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There is increasing evidence of negative mental health implications associated with climate change. However, more knowledge is required to inform effective responses. This study systematically reviewed literature regarding the relationship between climate emotions and mental health in adults. The goal was to synthesise existing research and identify future research priorities. The review followed PRISMA guidelines and involved searching seven electronic databases. The inclusion criteria specified peer-reviewed studies published in English after 2000, focusing on climate emotions and mental health in participants over 18 years old. Two authors independently reviewed the studies and assessed their quality. Out of 8,495 identified papers, 36 studies meet the criteria. Most studies included in the review were cross-sectional (n = 27) and used quantitative descriptive surveys (n = 27). A large majority of studies primarily involved participants from high-income countries (n = 32) and were published between January 2020 and January 2023 (n = 26). Results from the included papers suggest a relationship between climate emotions and negative mental health in most cases (30 out of 36). However, this finding must be interpreted cautiously since just over half of included studies were considered lower quality (19 of 36). Future research should aim to improve the conceptual clarity of climate emotions and explore potential causal and resilience factors. Additionally, investigations should consider vulnerable populations outside of high-income countries. Furthermore, increased collaboration between researchers and practitioners is necessary to improve conceptual coherence, and practice.

Many current marine conservation approaches do not adequately consider the diverse social elements and human aspects necessary to achieve conservation outcomes. The results of conservation research are therefore not always useful for conservation managers to apply in practice. To address this gap, this study combines qualitative methods and quantitative social network analysis to help conservation managers gain in-depth insight into social elements of marine conservation and opportunities that can help achieve conservation outcomes. Specifically, using the North West Shelf Flatback Turtle Conservation Program as a case study, our analysis shows that 1) a stakeholder’s position in the turtle conservation network is not the sole or best indicator of their leadership potential to achieve conservation outcomes, 2) peripheral stakeholders are also important for trust, decision-making, and future success, 3) mixed-methods can identify additional opportunities to maintain and further build trust and influence between diverse stakeholders 4) building relationships to support conservation outcomes is accomplished by leveraging stakeholders’ roles in the conservation program. By identifying who has influence and who needs to be involved in marine conservation to achieve success, this study demonstrates the value of mixed-methods research approaches. Specifically, our findings show how social network approaches can help conservation managers and stakeholders strategically build communication and engagement strategies that can be used to achieve conservation outcomes.

Citizen science networks are a recent global phenomenon, with associated communities of practice that have emerged to support growth in the field and the development of practices. Effective communities of practice are dependent on the interactions from the social network underpinning the community. We examined the Australian citizen science practitioner network, using a combined social network analysis and survey approach. Our goal was to understand the structure and characteristics of this network, to establish who participates in this network, where and how interactions occur, and explore what participation achieves for the users. The Australian citizen science practitioner network has benefited from face-to-face citizen science events to make important connections that have been leveraged to benefit other working relationships and positive outcomes, especially for early-career practitioners and women within the network. How the community of practice continues to navigate successful knowledge exchange across society and science, whether through interactions in face-to-face or virtual settings, will need to be addressed as the community continues to grow in scope and size. In particular, the network will need to consider supporting key individuals who play important bridging functions across the citizen science practitioner network. The emergence of transdisciplinarity amongst those working in citizen science is a promising property of this learning community that is worth working strategically to maintain.

Planned adaptation to climate impacts and subsequent vulnerabilities will necessarily interact with autonomous responses enabled within existing fisheries management processes and initiated by the harvest and post-harvest components of fishing industries. Optimal adaptation options are those which enable negative effects to be mitigated and opportunities that arise to be maximized, both in relation to specific climate-driven changes and the broader fisheries system. We developed a two-step participatory approach to evaluating adaption options for key fisheries in the fast-warming hotspot of south-eastern Australia. Four fisheries (southern rock lobster, abalone, snapper, and blue grenadier) were selected as case studies on the basis of their high to moderate vulnerability to climatic effects on species distribution and abundance. Involved stakeholders undertook a “first pass” screening assessment of options, by characterizing and then evaluating options. In the characterization step potential adaptation options for each fishery, contextualized by prior knowledge of each species’ climate change exposure and sensitivity, were described using a characterization matrix. This matrix included: the specific climate vulnerability/challenges, the implications of each option on the fishery system as a whole, the temporal and spatial scales of implementation processes, and realized benefits and costs. In the evaluation step, semi-quantitative evaluation of options was undertaken by stakeholders scoring the anticipated performance of an option against a pre-determined set of criteria relating to perceived feasibility, risk (inclusive of potential costs), and benefit. Reduction of the total annual commercial catch as well as reductions in both effort and catch through spatial and temporal closures were the options scored as having the highest level of expected benefit and of feasibility and the lowest level of risk of negative outcomes overall. Our screening assessment represents a pragmatic approach to evaluate and compare support for and the effects of alternative adaptation options prior to committing to more detailed formal and resource intensive evaluation or implementation.

Despite reports of increasing levels of climate change related distress, there remains limited evidence regarding effective interventions for individuals and communities. The current study aims to contribute to this discussion by presenting opinions from study participants who self-identified as having a professional interest in climate anxiety. An international interdisciplinary survey was conducted, with qualitative and quantitative responses from 230 participants, from a range of professional backgrounds, including a range of mental health practitioners, along with climate activists, artists, educators, academics and scientists and others interested in the climate anxiety space. A wide range of potential components of climate anxiety interventions were suggested by participants, including supporting people to connect with others and nature, emotional validation in a group setting, and moving toward climate action. Reflexive thematic analysis of qualitative data resulted in five themes: 'Climate anxiety is a healthy response to the current situation', 'Climate anxiety will continue to increase until there is climate action', 'Climate anxiety interventions should be individualised', 'Climate anxiety interventions need to include the community and societal level' and 'Climate-aware practitioners are required'. These themes provide a significant contribution to the discourse on climate anxiety interventions. They emphasize the need for an understanding of climate anxiety as a legitimate response to the current situation and the imperative of community and society levels being included in intervention strategies. Results from this study provide insights from diverse perspectives to provide valuable guidance for future research and practice in the development of effective interventions for climate anxiety.

