• General circulation models (GCMs) and energy balance concepts underpin climate dynamics; the methodological core is formed by numerical GCMs, hydrologic cycles, and energy balance approaches across several works, enabling experimentation and theory testing [3], [4], [5], [9], [15].

• Radiative forcing and cloud/aerosol feedbacks emerge as central mechanisms driving climate variability; studies on solar radiation variations, cloudiness feedback, and aerosol effects tie energy balance to observed changes [1], [8], [11], [13].

• Palaeoclimate variability and glacial–interglacial dynamics provide testbeds for climate dynamics theories, linking past temperature patterns to atmospheric circulation and climate models [2], [16], [18], [19].

• Regional and pattern-focused analyses connect rainfall regimes and general atmospheric circulation as emergent properties of the climate system, informing model development and validation [5], [7], [10].

• Temporal framing of climate change across present, past and potential futures shows how climate change thinking evolved and informed policy-relevant syntheses, with global change perspectives in papers addressing present, past and future climates [6], [10], [17].