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Deciphering the origins of the various cells in atherosclerotic plaques, the regulation of their fates and their functions is an essential step towards developing strategies to limit or even reverse disease progression to myocardial infarction. In this issue, Newman et al. advance our understanding of the roles of non-vascular smooth muscle cells in the formation and maintenance of the fibrous cap, a structure in human atherosclerotic plaques that protects them against rupture—the proximal event typically underlying myocardial infarctions.

Li et al. propose a conceptual framework to study the phenomenon of falling asleep based on electroencephalogram data. They show that a tipping point marks the brain’s nonlinear wake-to-sleep transition and that the unfolding process can be tracked in real time.

A synthesis of intervals of rapid climatic change evident in the geological record reveals some of the Earth system processes and tipping points that could lead to similar events in the future.

Abrupt changes are developing across Antarctica’s ice, ocean and biological systems; some of these changes are intensifying faster than equivalent Arctic changes, potentially irreversibly, and their interactions are expected to worsen other impacts across the Antarctic environment and global climate system.

While phytoplankton are well studied and understood at the global scale, floating macroalgae are not. This study presents a comprehensive picture of the global distributions of floating macroalgae and phytoplankton surface scums, both showing expanding trends from 2003 to 2022.

Using historical data across the U.S., the authors find that population declines are associated with flood exposure. Projecting this relationship to 2053, the authors find that flood risk may result in 7% lower growth than otherwise expected.

Wildlife are central to nature’s contributions to people (NCP) but are often overlooked in NCP policy and management. This Perspective presents evidence for the integral role of wildlife in supporting human well-being and proposes their recognition and incorporation into conservation decision-making as wildlife’s contributions to people (WCP).

Rare and extreme climate events have increasingly occurred in the Arctic since ~2000. This Review outlines the observed and projected changes in atmospheric, oceanic and cryospheric extremes and explains their increasing occurrence through a ‘pushing and triggering’ framework.

This Review synthesizes knowledge on projections of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets at 1.5 °C and 2 °C of warming, discussing possible nonlinear responses, and outlining the need for more insight into future atmospheric and oceanic forcings.

Transgressing planetary boundaries has generated global, ongoing and interconnected problems that represent a real challenge to policy makers. This Perspective sheds light on the complexities of designing policies that can keep human life within the biophysical limits of planet Earth.

The substrates of specific S-acyltransferases are mapped proteome-wide in live cells.

A20, encoded by TNFAIP3, is a negative-feedback inhibitor of NF-κB. Grey and colleagues identify natural human variants of TNFAIP3, which lower A20 activity and increase autoinflammatory responses. These alleles were inherited by descendants of Denisovans who crossed the Wallace Line to inhabit Oceania.

To better understand the impacts of marine heatwaves in coastal ecosystems, this study examined the responses of habitat-forming species (macroalgae, seagrass, and corals) to heatwave events in 1322 areas across 85 marine ecoregions. The results suggest marine heatwaves play a key role in the decline of habitat-forming species globally, although some areas exhibit a level of resilience.

Pervasive drying over the last few centuries has reduced carbon storage in European peatlands, the result of climate change and human impacts, according to a continent-wide compilation of hydrological records derived from testate amoeba.

Surveys from 2,584 sites across the Indo-Pacific identify key climate, socioeconomic and environmental drivers associated with hard coral assemblages. This informs a strategic approach to protect, recover or transform coral reef management.

Adolescence is a period of considerable brain remodelling. Here the authors demonstrate that behavioural adaptation to adverse environmental influences links to the microstructural and functional maturation of the adolescent brain.

Research utilizing C isotopes to partition ecosystem respiration sources in a subarctic warming experiment shows that old soil contributions increased with soil temperature but that carbon losses were modulated by plant responses to warming.

Geologically validated ice-sheet model reconstructions show large-scale fluctuations between glacial and interglacial periods, suggesting that the Antarctic Ice Sheet is highly sensitive to past and future warm conditions.

Increased long-term phosphorus accumulation reduces carbon sequestration in mid-latitude peatlands reliant on atmospheric nutrient sources, according to a synthesis of data from Central Europe, North America, Chile, Sweden and the UK.

Here the authors address how embryos control the timing of specific gene activation in early frog development. They find transcription factors for early gene activation are maternally loaded and remain at constant levels, and rather that order of activation is based on their sequential entry into the nucleus based largely on their respective affinity to importins.

An observationally calibrated ice sheet–shelf model suggests that global warming of 3 °C will trigger rapid Antarctic ice loss, contributing about 0.5 cm per year of sea-level rise by 2100.

