Environment

Rising Simultaneous Fire Weather Threatens International Firefighting Efforts

February 18, 2026

Depicted is a scene of burned-out trees and ash in the wake of the Caldor Fire.

High-risk conditions for fires are increasingly happening across countries at the same time, making wildfires even more challenging to tackle, new research reveals. Scientists from UC Merced and the University of East Anglia found this synchronized extreme fire weather — characterized by...

Photo depicts UC Merced environmental engineering Professor Josué Medellín-Azuara.

Climate Change is Transforming California Agriculture — But There are Ways to Adapt

California's agriculture faces challenges from a highly variable climate with temperatures that will increase over the next several decades. Droughts are worsening and the Sierra snowpack,...

Photo depicts concrete supports lining a canal in Keyes, California.

Solar Canal Project Earns Environmental Award as Construction Begins

Construction has begun on a pilot project to install solar panels above two sections of Central Valley canals. This innovative initiative, which studies significant power and water issues, has...

An orchard is depicted with a blue sky and clouds.

Paper Highlights How Climate Change Challenges, Transforms Agriculture

As the climate continues to change, the risks to farming are only going to increase. That's the key takeaway from a recent paper published by a team that included UC Merced researchers. The...

NSF-Funded Project Promotes Reuse of 'Greywater' in Households Integrating AI Toward Equity

Almost 3 billion people worldwide are projected to suffer from severe water scarcity by 2025. Thousands have already been affected in California alone, where more than 1,200 wells ran dry in...

A great white shark passes the diving cage holding Professor Sora Kim.

UC Merced Researcher Dives with the Big Sharks on Shark Week

UC Merced's resident shark expert, Professor Sora Kim, will be featured on the prime-time, premiere-night episode of Discovery’s Shark Week discussing an enormous, legendary sea creature...

Just How Hazardous is it to Live by a Freeway? UC Merced Researchers Issue Report for Fresno

When the city of Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District wanted specifics about the impacts of truck traffic on the health of some of the city's most vulnerable residents...

Attendees look at posters of projects at the Internet of Things for Ag meeting at UC Merced.

National Ag Research Center Meets at UC Merced

Agriculture is in a time of daunting challenge: The world's population is growing and climate change is impacting every area of the food supply chain. Researchers from across the country who...

AI generated image of restrictions to money flowing from one thing to another

Study Offers Steps to Speed Up Research Money to Community Partners

A study of fast-tracked government funds for relief during the COVID-19 pandemic uncovered bottlenecks at federal, university and community levels that undermined partnerships. Researchers, including...

AI illustration of rural dangers of tobacco use

Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center Gets $3.9 Million Extension

UC Merced’s Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center has earned multiyear funding to continue its mission to embolden community partners and share policy-influencing data in the long battle...

Research