New Stanford research finds installing piped water in rural Zambian homes frees up time in the daily lives of women and girls, while also promoting economic growth and food security – making an argument for piped water infrastructure investments across rural, low-income areas.
Stanford researchers can predict where and when uranium is released into aquifers and suggest an easy fix to keep this naturally occurring toxin from contaminating water sources.
New management approaches and technology have allowed the U.S. Corn Belt to increase yields despite some changes in climate. However, soil sensitivity to drought has increased significantly, according to a new study that could help identify ways to reverse the trend.
Stanford scientist Rob Jackson explains why emissions of nitrous oxide, also known as “laughing gas,” are rising faster than expected and what it will take to reverse the trend.
The researchers hypothesize outcomes of the pandemic’s unprecedented socioeconomic disruption, and outline research priorities for advancing our understanding of humans’ impact on the environment.
Stanford scientists discuss obstacles for large-scale green initiatives and what it takes for sustainability efforts to deliver lasting benefits across borders, sectors and communities.
The pandemic has tugged carbon emissions down, temporarily. But levels of the powerful heat-trapping gas methane continue to climb, dragging the world further away from a path that skirts the worst effects of global warming.
Our growing need for food poses one of the biggest threats to the environment. Stanford ocean and food security experts explain how the ocean could produce dramatically more food while driving sustainable economic growth.
Experts from the Stanford-based Natural Capital Project explain the value of wild bees in our agricultural systems, especially in light of the increased risk murder hornets pose to domesticated honey bees.
COVID-19 and other looming threats could make it much harder for people to access food. David Lobell, director of Stanford’s Center on Food Security and the Environment, outlines likely scenarios and possible solutions.
The researchers found that farms with diverse crops planted together provide more secure, stable habitats for wildlife and are more resilient to climate change than the single-crop standard that dominates today’s agriculture industry.
Stanford experts help guide Palau’s initiative to create one of the world’s largest marine sanctuaries. The protected area will diversify food options for Palauans while reducing overfishing and protecting marine life amid mounting climate pressures.
Mealworms are not only able to eat various forms of plastic, as previous research has shown, they can consume potentially toxic plastic additives in polystyrene with no ill effects, a new study shows. The worms can then be used as a safe, protein-rich feed supplement.
By monitoring crops through machine learning and satellite data, Stanford scientists have found farms that till the soil less can increase yields of corn and soybeans and improve the health of the soil – a win-win for meeting growing food needs worldwide.
Research combining future climate conditions and arsenic-induced soil stresses predicts rice yields could decline about 40 percent by 2100, a loss that would impact about 2 billion people dependent on the global crop.
Scientists knew that plants wage chemical war against bacterial, viral and fungal infections. Now they’ve learned how to “vaccinate” tomato plants with a natural chemical to boost their defenses against a pest that makes leaves shrivel up and die.
Some spice processors in Bangladesh use an industrial lead chromate pigment to imbue turmeric with a bright yellow color prized for curries and other traditional dishes, elevating blood lead levels in Bangladeshis.
Our growing need for food poses one of the biggest threats to the environment. Examining contributions from the ocean more closely can be key to addressing the challenge.
Finding a treatment for a devastating, incurable citrus disease was personal for Sharon Long and Melanie Barnett. Now, a system they developed could provide clues to a cure.
Overpumping in California’s Central Valley has depleted groundwater storage capacity and caused the land to sink. A new model could help zero in on where water managers can replenish aquifers by flooding fields.
Expanding monoculture threatens valuable services from land, such as flood control, water purification and climate stabilization. Gretchen Daily and Hua Zheng are promoting a new approach.
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.
In a new course at the Stanford Educational Farm, students develop a positive relationship with the land through organic gardening while addressing the history of forced farm labor in the U.S. and its enduring, traumatic effects on communities of color.
Satellite data from thousands of high seas fishing vessels over four years illuminate global fishing’s scope and pattern and hold promise for improving ocean management across the planet.
The first large-scale analysis of corporate practices for sourcing sustainable materials shows that many companies address sustainability at some level, but most deal with only one or a subset of materials within a small portion of their supply chain.
In a study, people ate less meat and conserved more water when they thought those behaviors reflected how society is changing. The findings could point to new ways of encouraging other behavior changes.
Stanford’s community ecology lab has found that microbes in nectar can affect bird and insect interactions with the flowers and, as a result, whether they get pollinated.
