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Europe's transport infrastructure is not ready to face climate change

Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
DOI 10.5194/nhess-26-3345-2026
22 July 2026

Climate extremes like floods, heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires are disrupting Europe’s transport. This study combines a review of past events and future projections to assess current losses and the future exposure of transport infrastructure. Exposure to extremes is projected to rise, but lower emissions can reduce it. Urgent action is needed to reduce emissions and adapt the Trans-European Transport Network to a changing climate.

From continental to street scales: climate change impacts on atmospheric composition over Europe and London

We use innovative coupled modelling to quantify how natural emissions, chemistry, deposition and transport influence climate change responses of air pollutants from continental to urban scales across Europe. We highlight uncertainties in climate-sensitive biogenic emissions as key to future projections of ozone and fine particulate matter. High resolution modelling is essential for evaluating the benefits and trade-offs of climate change for achieving WHO air quality targets and guidelines.

Brief communication: Temperature-driven shrinkage of a disappearing Himalayan glacier

Glacier AX010 in Nepal, monitored since the 1970s, has been shrinking at an accelerating rate, mainly due to rising temperatures. Drone surveys, modeling, and reanalysis data show mass loss began in the early 1970s and intensified after 2000. While rising temperatures drive shrinkage, precipitation changes have neither accelerated nor mitigated mass loss. At the current rate, the glacier may disappear within 10–20 years.

Wildfire-induced disruptions to evapotranspiration, runoff, and water-balance closure across California's water supply watersheds

Large wildfires are reshaping California’s water-supply forests. Using 40 years of satellite and river data, we found that severe fires greatly reduce vegetation water use, sometimes increasing runoff during dry years. Recovery varies widely across basins and can take many years. The work shows that wildfire can disturb the entire water budget and highlights the need to include fire effects when planning for future water resources.

Heterogeneity of tropical diversity and ecosystems: reefal meiofaunas in equatorial western and eastern African islands

Oceanic islands hold great ecological value as they support endemic biodiversity and act as steppingstones of dispersal. We investigated benthic meiofaunas from two exotic tropical archipelagoes (São Tomé-Príncipe in western Africa and Zanzibar in eastern Africa) and revealed marked heterogeneity in their diversity and biogeographic patterns. High endemicity of the São Tomé-Príncipe fauna underlines the effectiveness of dispersal barriers and urges conservation of those vulnerable ecosystems.

Beyond the 100-year flood: probabilistic flood hazard assessment for King and Pierce Counties under future climate scenarios

Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
DOI 10.5194/nhess-26-3231-2026
13 July 2026

Flooding is a growing risk for communities around Puget Sound, where rising seas and changing rainfall patterns combine with rivers and tides. We used advanced computer models to simulate decades of water levels and river flows to better understand how often and how severely flooding may occur in the future. Our results show that climate change will increase both the frequency and extent of flooding, highlighting the urgent need for adaptation planning.

Contrasting dynamics of lake- and marine-terminating glaciers under same climatic conditions

We studied a unique glacier in South Greenland that ends in both a lake and the ocean. Using satellite data and field work, we found that the two glacier fronts behave very differently even under the same climate. At the lake glacier we identify a floating ice tongue and we infer little melt below water. The lake glacier experienced a sudden large breakup. Our work suggests that lake and marine glacier fronts must be treated differently in model simulations.

Biosignatures of microbial mats in Pleistocene coral reef cores from IODP Expedition 389 (Hawaiian Drowned Reefs)

Drilling beneath Hawai‘i's sea-level into ancient coral reefs, scientists have recovered "living rocks" from more than 100 000 years ago. These massive microbial crusts grew on the coral framework and are exceptionally well preserved archives of former life, showing delicate structures of microbes that usually vanish. Using electron microscopy, researchers found ancient microbial mats and indicators of light-dependent bacteria, thriving in the coral reefs of that time.

Ocean alkalinity enhancement reduces silica ballasting during export due to amplified dissolution

Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is a negative emission technology that may alter marine diatom communities and particle export. We show that unequilibrated OAE did not change bloom magnitude or particle fluxes, but reduced silica ballasting. The losses intensified during sinking, consistent with pH-enhanced silica dissolution. Our results show that OAE can modify biological-pump efficiency through export-phase alteration of BSi:POC, even when community biomass production remains unchanged.

Livestock grazing, plant community and abiotic factors shape blue carbon stocks in Nordic coastal marshes

Coastal marshes store high amounts of carbon but remain understudied in Nordic region. We measured organic carbon stored in plants and soil across grazed and ungrazed marshes along environmental gradients. Livestock grazing limited reed dominance, reduced aboveground carbon and altered roots allocation. Soil carbon was mainly controlled by soil properties rather than grazing at large scale. Our results show how grazing and environmental conditions jointly shape carbon storage in coastal marshes.

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