Using new high-resolution simulations, researchers conclude that climate change made the Cape Town ‘Day Zero’ drought five to six times more likely and suggest extreme drought events could become common in southwestern South Africa by the end of the 21st century.
Members of the Faculty Senate on Thursday encouraged the university to accelerate its target dates for completing its transition to at least net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its operations and endowment.
Drawing on research by Stanford scientists, countries like Belize are finding new ways to supplement their devastated ecotourism-driven economies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A school focused on climate and sustainability, announced last May, is beginning to take shape. Leaders anticipate blueprints for the school’s academic structure by winter quarter.
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.
In an annual report, Stanford’s Office of Sustainability highlights the ways the university reduced its collective resource footprint and demonstrated sustainability in action in 2019-20, and discusses the key themes that will guide campus sustainability efforts this year.
Maria Azhunova, winner of the 2020 Bright Award, supports the intergenerational transfer of traditional knowledge and biocultural approaches to nature conservation through her work at the Baikal Buryat Center for Indigenous Cultures.
The sustainability initiative that arose out of the Long-Range Vision has awarded 17 seed grants providing one year of funding to faculty pursuing groundbreaking ideas for sustainability solutions.
Researchers have identified a new type of “landfalling drought” that originates over the ocean before traveling onto land, and which can cause larger, drier conditions than other droughts.
A new model offers a way to predict the condition of a battery’s internal systems in real-time with far more accuracy than existing tools. In electric cars, the technology could improve driving range estimates and prolong battery life.
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.
Almost all of the world’s energy use involves heat, from making steel to refrigerating food. Deep decarbonization without breakthroughs in thermal science and engineering seems inconceivable. Three leaders in the area highlight five important topics to explore.
Researchers have modeled how coastal flooding will impact commutes in the Bay Area over the next 20 years. Regions with sparse road networks will have some of the worst commute delays, regardless of their distances from the coast.
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.
Engineers have devised a model to describe how, in the process of establishing wind farms, interactions between developers and landowners affect energy production costs.
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.
Desalination – the conversion of saltwater to freshwater – has been limited by high operational costs. A new device capable of turning desalination waste into commercially valuable chemicals could make the process cheaper and more environmentally friendly.
At the Academic Council meeting, President Marc Tessier-Lavigne discussed how Stanford is pivoting its Long-Range Vision in light of COVID-19, and announced Stanford is designing a school focused on climate and sustainability.
In his address to the Academic Council, President Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced a school focused on climate and sustainability that will help the university address the urgent challenges facing the planet.
Researchers have developed a deep-learning model that maps fuel moisture levels in fine detail across 12 western states, opening a door for better fire predictions.
Careful engineering of low, plant-covered hills along shorelines can mitigate tsunami risks with less disruption of coastal life and lower costs compared to seawalls.
Some 40 students head to snowy Colorado each spring break to study extreme energy efficiency. This March, the class had to swap Rocky Mountain scenery for all-day Zoom sessions.
Stanford Earth Dean Steve Graham joined one of the thousands of rallies held in celebration of the first Earth Day. Now he discusses the event and his own expanding thinking about the planet and its history.
Emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from water heaters are higher than previously estimated, especially for a new type of heater growing in popularity, a new Stanford study finds. But simple fixes exist.
On April 20, when Stanford kicks off a virtual week-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the campus will be ahead of schedule to meet sustainability goals and looking ahead to new areas where the university can have an impact.
During its annual conservation campaign, Sustainable Stanford is encouraging everyone on campus to “say goodbye” to drinking and dining items designed to be used once and thrown away, such as plastic utensils, and switch to their reusable counterparts.
Stanford researchers propose a new way to locate water leaks within the tangle of aging pipes found beneath many cities. The improvement could save time, money and billions of gallons of water.
