Earth’s slow axial wobbles—known as precession cycles—do not just shape long-term climate trends. A new study led by researchers from China, Belgium, and Austria shows that these orbital motions can also spark climate swings on thousand-year timescales, even in ancient ice-free greenhouse worlds. The findings suggest that rapid climate variability may be an intrinsic feature of Earth’s climate system and could recur under future warming. 

A new interdisciplinary study led by researchers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), with collaborators from the City University of Hong Kong, has found that El Niño events significantly reduce life expectancy across high-income Pacific Rim countries, resulting in economic losses of up to US$35 trillion by the end of the 21st century.

 

Using over six decades of mortality records from 10 high-income Pacific Rim countries, the research team shows that El Niño is a persistent driver of health and economic loss, not just a short-term weather anomaly. El Niño-driven climate extremes, such as heatwaves and air pollution, disrupt healthcare systems and raise long-term mortality risks, particularly among vulnerable populations.

 

The research, published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change and part of NTU’s Climate Transformation Programme, shows that El Niño events not only cause immediate health impacts but also persistently slow long-term improvements in mortality rates, leading to enduring reductions in life expectancy.

Environmental antimicrobial resistance is turning rivers, soils, and even the air into hidden highways for “superbugs,” according to a new review that calls for urgent, coordinated action across human, animal, and environmental health. The authors argue that protecting people from drug resistant infections now depends as much on wastewater plants and farms as it does on hospitals.

A study reconstructs rainfall patterns during the extreme warming during the early Paleogene Period, 66 to 48 millions years ago. Conducted by University of Utah atmospheric scientists and Colorado School of Mines geologists, the research examined “proxies” in the geologic record and drew conclusions that suggest rainfall becomes more intense, but more irregular when Earth gets hot.

A record of repeated retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet during the past warm climates has been identified by IODP Exp379 Scientists. By analyzing deep-sea sediments from the Amundsen Sea and tracing their geochemical signatures, the study shows that the ice sheet retreated far inland at least five times during the warm Pliocene Epoch. The findings highlight the ice sheet’s sensitivity to warming and its potential to drive future sea-level rise.

An international group of researchers says that biodiversity conservation and scientific research are not benefiting from the vast knowledge about the world’s plants held by botanic gardens, because of fragmented data systems and a lack of standardisation. They call for a unified and equitable global data system for living collections to transform how the world’s botanic gardens manage and share information. This would enable them to work together as a ‘meta-collection’ to strengthen scientific research and conservation efforts.

A new international analysis published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences on 9 January finds that the Earth’s ocean stored more heat in 2025 than in any year since modern measurements began.

Agricultural soils are one of the world’s largest sources of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas nearly 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a century. New research suggests that a common agricultural byproduct may offer a powerful and practical solution. A study published in Biochar shows that straw-derived biochar, when applied using region-specific strategies, could reduce nitrous oxide emissions from China’s croplands by as much as 50 percent.

As climate change accelerates the melting of glaciers around the world, scientists are warning of a little-known risk flowing downstream with the meltwater: antibiotic resistance genes that have been locked in ice for thousands of years.