The results highlight the vulnerability of C. taiwaniana to climate change and underscore the importance of developing adaptive conservation strategies to mitigate potential habitat loss. The findings also emphasize the need for further research on species-specific responses to climate change and the development of proactive measures to safeguard the future distribution of this threatened species.

RevDate: 2025-06-13

Gupta AK, Thornbush M, T Wang (2025)

Climate Change, Natural Disasters, and Cutaneous Fungal Infections.

International journal of dermatology [Epub ahead of print].

Fungal infections are an important source of morbidity and mortality that can manifest as superficial or invasive diseases. Diagnostic techniques for human fungal pathogens remain problematic, and multi-drug resistance is emerging. This review addresses the potential emergence of new fungal pathogens in changing environments and reported instances of cutaneous fungal infections after natural disasters. Global warming does more than increase the mean global temperature; it is associated with changing precipitation patterns and major climatic events. With natural disasters, niches are created for the proliferation of fungal pathogens affecting humans across previously existing geographical boundaries. Here, we reviewed reports of cutaneous fungal infections after natural disasters, including earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Of importance is the potential for thermal adaptation leading to the evolution of new human pathogens, exacerbated by the elevated environmental fungal levels in disaster situations. Studies have documented higher risks of contracting typical tinea infections, as well as opportunistic, trauma-related infections by environmental fungi. The latter is especially concerning due to atypical clinical presentations that could lead to treatment delays, antifungal resistance, and systemic complications. These support the importance of considering climate change as affecting the adaptation of these pathogens and the consequences of this change for human populations. A One Health framework should be advocated to address the impact of climate change on dermatological care.

RevDate: 2025-06-12

McGrath CB, Guard HE, Yearley S, et al (2025)

Climate change and cancer risk: connections with physical activity, diet, and adiposity.

Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology pii:762954 [Epub ahead of print].

Climate change and its environmental consequences have broadly influenced human health, including the direct effects of climate related-environmental exposures increasing cancer risk. In this review, we summarize evidence and make inferences on the indirect impact of climate change on cancer etiology through three interrelated cancer risk factors-physical activity, diet, and adiposity, and how these, in turn, may have downstream effects on cancer risk. Moreover, we highlight ways in which climate change will likely exacerbate existing cancer disparities through these three cancer risk factors.

RevDate: 2025-06-13

Davies A, Hooks G, Knox-Hayes J, et al (2020)

Riskscapes and the socio-spatial challenges of climate change.

Anthropogenic climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of the physical threats to human and planetary wellbeing. However, climate change risks, and their interaction with other "riskscapes", remain understudied. Riskscapes encompass different viewpoints on the threat of loss across space, time, individuals and collectives. This Special Issue of the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy, and Society enhances our understanding of the multifaceted and interlocking dimensions of climate change and riskscapes. It brings together rigorous and critical international scholarship across diverse realms on inquiry under two, interlinked, themes: (i) governance and institutional responses and (ii) vulnerabilities and inequalities. The contributors offer a forceful reminder that when considering climate change, social justice principles cannot be appended after the fact. Climate change adaptation and mitigation pose complex and interdependent social and ethical dilemmas that will need to be explicitly confronted in any activation of "Green New Deal" strategies currently being developed internationally. Such critical insights about the layered, unequal and institutional dimensions of risks are of paramount import when considering other riskscapes pertaining to conflict and war, displaced people and pandemics like the 2019-2020 global COVID-19 pandemic.

RevDate: 2025-06-13

Harsanto B, Kasumaningrum Y, Arviansyah MR, et al (2025)

Leveraging disruptive technologies for food security: A systematic review on agricultural supply chain resilience to climate change.

Current research in food science, 10:101079.

Climate change and global warming are increasingly recognized as major threats to agriculture and food security worldwide. It is a major problem for supply chains and food safety. Digital agricultural transformation and primarily disruptive technologies are among the primary solutions to overcome these challenges to ensure food sustainability. This research fills the gap in studies that focuses exclusively on analyzing disruptive technologies in the agricultural sector. The primary purpose of this research is to offer findings from the literature on the application of disruptive technologies to support food security and the protection of agricultural supply chains. Therefore, a systematic literature review was conducted to review the use of disruptive technologies in agricultural supply chains to address the challenges presented by climate change. A total of 65 selected papers were coded and analyzed according to technology type, country, commodity, and challenges faced. This review primarily seeks to provide answers to the following research questions: what disruptive technologies are being used in the agricultural sector in response to climate change and disasters? And what is the role of disruptive technologies in maintaining resilience in the agricultural sector in the context of climate change and disasters? We provide a comprehensive analysis that offers a broad and comprehensive overview of many important issues regarding the use of disruptive technologies in agricultural supply chains. This technology helps farmers make better decisions, enables effective and efficient resource management, and increases productivity.

