What's Current in
Environment + Sustainability
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![Side view of a researcher in a lab, wearing goggles and a white coat, looking down](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2023-12/researcher-lab-UCOP-2023-2-uc-santa-barbara.jpg?itok=gq5VrXsA)
Photo Credit
Elena Zhukova
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![Flames from the Thomas Fire reflect in the waves at night.](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2023-11/Thomas-Fire-Faria-Beach-cropped-Noozhawk.jpg?itok=YGnOu1vN)
Photo Credit
Ray Ford / Noozhawk
Flames from the Thomas Fire reflect in the waves just west of Ventura. Its proximity to the ocean provided researchers a unique opportunity.
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![A large pile of small blue plastic objects rises from a relief map of Manhattan](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2023-11/cumulative-plastic-waste-adjusted-uc-santa-barbara.jpg?itok=jKRy1dij)
Photo Credit
Courtesy Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory
This image of a blue plastic pile represents the cumulative amount of plastic waste that would be generated between 2010 and 2050 — enough to cover the entire island of Manhattan, and ten times the height of the Empire State Building — under a business-as-usual scenario where no aggressive policy actions are taken.
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![The head of a California red-legged frog peers out from lily pads](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2023-10/california-red-tailed-frog-uc-santa-barbara.jpg?itok=PApF2X3g)
Photo Credit
Gary M. Fellers/USGS
California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii) surfaces in a pond in Point Reyes National Seashore, Calif.
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![A humpback swims at the surface with fishing gear wrapped around its flukes.](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2023-09/whale-entangled-E-Lyman-NOAA.jpg?itok=1g0LAq3V)
Photo Credit
E. Lyman/ NOAA Sanctuaries
Less gear in the water means fewer chances for Whales to become entangled.
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![fishers just off a Pacific island shore](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2023-09/Abaiang-2019-fisheries-eurich-uc-santa-barbara-small.jpg?itok=L99hz-XQ)
Photo Credit
Jacob Eurich
Fishers coming home on a paddle canoe after fishing on the fore reefs of Abaiang, Kiribati
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![Palms blow in a storm.](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2023-08/Pacific-storm-iStock.jpg?itok=Anx9ECBd)
Photo Credit
ChiehCheng via iStock
The El Niño Southern Oscillation influences weather patterns across the world.
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![open bottle pouring out a small pool of detergent](/sites/default/files/styles/large_2340x1212/public/2023-08/detergent-bottle-istock-uc-santa-barbara-small.jpg?itok=DtM9K8s9)
With this method, your empty detergent bottle can be turned into more detergent