Wilkins’s Finch Nesospiza wilkinsi is endemic to Nightingale Island (2.5 km2), Tristan da Cunha. It feeds on the woody fruits of the Island Tree Phylica arborea and in 2017 had a population of 120 breeding pairs. In 2021 it was uplisted from “Endangered” to “Critically Endangered” following damage to P. arborea woodland during severe storms in 2019. During a brief visit to Nightingale in February 2024, we confirmed that the finch population in the area of storm-damaged woodland has decreased by up to 75%, but the density in other areas was similar to that prior to 2019. Extrapolating from the 2017 survey, we estimated the current population to be 60–90 breeding pairs. Surveys of P. arborea structure in the storm-affected area indicated that some large trees had survived, despite being flattened, that recruitment of new trees is occurring, and that fruit loads on surviving trees are similar to those in 2017. Satellite imagery from 2005 showed similar woodland loss during another severe storm in 2001 to that experienced in 2019, indicating that the finch has survived similar events in the past. Coupled with the successful release of a biological control agent to limit the impact of the introduced brown soft scale Coccus hesperidum on Phylica fruit production, the future prospect for Wilkins’s Finch is less bleak than previously thought. However, the risk that global warming is increasing the frequency of severe storms remains a concern. Planting more woodland patches in sheltered areas would help to offset future storm damage.

In the context of climate change, the impacts of extreme weather events are increasingly recognised as a significant threat to mental health in the UK. As clinicians and researchers with an interest in mental health, we have a collective responsibility to help understand and mitigate these impacts. To achieve this, however, it is vital to have an appreciation of the relevant policy and regulatory frameworks. In this feature article, a collaboration amongst mental health and policy experts, we provide an overview of the integration of mental health within current climate policies and regulations in the UK, including gaps and opportunities. We argue that current policy and regulatory frameworks are lacking in coverage, ambition, detail and implementation, as increases in weather extremes and their negative impacts on mental health outpace action. For example, across current national and local climate policies, there is almost no reference to the impacts of extreme weather events on mental health. Whilst alarming, this provides scope for future research to fill evidence gaps and inform policy and regulatory change. We call for mental health and policy experts to work together to improve our understanding of underlying mechanisms and develop practical interventions, helping to bring mental health within climate policy and regulatory frameworks.

In light of the growing threat of climate change and urgency of mitigation at the societal and individual level, an exponentially growing body of research has addressed how and what people think about climate change—ranging from basic judgments of truth and attitudes about risk to predictions of future outcomes. However, the field is also beset by a striking variety of items and scales used to measure climate change beliefs, with notable differences in content, untested structural assumptions, and unsatisfactory or unknown psychometric properties. In a series of four studies (total N = 2,678), scales for the assessment of climate change beliefs are developed that are comprehensive and balanced in content and psychometrically sound. The latent construct structure is tested, and evidence of high rank-order stability (1-year retest-reliability) and predictive validity (for policy preferences and actual behavior) provided.

The significantly divergent trajectories of terrorism and climate change as security issues for Western states in the early years of the 21st century represent a puzzle. While sharing some attributes – uncertainty and the primacy of risk-management responses – climate change clearly represents a more fundamental threat to life than terrorism. Despite this, terrorism has occupied a prominent place on states’ security agendas, while climate change has been decidedly marginal. This paper explores this divergence. Employing the securitisation framework, the paper maps the approach to terrorism and climate change as ‘security’ issues among key proponents of the ‘war on terror’, before exploring why these two issues were treated in such different ways. This analysis suggests a clear inclination to define and approach terrorism as an urgent security threat necessitating emergency measures: a willingness not evident in the case of climate change. While noting elements of the latter that militated against its securitisation, the paper points to the role of ideology – the beliefs and commitments of political leaders in particular – in driving choices around the construction of the security agenda. It concludes by suggesting that unlike the response to terrorism, impediments to enacting emergency measures to address the climate crisis remain.

