New research from the University of Quebec in Canada has led to recent headlines like this one from the BBC, declaring coffee pods are “better for the planet than filtered brew.” Read More
University of California scientists have a new way to demonstrate which neighborhoods returned to pre-pandemic levels of air pollution after COVID restrictions ended. Vehicle emissions are the biggest source of carbon dioxide in Southern California’s air. As people drove their cars far less in 2020 compared to 2019 due to the pandemic, there was a...
"The Salton Sea, California’s most polluted inland lake, has lost a third of its water in the last 25 years. New research has determined a decline in Colorado River flow is the reason for that shrinking. As the lake dries up, the concentration of salt and chemicals in the remaining water has increased dramatically, causing...
"A $342,000 grant will allow more Latinx students at UC Riverside and UC Berkeley to conduct environmental and climate change research. The project, “Latinxs and the Environment: Partnerships to Pave Pathways to the Professoriate,” is funded by the University of California Hispanic Serving Institutions Doctoral Diversity Initiative and will be led by UCR and UC...
"Dairy farms produce large amounts of two things: milk and poop. Milk finds its way into delicacies like hot cocoa and grilled cheese sandwiches but the poop just piles up. Dairy farmers bulldoze the mess into artificial ponds called manure lagoons, where anaerobic microbes break it down into methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Methane traps...
New research reveals that items in litter typically originate less than two miles from where they’re found — and unless humans remove them, most of these items will never leave the environment. For the study, researchers from the University of California, Riverside spent a month collecting trash from seven sites across the Inland Empire. They...
"It is unlikely that a cancer-causing chemical inside your car can be dusted or wiped way, according to new UC Riverside research. This finding has now been published in the journal Environmental Research. It follows on the heels of a related study showing the longer your commute, the more you’re exposed to this chemical." Read...
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency for the entire state of California this past month. The period from Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021 was the second-driest year on record in California. Almost 90% of the state is in throes of extreme drought. Reservoir storage is 60% of average. Said one state water...
Salini Sasidharan has been featured as the 'Featured Soil Modeller' in a recent newsletter for the International Soil Modeling Consortium. "Salini Sasidharan is an emerging young scientist in the critical areas of Environmental Science and Engineering, including groundwater quantity and quality management, sustainable irrigated agriculture, and resilient urban and rural water resources infrastructures." Read More
Nobody is currently taking continuous, routine measurements of the particles suspended in America’s air, called aerosols. That is set to change as a new, nationwide monitoring network launches with a site in Riverside, California. Read More
"Along with hurricanes and wildfires, there's another important, but seldom-discussed effect of climate change — toxic water and sinking land made worse by groundwater drought. Water from snow and rain seeps deep into the ground between layers of soil and accumulates in sponge-like underground bathtubs, called aquifers. Farmers rely heavily on this groundwater to irrigate...
The Hydrologic Sciences Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the science of hydrology over the course of the awardees' careers. The results are published in the latest issue of EOS.
In this workshop, a group of expert panel members discusses common challenges and good practices to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, experience, and best practices to establish a stakeholder relationship that will be of great benefit for future professors and scientists.
Dr. Amir Haghverdi is selected to receive the 2021 Universities Council on Water Resources ( UCOWR) Early Career Award for Applied Research. The UCOWR Early Career Award for Applied Research recognizes outstanding early contributions in applied research related to water. The successful candidate should have a significant record of research accomplishment and show promise of...
A new study finds that California’s commuters are likely inhaling chemicals at levels that increase the risk for cancer and birth defects. As with most chemicals, the poison is in the amount. Under a certain threshold of exposure, even known carcinogens are not likely to cause cancer. Once you cross that threshold, the risk for...
The University of California, Riverside, has won a $10 million grant to develop artificial intelligence that will increase the environmental and economic stability of agriculture in the Western U.S. This Sustainable Agricultural Systems grant is one of nine given by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, or NIFA, annually to...
The Department of Environmental Sciences joins in solidarity with our Black community of students, staff, and colleagues to strongly condemn racism. View our Plan to Action
Grasslands across the globe, which support the majority of the world’s grazing animals, have been transitioning to shrublands in a process that scientists call “woody plant encroachment.” Managed grazing of drylands is the most extensive form of land use on the planet, which has led to widespread efforts to reverse this trend and restore grass...