A theoretical basis is required for comparing key features and critical elements in wild fisheries and aquaculture supply chains under a changing climate. Here we develop a new quantitative metric that is analogous to indices used to analyse food-webs and identify key species. The Supply Chain Index (SCI) identifies critical elements as those elements with large throughput rates, as well as greater connectivity. The sum of the scores for a supply chain provides a single metric that roughly captures both the resilience and connectedness of a supply chain. Standardised scores can facilitate cross-comparisons both under current conditions as well as under a changing climate. Identification of key elements along the supply chain may assist in informing adaptation strategies to reduce anticipated future risks posed by climate change. The SCI also provides information on the relative stability of different supply chains based on whether there is a fairly even spread in the individual scores of the top few key elements, compared with a more critical dependence on a few key individual supply chain elements. We use as a case study the Australian southern rock lobster Jasus edwardsii fishery, which is challenged by a number of climate change drivers such as impacts on recruitment and growth due to changes in large-scale and local oceanographic features. The SCI identifies airports, processors and Chinese consumers as the key elements in the lobster supply chain that merit attention to enhance stability and potentially enable growth. We also apply the index to an additional four real-world Australian commercial fishery and two aquaculture industry supply chains to highlight the utility of a systematic method for describing supply chains. Overall, our simple methodological approach to empirically-based supply chain research provides an objective method for comparing the resilience of supply chains and highlighting components that may be critical.

Teaching about climate change should be a top priority for all education sectors. However, research to date suggests that climate change education is sparse and ad hoc across school contexts, is not mandated, and relies on the efforts of an impassioned few. Here, we present educators' experiences of teaching climate change in Australian classrooms. We find that biases remain in educators' perceptions of which discipline subjects are, and should be, responsible for teaching about climate change. We reflect on these apparent disciplinary siloes, and advocate for holistic approaches that cut across curriculum divides. Further, we reveal the challenges educators experience in navigating affective dimensions of climate change education. Finally, we recommend that professional capacity building opportunities be developed, alongside additional support services. We outline that such work does not require radical changes in education systems, and highlight that pedagogies already exist within school contexts and subject areas that can support effective and action-oriented climate change education for all.

Abstract  Squid are important components of many marine ecosystems from the poles to the equator, serving as both important predators and prey. Novel aspects of their growth and reproduction mean that they are likely to play an important role in the changing oceans due to climate change. Virtually every facet of squid life-history examined thus far has revealed an incredible capacity in this group for life-history plasticity. The extremely fast growth rates of individuals and rapid rates of turnover at the population level mean that squid can respond quickly to environmental or ecosystem change. Their ‘life-in-the-fast-lane’ life-style allows them to rapidly exploit ‘vacuums’ created in the ecosystem when predators or competitors are removed. In this way, they function as ‘weeds of the sea’. Elevated temperatures accelerate the life-histories of squid, increasing their growth rates and shortening their life-spans. At first glance, it would be logical to suggest that rising water temperatures associated with climate change (if food supply remains adequate) would be beneficial to inshore squid populations and fisheries—growth rates would increase, life spans would shorten and population turnover would accelerate. However, the response of inshore squid populations to climate change is likely to be extremely complex. The size of hatchlings emerging from the eggs becomes smaller as temperatures increase and hatchling size may have a critical influence on the size-at-age that may be achieved as adults and subsequently, population structure. The influence of higher temperatures on the egg and adult stages may thus be opposing forces on the life-history. The process of climate change will likely result in squids that hatch out smaller and earlier, undergo faster growth over shorter life-spans and mature younger and at a smaller size. Individual squid will require more food per unit body size, require more oxygen for faster metabolisms and have a reduced capacity to cope without food. It is therefore likely that biological, physiological and behavioural changes in squid due to climate change will have far reaching effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  Cephalopod movement occurs during all phases of the life history, with the abundance and location of cephalopod populations strongly influenced by the prevalence and scale of their movements. Environmental parameters, such as sea temperature and oceanographic processes, have a large influence on movement at the various life cycle stages, particularly those of oceanic squid. Tag recapture studies are the most common way of directly examining cephalopod movement, particularly in species which are heavily fished. Electronic tags, however, are being more commonly used to track cephalopods, providing detailed small- and large-scale movement information. Chemical tagging of paralarvae through maternal transfer may prove to be a viable technique for tracking this little understood cephalopod life stage, as large numbers of individuals could be tagged at once. Numerous indirect methods can also be used to examine cephalopod movement, such as chemical analyses of the elemental and/or isotopic signatures of cephalopod hard parts, with growing interest in utilising these techniques for elucidating migration pathways, as is commonly done for fish. Geographic differences in parasite fauna have also been used to indirectly provide movement information, however, explicit movement studies require detailed information on parasite-host specificity and parasite geographic distribution, which is yet to be determined for cephalopods. Molecular genetics offers a powerful approach to estimating realised effective migration rates among populations, and continuing developments in markers and analytical techniques hold the promise of more detailed identification of migrants. To date genetic studies indicate that migration in squids is extensive but can be blocked by major oceanographic features, and in cuttlefish and octopus migration is more locally restricted than predictions from life history parameters would suggest. Satellite data showing the location of fishing lights have been increasingly used to examine the movement of squid fishing vessels, as a proxy for monitoring the movement of the squid populations themselves, allowing for the remote monitoring of oceanic species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]