RevDate: 2025-06-14
CmpDate: 2025-06-11

Fesenmyer KA, Poor EE, Terasaki Hart DE, et al (2025)

Addressing critiques refines global estimates of reforestation potential for climate change mitigation.

Nature communications, 16(1):4572.

Reforestation is a prominent climate change mitigation strategy, but available global maps of reforestation potential are widely criticized and highly variable, which limits their ability to provide robust estimates of both the locations and total area of opportunity. Here we develop global maps that address common critiques, build on a review of 89 reforestation maps created at multiple scales, and present eight reforestation scenarios with varying objectives, including providing ecosystem services, minimizing social conflicts, and delivering government policies. Across scenarios, we find up to 195 Mha (million hectares) are available (2225 TgCO2e (teragrams of carbon dioxide equivalent) per year total net mitigation potential), which is 71-92% smaller than previous estimates because of conservative modeling choices, incorporation of safeguards, and use of recent, high-resolution datasets. This area drops as low as 6 Mha (53 TgCO2e per year total net mitigation potential) if only statutorily protected areas are targeted. Few locations simultaneously achieve multiple objectives, suggesting that a mix of lands and restoration motivations will be needed to capitalize on the many potential benefits of reforestation.

RevDate: 2025-06-14
CmpDate: 2025-06-11

Gómez-Llano JH, Galvão-Silva FL, Acevedo FE, et al (2025)

Biological control under climate change: Distribution patterns of the South American fruit fly, Anastrepha fraterculus and two of its parasitoids in the Americas.

PloS one, 20(6):e0325761.

Climate change affects the distribution of insects, such as pests and parasitoids. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) have been developed to determine distribution patterns and risk areas for pests and biological control agents under different climate change scenarios. The South American fruit fly, Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is an important pest of cultivated fruits throughout the Americas that can be controlled by natural enemies, such as the native parasitoid Doryctobracon areolatus (Szépligeti) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and the introduced parasitoid Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). However, the control efficacy and parasitism performance of these organisms could be affected by changing environmental conditions. SDMs were conducted using Random Forest to predict suitable areas for the establishment of A. fraterculus, D. areolatus, and D. longicaudata under different climate scenarios or Representative Concentration Pathways (SSPs) (SSP 2-4.5 and 5-8.8) in two different periods (2021-2040 and 2041-2060). Our results predicted an increase in suitable areas for A. fraterculus in the Americas, especially in some South American countries such as Colombia and Brazil. Moreover, the projected distribution of these species is intricately linked to the regional climatic patterns. Temperate and tropical areas were more suitable for the establishment of A. fraterculus; D. areolatus was better suited to temperate climates; while tropical climates were more suitable for D. longicaudata. Suitable areas for the establishment of both parasitoid species were predicted to increase in future climate scenarios, with D. longicaudata having a greater geographical expansion than D. areolatus. These parasitoids could be used as biocontrol agents in almost all areas suitable for the establishment of A. fraterculus.

RevDate: 2025-06-12

Okesanya OJ, Alnaeem KFH, Hassan HK, et al (2024)

The intersectional impact of climate change and gender inequalities in Africa.

Public health challenges, 3(1):e169.

The global pursuit of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals underscores the importance of combating inequality, with climate change emerging as a significant threat, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This commentary explores the profound impact of climate change on the lives of women in Africa, shedding light on a critical issue where 80% of the female population in LMICs grapples with its far-reaching consequences. Climate change is exacerbating existing gender disparities, particularly within the realms of agriculture, livelihoods, and resource access. Barriers like limited training and technology access hinder effective adaptation, perpetuating discrimination. Rooted deeply in social and cultural norms, the consequences of climate change negatively impact the human rights of women, resulting in increased vulnerability to illnesses, malnutrition, limited housing, and restricted support services. Health risks, including malaria transmission and respiratory diseases, further compound existing challenges, leading to increased rates of anemia, violence against women, alarming spikes in child marriages, and socio-economic consequences. Integrated policies emphasizing gender mainstreaming, multisectoral approaches, and closing gender gaps in asset ownership are crucial to addressing these challenges. Education, training, and upskilling opportunities are essential to empowering women to confront climate change, further advocating for the development and enforcement of laws and policies recognizing gender differences and safeguarding women's rights. Moreover, there is a need for integrated solutions to foster sustainable development in Africa, as climate change is not a standalone issue but rather intertwines with various aspects of life. By advocating for policies that promote gender equality, education, and resource access, it seeks to pave the way for a more resilient and empowered female population, capable of navigating the complexities of climate change and contributing to the broader goal of sustainable development on the African continent.

