This review explains how weather patterns, guided by the polar jet stream, influence the Baltic Sea’s climate and ecosystem. It covers the North Atlantic Oscillation, blocking events and other processes and discusses how they affect temperature, rainfall, and storms from days to decades. These shifts then impact oxygen levels, productivity, and acidification in the Baltic Sea. Physical links are fairly well known, but biogeochemical pathways remain uncertain.

We introduce Functional Data Analysis (FDA) as a new approach to diagnose changes in the temperature seasonal cycle. FDA allows the analysis without needing any prior assumptions about the cycle shape. We evaluate past and future changes based on two reanalyses and five CMIP6 models. We discuss regions of robust changes with datasets’ agreement, e.g., a delayed maximum in the south and east of Europe, while highlighting areas of larger dataset differences, mainly in polar and equatorial regions.

In this work, we draw on palaeo-records, observations, and modelling studies to review tipping points in the ocean overturning circulations, monsoon systems, and global atmospheric circulations. We find indications for tipping in the ocean overturning circulations and the West African monsoon, with potentially severe impacts on the Earth system and humans. Tipping in the other considered systems is regarded as conceivable but is currently not sufficiently supported by evidence.

To study tipping cascades in the climate–conflict nexus, a bi-stable tipping model analyses transitions between conflict and cooperation. The Lake Chad case demonstrates climate change as a risk multiplier combined with poor governance, lowering resilience and barriers of communities to conflict. Adaptive and anticipative governance can prevent tipping to violent conflict and induce positive tipping towards cooperation through civil conflict transformation and environmental peacebuilding.

This study presents the first systematic analysis of the global catastrophic risk and existential risk literature, examining 3437 documents from OpenAlex. Using bibliographic coupling, we identify and describe 10 research clusters aligned with major risks. The field shows geographic concentration in the US/UK, gender imbalance, and a small number of prolific authors. We recommend improving diversity, fostering cross-cluster collaboration, and building connections with adjacent disciplines.

This review assesses the interaction of solar radiation modification (SRM), a technology to reduce the impacts of climate change by reflecting sunlight and earth system tipping elements. We find that SRM at least partially reduces the risk of hitting most (9 out of 15) of the tipping points we studied relative to the same emission pathway and did not overall worsen the risk for any. Uncertainties for all tipping elements studied were high, so we also lay out suggestions for future research.