An oft-neglected layer of weathered rock underlying the soil on hillslopes could be a significant reservoir for water, providing critical moisture for trees during droughts, according to a new study.

Justin Brashares explores the social and cultural impacts of declining wildlife populations around the world, from fish to carnivores.

Call it “liquid sunlight.” With the right technology, the gas station of the future will make its own fuel directly from sunlight, in the process sucking up carbon and producing oxygen.

A new discovery by Berkeley researchers may soon bring us windows that automatically tint on a sunny day to block the heat while also generating electricity.

To drive through parts of the Sierra Nevada these days is to witness a morbid reminder of California’s extreme drought: Vast landscapes of standing dead trees, a brown tide sweeping across the green landscape.

Physicist Mary Ann Piette wants to address too much electricity from solar in the middle of the day and a sharp drop-off in the evenings and mornings by changing when Californians use energy.

Drones will play a key role in assessing the impact of highly variable water resources around the state thanks to a new $2.2 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

The proliferation of palm oil plantations throughout Southeast Asia has led not only to widespread deforestation but also to the proliferation of wildlife that destroy remaining forests, according to a new international study.

The planet is experiencing an unparalleled increase in greenhouse gas emissions accompanied by soaring population growth and resource extraction – almost all of it occurring within a single lifetime.

A research expedition tracked endangered tigers through the Sumatran jungles for a year and found tigers are clinging to survival in low density populations.

No place on the planet is truly isolated anymore, which means invasive species travel as easy as humans, hitchhiking on boats and planes with potentially devastating effects on the ecosystems they land in.

The first “big data” analysis of California’s native plants, using digitized information from more than 22 herbaria and botanical gardens around the state, provides some surprises about one of the most thoroughly studied and unique areas in the country.

Doctoral candidate Dan Hammer has been awarded the first-ever Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award for his work to make satellite imagery more accessible and understandable for journalists who are reporting on the environment. 

A new study suggests that many of the state’s birds are adapting to rising temperatures by breeding earlier than they did a century ago.

Dan Kammen’s experience in the developing world makes it clear that energy solutions, like politics, must be local.

Today, as an expert on water, David Sedlak says that cities may soon have to develop their own version of the stillsuit to recycle wastewater, from storm runoff to household sewage, for drinking.

Since we don’t yet know how fast and how high sea levels are going to rise because of climate change, our strategies must be ready and adaptive as conditions change, according to UC Berkeley urban designer Kristina Hill.

Visitors to Mexico and the U.S. Southwest can’t help but stand in awe of the solitary and majestic saguaro, the towering clusters of the organ pipe cactus and Baja’s cardón, the appropriately named “elephant” cactus and the largest cactus in the world.

Climate modeler Inez Fung is part of an international scientific team refining the detection skills of the new Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2.

Climate modeler William Collins explores “pathways for getting down off the up escalator of climate change.

A report from the Center for Environmental Public Policy provides new policy recommendations to implement program to eliminate hotspots of severe air pollution harming the health of people in disadvantaged communities.

Chemists Peidong Yang and Kelsey Sakimoto have turned bacteria into efficient solar collectors to convert carbon dioxide into food for other bacteria producing fuels and chemicals

According to the first comprehensive study of the economic effects of climate programs in California’s Inland Empire, Riverside and San Bernardino counties experienced a net benefit of $9.1 billion in direct economic activity and 41,000 jobs from 2010 through 2016.

Climate change has already caused more than 59,000 suicides in India over the last 30 years, according to estimates in a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that suggests failing harvests that push farmers into poverty are likely the key culprits.

The poorest third of U.S. counties will likely lose up to 20 percent of their incomes, and regions such as the Pacific Northwest and New England will gain economically over the Gulf and Southern states, if climate change continues unmitigated through the end of the century.

Although hydrologists say California has emerged from its most recent drought, how cities get their water is weighing on the state’s experts — now more than ever.

The six-episode series Climate Lab explores global climate change and UC’s groundbreaking work to mitigate its effects.

Imagine a future in which every home has an appliance that pulls all the water the household needs out of the air, even in dry or desert climates, using only the power of the sun.

As Africa gears up for a tripling of electricity demand by 2030, a new Berkeley study maps out a viable strategy for developing wind and solar power while simultaneously reducing the continent’s reliance on fossil fuels and lowering power plant construction costs.

Changing rainfall and drought patterns likely play a key role in shaping natural selection among plants and animals in the wild, according to a study published today involving UC Berkeley scientists.

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.

Changes in climate and land use are expected to reduce the livable area for tropical frogs because these species will increasingly encounter temperatures hot enough to harm their behavior, reproduction and physiology.

A new report presents a climate policy equity framework to help California decision-makers reduce greenhouse gas emissions while promoting economic, social and environmental equity.

After 10 days at sea, the research vessel Oceanus is back in port and the team of Berkeley Lab and Berkeley scientists is back on dry land assessing the results of their mission.