RevDate: 2025-06-12

Ramazanu S, Wiyono L, Abu-Odah H, et al (2023)

Current landscape of climate change adaptation and health preparedness among indigenous populations in Southeast Asia.

Public health challenges, 2(4):e129.

Human-induced climate change poses a pervasive threat to the world. Human activities, such as deforestation, farming livestock, and burning fossil fuels, are key drivers of climate change. Like other regions, the Southeast Asian region is greatly impacted by climate change. The article focuses on examining the current landscape of climate change adaptation and health preparedness among indigenous populations in Southeast Asia (SEA). Climate change will affect the indigenous populations disproportionately. Over the years, indigenous people living in SEA have faced increasing challenges. For instance, air pollution resulting from forest fires causes respiratory conditions, skin irritations, and other significant health risks. The article also highlights climate change-related health system preparedness in ASEAN and indigenous strategies in navigating climate change adaption. As the saying goes, "actions speak louder than words." To develop sustainable regional climate change adaptation strategies, representation and voices of indigenous peoples matter. At ASEAN level, although the ASEAN Working Group on Climate Change was convened to develop policies and coordinate action plans among its member states, it is now key to include and learn from the instrumental strategies of indigenous communities in conserving, protecting, and restoring forests. Beyond acknowledging the efforts of indigenous communities on paper, it is now time to translate scientific knowledge into practical actions. It is necessary for us to value and recognize indigenous peoples, particularly in SEA as valued agents in co-creating sustainable solutions for climate agenda. Centering indigenous peoples' knowledge in climate adaptation is crucial for strengthening collective resilience in climate action strategies. Conclusively, the article advocates for the prioritization of indigenous communities' leadership efforts in ASEAN-wide climate action initiatives and climate action policy.

RevDate: 2025-06-12

Ferreira MAM, Leite YLR, Junior CC, et al (2023)

Impact of climate change on public health in Brazil.

Public health challenges, 2(1):e62.

Brazil is South America's largest country and economy, represented mainly by agricultural commodities. Its vast rainforest and biodiversity are at constant risk from human actions that are seen by scientists contributing to climate change. This article dissects how Brazil influences and is directly and indirectly affected by climate change and possible strategies to control the current situation. Climate change impacts Brazilian public health in multi-scenarios and is influenced by socioeconomical and geopolitical aspects, such as urbanization, access to sanitation and sewage, precipitation intensity and frequency, and public health policies. Therefore, surveillance and control measures, alongside socioeconomic policies, must be orchestrated to minimize human actions that impact climate change.

RevDate: 2025-06-12

Atwoli L, Erhabor GE, Gbakima AA, et al (2022)

COP27 Climate Change Conference: urgent action needed for Africa and the world.

Public health challenges, 1(4):e29.

RevDate: 2025-06-12

Hepburn C, O'Callaghan B, Stern N, et al (2020)

Will COVID-19 fiscal recovery packages accelerate or retard progress on climate change?.

Oxford review of economic policy pii:graa015 [Epub ahead of print].

The COVID-19 crisis is likely to have dramatic consequences for progress on climate change. Imminent fiscal recovery packages could entrench or partly displace the current fossil-fuel-intensive economic system. Here, we survey 231 central bank officials, finance ministry officials, and other economic experts from G20 countries on the relative performance of 25 major fiscal recovery archetypes across four dimensions: speed of implementation, economic multiplier, climate impact potential, and overall desirability. We identify five policies with high potential on both economic multiplier and climate impact metrics: clean physical infrastructure, building efficiency retrofits, investment in education and training, natural capital investment, and clean R&D. In lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) rural support spending is of particular value while clean R&D is less important. These recommendations are contextualised through analysis of the short-run impacts of COVID-19 on greenhouse gas curtailment and plausible medium-run shifts in the habits and behaviours of humans and institutions.

RevDate: 2025-06-12
CmpDate: 2025-06-11

Abu El Kheir-Mataria W, S Chun (2025)

Climate change and women's cancer in the MENA region: assessing temperature-related health impacts.

Frontiers in public health, 13:1529706.

INTRODUCTION: Climate change poses a significant threat to public health, exacerbating health inequalities. Women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, identified as high-risk, are particularly affected.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the influence of rising temperatures on cancer prevalence and mortality among women in the MENA region, filling critical knowledge gaps.

METHODS: We employed Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analysis to examine the correlation between increased ambient temperatures and the prevalence and mortality of four types of cancer (breast, cervical, ovarian, and uterine) across 17 MENA countries.

