Climate change and the global distribution of wealth
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Parallel scaling of elite wealth in ancient Roman and modern cities with implications for understanding urban inequality
Rapid urbanization and rising inequality are pressing global concerns, yet inequality is an ancient trait of city life that may be intrinsically connected to urbanism itself. Here we investigate how elite wealth scales with urban population size across culture and time by analyzing ancient Roman and modern cities. Using Bayesian models to address archeological uncertainties, we uncovered a consistent correlation between population size and physical expressions of elite wealth in urban spaces. These patterns suggest the presence of an ancient, enduring mechanism underlying urban inequality. Supported by an agent-based network simulation and informed by the settlement scaling theory, we propose that the observed patterns arise from common preferential attachment in social networks—a simple, yet powerful, driver of unequal access to interaction potential. Our findings open up new directions in urban scaling research and underscore the importance of understanding long-term urban dynamics to chart a course toward a fairer urban future.
Climate change threatens crop diversity at low latitudes
Climate change alters the climatic suitability of croplands, likely shifting the spatial distribution and diversity of global food crop production. Analyses of future potential food crop diversity have been limited to a small number of crops. Here we project geographical shifts in the climatic niches of 30 major food crops under 1.5–4 °C global warming and assess their impact on current crop production and potential food crop diversity across global croplands. We found that in low-latitude regions, 10–31% of current production would shift outside the climatic niche even under 2 °C global warming, increasing to 20–48% under 3 °C warming. Concurrently, potential food crop diversity would decline on 52% (+2 °C) and 56% (+3 °C) of global cropland. However, potential diversity would increase in mid to high latitudes, offering opportunities for climate change adaptation. These results highlight substantial latitudinal differences in the adaptation potential and vulnerability of the global food system under global warming.
Event triggers and opinion leaders shape climate change discourse on Weibo
Understanding how real-world events and opinion leaders shape climate change discussions is vital for improving communication and policy formulation to meet global carbon mitigation goals. This study analyzed 5.3 million original posts from Weibo (2012–2022), China’s largest social media platform, to examine climate change discourse. We found five event types triggering 48 discussion peaks, including online activities, international conferences, extreme weather, domestic policies, and international news. Posts generally conveyed positive attitudes, though sentiment decreased during haze pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Network analysis revealed seven opinion leader groups with distinct strategies: official media and institutions emphasized political will, global initiatives, and socio-economic implications, while universities and grassroots individuals focused on scientific reality and personal actions. Celebrities and unofficial accounts often highlighted geopolitical topics, especially China-US relations. We suggest reducing fragmented echo chambers and fostering personal connections through digital media platforms to enhance public awareness.
Decarbonizing urban residential communities with green hydrogen systems
Community green hydrogen systems, typically consisting of rooftop photovoltaic panels paired with hybrid hydrogen-battery storage, offer urban environments with improved access to clean, on-site energy. However, economically viable pathways for deploying hydrogen storage within urban communities remain unclear. Here we develop a bottom-up energy model linking climate, human behavior and community characteristics to assess the impacts of pathways for deploying community green hydrogen systems in North America from 2030 to 2050. We show that for the same community conditions, the cost difference between the best and worst pathways can be as high as 60%. In particular, the household centralized option emerges as the preferred pathway for most communities. Furthermore, enhancing energy storage demands within these deployment pathways can reduce system design costs up to fourfold. To achieve cost-effective urban decarbonization, the study underscores the critical role of selecting the right deployment pathway and prioritizing the integration of increased energy storage in pathway designs.
Worldwide rooftop photovoltaic electricity generation may mitigate global warming
Rooftop photovoltaic (RPV) is often understood as a niche contribution to climate change mitigation. However, the global potential of RPVs to mitigate global warming is unknown. Here we map the global rooftop area at 1-km resolution, quantifying 286,393 km2 of rooftops worldwide through geospatial data mining and artificial intelligence techniques. Using nine advanced Earth system models from the coupled model intercomparison project phase 6, we reveal that RPVs could substantially contribute to reducing global temperatures by 0.05–0.13 °C before 2050. Region-specific analysis underscores the variability in RPV potential and the necessity of tailored approaches to optimize RPV deployment, considering local solar resources, existing infrastructure and grid carbon intensity. Our findings reveal that leveraging RPV systems offers a viable and impactful strategy for reducing carbon footprints and combating climate change globally, while advocating targeted interventions to enhance the benefits of RPVs, particularly in areas with high solar radiation or rapid urbanization.
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