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Environment

May 21, 2025

Cooling center banner in Kern County
In California’s Kern County, nearly 925,000 people live in oppressive heat 125 days per year. Several types of relief are offered. Residents can get breaks on energy bills bloated by air conditioning costs. Triple-digit temperatures trigger the opening of public buildings labeled “...
A dust storm rises near Owens Lake. Photo Courtesy of UC San Diego
People don't think about dust much until it's time to clean the house, but a new report by UC researchers could raise awareness of the growing threat of dust and dust storms. Dust affects...
Flames, the beach and the ocean are depicted in a scene from the January 2025 Palisades fire.
Pictures accompanying Professor John Abatzoglou's presentation on the 2025 fire season were blurry. That was intentional, he said, because so much about wildfire is unpredictable. "There...
Depicted are two electric vehicle charging stations at UC Merced.
Many people with electric vehicles drive them to work during the day and then charge them overnight after returning home. But a simple reversal of that schedule could make it cheaper and easier to...
Photo depicts solar panels mounted on concrete supports over a canal.
The first solar-over-canal project in California, which started with research at UC Merced, has begun producing electricity. Plans are now in the works to expand the technology to other areas. A...
Professor Michele Nishiguchi talks to a group of Plainsburg Elementary School students at a science outreach event.
The Biology Integration Institute (BII): The Institute for Symbiotic Interactions, Training and Education in the Face of a Changing Climate, or INSITE, stands out because it is supported by $12.5...
Members of the BioSCape team are pictured with NASA and South African aircraft.
Measurements and data collected from space can be used to better understand life on Earth. An ambitious, multinational research project funded by NASA and co-led by UC Merced civil and...
New faculty members pictured are Josué Medellìn-Azuara, Rebecca Ryals, Safeeq Khan and Reza Ehsani.
The first four faculty members named to UC Merced's Agricultural Experiment Station look to make a big impact on farming in the San Joaquin Valley and beyond. Mechanical engineering Professor...
Robert Galliano, a forester designing and tracking the fuels treatments for the French Meadows Partnership, is shown talking to a crowd of people.
As wildfires grow in intensity and frequency, it's vital that agencies and local stakeholders work together to rehabilitate and restore resilience to wildlands in California. This finding is...
Sugar pine cones
Sugar pines are the tallest pine species in the world, and they only grow along the West Coast of North America. They are a valued source of timber with cones as large as an adult’s forearm....

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