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Environment + Sustainability

a charging cable into an electric vehicle at sunset.
Photo Credit
Michael Fousert, Unsplash
Accounting for the emissions over a vehicle’s entire lifecycle overturns the sunk-cost thinking that keeps gasoline vehicles on the roads.

Thinking about trading your car in for an EV? There’s a compelling new reason to do it now

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A shark fin sticks out of the ice at a fish market.
Photo Credit
enginakyurt11 via iStock
Small and easily stored, shark fins can be far more valuable than the rest of the animal’s carcass.

Combining fishing regulations and trade data reveals the complex global market for shark products
sunset photo of Grand Canyon Lodge
The Grand Canyon Lodge before it burned down in 2025

Thousands of America's historic landmarks face significant wildfire risk
a view of the Black Sea

UCSB-led international team evaluates anoxic marine basins as potential sites for carbon sequestration
An oil palm plantation at edge of rainforest with a boarder of trees that were logged to clear land for agricultural expansion.
Photo Credit
Richcarey via iStock
Crafting strategies to stop deforestation will require understanding the factors that accelerate and arrest it.

Declines in deforestation aren’t driven by corporate sustainability pledges
giant kelp in the water

Disturbance has a greater effect on giant kelp productivity than does resource availability
A group of elephants prepare to cross a road as oncoming headlights can be seen in the distance.
Photo Credit
Davide Antoniani via iStock
Elephants and humans could be headed for a collision in Southern Africa as climate change and bears down and more land comes under cultivation.

Human expansion will fuel more conflict with elephants without careful planning
sand dunes against an ocean background

California has lost more than half of its coastal sand dunes, first-ever comprehensive assessment reveals
A woman tends to casava while carrying a baby on her back.
Photo Credit
Annie Spratt via Unsplash
Rain forecasts and drought warnings can save lives in regions like Sierra Leone, where subsistence farming is still a major part of society.

New rainfall dataset enhances global monitoring of extreme weather
A field of potatoes framed by wildflowers in the foreground and forest in the background.
Photo Credit
Grigorev_Vladimir via iStock
Agriculture and timber production need not come at the expense of carbon storage and biodiversity.

Better land use and management could improve biodiversity, climate and economic development
a young lady with a yellow bandana sits at a table, smiling at the camera
Photo Credit
Courtesy Image

Schmidt Family Foundation renews multi-year funding of UCSB’s Environmental Solutions Fellows Program
nighttime photo of cars in the foreground, wildfire in the background

Six roads to safety: New study finds a critical threshold for wildfire survival
A deer looks a pair of hikers walking down a snow-covered trail.
Photo Credit
Gary Bendig via Unsplash
Our presence affects animals beyond merely how we’ve modified the landscape.

Data on human and wildlife movement during the pandemic suggest new ways for us to coexist
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