Ten New Insights in Climate Science 2026 [preprint]

ABSTRACT Building on an open call for expert input, this annual synthesis presents ten recent research advances with high policy relevance. These include Earth’s increasing energy imbalance and its relationship with ocean heat content (Insight 1); ice-mass loss and related sea-level rise (Insight 2); unprecedented continental drying and hydrological regime change (Insight 3); temporary and irreversible risks resulting from the impending exceedance of 1.5°C (Insight 4); food systems’ mitigation potential (Insight 5); revised estimates of the social cost of carbon (Insight 6); advances in attribution science (Insight 7); implementation and effectiveness of climate clubs (Insight 8); organized climate obstruction (Insight 9); and geopolitics and just energy transitions (Insight 10). The insights presented here underpin a science policy report shared with all party delegations ahead of COP31.