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Where will flooded fields best replenish groundwater?
Overpumping in California’s Central Valley has depleted groundwater storage capacity and caused the land to sink. A new model based on remote sensing data could help zero in on where water managers can replenish aquifers by flooding fields.
Big livestock operations can be big polluters. But where are they?
An algorithm that reads satellite images can help environmental regulators identify potentially hazardous agricultural facilities more efficiently than traditional approaches.
Farming for natural profits in China
Expanding monoculture threatens valuable services from land, such as flood control, water purification and climate stabilization. A new approach promises to protect these benefits, while improving biodiversity and human livelihoods in rural areas around the world.
What does climate change mean for world hunger?
As more of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere, leading to climate change, crops might carry fewer nutrients, like zinc and iron. Stanford researchers explored this trend and regions most likely to be hurt by it.
Know Your Planet: How do plants affect weather?
A major component of climate change unknowns stems from interactions between changes in climate and changes in ecosystems. Stanford hydrologist Alexandra Konings explains how plants shape weather patterns and influence climate.
Q&A: Meat, health and the environment
A Stanford nutrition expert discusses the connections between meat consumption, carbon emissions, water needs and health.
The double-edged sword of palm oil
Widespread cultivation of oil palm trees has been both an economic boon and an environmental disaster for tropical developing-world countries. New research points to a more sustainable path forward through engagement with small-scale producers.
Regions increasingly suffer hot, dry conditions at the same time
Odds are rising that warm, dry conditions – the kind that can hurt crop yields, destabilize food prices and exacerbate wildfires – will strike multiple regions at once. A new Stanford study shows just how much the risk is increasing.
As California's groundwater free-for-all ends, gauging what's left
New rules and new technology are giving farmers and managers a better look at groundwater supplies.
Home on the range: Integrating wildlife and livestock
A study of more than 800,000 acres of privately owned land in Kenya suggests that humans and their livestock can, in the right circumstances, share territory with zebras, giraffes, elephants and other wild mammals – to the benefit of all.
How machine learning can aid environmental monitoring
Cash-strapped environmental regulators have a powerful and cheap new weapon. New research suggests machine learning methods more than double the number of violations detected.
Q&A: How does climate change affect human health?
Stanford experts discuss the linkages between climate change and health, an area that will be a focus of Stanford-led events at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco.
Climate change projected to boost insect activity and crop loss
A new study co-authored by Earth System Science professor Rosamond Naylor projects insect pest damage to crops will rise sharply as temperatures continue to climb.
Natural chromium sources threaten California groundwater
A study shows natural sources of hexavalent chromium are affecting more people and wells in California than industrial sources. But groundwater pumping may accelerate release of this carcinogen.
Strawberry fields forever? Baja turning to seawater to grow lucrative crop
In an arid region south of Tijuana, strawberries grown for export have become so valuable, farmers keep trying to grow more, and are allowed to use more groundwater than nature replenishes.
Overuse of fertilizers and pesticides in China linked to farm size
A new study finds chemicals are often used inefficiently on small farms in China. Land and migration policies may help explain why the country uses 30 percent of the world's fertilizers and pesticides on 9 percent of global cropland.
Warmer climate will dramatically increase the volatility of global corn crops
A new study co-authored by Earth System Science professor Rosamond Naylor looks at what climate change will mean for global yields of corn, or maize, the most widely grown crop in the world. The study shows dramatic increases in the variability of annual corn yields, which could lead to price hikes and global shortages.
Arsenic unlocked: Overpumping may up contamination risk
Pumping an aquifer to the last drop squeezes out more than water. A new study suggests it can also unlock dangerous arsenic from buried clays. Sinking land may provide an early warning and measure of contamination.
Getting to Zero Deforestation
A synthesis paper led by Eric Lambin reveals the strengths and weaknesses of corporate environmental pledges, and prescribes solutions to boost effectiveness.