RESULTS: Our analysis indicates a significant correlation between prolonged exposure to high ambient temperatures and all four cancer types studied. Notably, the prevalence of breast, ovarian, and cervical cancers is markedly influenced by temperature increases.

CONCLUSION: The findings underscore the necessity of incorporating climate change adaptation strategies into national cancer control plans. Such integration is vital to mitigate the health impacts of climate change on women's cancer prevalence and mortality in the MENA region.

RevDate: 2025-06-12

Oyinloye EA, Ogunkola IO, Adebisi YA, et al (2024)

Climate change, flooding, and HIV transmission in Africa: Potential relationships and a call for action.

Public health challenges, 3(2):e192.

The increasing effects of climate change have intensified floods globally, especially in Africa, where millions of people live in poverty and are highly vulnerable to flooding. Climate change disproportionately affects the vulnerable, who are least equipped to handle its consequences, by exacerbating their situation. One such consequence is the potential for increased human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. Africa has been disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic. It now faces the additional challenge of a changing climate and floods, which are capable of increasing HIV transmission in Africa through several pathways. They can force population displacement and migration, leading to the expansion of sexual networks among people living with HIV (PLWHIV). They may also create conditions conducive to the spread of other infections. Floods can cause food insecurity, which can result in various sexual behaviors that expose people to HIV infection. As global warming is linked to a decrease in African food production capacity, the effect of food insecurity on HIV may be prominent in countries where transactional sexual means is a major route of HIV transmission. Floods can also hinder the provision of HIV services, such as pre- and postexposure prophylaxis and antiretroviral therapy distribution, which may worsen the health outcomes of PLWHIV and promote HIV transmission, particularly in rural and remote communities. It is crucial to develop a climate-resilient framework, including education, sustained access to HIV services, and promotion of social welfare for HIV prevention and treatment, to address the complex relationship between HIV, floods, and climate change.

RevDate: 2025-06-11
CmpDate: 2025-06-11

Rutschmann A, Moskwik MP, Lempert RJ, et al (2025)

Robust Conservation Planning for Biodiversity Under Climate Change Uncertainty.

Global change biology, 31(6):e70293.

When designing new protected areas, conservation managers often use bioclimatic models to anticipate the effects of climate change on species distributions. Recent studies have shown that the outputs of such models frequently differ in direction and magnitude, generating uncertainties that compromise their value for guiding conservation plans. Traditional approaches tend to minimise this uncertainty by designing adaptive strategies or by complexifying predictive models. However, these approaches may prove inadequate when uncertainty grows too large, as is the case with climate change. Here, rather than attempting to reduce uncertainty, we propose to embrace and value it in order to seek conservation measures that are as robust as possible to many plausible futures. By adapting this "Robust Decision Making" framework to conservation, we stress tested five generic conservation strategies against hundreds of plausible futures, for each of 22 species of concern. Our conceptual study seeks the strengths and vulnerabilities of each strategy across many possible future directions, facilitating both decision-making amongst strategies and emergence of robust and adaptive conservation plans. We anticipate our approach to offer an innovative framework to complement classic species conservation planning methods by reducing sensitivity to climate change uncertainty and improving the overall performance of conservation actions.

RevDate: 2025-06-13
CmpDate: 2025-06-10

Zhang X, He Y, Liu Y, et al (2025)

Mapping the Research Landscape of Climate Change and its Impact on Pregnancy and Neonatal Outcomes: A Bibliometric Analysis.

Journal of epidemiology and global health, 15(1):83.

BACKGROUND: Climate change has emerged as a critical global health threat, with growing evidence linking environmental stressors such as heatwaves, air pollution, and temperature variability to adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. However, the structure, evolution, and research hotspots within this interdisciplinary field remain insufficiently understood.

METHODS: We conducted a bibliometric analysis of 1,393 English-language publications (2001-2024) retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) using a predefined search strategy. CiteSpace was used for knowledge mapping, including co-authorship, co-citation, keyword clustering, and temporal trend analyses.

RESULTS: The number of publications increased markedly after 2017. The United States, China, and the United Kingdom were the most productive countries, with leading institutions including the University of California and Harvard University. Influential authors such as Basu R, Dadvand P, and Chersich MF shaped the field's development. High-frequency keywords included "climate change," "preterm birth," and "air pollution." Keyword clusters and citation bursts highlighted evolving themes such as oxidative stress, brown adipose tissue, and maternal thermoregulation.

CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a comprehensive visual and quantitative overview of the research landscape linking climate change with maternal and neonatal health. The findings highlight the growing interdisciplinarity of the field and underscore the need for future research to explore underlying biological mechanisms, prioritize vulnerable populations through equity-focused studies, and inform the development of targeted climate adaptation and mitigation strategies in low-resource settings. These insights can support evidence-based policymaking and guide resource allocation to safeguard maternal and child health amid a changing climate.

RevDate: 2025-06-10

de Oliveira Passos L, Lopes A, Bijos NR, et al (2025)

Predicting climate change impacts on vereda wetland plant species distribution in the Brazilian Cerrado.

Annals of botany pii:8159210 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The climate crisis is reshaping ecosystems globally, with wetlands, including veredas in the Brazilian Cerrado, among the most vulnerable. Despite their ecological importance, the response of vereda species to climate change remains unclear. This study assessed potential shifts in the distribution of 24 key species under two climate scenarios (SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5) for the period 2061-2080 to understand the impacts on this ecosystem.

METHODS: We downloaded 19 bioclimatic variables at a 30 arc-second resolution from the WorldClim database. To avoid multicollinearity, variable selection was performed using Variance Inflation Factor. Future projections were based on the MPI-ESM1-2-HR General Circulation Model. Species distribution models (SDMs) were built using the 'biomod2' R package, incorporating nine algorithms. Model evaluation was conducted using True Skill Statistic and Receiver Operating Characteristic metrics to ensure robust predictions.

KEY RESULTS: Models demonstrated high reliability, with mean sensitivity (86.83 ± 10.03) and specificity (87.59 ± 7.45). Among 24 species, 13 showed loss of suitable areas under at least one climate scenario, with northeastern Cerrado projected to experience the greatest losses, and expansions occurring along the southern Cerrado-Atlantic Forest border. Desmoscelis villosa showed the greatest losses (-25.86% in SSP2; -25.98% in SSP5), while Xyris tortula exhibited significant gains. Overlap of climatically suitable areas decreased by 1.46% (SSP2) and 0.45% (SSP5), indicating potential range shifts and fragmentation under future scenarios.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights that climate change is likely to reshape the distribution of vereda wetland species, with most experiencing a loss of suitable areas. This is particularly concerning given the ecological importance of veredas as biodiversity hotspots and hydrological regulators within the Cerrado. Integrating climate change projections with land-use and conservation strategies will be critical to mitigating these impacts and safeguarding the unique biodiversity of this ecosystem.

RevDate: 2025-06-12
CmpDate: 2025-06-09

Obeagu EI, B Bolo (2025)

Climate change and medical laboratory operations: Impacts, challenges, and adaptation strategies: A narrative review.

Medicine, 104(23):e42718.

Climate change is increasingly disrupting medical laboratory operations worldwide, affecting diagnostic accuracy, infrastructure integrity, and supply chain stability. Hurricane Maria in 2017 devastated Puerto Rico, a major hub for medical supply manufacturing, leading to critical shortages of blood bags and reagents in U.S. hospitals. Rising global temperatures have also challenged the stability of temperature-sensitive reagents and biological samples, with studies indicating that a mere 2°C increase in ambient temperature can significantly reduce enzyme activity in diagnostic assays. Laboratories, particularly in low-resource settings, are struggling to maintain optimal storage conditions, raising concerns about the reliability of test results in disease diagnosis and monitoring. Extreme weather events and shifting disease patterns further compound these challenges. Flooding in South Asia has repeatedly disrupted microbiology laboratories, causing waterborne pathogen contamination and delays in infectious disease testing. In Sub-Saharan Africa, rising temperatures have expanded the range of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, increasing the demand for diagnostic services beyond the capacity of many laboratories. Supply chain disruptions due to climate-related disasters have led to prolonged shortages of essential testing materials, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic when heatwaves affected the production and transportation of medical reagents. These disruptions highlight the urgent need for climate-adaptive strategies to ensure laboratory resilience and continuity in healthcare services. To mitigate these impacts, laboratories must adopt sustainable infrastructure and operational practices. Key recommendations include transitioning to solar-powered refrigeration to prevent sample degradation during power outages, investing in climate-resilient laboratory buildings, and enhancing digital diagnostic capabilities to reduce reliance on physical sample transportation.

RevDate: 2025-06-09

Yehouenou Tessi DR, Apelete EE, Kakpo SB, et al (2025)

Does climate change influence the spread of malaria in Benin? Insights from ecological niche modeling for surveillance efforts.

International health pii:8158697 [Epub ahead of print].

BACKGROUND: Malaria is a severe and endemic disease, remaining one of the most prevalent tropical illnesses and a leading cause of death among children aged <5 y. Anopheles gambiae, the primary vector of malaria in Benin, plays a critical role in its transmission. This study aims to contribute to the health protection of populations in Benin by assessing the risk of vector-borne diseases, particularly malaria, in the context of climate change.

