Get free monthly e-alerts to the latest Stanford Earth Matters stories
What happens when schools go solar?
Rooftop solar projects at schools could reduce harmful air pollution, help the environment and enhance student learning while cutting electricity costs, a new study finds.
Reassessing how to 'waste not'
Recycling is becoming harder and more expensive in the U.S. and policymakers are increasingly seeking solutions to mounting trash. Stanford experts are reassessing how we create and dispose of waste.
Climate change has worsened global economic inequality
The gap between the economic output of the world’s richest and poorest countries is 25 percent larger today than it would have been without global warming, according to new research from Stanford University.
Q&A: The potential for congressional action on climate change
The political landscape has changed, potentially opening a window for meaningful policies to combat global warming. Stanford experts discuss opportunities and prospects for change.
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 aqu
Farming for natural profits in China
Expanding monoculture threatens valuable services from land, such as flood control and climate stabilization. A new approach promises to protect these benefits, while improving biodiversity and human livelihoods in rural areas.
The effects of climate change on suicide rates
In warmer temperatures suicide rates increase, leading to concerns about an uptick in suicides as the globe continues to warm. But researchers offer some hope if greenhouse gases get under control.
Green New Deal: The science behind the politics
The sweeping plan to overhaul transportation, energy and other sectors failed a recent U.S. Senate vote, but remains a political lightning rod. Stanford experts discuss the science behind the politics.
The effects of climate change on water shortages
If global temperatures continue to rise, rainfall will increasingly become a beast of extremes. As a way of exploring the future risk of water shortage in a complex environment, scientists have made a case study of Jordan, one of the most water-poor nations in the world.
How does climate change affect disease?
As the globe warms, mosquitoes will roam beyond their current habitats, shifting the burden of diseases like malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya and West Nile virus. Researchers forecast different scenarios depending on the extent of climate change.
Tunas, sharks and ships at sea
Researchers combine maps of marine predator habitats with satellite tracks of fishing fleets to identify regions where they overlap – a step toward more effective wildlife management on the high seas.
A better brick
Inside a quest to save lives by cleaning up production of a ubiquitous building material.
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.
Natural climate solutions aren't enough
Protecting carbon sinks, such as forests and wetlands, is key to slowing climate change, but only part of the puzzle, Stanford researchers say. Reducing emissions is still essential for meeting global climate goals.
Volcanoes, archaeology and the secrets of Roman concrete
Geophysical processes have shaped Pozzuoli, Italy, like few other places in the world. Stanford students applied modern tools to understand those links and what it means to live with natural hazards as both threat and inspiration.
What's likely to cause human extinction – and how can we avoid it?
Stanford epidemiologist Stephen Luby sees three potential outcomes for humanity by 2100: extinction, the collapse of civilization with limited survival, or a thriving society.
What rising seas mean for local economies
High-tide flooding resulting from climate change is already disrupting the economy of Annapolis, Maryland. As sea levels rise, the impacts are expected to get worse for coastal communities.
Q&A: Meat, health and the environment
A Stanford nutrition expert discusses the connections between meat consumption, carbon emissions, water needs and health.
Why batteries with extra lithium ions fail
Why does stuffing more lithium into battery cathodes lead to their failure? New research illuminating this phenomenon could pave the way to electric cars that can drive longer distances between charges.