“Cement emissions have grown faster than most other carbon sources,” says Stanford Earth system science professor Rob Jackson, adding that the climbing emissions can largely be tied to increased manufacturing in China.

“AI can be very fast – it can give more warning time for people,” said Mostafa Mousavi, an artificial intelligence researcher at Stanford who specializes in geophysics and earthquakes. “Even ten seconds can save a lot of lives.”

Researchers led by Adam Brandt estimated that the amount of methane being lost to the atmosphere from the Permian basin in New Mexico was equivalent to just over 9% of the methane being produced. Because a very small number of sites with large leaks dominate the picture, you can only see what is really going on if, as his team did, you have very thorough coverage.

“Our primary focus needs to be on fossil fuel use because that’s where most emissions come from,” says Stanford professor Rob Jackson. “I don’t think cement is on most policymakers’ radar.”

"What we showed was that the limits to the accuracy of the forecast changes based on the basic temperature of the Earth. It's this really nice link between weather and climate," says Aditi Sheshadri in a podcast interview about her research on the limits of accurate weather predictions in warmer climates.

Since 1900, Earth's average air temperature has increased by 1.1 degrees Celsius. The odds of a record heat event or extreme heat day have doubled or tripled, says Stanford's Noah Diffenbaugh. “These types of conditions are increasing, it’s not just your imagination.”

To help find potential groundwater recharge sites, helicopters deploy spaceship-sized antennas and ping the ground with electromagnetic signals, mapping the geology deep below the surface. The technique was piloted in California by researchers at Stanford, led by Rosemary Knight.

"Much of the modeling that's been done in preparation of groundwater sustainability plans throughout the state assumes that if you stop the water level going down, the subsidence is going to stop. But that's wrong," says Stanford geophysicist Rosemary Knight.

In a new study, Stanford's Rosemary Knight and Matt Lees examined the sinking in one area of the San Joaquin Valley over 65 years and projected that subsidence will likely continue for decades or centuries, even if aquifer levels were to stop declining.

Analysis of air pollution and crop health via satellite imagery led by Stanford's David Lobell suggests that limiting emissions of nitrogen dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, could boost crop yields by up to 28 percent.

So-called small modular reactors are promoted as less expensive and cumbersome than conventional light-water reactors. Research led by former postdoctoral scholar Lindsay Krall with Stanford nuclear security expert Rodney Ewing suggests the volume and chemistry of the waste they produce may pose safety challenges.

"I’m reminded of the common question, ‘Paper or plastic?’ The right answer is whatever you already have, so long as you reuse it," says Stanford professor Rob Jackson.

A TIME magazine feature covers the harmful health and climate effects of natural gas stoves and possible solutions based on a study led by Rob Jackson's research group.

"We're starting the season in a severe drought heading into the warm part of the year, and we know that the kinds of severe heat waves that have really amplified fire risk in recent years are much more likely now than they were previously in California's history," says Stanford climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh. 

"Farming finfish on an industrial scale is like farming livestock on land on an industrial scale,” says Rosamond L. Naylor, who directs Stanford's Center on Food Security and the Environment. “There are ways to minimize risks, but they are costly, and not everyone is taking the steps they should be taking.”

While gas fireplaces, furnaces, and hot water heaters all burn and leak methane, and are thus a concern from a climate perspective, Stanford's Eric Lebel and Rob Jackson say there's less of a worry than with gas stoves from a health perspective.