METHODS: Using the Maxent algorithm for ecological niche modeling, we mapped the distribution of A. gambiae, a highly effective vector of Plasmodium parasites.

RESULTS: Our findings revealed that high-risk areas for malaria cover nearly all departments of Benin, with the majority of southern departments-Mono, Littoral, Couffo, Ouémé, Plateau and Zou-identified as high-risk zones. Projections for 2055 under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and RCP 8.5 climate scenarios indicate a significant expansion of high-risk areas, extending to Collines and parts of Donga, Borgou and Atacora.

CONCLUSIONS: Climate change is expected to exacerbate the spread of A. gambiae, increasing the disease risk across the country. These results are crucial for guiding policymakers in Benin to mitigate the current impact of malaria and implement preventative measures to address future risks.

RevDate: 2025-06-11

Tian S, Wu W, Chen S, et al (2025)

Global mismatch between ecosystem service supply and demand driven by climate change and human activity.

Environmental science and ecotechnology, 26:100573.

Assessing the balance between ecosystem service supply and demand (ESSD) relationship and identifying its driving factors is essential for addressing ecosystem degradation. While previous local-scale studies have highlighted climate change and human activities as critical influences, their roles at a global scale remain poorly understood. Here, we analyze the global dynamics of supply-demand relationships for four key ecosystem services-food production, carbon sequestration, soil conservation, and water yield-over the period 2000-2020. We find that ESSD relationships generally exhibit spatially high supply-low demand and quantitatively surplus characteristics. Climate change and human activity influence ESSD relationships in dual-directional pathways. Specifically, they positively affect food production and soil conservation in 80.69 % and 72.50 % of global regions respectively; while negatively influencing carbon sequestration and water yield in 76.74 % and 62.44 % of global regions respectively. Human activity primarily shapes the ESSD relationships for food production and carbon sequestration, with mean contribution rates of 66.54 % and 60.80 % respectively; whereas climate change exerts greater control over soil conservation and water yield, with mean contribution rates of 54.62 % and 55.41 % respectively. Our findings clarify the direction (positive or negative), mode (individual or combined), contribution rates, and geographic distribution of these impacts. This research closes a critical gap in understanding global ESSD relationships and provides essential insights to inform sustainable ecosystem management from local to global scales.

RevDate: 2025-06-11

Musa SS, Ela TB, Manirambona E, et al (2022)

How climate change and insecurity pushed 5 million people to hunger in Chad, Africa.

Public health challenges, 1(4):e47.

Climate change and insecurity pose challenges to food security around the globe. Chad has experienced several climate changes and insecurity influences on its food security, where, approximately 5 million people were pushed into hunger in the country. Desertification, flooding, and depletion of freshwater resources have pushed the country into hunger due to their negative effect on agro-pastoral production in Chad. Insecurity due to the Boko-Haram insurgency, in particular, has impaired agriculture, which is the mainstay of the country's economy. The influx of refugees from Nigeria and Cameroon has also compounded the hunger in Chad, as the country hosts the largest number of refugees in the region. Leveraging collaboration for climate change and improving security should be a priority for Chad. Increased consideration and action in the region can facilitate focus on climate change action in the region. International and multisectoral collaboration can set the pace for revamping the present security framework. Raising climate change awareness among key stakeholders and building capacity at the national level can help mitigate the impact of climate change on food security in Chad.

RevDate: 2025-06-11
CmpDate: 2025-06-09

Johnson RK, Goedkoop W, DCP Lau (2025)

Multi-Decadal Trends in Northern Lakes Show Contrasting Responses of Phytoplankton and Benthic Macroinvertebrates to Climate Change.

Global change biology, 31(6):e70274.

