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Satellite imagery shows the difference between current and average sea surface temperatures in the Eastern Pacific Ocean as a literal heatmap.
Photo Credit
NOAA Satellites
Sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean were already far higher than average by the first week of June 2026 due to El Niño.

El Niño has become more intense over last 40 years than the previous 1,000 years

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A forest smothered in vines.
Photo Credit
Jonathan Hammond via iStock
Kudzu got a foothold in North America in 1876 and has since gotten a stranglehold on the forests of the Southeast.

Vast botanical data help solve Darwin’s puzzle of why some exotic plants become pests
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
Whitecaps stir up on the ocean surface under dark clouds
Photo Credit
Oporkka via iStock
Climate dynamics can be quite nuanced, with far off winds influencing tropical oceans.

Distant winds can drive massive tropical warming deep below the ocean surface
photo of a brightly colored optical experiment
Photo Credit
Courtesy Image

Atomic physicist David Weld selected for 2026 National Brown Investigator Award
Dorit Hanein stands with other fellows in front of the capital
Photo Credit
Courtesy Dorit Hanein
Professor Dorit Hanein, center-left, newly elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, took part in the society's recent advocacy event in Washington D.C.

Professor Dorit Hanein recognized for pioneering high resolution cryo-imaging technologies
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
Snags cover a mountainside under white puffy clouds.
Photo Credit
Cavan Images via iStock
Forests can’t offset emissions as a carbon store if trees are constantly succumbing to droughts, pests and fires.

Carbon markets underestimate the risks U.S. forests face from climate change
Sunbeams filter down on a algae-covered rocks on a shallow seafloor.
Photo Credit
Johan Holmdahl via iStock
Oxygenated seafloors were likely the cradle of eukaryotic life.

Early complex life clung to oxygenated seafloors for hundreds of millions of years
a gray whale blows in in the San Francisco Bay
Photo Credit
Darrin Allen © NOAA Permit #26532
The new technology will detect whales by sensing the heat of their blows with thermal imaging

New AI system uses cameras and thermal sensors to steer ships clear of gray whales in the San Francisco Bay
concept illustration of the energy landscape of 2D materials

The first-time direct observation of exotic charge-neutral quasiparticles in twisted tungsten diselenide
Headshot of Yuheng Bu
Photo Credit
James Badham
Yuheng Bu is pursuing a project aimed at advancing watermarking

Yuheng Bu seeks a better way to ensure the trustworthiness of AI-generated text
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