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Climate Change

Featuring research and hands-on efforts around climate change

An arial view of Campus Point looking toward the university and the mountains behind it.
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
UCSB’s privileged position on the coast places it in the vanguard of climate adaptation.

UCSB seeks community input as the university plans for sea-level rise

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Black-and-white portrait of a woman with long hair leaning against a wall and looking over her shoulder towards a tree
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
Heidi Amin-Hong

Refugee studies meets environmental justice in new special journal issue
Waves roll up the shoreline at sunrise, horizon is orange in the distance
Photo Credit
Matt Perko

UC Santa Barbara introduces minor in environmental humanities
Blue sky and bright sun light the partial view of a modern building on a coastline
Photo Credit
Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects
An artist's rendering of the La Kretz Environmental Crossroads shows the view from the main entry and an elevated porch with the ocean in the distance

Alumni gift, vision powers plans for a multifaceted climate solutions hub at UCSB
Iris Holzer
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
Iris Holzer's expertise in enhanced rock weathering and soil carbon storage makes her a shoe-in to help lead the IPCC methodology report.

UCSB professor to lead IPCC methodology report on carbon capture, storage and utilization
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
Three pumpjacks silhouetted by the setting sun.
Photo Credit
TebNad via iStock
The conflict with Iran provides the perfect circumstance to usher out the era of oil and gasoline now that renewable energy is cheap and ubiquitous.

Are we missing the perfect opportunity to kick fossil fuels?
An aerial view of the Totten Ice Shelf during the 61st Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition in late 2019 and early 2020.
Photo Credit
Yoshihiro Nakayama
The Totten Ice Shelf contributes to ice loss in East Antarctica, but this was offset by the increased snowfall from 2021 to 2023.

Antarctica’s brief rebound was caused by climate variability, not a ‘new normal’
Female scientist with choral background
Photo Credit
Courtesy
Assistant professor of bioengineering Marley Dewey

NSF grant supports Marley Dewey’s work to restore coral reefs
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
Christopher Costello
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
Christopher Costello

Christopher Costello recognized for his pioneering work in environmental markets
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
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