An international study, with the participation of INRAE and the CEA, has discovered that the majority of terrestrial carbon sequestered over the last 30 years is stored in nonliving forms such as the bottom of lakes and rivers, wetlands and soils. Until now, forests were considered to be the main carbon sinks on terrestrial surfaces. However, an analysis of carbon fluxes over the last few decades reveals that, if we take into account gains and losses on a global scale, only around 6% of the total sequestered carbon is stored in live biomass. This loss could be the result of forest degradation in many parts of the world—caused by fires, droughts and deforestation. Very little is known about the key sequestration processes in these nonliving pools, and currently, many are not included in global models of changes in carbon stocks. Published on 20 March 2025 in Science, these results could help to better predict the future trajectory of these reservoirs and how they are affected by human activities and climate change.

The world's highest award for scientific achievement in the field of water research goes to Prof. Günter Blöschl of TU Wien. For many years, he and his team at the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management have been carrying out internationally recognised work in the field of flood research.

Nearly 3 out of every 4 older Americans have experienced at least one extreme weather event in the last two years, a poll finds. And living through such an event appears to make a big difference in how they view the potential impact of climate change on their health.

To answer this important question, an international consortium of scientists, coordinated by INRAE and Bordeaux Sciences Agro, studied the growth of 223 tree species planted in 160 experimental forests in different parts of the world. They found that conservative species, which are the most efficient at conserving their resources (nutrients, water, energy), generally grow faster in forests. These findings, which are available to forest managers and were published in Nature, highlight the central role of local conditions in tree growth.

Researchers simulated efforts to defend Manhattan against sea level rise through the end of this century. Compared with other systems, reinforcement learning lowered costs by 6-36% in a scenario modeling climate change under moderate carbon emissions. For a high-emissions scenario, the decrease was 9-77%.

Kyushu University researchers have developed a new model that can predict sunlight patterns under different weather conditions. By categorizing sunlight into five groups based on intensity and quality, the model reveals that cloudy days can help plant growth by scattering light more evenly to lower leaves. The research can potentially help farmers optimize greenhouse conditions and planting schedules throughout the season to improve agricultural productivity, and enhance our understanding of how climate change affects photosynthesis.

Thorny skates come in two distinct sizes along the Atlantic Coast of North America, but no one could figure out why. Then their numbers began to plummet, and it became imperative for scientists to understand whether their sizes had anything to do with it. Now we have a key part of the answer.