Energy, Climate & Environment News

As the population of woolly mammoths dwindled, the massive animals’ genomes experienced a mutational meltdown, pushing them closer to extinction, according to a study published today by researchers at UC Berkeley.

Scientists are joining lawyers, policymakers and writers to urge conservationists not only to save species, but also to preserve a diverse array of ecosystem structures and functions in the face of rising populations and changing climate.

Photogenic animals, from polar bears to people, aren’t the only creatures under threat from global climate change. A new review led by UC Berkeley suggests the phenomenon threatens parasites with extinction, which could have big consequences for ecosystems.

Fracking creates noise at levels high enough to harm the health of people living nearby, according to the first peer-reviewed study to analyze the potential public health impacts of ambient noise related to fracking.

Jeffrey Long reported devising a new material that can capture and release CO2 at a lower temperature and in a much greater volume than present-day technologies.

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the City of San Francisco and its partner UC Berkeley $11 million to fund six innovative projects aimed at reducing traffic congestion and creating a safer and more efficient transportation system.

The ES&T article is "Assessing Location and Scale of Urban Nonpotable Water Reuse Systems for Life-Cycle Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emission"

Todd Dawson’s field equipment always includes ropes and ascenders, which he and his team use to climb hundreds of feet into the canopies of the world’s largest trees, California’s redwoods.

Following Earth’s last ice age, which peaked 20,000 years ago, the Antarctic warmed between two and three times the average temperature increase worldwide, according to a new study by a team of American geophysicists.

In conflict zones, the most common killers of wildlife are not guns and bombs, but breakdowns in institutions, societies and economies, according to a study by researchers at UC Berkeley.

Have you applied for and received a rebate from California’s clean vehicle incentive program? If so, odds are you live in a high-income neighborhood and not one with a majority Hispanic or African American population.

One of the most detailed genomic studies of any ecosystem to date has revealed an underground world of stunning microbial diversity, and added dozens of new branches to the tree of life.

An unprecedented 40-year experiment at Yosemite supports the idea that managing fire, rather than suppressing it, makes wilderness areas more resilient to fire, with the added benefit of resistance to drought.

NSF has awarded $3 million to UC Berkeley’s Development Engineering program to create new models for training graduate students to find innovative solutions to food, energy and water challenges in developing countries.

A new study of snow leopards’ habitat has found that just one-third of their current range will be a refuge from climate change by 2070.