Editor's choice 

This paper provides a powerful viewpoint on the systemic threats posed by human-induced global change. It does so by highlighting the deep mutual interdependence of the Earth with its biosphere, and combines this with an astronomical perspective on the lack of suitable alternative planets should our own one become inhospitable.

The Amazon forest is frequently discussed as a tipping element in the Earth System. This study uses a multi-model multi-member ensemble of climate model simulations with interactive vegetation dynamics to evidence the importance of local land-management strategies for increasing Amazon resilience.

The Amazon rainforest plays a crucial role in global carbon storage, and even a minor destabilization could result in considerable carbon loss. This study uses a process-based model to show that elevated CO2 concentrations have multiple and sometimes contrasting effects on the Amazon forest's carbon dynamics and vulnerability. The study thus provides valuable insights into the rainforest’s evolution in the context of more frequent and intense future climate extremes.

This study finds that >85% of the global population is exposed to warming nighttime temperatures robustly beyond natural variability, at a Global Warming Level of 1.5°C. This increases to >95% at 2.0°C. Daily maximum temperature follows a comparable trend. Thus, every small additional warming substantially increases human exposure to potentially detrimental climate conditions.

Extremes are of utmost importance due to their impacts on life and livelihoods or people. Also Africa is a relatively less studied region but where people are also strongly affected by extremes and thus are very vulnerable. This study uses a systematic approach to examine concurrent extremes.

This is the second of two papers that study how the used model and injection strategy affect the impacts of stratospheric sulfur injections. The paper highlights the role of microphysics and of injection rate on the results of stratospheric sulfur interventions. The findings emphasize the need for precise simulation of aerosol microphysics to accurately estimate the climatic effects of stratospheric sulfur interventions.

The paper is of interest to a broad geoscience and climate policy audience, due to the wide use and understanding of the 'cumulative emissions' concept.

There are not a lot of studies about the effects of SRM on renewable energy and how those interactions might contribute to strategies to offset climate change.

This paper examines a highly impactful climate extreme in Africa - a region which is very vulnerable to climate change but has received comparatively little attention in the extreme event attribution literature. Its analysis brings event attribution science closer to societal impacts.

This study provides an intercomparison of different Stratospheric Aerosol Injection strategies. The strategy choice affects the distribution of aerosol optical depth, the injection efficiency and, crucially, the surface climate response. These results lay the foundation for future trade-off analyses and design strategy optimization.

Agro-ecological drought has so far been subject to comparatively little research in the detection and attribution literature, compared to meteorological drought. Nonetheless, it is of direct relevance for socio-environmental impacts. This paper addresses such knolwedge gap by focussing on a recent major drought event.

The authors provided this statement: Water storage (WS) plays a profound role in the lives of people in the Middle East and North Africa and Mediterranean climate “hot spots”. Simulated is WS changed by greenhouse gas (GHG) warming with and without stratospheric aerosol intervention (SAI). WS significantly increases in the Arabian Peninsula and decreases around the Mediterranean under GHG. While SAI partially ameliorates the GHG impacts, Projected WS increases in dry regions and decreases in wet areas relative to the present climate. This is an area that is going to continue to receive attention as climate change progresses, and the effects of SAI on this potentially uninhabitable region in the future are of paramount importance.

There is a noted paucity of studies looking at the effects of geoengineering on the ocean and its circulation. Also, this region is very important as the driver of the MJO and subseasonal-to-seasonal predictability. We need more studies looking at things like this.

This study provides a global synthesis of vegetation resistance to drought and heat, including the roles of forest management and crop irrigation. This uniquely complete overview is valuable to further our broader understanding of vegetation and ecosystem resilience to climatic stressors.

This work links two very actual scientific topics, which are also highly relevant for public understanding of climate change. First, timelines to crossing the Paris Agreement thresholds under future emissions scenarios; second, the rapid warming and profound changes under way in the Arctic region.

This paper proposes a novel method for translating past observed extreme weather events into current or future climates. It illustrates this with the analysis of an extreme windstorm that occurred in 1903. The latter storm would likely be more damaging if it occurred today rather than 120 years ago.

This study assesses climate impacts on the economy and society of the USA, using a model that can downscale impacts to regional scale. The findings are thus both scientifically and policy-relevant.

Tipping points have potentially major detrimental impacts on natural and human systems. This study highlights how the rate of change in external conditions is arguably one of the key tipping mechanisms for both natural and human systems in the human-dominated anthropocene. This notion of rate-induced tipping -- namely an instability that occurs when external conditions vary faster than some critical rate -- will likely become an increasingly important topic of scientific research in the coming years.

Active measures of reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide are currently debated as an additional means to keep global warming below 1.5C due to slow progress on emissions cuts. This paper deals with this topic of carbon dioxide removal in the ocean and should be of wide interest.

Detecting and attributing forced precipitation changes is a long-standing challenge in climate science. This study proposes an approach to efficiently extract information on forced precipitation changes from climate data and models, which can be valuable both from a scientific and policy-making perspective.

A paper of clear broad interest.

The health of the amazon ecosystem is a key indicator of the health of our planet. Hence, the editor feels that this paper will attract the attention of a broad audience and the media.