Ten new insights in climate science 2025

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

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Abstract

Non-Technical SummaryThis review highlights 10 recent advances in climate change research with high policy relevance, spanning diverse topics: (1) the global temperature jump of 2023–2024; (2) sea surface warming and marine heatwaves; (3) land carbon sinks; (4) interactions between climate change and biodiversity loss; (5) accelerated groundwater decline; (6) global dengue incidence; (7) income and labour productivity loss; (8) strategic considerations for scaling carbon dioxide removal (CDR); (9) integrity of carbon credit markets; and (10) policy mixes for climate change mitigation.Technical SummaryInterdisciplinary understanding is vital for delivering sound climate policy advice. However, navigating the ever-growing and increasingly diverse scholarly literature on climate change is challenging for any individual researcher. This annual synthesis highlights and explains recent advances across a variety of fields of climate change research. This year, the 10 insights focus on: (1) the record-warmth of 2023/2024 and the elevated Earth energy imbalance; (2) acceleration of ocean warming and intensifying marine heatwaves; (3) northern land carbon sinks under strain; (4) reinforcing feedback between biodiversity loss and climate change; (5) accelerated depletion of groundwater; (6) global dengue incidence; (7) global income losses and labour productivity declines; (8) strategic scaling of CDR; (9) integrity challenges in carbon credit markets and emerging responses; and (10) effective policy mixes for emissions reductions. The insights have been written to be accessible to researchers from different fields, serving as entry-points to specific topics, as well as providing an overview of the evolving landscape of climate change research. In the final section, the insights are used to develop overarching policy-relevant messages. This paper provides the basis for a science-policy report that was shared with all Party delegations ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil.Social Media SummaryHighlights of climate change research in 2024–2025: 10insightsclimate.science

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