Nearly one-third of the global coastline is vegetated. Incorporating these vegetation belts in coastal protection strategies would result in more sustainable and financially-attractive designs to mitigate the impacts of extreme coastal storms.

River deltas have played a central role in the development of human societies, providing a multitude of environmental services to large populations. In the face of climate change and human impact, careful and strategic management is now required to ensure the future sustainability of habitable deltas.

Aerosol pollution from shipping contributes to cooling but also leads to premature mortality and morbidity. Here the authors combine emission inventories, atmospheric models and health risk functions to show how cleaner marine fuels will reduce premature deaths and childhood asthma but results in larger warming.

Intense glaciation during the middle Pleistocene epoch led to focused denudation and mass redistribution within the St Elias orogen in southern Alaska, and resulted in structural reorganization of the orogen. The tectonic response of this orogen to climate change is consistent with predictions of numerical models.

Large stores of carbon could be released to the atmosphere from Arctic warming, driving permafrost thaw. This Review examines the processes that impact Arctic permafrost carbon emissions, how they might change in the future and ways to monitor and predict these changes.

How the carbon stocks of the Arctic–Boreal Zone change with warming is not well understood. Here the authors show that wildfires and large regional differences in net carbon fluxes offset the overall increasing CO₂ uptake.

The Gulf Stream was positioned further south during the Little Ice Age than today as a result of strengthened Labrador and Deep Western Boundary Currents and negative North Atlantic Oscillation, according to a high-resolution magnesium record from a Bermudan stalagmite

Antarctic ice core records provide insights into past environmental conditions. Here, an abrupt, synchronous increase in dust from ice cores in Antarctica is identified that suggests a sudden equatorward shift of westerly winds and coincides with a reduction in atmospheric CO2.

Considering cryosphere and warming uncertainties together implies drastically increased risk of threshold crossing in the cryosphere, even under lower-emission pathways, and underscores the need to halve emissions by 2030 in line with the 1.5 °C limit of the Paris Agreement.

Brownet al. argue that epigenetic heterogeneity leads to therapeutic resistance, such that bivalently marked gene promoters result in epigenetically poised gene expression that can become fixed by exposure to therapy. What are the opportunities to target this proposed mechanism of therapeutic resistance?

Most models of global climate change impacts and policy do not consider adaptation or societies’ ability to adapt. Here the authors propose a way to better integrate adaptation in such models using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway scenario framework to quantify adaptive capacity via a suite of socioeconomic indicators.

The results of a phase I trial assessing a personal neoantigen multi-peptide vaccine in patients with melanoma, showing feasibility, safety, and immunogenicity.

Analyses of the recovery of marine populations, habitats and ecosystems following past conservation interventions indicate that substantial recovery of the abundance, structure and function of marine life could be achieved by 2050 if major pressures, including climate change, are mitigated.

Environmental policy often delays addressing problems. This Perspective defines such ‘stopgap measures’, considers examples, and applies to solar geoengineering a new framework for assessing stopgaps.

A discussion of past Antarctic and global climate history as seen from Antarctic ice cores, with an outlook on future goals and drilling priorities.

Protein lipidation is challenging to analyze on the proteome level. This protocol describes metabolic incorporation of lipid probes and their capture via click chemistry, allowing in-gel fluorescence visualization or mass spectrometry analysis.

This protocol describes how to assemble a 4Pi single-molecule switching super-resolution microscope. Detailed instructions for beam-path alignment, testing, application to cellular samples and troubleshooting are provided.

Coastal practitioners in countries with longer histories and more national support show greater assimilation of sea level rise projections in adaptation planning, according to quantitative and qualitative analysis of a global survey.

Diversity is a mechanism that pathogens use to adapt and survive new challenges, like the introduction of antimicrobials in modern medicine. With antimicrobial resistance increasing and antibiotic development slowing, this arms race is tipping in favour of pathogens. This paper highlights how fostering diversity and representation in science—through outreach, collaboration, and inclusive practices—can mirror nature’s adaptability, drive innovation, and deliver relevant solutions to tackle such global challenges.

Recent advances in climate change risk assessment and management and their application across cities, coastal zones, and finance highlight promising opportunities for near-term action to better govern complex climate change risk and advance adaptation implementation. Positioning applications of participatory modeling, climate risk assessment, adaptation pathways planning, and systemic fiscal disaster risk modeling across variations in time, space, and sector, examples point towards more actionable insights and governance conditions to accelerate equitable adaptation and address inaction caused by uncertainty and complexity.

Stressors arising from anthropogenic climate change threaten tropical fisheries and, in turn, those extratropical nations reliant on them. This Review discusses the impact of climate change on tropical fish stocks and catch potential, the corresponding telecoupling and subsequent adaptation measures.