Three decades of continuous monitoring of 110 lakes across Sweden revealed significant long-term changes in physicochemical habitat and biological assemblages comprising multiple trophic levels related to climate. Mean annual air temperature increased for almost all lakes, with notable increases in the northern region. The environmental variables that showed the strongest temporal patterns were increasing water temperatures and decreasing nutrient (TP) and TOC concentrations for lakes in the north and increasing pH and TOC for lakes in the south. As hypothesized, phytoplankton and benthic macroinvertebrate (littoral and profundal) assemblages tracked climate changes directly (temperature, precipitation) and indirectly (changes in physicochemical habitat), but trends differed among the organism groups. The most pronounced changes in both magnitudes and rates of change (slopes) of the biological trends were found in the northernmost ecoregions. In these nutrient- and species-poor ecosystems, taxon richness and diversity had contrasting patterns: phytoplankton and profundal macroinvertebrates had negative slopes while littoral macroinvertebrates had positive slopes. Total phytoplankton biovolume and littoral macroinvertebrate abundance had positive slopes. Spatiotemporal patterns of phytoplankton and littoral macroinvertebrates were largely correlated with temperature and nutrients but not profundal assemblages. For lakes in the south isolating climate-induced effects was confounded by post-acidification recovery, for example, all three organism groups correlated with pH but not with water temperature. Combined results from all of the study lakes indicated habitat-specific responses of biological assemblages to long-term changes in climate and physicochemical habitat. Climate change coupled with catchment vegetation and post-acidification recovery pose heterogeneous impacts directly (temperature) and indirectly (physicochemical habitat) on lake assemblages. All three organism groups showed trends related to climate and therefore should be considered robust sentinels to gauge climate impacts directly and trophic-level effects indirectly in these climate-vulnerable ecosystems.

RevDate: 2025-06-08

Bottery M, Sedik S, Schwartz I, et al (2025)

Climate change: shifting boundaries of fungal disease in Europe and beyond.

Thorax pii:thorax-2024-222168 [Epub ahead of print].

Climate change is altering ecosystems worldwide. While shifting environmental conditions are complex, it has been hypothesised that the impact of climate change is directly leading to increases in fungal infections across the globe. Rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and extreme weather events are thought to be driving the adaptation of fungal pathogens to new climates, expanding their geographical range and posing a growing threat to human health and agriculture. This review highlights how climate change may impact key pathogens, including Candida auris, Candida orthopsilosis, Cryptococcus deuterogattii and resistant strains of Aspergillus fumigatus, which have emerged as significant public health concerns. Their spread is accelerated by globalisation, urbanisation and the intensifying use of agricultural fungicides, which further increase antifungal resistance. The growing prevalence of resistant strains and emergence of novel fungal pathogens is likely linked to anthropogenic climate change, underscoring the urgent need for action and for more robust data collection.

RevDate: 2025-06-08

Fabricius KE, Brown A, Collier C, et al (2025)

The seven sins of climate change: A review of rates of change, and quantitative impacts on ecosystems and water quality in the Great Barrier Reef.

Marine pollution bulletin, 219:118267 pii:S0025-326X(25)00742-8 [Epub ahead of print].

The term climate change encompasses many types of impacts and threats to the long-term outlook of coastal marine ecosystems. Based on a structured Evidence Summary methodology, this review synthesises the peer-reviewed knowledge on climate change impacts on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). We summarise the observed and predicted region-specific rates of change for seven climate change factors; three representing episodic extreme weather events (heatwaves, tropical storms, and extreme rainfall events), and four chronic progressive climate change factors (rising temperatures, ocean acidification and sea level, and altered cloudiness/windiness). We extract key quantitative findings on their impacts on GBR ecosystems and associated organisms, especially coral reefs, seagrasses, mangroves and wetlands, and on GBR water quality. Quantifying GBR-wide effects requires data on their four dimensions: intensity, duration, spatial extent, and frequency. The review shows that to date, most damage to GBR ecosystems is inflicted by extreme weather events. Of the progressive climate change factors, ocean acidification is already altering some GBR ecosystem functions, potentially reaching a critical threshold within decades. The progressive climate change factors are already causing selective mortality and changes in communities. We document regional differences, and we outline the evidence of climate change impacts on GBR water quality, suggesting further cumulative effects. This review provides an overview of empirical data for modellers and ecologists, and for experimentalists to choose environmentally relevant treatment levels. Intensifying climate change disturbances increase the urgency of climate change mitigation, as well as effective local management to accelerate ecosystem recovery.

RevDate: 2025-06-11
CmpDate: 2025-06-07

Ge J, Pan W, Liang X, et al (2025)

Complex psychological responses to climate change: a longitudinal study exploring the interplay between climate change awareness and climate change anxiety among Chinese adolescents.

BMC public health, 25(1):2139.

BACKGROUND: Adolescents are increasingly recognized as important stakeholders in responding to the challenges of climate change, with their psychological responses shaping both mental health outcomes and behavioral choices. However, the intricate relationship between climate change awareness and climate change anxiety among adolescents, as significant manifestations of psychological reactions to climate change, has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Grounded in the Stress and Coping Theory, this study aimed to empirically investigate the bidirectional relationship between climate change awareness and climate change anxiety among Chinese adolescents.

METHODS: Data were collected through a three-wave longitudinal survey (2022-2024) from 426 Chinese adolescents. We employed repeated measures ANOVA to examine developmental patterns and gender differences in climate change awareness and climate change anxiety, and constructed cross-lagged panel models, along with the calculation of feedback effects, to investigate their reciprocal relationships across time points.

