Climate & Sustainability
-
Big Waves and High Tides Can Be Just as Insidious as Hurricanes
“Large waves and high tides are already beating up the shoreline,” said Gary Griggs, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A 2019 study by a UC Santa Cruz associate professor, Borja Reguero, and others used satellite data and modeling to suggest waves had grown 0.47% more powerful…
-
A fog-free San Francisco? Scientists ponder California’s climate future
Peter Weiss, a faculty researcher and lecturer at the UC-Santa Cruz department of environmental sciences, said that despite a growing narrative of waning fog along the California coast, the data to support it is “very spotty,’’ with few academic studies in the last decade. Also in the Salinas California.
-
New exhibit combines art and climate science, Monterey courts international visitors
The Institute of Arts and Sciences at UC Santa Cruz recently opened a new exhibition, Weather and the Whale. It uses art as a medium to explain how weather patterns affect the aquatic mammals and the environment.
-
Santa Cruz wharf collapse: Plans take shape for rebuilding as summer beach season begins
The wharf has more than 4,400 wooden pilings, made of Douglas Fir. They are pounded roughly 20 feet into the ocean bottom, and city crews replace several dozen each year. But piers come and go. There have been five others back to the mid-1800s in that area, noted Gary Griggs, a distinguished professor of Earth…
-
The Pacific Coast Highway, a Mythic Route Always in Need of Repair
Gary Griggs, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who has advised on a major repair to the route, said that he doubted the highway would ever again be open in its entirety for an extended period. “Attaining stability is impossible,” he said.
-
How do clownfish survive a heat wave? By shrinking themselves down
Many animals around the world are getting smaller, says Alexa Fredston, a quantitative ecologist at University of California, Santa Cruz, who wasn’t involved in the study. … By measuring individual fish, “the results paint a fascinating and complex picture of how individual animals respond to a prolonged marine heat wave,” Fredston says.
-
As Coastline Erodes, One California City Considers ‘Retreat Now’
“We overall are much better at spending recovery money — that is, addressing issues after disasters — than we are at spending hazard mitigation,” said Michael Beck, director of the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at the University of California, Santa Cruz. On the East Coast, the predominant strategy for protecting shorelines has been to…
-
UC Santa Cruz research finds viable alternative to using wild-caught ingredients in fishmeal
Researchers at UC Santa Cruz successfully developed an aquaculture feed for rainbow trout that removes fishmeal entirely, substituting it with leftover marine microalgae sourced from the human dietary supplement industry.
-
Plastic is harming seabirds even more than we realized
A new study co-led by researchers at UC Santa Cruz shows that ingested plastic can release hormone-altering chemicals in northern fulmars, a species of seabird that inhabits the North Atlantic and North Pacific.
-
Trump administration dismisses nearly 400 scientists working on congressionally mandated national climate report
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Mijin Cha was one of hundreds of expert authors on the National Climate Assessment who were recently dismissed from that work by the Trump Administration. “I’m worried who will do the NCA moving forward and putting something forward that is false,” she said. Additional coverage in the Washington Post and…
-
We can’t plant our way out of climate change
Forests with diverse tree species are more resilient to climate extremes and better at storing carbon, according to recent studies conducted in China and Panama. Karen D. Holl of the University of California, Santa Cruz, notes that the studies merely add “to the list of reasons” for diverse plantings — their importance is undeniable.
-
Surprise atmospheric rivers, toxic seafood: How NOAA cuts could impact California
“Collaborations between universities and NOAA are powerful partnerships,” said Eric Palkovacs, professor and director of the Fisheries Collaborative Program at UC Santa Cruz. “They leverage the expertise and resources on both sides to do cutting-edge research.”