NEW YORK, NY, November 10, 2025 – An interdisciplinary team of scientists at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) has unveiled a groundbreaking conceptual model and integrative monitoring framework designed to reveal how climate change is stressing life across the planet. Their study, published this week in Cell Reports Sustainability, introduces the concept of the Climate BioStress model and proposes the adoption of an integrative Climate BioStress Sentinel System (CBS3), which could transform how researchers, policymakers, and communities detect, understand, and respond to climate threats.
The research starts from simple but urgent questions: What is the impact of climate change across the living kingdoms of Earth, and can these effects be systematically detected? The team's answer is that climate biostress manifests as detectable biological signatures — ranging from genetic shifts to changes in individual organisms and entire ecosystems — that can serve as early warning signals of climate-driven change.
"Life has always carried the imprint of stress in its biochemistry, physiology, and behaviors," said the study's lead author Charles J. Vörösmarty , founding director of the CUNY ASRC Environmental Science Initiative, Einstein Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the CUNY Graduate Center, and of Geography at Hunter College. "By systematically identifying these stress signatures across species and ecosystems, we can better understand the cascading effects of climate change and provide real-time insights for mitigation. This includes humans and our social and built infrastructures."
A Sentinel System for a Stressed Biosphere
CBS3 is envisioned as a global, multi-scale network for detecting and integrating climate stress indicators across biological, built, and social infrastructures — making it particularly well-suited for deployment in dense urban environments. The system draws on cutting-edge tools such as genomic sequencing, biochemical analysis, advanced sensing technologies, artificial intelligence, and socio-environmental data to benchmark current conditions and track changes over time.
The study highlights a range of sentinel organisms and species that can serve as measurable indicators, including:
- Microbes and phytoplankton, which regulate greenhouse gases and oxygen production
- Amphibians, long recognized as highly sensitive to environmental change
- Sessile organisms like corals and trees, whose growth patterns record long-term climate stress
- Lichens and other symbionts sensitive to heat and pollution
CBS3 would also incorporate human-centered data — from government records to social media — to capture how climate stress reverberates through societies and economies. The study team also imagines the extensive use of citizen science-collected environmental data using advanced microsensors that can be installed in homes or businesses or as wearable clothing by millions of people. These data can then be uploaded through cell phones to give a near-real time, integrated picture of biostress, which the researchers liken to a weather report for climate stress.
A Pan-Scientific Grand Challenge
Developing and deploying CBS3 represents what the authors call a "pan-scientific grand challenge" that spans at least 12 orders of magnitude in space and time — from molecular chemistry to planetary-scale dynamics. While technical challenges remain, the study argues that science is ready for an initial rollout of sentinel-based systems.
"By providing operational tracking of climate effects on multiple systems, our study aligns with the One Health concept integrating data from humans, animals, and ecosystems," said study co-author Patrizia Casaccia , founding director of the CUNY ASRC Neuroscience Initiative and Einstein Professor of Biology and Biochemistry at the CUNY Graduate Center. "We suggest that the implementation of sentinel systems, inclusive of data on plants, microbes, animals, people, water, and soil would provide an important tool for monitoring the impact of climate stressors and test the effectiveness of any global commitments built around such a sentinel system. Overall, these approaches would inform policy decisions and guide investments in climate response."
"While climate adaptation is geared toward protecting humans and social and economic systems, our work shows that adaptation alone will be insufficient," added co-author Kevin Gardner , founding director of the CUNY ASRC Structural Biology Initiative and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the City College of New York. "CBS3 offers a way to detect climate stress early and mobilize more effective, data-driven responses that could guide mitigation strategies to minimize the impact on the biosphere."
DOI: 10.1016/j.crsus.2025.100558
About the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center
The Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) is a world-leading center of scientific excellence that elevates STEM inquiry and education at CUNY and beyond. The CUNY ASRC's research initiatives span five distinctive, but broadly interconnected disciplines: nanoscience, photonics, neuroscience, structural biology, and environmental sciences. The center promotes a collaborative, interdisciplinary research culture where renowned and emerging scientists advance their discoveries using state-of-the-art equipment and cutting-edge core facilities.
About the Graduate Center of The City University of New York
The CUNY Graduate Center is a leader in public graduate education devoted to enhancing the public good through pioneering research, serious learning, and reasoned debate. The Graduate Center offers ambitious students nearly 50 doctoral and master's programs of the highest caliber, taught by top faculty from throughout CUNY — the nation's largest urban public university. Through its nearly 40 centers, institutes, initiatives, and the Advanced Science Research Center, the Graduate Center influences public policy and discourse and shapes innovation. The Graduate Center's extensive public programs make it a home for culture and conversation.
