The 28 million acres of natural and working lands across California provide a unique opportunity to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction goals through various land-use strategies, such as expanding urban forest areas or restoring woodlands. However, the need to mitigate wildfire severity is also a critical priority for California, and one that can increase emissions…
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As the planet continues to warm, the twin challenges of diminishing water supply and growing energy demand are intensifying. But because water and energy are inextricably linked, as we try to adapt to one challenge – say, by getting more water via desalination or water recycling – we may be worsening the other challenge by…
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EESA visiting postdoctoral fellow Sha Zhou led a recent study exploring why climate models do not project drylands will become substantially drier with climate change as scientists have long believed. A paper published yesterday in the journal Nature Climate Change, “Soil moisture-atmosphere feedbacks mitigate declining water availability in drylands,” describes the importance of long-term changes…
Read MoreEarth’s critical zone spans from the top of the tree canopy to the depths of the subsurface. Scientists from multiple disciplines have traditionally used ground-based field campaigns to study complex interactions taking place between water, air, rock, and soil – hoping to reveal how factors like climate change could impact this life-sustaining critical zone. Now…
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Coast to Coast Using eddy covariance techniques, research into diverse coastal systems reveals ecosystems “on the edge” At a coastal North Carolina research location, fall storms regularly inundate entire original hardwood forests with 1-3 feet of water that drains by the time trees begin leafing out the following spring. Researchers have evaluated the Alligator River…
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Although climate change is accelerating fastest at high latitudes, it is still uncertain how the carbon cycle within Alaskan tundra soils will respond over different periods of time. Arctic soils house vast stores of carbon, and the response of these ecosystems to warming could determine how much of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide makes it…
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Trevor Keenan, pictured right below, and Charlie Koven, at left, have been named among the world’s most cited researchers. Since 2002, the Highly Cited Researchers list has identified global research scientists and social scientists who have demonstrated exceptional influence – reflected through their publication of multiple papers frequently cited by their peers during the last decade. Seventy…
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The director of Berkeley Lab’s Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Bill Collins, has been named a 2020 American Geophysical Union Fellow. Every year, the AGU Fellows program recognizes members who have made exceptional contributions to the Earth and space sciences. Vetted by a committee of AGU Fellows, honorees represent no more than 0.1 percent…
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About 40 million residents in the Western U.S. from Denver to Los Angeles rely on the Colorado River Basin (CRB) for water. Scientists and policy makers routinely use regional or global-scale models with resolutions ranging from 200 km to 25 km to predict the impact of climate change on future stream flows. An EESA…
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A recent paper by Jinyun Tang and Bill Riley that analyzed how soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition is affected by temperature was highlighted in the October issue of Nature Climate Change. CO2 released from soil is one of the largest actively cycling components of the global carbon cycle and strongly affects predicted 21st century climate…
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