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Environment + Sustainability

An aerial shot of a pumping plant for the California Aqueduct. The channel continues through pipes into the background toward parched hills.
Photo Credit
halbergman via iStock
While reducing demand is important, most successful cases of groundwater recovery also involve moving huge amounts of water to meet demand.

Why some regions are winning the fight against groundwater depletion

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Old, abandoned barn in a large field with white wildflowers and prairie grass.
Photo Credit
Richard McMillin via iStock
While global trends dominate environmental outcomes, decisions about recultivating or rewilding abandoned fields can influence habitat health.

Protecting nature may depend on where — not just how — we farm
dead tree on salt island in the Dead Sea

Dead Sea’s salt giants offer rare glimpse into Earth’s geological past
An Icelandic braided river, seen from above.
Photo Credit
Luca Ronchi via iStock
Multi-channel rivers predominate in Iceland’s easily eroded volcanic soil.

Rivers choose their path based on erosion — a discovery that could transform flood planning and restoration
Erosion has exposed the cross-section of a forest from the canopy and understory to the subsoil and parent material.
Photo Credit
tarasov_vl via iStock
A new model provides a look into the dynamic feedback between soil moisture levels and plants’ water-use strategies.

A nuanced model of soil moisture illuminates plant behavior and climate patterns
two orange-clad fishermen in a commercial vessel
A commercial fishing vessel near Kodiak Island, Alaska

Experts say seafood deregulation could impact sustainability and supply
Hayden Vega wears a lobster on his head
Photo Credit
Matt Perko

Real-world coral studies spark future in ocean conservation
Dead corn and cracked earth under an orange sky.
Photo Credit
piyaset via iStock
Warmer air can suck more moisture in dry regions and dump more rain in wet regions. New research reveals that the atmosphere’s drying capacity is outpacing increases to rainfall.

The atmosphere’s growing thirst is making droughts worse, even where it rains
cargo ships queueing at Los Angeles and Long Beach port during COVID pandemic
Cargo vessel congestion at the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex during the COVID pandemic

A cheap and easy potential solution for lowering carbon emissions in maritime shipping
women weaving and mending fishing nets
Geospatial information about how women use the ocean is an important part of marine spatial planning, but tends to be hidden in the data

Gender-sensitive data brings more depth to marine spatial planning
A giant sea bass cruises the deep reef.
Photo Credit
Merry Passage
Southern California’s population of giant sea bass is recovering from overfishing, but progress is slow.

Community science helps reveal population growth among SoCal’s endangered giant sea bass
Joan Dudney with hiking gear in the mountains.
Photo Credit
Courtesy Image
Joan Dudney studies the impacts of global change on forests to develop science-based management strategies.

Ecologist Joan Dudney studies forest change in a warming world
data servers center with blue neon lights
Photo Credit
Courtesy

To power AI, data centers need more and more energy
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