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Q&A: Making the case for mobile marine protected areas
Ocean sanctuaries whose boundaries can shift can reduce conflicts between humans and marine life and help protect species under climate change.
Setting fires to avoid fires
Despite having proven effective at reducing wildfire risks, prescribed burns have been stymied by perceived and real risks, regulations and resource shortages. A new analysis highlights ways of overcoming those barriers, offering solutions for wildfire-ravaged landscapes.
Pathways to changing the minds of climate deniers
By reviewing the psychology behind climate change rejection, a Stanford researcher suggests four approaches that can sway climate deniers and help overcome obstacles to implementing solutions.
Editor's picks: Top 10 Stanford Earth Matters stories of 2019
In a roundup that spans energy, geology, geophysics and Earth systems, here are some of the most interesting, high-impact and popular research stories from 2019.
Global carbon emissions growth slows, but hits record high
Coal use is down dramatically in the United States and the European Union, and renewable energy is gaining traction. But rising natural gas and oil use in 2019 increased the world’s carbon dioxide emissions modestly for a third straight year.
What if we could convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into fuel?
Researchers may have found a chemical reaction that makes this possible.
Rice yields plummet and arsenic rises in future climate-soil scenarios
Research combining future climate conditions and arsenic-induced soil stresses predicts rice yields could decline about 40 percent by 2100, a loss that would impact about 2 billion people dependent on the global crop.
Californians unwilling to subsidize wildfire prevention
Despite statewide devastation from wildfires, a new poll conducted by the Bill Lane Center for the American West shows Californians are still reluctant to subsidize wildfire prevention or support relocating communities at risk.
Study casts doubt on carbon capture
Current approaches to carbon capture can increase air pollution and are not efficient at reducing carbon in the atmosphere, according to research from Mark Z. Jacobson.
Are we underestimating the benefits of investing in renewable energy?
Scientists have estimated the emissions intensity of carbon dioxide and other air pollutants from a major electricity distributor and highlighted key consequences – essential information for policymakers shaping decisions to reduce electricity system emissions.
How does uncertainty in scientific predictions affect credibility?
The ways climate scientists explain their predictions about the impact of global warming can either promote or limit their persuasiveness.
A roadmap to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 50 percent by 2030
An international group of experts, including Stanford Earth system scientist Rob Jackson, has published a roadmap of the most viable solutions for slashing greenhouse gas emissions globally by 2030.
How much does air pollution cost the U.S.?
Damages from air pollution have fallen dramatically in the U.S. in recent years, shows new research. But how different sectors of the economy have contributed to that decline is highly uneven.
Transnational corporations increasingly align business models to support stable planet
Some of the world’s largest transnational corporations are changing their business models to acknowledge their impact on climate and biodiversity. A new analysis indicates a significant shift in corporate values.
A practical guide to planning and achieving green growth
Economic development plans often overlook a crucial detail – ecosystems that provide essential services to people. Stanford experts discuss a new sustainable development approach that balances the needs of people and nature.
Catalyst opens way to sustainable fuels from carbon dioxide
A new way to convert carbon dioxide into the building block for sustainable liquid fuels was very efficient in tests and did not have the reaction that destroys the conventional device.
Stanford Law’s Deborah Sivas on proposed rollback of key climate change regulations
Environmental Law expert Professor Deborah Sivas explains how planned deregulations by the Trump Administration will impact climate change.
New ways to find natural gas leaks quickly
Finding natural gas leaks more quickly and at lower cost could reduce methane emissions. Ten promising technologies mounted on drones, trucks and airplanes were tested last year. The results are in.
Plastics, fuels and chemical feedstocks from CO2? They’re working on it.
SUNCAT researchers discovered a way to improve a key step in these conversions, and explore what it would take to turn the climate-changing gas into valuable products on an industrial scale.