Category: Science
“I Invite Everyone To Be a Scientist”
Plant tissue culture can help endangered species adapt to climate change. Amateur plant biologist Jasmine Neal’s community lab could make this tech more accessible.
How To Explain Extreme Weather Without the Fear Factor
Fear-based messaging about extreme weather can backfire. Here are some simple metaphors to explain climate change.
What Exactly Is a “Supercharged Wind Event?”
In headlines about wildfire, a new supervillain emerges: wind. In January, it became the LA fire’s manic henchman. But what, exactly, is a “supercharged wind event”?

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Boxes of Mud Could Tell a Hopeful Sediment Story
Scientists are testing whether dredged sediment placed in nearby shallows can help our wetlands keep pace with rising seas. Tiny tracers may reveal the answer.
“I Invite Everyone To Be a Scientist”
Plant tissue culture can help endangered species adapt to climate change. Amateur plant biologist Jasmine Neal’s community lab could make this tech more accessible.
How To Explain Extreme Weather Without the Fear Factor
Fear-based messaging about extreme weather can backfire. Here are some simple metaphors to explain climate change.
What Exactly Is a “Supercharged Wind Event?”
In headlines about wildfire, a new supervillain emerges: wind. In January, it became the LA fire’s manic henchman. But what, exactly, is a “supercharged wind event”?
Collecting and Unifying Regional Metrics on Wetland Health
By standardizing and coordinating data collection, the Wetlands Regional Monitoring Program will supercharge new analyses of restoration projects.
Don’t Count on Kelp to Buffer the Coast
Before breaking on the coast, California waves may pass through kelp forests, but whether this softens coastal erosion like other “blue infrastructure” is difficult to pin down.
When Hot Gets Hotter
Recent research from UC Berkeley’s David Romps explores how extreme heat and humidity push the body to its physiological limits.
Knock-On Flood Threat Gets 4-Inch Reality Check
Contrary to now popular hearsay, building a seawall won’t necessarily flood your unprotected neighbors along the bayshore.
Sizing Up Progress on Nature-Based Infrastructure
A May 2024 environmental conference covers levees, seawalls, reefs, wetlands, and other climate resilient shoreline designs for the Bay Area.
Marshes Could Save Bay Area Half a Billion Dollars in Floods
UCSC scientist Rae Taylor-Burns has assigned marsh restoration projects a dollar value in terms of human assets protected from climate change driven flooding.
The Itchy Cost of Hotter Summers
Mosquito-borne disease is on the rise thanks to climate change. Will the Bay Area get new mosquito species? Climate change might push them to cooler climates.
A Landscape Made to Flood in Sonoma
Tall oaks with submerged trunks are sure signs that the land is “flooded.” While for some areas that might be a negative, for Laguna de Santa Rosa it’s not only positive but protective.
