“If land loses water, it tends to warm up much more quickly. If all the water is gone, there are no mechanisms to cool down,” said Salvatore Pascale, a research scientist in Earth system science.

A better understanding of how gravity waves in the upper atmosphere interact with the jet stream, polar vortex and other phenomena could be key to improved weather predictions and climate models.

Unusual lightning strikes sparked the massive wildfires burning across California. Stanford climate and wildfire experts discuss extreme weather’s role in current and future wildfires, as well as ways to combat the trend toward bigger, more intense conflagrations.

If sustainably managed, wild fisheries and mariculture could help meet the rising demand for food in the long term.