Published by the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford Earth Matters provides sustainability research news and insights for the public, decision-makers, and educators.
Our website and monthly newsletter ("On Our Planet") feature the work of Stanford University scholars who are focused on deepening knowledge of Earth, climate, and society, and creating solutions to sustainability challenges.
We also link to stories, podcasts, videos, events, and more from our colleagues at Stanford News, Stanford Engineering Magazine, Stanford Law School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, and Precourt Institute for Energy, among other groups across campus.
For its first seven years, Stanford Earth Matters was published by Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth), which became part of the Doerr School of Sustainability in September 2022. In May 2023, our newsletter took on a new look and name, "On Our Planet," to reflect our focus on sustainability issues facing our planet. Watch for changes to our website and newsletters as the new school continues to shape.
Let our stories come to you: Subscribe to On Our Planet to have original research stories and curated links delivered to your inbox once a month.
Have questions, comments, or ideas? Send an email to managing editor Josie Garthwaite at josieg@stanford.edu.
Archives
View past editions of On Our Planet.
- July 2023 – Hidden drought costs; turtle migration; future power grids
- June 2023 – 29 books for summer; gas stove pollution; wildfire physics
- May 2023 – Colorado River deal; clean water solution; teaching climate
View past editions of the Stanford Earth Matters newsletter.
- April 2023 – Carbon removal; coastal erosion; photo contest
- March 2023 – Thwaites Glacier; earthquake trigger; wildfire costs
- February 2023 – Whale supergroup; zombie forests; protecting wetlands
- January 2023 – Whiplash weather; time until 1.5C; drought costs
- December 2022 – Climate questions; Mars discovery; 2022 in review
- November 2022 – COP27; plastic in whale food; better batteries
- October 2022 – COP27; fish farms; restoring wetlands
- September 2022 – Wildfire smoke; EV charging; melting ice sheets
- August 2022 – Shark dives; carbon storage; ocean plastic; diamond capsules
- July 2022 – Wildfire smoke solutions; extreme heat; regional climate predictions
- June 2022 - 26 books for summer; groundwater recovery; clean air benefits
- May 2022 - Titan discovery; Texas earthquakes; toxic sunscreen
- April 2022 - Energy thresholds; Europa habitability; climate mitigation
- March 2022 - Methane leaks; volcanoes and climate; squid migration
- February 2022 - Wildfire zones; earthquakes; methane's real impact
- January 2022 - Gas stoves; Moon magnetism; traffic solution
- December 2021 - Climate chaos; coral reefs; editor's picks
- November 2021 - COP26; extinctions; emissions rebound
- October 2021 - Extinction recovery; toxic air; oil spill
- September 2021 - Severe storms; methane; seafood; wildfire damage
- August 2021 - Wildfire smoke; cost of climate change; methane leaks
- July 2021 - Clean air; Yukon discovery; coastal flooding; muskrats
- June 2021 - 29 books for summer; reinventing concrete; groundwater
- May 2021 - Preterm births; earthquake AI; climate resilience; Arctic groundwater
- April 2021 - Asbestos; emission cuts; extreme melt; AI and pollution
- March 2021 - Water security; environmental justice; soil carbon
- February 2021 - Mars mystery; kids and air pollution; emissions; mobility
- January 2021 - Wildfire smoke; flood costs; Paris climate accord; solar cells
- December 2020 - COVID carbon; toxic water; Kilauea; 2020 editor's picks
- November 2020 - Love waves; mask behavior; extreme drought
- October 2020 - Healthcare; whale songs; earthquake AI; laughing gas
- September 2020 - Drought migration; battery health; gravity waves
- August 2020 - Wildfires; traffic jams ; sugar; pessimism
- July 2020 - Mars mission; methane surge; Arctic change
- June 2020 - 24 books for summer; preterm birth risk; water predictions
- May 2020 - COVID-19 and food security; wildfire fuel; tsunami defense
- April 2020 - Viruses and forest loss; extinction insights; earthquakes from fracking
- March 2020 - Coronavirus transmission; lessons from space; hidden water leaks
- February 2020 - How to build a diamond; landslides in a warmer world; cleaning up poisoned water with rust
- January 2020 - Why some planets eat their own skies; bigger floods on the way; the case for more prescribed burns (a lot more)
- December 2019 - Science of Star Wars and top stories of 2019
- November 2019 - A grim future for rice?
- October 2019 - Submarine canyons, lead in turmeric and communicating uncertainty
- September 2019 - Why are mountains so high?
- August 2019 - Exoplanet insights, absorbing CO2 and earthquake mystery solved
- July 2019 - Food production, earthquake lessons and ancient climate
- June 2019 - An Earth-inspired summer reading list
- May 2019 - Solar-powered schools; geothermal's earthquake problem; a counterintuitive climate solution
- April 2019 - Climate change and global inequality; replenishing groundwater; Green New Deal science
- March 2019 - Big batteries vs. natural gas — Water trouble in a warming world — Fighting brick kiln pollution
- February 2019 - Extinction mystery solved — Polar vortex science — Costly high-tide floods
- January 2019 - Better tsunami warnings — Drought emissions — Palm oil
- December 2018 - Early ocean life — Rising emissions — Nuclear waste
- November 2018 - Wildfires — Midterm results — Parched wetlands
- October 2018 - AI for aftershock predictions — Liquid water hidden in glaciers — Himalayan gold
- September 2018 - How to make oil fields bury emissions
- August 2018 - Will global warming lead to more suicides?
- July 2018 - Earthquake predictions, deadly air pollution, long-term weather, and volatile corn
- June 2018 - Summer reading, methane emissions, arsenic in groundwater, and recent volcanic eruptions
- May 2018 - Fighting climate change could save trillions of dollars
- April 2018 - Why are whales big?
- March 2018 - Tiny diamond anvils trigger chemical reactions
- February 2018 - Clues to climate in extinct lakes
- January 2018 - Insects took off when they evolved wings
- December 2017 - Vintage film provides new insights about Antarctica
- November 2017 - Puzzle at the Center of the Earth
- October 2017 - A ‘billion sensors’ earthquake observatory
- September 2017 - Supervolcanoes: A key to America’s electric future?
- July 2017 - Summer reading: Three books on sustainability and equity
- May 2017 - Frozen secrets: Geophysicist explores glaciers with radar
- April 2017 - Let's stop talking about climate change
- March 2017 - Navigating the guts of an ancient submarine canyon
- February 2017 - Measuring African farm yields from space
- January 2017 - Satellite tracks “memory” of soil moisture
- December 2016 - Syrian crisis altered region’s land and water resources
- November 2016 - How will the election affect environmental policy?
- October 2016 - Studies offer direct glimpse of Antarctic glacier melt from below
- September 2016 - Larger marine animals at higher risk of extinction, and humans are to blame
- Summer 2016 - ‘Water windfall’ hidden beneath California’s Central Valley
- May 2016 - Amazon responds quickly to extreme climate events
- April 2016 - Pursuing Sustainability
- March 2016 - Blowing Bubbles Could Help Save Coral Reefs
- February 2016 - Oxygen starved oceans and the 'Great Dying’
- January 2016 - Earth Matters
- December 2015 - Stanford Earth Matters
- November 2015 - Earth Matters
- October 2015 - The high cost of climate change