As oceans warm, some corals may hold the key to reef survival. New research reveals that heat tolerance varies not only between coral species, but also among populations living in different environments. One Hawaiian coral species from cooler, wave-exposed waters withstood significantly more heat stress than its counterparts, while another showed similar tolerance across locations. The findings reveal why understanding coral diversity and environmental history is critical to identifying resilient corals and guiding restoration efforts as marine heat waves intensify.

Reaching net zero sooner would limit long-lasting changes to El Niño and the tropical Pacific, new climate modelling suggests, although heat stored deep in the ocean means changes to the tropical Pacific could persist for centuries. 

To the point:

Late arrivals: Birdwatchers' observations show that New Zealand banded dotterels reach Australia after fall migration about four days later each year on average, cutting their estimated stay in their non-breeding residencies by about a quarter in just over a decade.

Climate change connections: The delay is linked to changes in Southern Ocean westerly winds, bringing New Zealand calmer, milder weather in winter.

Potential loss of behaviour: If this trend continues, scientists suspect the migration could all but disappear, leaving most birds in New Zealand all year.

Analysis of recently digitized and transcribed historical weather data, until recently only available as handwritten archives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Belgium, shows consistent warming trends across the Congo Basin

East Asian summers prior to the late 1990s were primarily affected by tropical oceans and their accompanying phenomenon, El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). However, in recent years this has appeared to hold less sway on East Asian (EA) summers, and primary influences on the prevalence of heatwaves in EA summers have shifted to the presence of newly formed ice (NFI) in the Arctic and the East Asian jet stream (EAJS). This is thanks to an anomalous anticyclone phenomenon, propelled by a reversal of circulation from westerly to easterly, bringing in colder winds from the Arctic Oscillation and cooling down the EA summer climate.