The study assesses the contribution of the highest emitting groups within societies and finds that the top 1% of the wealthiest individuals globally contributed 26 times the global average to increases in monthly 1-in-100-year heat extremes globally and 17 times more to Amazon droughts.

The research sheds new light on the links between income-based emissions inequality and climate injustice, illustrating how the consumption and investments of wealthy individuals have had disproportionate impacts on extreme weather events. These impacts are especially severe in vulnerable tropical regions like the Amazon, Southeast Asia, and southern Africa — all areas that have historically contributed the least to global emissions.

“Our study shows that extreme climate impacts are not just the result of abstract global emissions, instead we can directly link them to our lifestyle and investment choices, which in turn are linked to wealth,” explains lead author Sarah Schöngart, an alumna of the 2024 Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP), who is currently associated with ETH Zurich. “We found that wealthy emitters play a major role in driving climate extremes, which provides strong support for climate policies that target the reduction of their emissions.”

Using a novel modeling framework that combined economic data and climate simulations, the researchers were able to trace emissions from different global income groups and assess their contributions to specific climate extremes. They found that emissions from the wealthiest 10% of individuals in the United States and China alone, each led to a two-to threefold increase in heat extremes across vulnerable regions.

“If everyone had emitted like the bottom 50% of the global population, the world would have seen minimal additional warming since 1990,” says coauthor Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, who leads the Integrated Climate Impacts Research Group at IIASA. “Addressing this imbalance is crucial for fair and effective climate action.”

The study also emphasizes the importance of emissions embedded in financial investments, rather than just personal consumption. The authors argue that targeting the financial flows and portfolios of high-income individuals could yield substantial climate benefits.

“This is not an academic discussion — it’s about the real impacts of the climate crisis today,” adds Schleussner. “Climate action that doesn’t address the outsize responsibilities of the wealthiest members of society, risks missing one of the most powerful levers we have to reduce future harm.”

The authors suggest that their findings could motivate progressive policy instruments targeted at societal elites, noting that such policies can also foster social acceptance of climate action. Making rich individual polluters pay can also help to provide much needed support for adaptation and loss and damage in vulnerable countries. They conclude that rebalancing responsibility for climate action in line with actual emissions contributions is essential, not just to slow global warming, but to achieve a more just and resilient world.

The study is the result of work undertaken as part of Schöngart’s YSSP project in 2024 for which she was awarded the IIASA Levien award.

In a multi-study paper published in the International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, a team of researchers has delved into the growing phenomenon of e-fashion — digital garments worn in virtual environments — and found these intangible items could help bridge the gap between fast fashion and environmental sustainability.

From Instagram filters to gaming skins, the idea of digital self-presentation isn’t new. But fashion brands are now taking things a step further, offering digital-only collections that exist purely on-screen.

These clothes can change colour, morph shape, and even communicate with physical counterparts via near-field communication (NFC) chips. Crucially, they come without the environmental baggage of traditional production, shipping or waste. Their production, consumption and disposal don’t require using raw and difficult-to-recycle materials such as polyester. The research studied how consumers respond to the unique appeal of digital clothing and what drives their willingness to pay for garments they can’t physically touch, try and own.

Findings show that consumers with a strong appetite for novel and tactile experiences are particularly drawn to e-fashion, valuing its creativity, customisability and interactivity. For them, virtual couture is not a compromise but an additional new frontier in personal style.

Conventional logic suggests that consumers with a strong need for touch, who enjoy physically inspecting and trying on a garment, are less likely to find e-fashion appealing.

However, the research challenges this logic. It learns that consumers with a high need for touch, and a high sensation-seeking, are an ideal target market for virtual clothing.

The research found that consumers could mentally simulate the tactile features of e-fashion, a process that becomes increasingly feasible and vivid with the adoption of virtual reality headsets.

One of the co-authors, Dr Kokho (Jason) Sit, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Portsmouth, said: “Whether e-fashion is a fleeting fad or a long-lasting trend remains to be seen, but its environmental potential is undeniable. Unlike fast fashion’s reliance on low-cost, often non-recyclable materials and landfill-heavy turnover, digital garments can be produced, consumed, and discarded with a single keystroke — or perhaps several keystrokes. No raw materials, modern slavery, shipping and delivery are involved, reducing deforestation, inhumane working conditions, carbon footprint and landfills.”

“This research shows that e-fashion isn’t just a gimmick for gamers or influencers. It can potentially disrupt the fast fashion model in a profitable way for fashion brands, exciting for consumers and better for the planet.”

While it may not entirely replace physical fashion, the study suggests e-fashion could meaningfully reduce our reliance on high-volume, low-value clothing and help curb the environmental toll of an industry that urgently needs reform.

This year, the report cards are consolidated in an interactive dashboard and add data from tide gauge stations in Annapolis, MD; Solomons Island, MD; Yorktown, VA; and Fort Myers, FL.

Most sea level projections are based on an understanding of average global sea level rise. However, sea levels do not rise uniformly across the world. Factors such as geological uplift, land subsidence, ocean currents and other processes all impact regional sea level trends.

“Many people who live near the coast want to know what they can reasonably expect over the next few decades, giving them time to make actionable plans and decisions,” says Molly Mitchell, an assistant professor at the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS. “Compared to other predictions based on satellite data and global computer models, our reports are created using observed tide gauge data from the past 55 years and reflect the exact experience at the location of the gauge. The annual release of the report cards allows coastal regions to examine if past trends are changing and alter their planning accordingly.”

The reports group localities into East Coast, Gulf Coast, West Coast and Alaskan Coast regions. Each report card shows values for monthly sea level averages along with high-and low-water levels caused by storms and other transient events, as well as a decadal signal showing the influence of longer-term climate patterns such as El Niño. Observed rates of acceleration are factored into future projections and are displayed in comparison to a linear trendline that does not account for acceleration.

The projections also show the range of sea level rise within the 95% confidence interval, which allows individuals and municipalities to plan adequately for the highest predicted rates of sea level rise caused by things like storm surge and tidal flooding.

Overall, most locations continue a trend of accelerating sea level rise. However, Mitchell notes that projections have remained mostly uniform since reporting began in 2018, apart from a few notable exceptions.

“One interesting new trend is the acceleration occurring in southeastern states such as South Carolina and Georgia,” said Mitchell. “We continue to see the fastest rates of sea level rise in Gulf states like Texas and Louisiana, but many of the East Coast stations are accelerating quite quickly, likely due to patterns of water distribution related to glacial melt from the Greenland ice sheet.”

Mitchell also notes that most West Coast localities have been fairly stable, despite past predictions that they would increase rapidly. “This has led to some questions about why,” she said.

Information about the processes most affecting regional sea levels is listed on the Batten School & VIMS website: List of cities, states and processes.

Emeritus Professor John Boon launched the sea level report cards in 2018 following the publication of the study Anthropocene Sea Level Change: A History of Recent Trends Observed in the U.S. East, Gulf and West Coast Regions, which showed a notable increase in sea level acceleration rates beginning in 2013-2014.