RESULTS: Results revealed significant increases in both climate change awareness and climate change anxiety over time, with females consistently exhibiting higher levels. Cross-lagged analyses demonstrated that climate change awareness significantly predicted an increase in climate change anxiety, and climate change anxiety, in turn, significantly enhanced climate change awareness. Furthermore, the feedback effect between climate change awareness and climate change anxiety was significant at both T1-T2 and T2-T3 intervals.

CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates a bidirectional relationship between climate change awareness and anxiety among adolescents, providing a theoretical framework and empirical evidence for understanding adolescents' complex psychological responses to climate change. It also presents valuable suggestions for implementing targeted mental health interventions, and climate change education.

RevDate: 2025-06-10
CmpDate: 2025-06-07

Caminade C, Ayala D, de Chevigny T, et al (2025)

Climate change and malaria control: a call to urgent action from Africa's frontlines.

Malaria journal, 24(1):179.

In December 2024, L'Initiative-Expertise France organized a workshop in Musanze, Rwanda, for National Malaria Control and Elimination Programmes (NMC/EPs) representatives from 19 sub-Saharan African countries. The workshop focused on surveillance, modeling, climate forecasting, and innovative control methods to mitigate climate change impacts on malaria. Participants shared challenges, experiences and best practices. Key challenges highlighted include shifts in malaria transmission seasons, disease spread to mid-altitude regions, and infrastructure damage from extreme weather. Additional factors, such as drug and insecticide resistance, the spread of Anopheles stephensi, and changes in vector behaviour, are exacerbating malaria transmission in African cities. Participants stressed the need for collaborative efforts to tackle these evolving threats. This comment reflects the expertise and insights of 19 NMCPs actively managing malaria control and aims at raising awareness, inform policy discussions, and strengthen global partnerships to address the intersection of malaria and climate change.

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RJR Experience and Expertise

Researcher

Robbins holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in the life sciences. He served as a tenured faculty member in the Zoology and Biological Science departments at Michigan State University. He is currently exploring the intersection between genomics, microbial ecology, and biodiversity — an area that promises to transform our understanding of the biosphere.

Educator

Robbins has extensive experience in college-level education: At MSU he taught introductory biology, genetics, and population genetics. At JHU, he was an instructor for a special course on biological database design. At FHCRC, he team-taught a graduate-level course on the history of genetics. At Bellevue College he taught medical informatics.

Administrator

Robbins has been involved in science administration at both the federal and the institutional levels. At NSF he was a program officer for database activities in the life sciences, at DOE he was a program officer for information infrastructure in the human genome project. At the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, he served as a vice president for fifteen years.

Technologist

Robbins has been involved with information technology since writing his first Fortran program as a college student. At NSF he was the first program officer for database activities in the life sciences. At JHU he held an appointment in the CS department and served as director of the informatics core for the Genome Data Base. At the FHCRC he was VP for Information Technology.

Publisher

While still at Michigan State, Robbins started his first publishing venture, founding a small company that addressed the short-run publishing needs of instructors in very large undergraduate classes. For more than 20 years, Robbins has been operating The Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project, a web site dedicated to the digital publishing of critical works in science, especially classical genetics.

Speaker

Robbins is well-known for his speaking abilities and is often called upon to provide keynote or plenary addresses at international meetings. For example, in July, 2012, he gave a well-received keynote address at the Global Biodiversity Informatics Congress, sponsored by GBIF and held in Copenhagen. The slides from that talk can be seen HERE.

Facilitator

Robbins is a skilled meeting facilitator. He prefers a participatory approach, with part of the meeting involving dynamic breakout groups, created by the participants in real time: (1) individuals propose breakout groups; (2) everyone signs up for one (or more) groups; (3) the groups with the most interested parties then meet, with reports from each group presented and discussed in a subsequent plenary session.

Designer

Robbins has been engaged with photography and design since the 1960s, when he worked for a professional photography laboratory. He now prefers digital photography and tools for their precision and reproducibility. He designed his first web site more than 20 years ago and he personally designed and implemented this web site. He engages in graphic design as a hobby.

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Collection of publications by R J Robbins

Reprints and preprints of publications, slide presentations, instructional materials, and data compilations written or prepared by Robert Robbins. Most papers deal with computational biology, genome informatics, using information technology to support biomedical research, and related matters.

Research Gate page for R J Robbins

ResearchGate is a social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. According to a study by Nature and an article in Times Higher Education , it is the largest academic social network in terms of active users.

Curriculum Vitae for R J Robbins

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Curriculum Vitae for R J Robbins

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