Around two-thirds of the Amazon rainforest could shift into degraded forest or savannah-like ecosystems at 1.5-1.9°C of global warming if deforestation increases to roughly 22-28 percent of the Amazon, according to a new study from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) published in Nature. Without additional deforestation, by contrast, such large-scale changes would likely occur only at much higher warming levels of around 3.7-4°C.

Heat stress from marine heatwaves can create a toxic relationship between seagrasses and a hidden ecosystem of bacteria, transforming a previously beneficial co-existence between marine plants and microbes into a harmful one, a University of Sydney and UNSW study has found.

It’s the first time this Indian Ocean climate pattern has been connected to the recent years’ unusually high temperatures.

Louisiana’s coast is disappearing, and its population has already started to retreat. The shoreline, the most exposed in the world, is projected to move more than 30 miles inland of New Orleans. By 2070, it will lose about 75% of its remaining wetlands. Eventually, all of coastal Louisiana will become uninhabitable, research has showed. The state has a narrowing window to plan for managed relocation that could be a model for other areas facing climate challenges, according to a new study coauthored by Yale’s Brianna Castro. 

“Louisiana is a canary in the coal mine. It is one of the rare places where we’re already clearly seeing climate-motivated depopulation combined with other social and economic factors,” said Castro, an assistant professor of urban sustainability at Yale School of the Environment.

For the study, published May 4 in the journal Nature Sustainability, Castro worked with an interdisciplinary team of scientists from Tulane University, Florida State University, and Coastal Carolina University. The team noted that the current population retreat in Louisiana offers a “first mover advantage,” which provides opportunities to learn what policies and plans are effective in advancing social welfare and environmental quality during relocation.