Stanford Earth Matters covers insights, discoveries and solutions from the organizations forming the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
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Solutions
Watch Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment's series of discussions about policy, energy, and environmental challenges.
Perspectives
Read commentary and opinions on sustainability, Earth, and environmental science from Stanford experts.
Books
Discover books that can spark curiosity about our planet and conversations about the ways we live, think, and learn.
Earthquakes from oil field wastewater
Underground disposal of wastewater from fossil fuel production in the nation’s largest oil field is causing long-dormant faults to slip in a way that could damage wells, according to new analyses of satellite and seismicity data.
Q&A: Tracking COVID infections through wastewater
Researchers have developed a system for monitoring COVID prevalence on campus and collaborated with public health officers on an epidemiology project serving a number of communities across California. (Source: Stanford News)
How to fight climate change
Environmental scientist Chris Field explains why taking on climate change will require that we continue to reduce emissions and adapt to the effects of increasing temperatures. (Source: Stanford Engineering)
Saving the Mekong River Delta from drowning
Southeast Asia’s most productive agricultural region and home to 17 million people could be mostly underwater within a lifetime. Researchers recommend policy solutions including strict regulation of sediment mining, limits on groundwater pumping, and coordination among countries, development agencies and other private and civil society stakeholders. (Source: Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment)
Understanding how sunscreens damage coral
Stanford researchers reveal a mechanism by which oxybenzone, a common sunscreen component, may damage reefs. The surprising findings could help guide the development and marketing of effective, coral-safe sunscreens.
Climate grief researcher Britt Wray discusses new book
Planetary Postdoctoral Health Fellow Britt Wray discusses her recently published book about dealing with climate anxiety and her own path to finding purpose in a chaotic time. (Source: Stanford News)
How one ‘extreme’ plant could help biologists engineer climate-resistant crops
Stanford biologist José Dinneny is studying why one plant grows faster in stressful conditions. His results could help scientists engineer food and biofuel crops to survive in harsher environments. (Source: Stanford News)
How a soil microbe could rev up artificial photosynthesis
Researchers discover that a spot of molecular glue and a timely twist help a bacterial enzyme convert carbon dioxide into carbon compounds 20 times faster than plant enzymes do during photosynthesis. The results stand to accelerate progress toward converting carbon dioxide into a variety of products. (Source: SLAC)
Massive conservation effort
California has rolled out plans to protect plant and animal life across 30 percent of the state’s most critical land and water by 2030. Biologists Elizabeth Hadly and Mary Ruckelshaus and environmental law expert Deborah Sivas discuss keys to its success, potential impacts, legal precedents, and more. (Source: Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment)
Scientists model landscape formation on Titan, revealing an Earth-like alien world
A new hypothesis reveals that a global sedimentary cycle driven by seasons could explain the formation of landscapes on Saturn’s moon Titan. The research shows the alien world may be more Earth-like than previously thought.
Reversible fuel cells can support grid economically
Integrated reversible power-to-gas systems can also convert hydrogen back to electricity as a backup power source surprisingly economically, new research finds.
Explanation for formation of abundant features on Europa bodes well for search for extraterrestrial life
Ice-penetrating radar data from Greenland suggests that shallow water pockets may be common within Europa’s ice shell, increasing the potential habitability of the Jovian moon’s ice shell.
Researchers team with smallholder farmers to address 'the dried chilies problem'
Stanford researchers worked with chili farmers in India for more than four years to develop a solar-powered technology to improve the quality, quantity, and profitability of dried agricultural produce. A new study addresses not only technical challenges, but also barriers to adoption. (Source: Precourt Institute for Energy)
Stanford's Richard Nevle discusses his new book
Richard Nevle, deputy director of Stanford’s Earth Systems Program, discusses his new collection of essays about the Sierra Nevada mountain range, The Paradise Notebooks.
Study finds high energy use provides little benefit for health and well-being in richer nations
Analysis of data from 140 countries suggests many rich countries could use less energy per capita without compromising health, happiness or prosperity. Countries struggling with energy poverty may be able to maximize well-being with less energy than previously thought.
Why do we see the Man in the Moon?
New research shows how the impact that created the Moon’s South Pole–Aitken basin is linked to the stark contrast in composition and appearance between the two sides of the Moon.
Are big companies’ net-zero pledges a well-intentioned shell game?
The world of climate promises and carbon offsets is “like the Wild West, where anything goes,” says Stefan Reichelstein. (Source: Insights by Stanford Business)
Stanford energy expert discusses UN climate report
Energy expert Inês Azevedo, a lead author of the energy chapter in the United Nations’ new report on climate mitigation, discusses the assessment and changes necessary to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. Energy technology is ready, she says, but time is short.