Foliar applied postemergence herbicides are a critical component of corn and soybean weed management programs in North America. Rainfall and air temperature around the time of application may affect the efficacy of herbicides applied postemergence in corn or soybean production fields. However, previous research utilized a limited number of site-years and may not capture the range of rainfall and air temperatures that these herbicides are exposed to throughout North America. The objective of this research was to model the probability of achieving successful weed control (≥85%) with commonly applied postemergence herbicides across a broad range of environments. A large database of over 10,000 individual herbicide evaluation field trials conducted throughout North America was used in this study. The database was filtered to include only trials with a single postemergence application of fomesafen, glyphosate, mesotrione, or fomesafen + glyphosate. Waterhemp (Amaranthus tuburculatus (Moq.) J. D. Sauer), morningglory species (Ipomoea spp.), and giant foxtail (Setaria faberi Herrm.) were the weeds of focus. Separate random forest models were created for each weed species by herbicide combination. The probability of successful weed control deteriorated when the average air temperature within the first ten d after application was <19 or >25 C for most of the herbicide by weed species models. Additionally, dryer conditions prior to postemergence herbicide application reduced the probability of successful control for several of the herbicide by weed species models. As air temperatures increase and rainfall becomes more variable, weed control with many of the commonly used postemergence herbicides is likely to become less reliable.

There is an urgent need for climate change–informed decision-making and adaptation actions for cultural heritage. Challenges arise in incorporating and balancing multiple considerations, including robust understandings of climate change vulnerability, the objectives of current management paradigms, the need for meaningful engagement, the risk of maladaptation, and constrained resources to implement. We offer a conceptual framework and guide to integrate climate science and cultural heritage management to produce a range of adaptation actions for cultural heritage, categorized as Acclimate, Dislocate, Abandon, Protect, and Tell the Story (ADAPT) approaches. The ADAPT framework is intended to aid archaeologists and other cultural heritage managers in developing and evaluating possible adaptation actions that directly respond to findings from climate change vulnerability assessments, critically integrating management postures and constraints, and coproducing climate change adaptations with Indigenous rightsholders and community stakeholders.

The Arbaeen ceremony is the largest annual mass gathering in the world, attracting millions of Muslim pilgrims each year. However, the event takes place during the summer in Iraq, coinciding with extreme heat and dust storms. Climate change hazards, such as heat waves and dust storms, can have destructive effects on human health, leading to increased mortality and the spread of various diseases. This manuscript recommends measures to stakeholders in emergency or public health management to develop a preventive plan for the Arbaeen ceremony. These measures include improving planning and risk assessment, enhancing capacities, reducing vulnerabilities, increasing knowledge and awareness among pilgrims, developing communication and support systems, ensuring compliance with safety protocols, and regularly assessing evacuation routes. Implementing these measures will contribute to ensuring the safety and well-being of participants during the Arbaeen ceremony in the years ahead.

We review shoreline monitoring methodologies used by members of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) Archaeology, Geology, and Wildlife Biology teams from February 2021 to December 2022 on Pockoy Island in Charleston County, South Carolina, USA. Our project objectives were to better understand the driving forces behind the landward movement of the shoreline (transgression), to apply new understanding to the rate of shoreline erosion of the island that directly impacts the Pockoy Island Shell Ring Complex (38CH2533), and to establish best practice for future community science monitoring efforts. Each member of our team used a different shoreline monitoring methodology (a nested methodology approach). Multiple unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV)-derived orthoimagery datasets, on-the-ground transect measurements, and Arrow Gold real-time kinematic (RTK) unit measurements have been collected monthly following significant storms or king (perigean) tide events. Moving forward, the erosion transect approach tested within this project will serve as the foundation for community science monitoring at heritage at-risk sites in South Carolina. In this article, we introduce initial efforts in establishing a community science monitoring program in South Carolina that will influence future research, land management, and policy, and we propose how our research might be adapted for other sites at risk.