I am concerned by climate scientists becoming climate activists, because scholars should not have a priori interests in the outcome of their studies. Likewise, I am worried about activists who pretend to be scientists, as this can be a misleading form of instrumentalization.

This brief comment reveals a salient and growing policy problem: the current U.S. housing policy regime creates tradeoffs between promoting equity and addressing climate risk. Drawing on the example of the recent Los Angeles fires, we point to two major problems. First, issues of affordability are pushing households to more climate-vulnerable areas, where risk is not properly priced. Second, local zoning and building codes can increase resilience, but at a higher cost. Such policies are often unpopular, especially in post-disaster recovery. We conclude by suggesting potential reforms to build more housing in lower-risk communities and to lower risks in more climate-vulnerable areas.

China’s academic achievements are often considered reproductions by occidental scholars. Conversely, the country’s first dendrochronological studies began almost as early as those in Europe and America. Here, we place the century-long history of Chinese dendrochronology in the context of socio-political, economic and personal circumstances, describe past developments, and outline future challenges. Like all scholars, China’s next generation of dendrochronologists must balance national standards and global norms towards innovation and collaboration.

Teens are experiencing an increase in the incidence of anxiety and depression. Climate change adds uncertainty. Dire predictions and unknown impacts contribute to teens' worldview, increasing concerns that add to their normal stressors and anxiety; and for some, this becomes overwhelming. Here, we present a new perspective on teen mental health education and the impact of learning about climate change. We conclude that a comprehensive education can integrate the facts of global climate change, along with the progress in climate mitigation together with mental health education.

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.

Scientists have much to contribute to the growing social movements pushing for urgent and transformative change to address the climate and biodiversity crises. Depending on their skills, interests and circumstances, scientists can actively participate in social movements as members (whether on the streets or behind-the-scenes), endorse and facilitate these movements in their professional capacity and within their institutions, and build social movement effectiveness through research and teaching.

Transformational adaptation to climate risks is an emerging topic in international climate negotiations. However, political views diverge on the desirability and feasibility of introducing transformational adaptation as a new concept. While scientific efforts to clarify its meaning are necessary, only by critically reflecting on the political nature of the concept can the negotiations move forward.