Stanford Earth Matters covers insights, discoveries, and solutions from the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
Summer reading to fuel curiosity and conversation about sustainability
Faculty and scholars associated with the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability recommend these 29 books for your summer reading.
Gas stoves emit benzene
About 47 million homes use natural gas or propane-burning cooktops and ovens. Stanford researchers found that cooking with gas stoves can raise indoor levels of the carcinogen benzene above those found in secondhand smoke. (Source: Stanford News)
Wildfire smoke and air quality
Wildfire smoke from Canadian wildfires is polluting air across much of the northeastern US. Explore Stanford research about wildfire smoke, health impacts, and solutions.
Turmeric's unexpected link to lead poisoning in Bangladesh
How scientists found the leading source of high lead levels in pregnant women in Bangladesh. (Source: Stanford Medicine)
Beyond climate dread – how the medical community is helping
A growing number of projects are dedicated to finding solutions to urgent problems of planetary and human health. (Source: Stanford Medicine)
Q&A: Supreme Court decision on EPA powers
The May 25 U.S. Supreme Court decision Sackett v EPA "dramatically shrinks the authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to regulate wetlands," Stanford environmental law expert Deborah Sivas explains. (Source: Stanford Law School)
Looking back at Stanford's contributions to 2022 energy and environmental research
New reports detail how faculty, students, and scholars came together from across campus to generate sustainability solutions.
Climate change in history textbooks
A new AI-driven analysis finds the most popular U.S. history textbooks used in California and Texas commonly misrepresent the scientific consensus around climate change. (Source: Stanford News)
Q&A: Colorado River deal and ongoing challenges
Water and natural resources expert Buzz Thompson discusses a recent tentative deal to reduce water use by entities drawing from the Colorado River, averting near-term potential disaster and predictions that the river could all but stop. (Source: Stanford Law School)
Collaborating for climate resilience
The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and the Naval Postgraduate School recently convened experts to discuss coastal resilience, water security, and energy security for communities and military installations along the U.S. West Coast. (Source: School Highlights)
Paul R. Ehrlich reflects on six decades of science and speaking his mind
Stanford ecologist and population scientist looks back on his career. (Source: Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment)
Just add prawns
Giulio De Leo and his collaborators have been testing an unconventional solution to a parasitic disease. (Source: Stanford Magazine)
This is epoch
At 12 points around the globe – including one at Stanford – scientists are working to detect when the Anthropocene began. (Source: Stanford Magazine)
What can Pacific island cultures teach us about sustainability?
Island geography, genealogy, kinship, and other cultural and environmental factors influenced early Pacific island societies to develop sustainable practices. How can we apply these lessons to climate and sustainability issues today?
Earth Day and beyond
Can activities like those organized to commemorate Earth Day make a difference in long-term behaviors, attitudes, and even policy? Stanford experts discuss the experiences that tend to affect environmental attitudes and action.
Art as a tool for environmental justice
Artists Kim Anno and Gao Ling discuss the role of the humanities in environmental justice work during an evening of conversation and community art-making.
Wastewater could be the key to tracking more viruses than just COVID-19
Researchers have developed methods for using wastewater to track the levels of various respiratory viruses in a population. This can provide real-time information about virus circulation in a community. (Source: Stanford News)
‘Two-Eyed Seeing’ off the California coast
A new research partnership will combine Indigenous and scientific knowledge to monitor marine life in a sacred tribal region that may be a bellwether of how native species will fare in the face of climate change.
Q&A: Willow oil project and Arctic drilling limits
Stanford experts explain why the recently approved Willow oil drilling project in Alaska has sparked controversy, discuss the significance of new limits on oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean, and describe the complicated nature of energy transformation in the fastest-warming place on Earth.