Jerry was a giant. He pioneered the field of water quality modeling and system analysis in water and environmental engineering. He founded a series of influential consulting firms, many of which exist today. And he helped establish the excellence of environmental and water engineering programs at UC Davis.

What made Jerry a giant, though, was not only his considerable technical talents, but al ... read more >>

Tornadoes, twisting winds that descend from thunderheads, and derechos, winds that race ahead of a straight line of storms, are just two varieties of extreme weather events whose frequency and violence are on the increase. To keep up with nature, climate models are running at ever-higher resolutions, requiring ever-greater processing speeds and altered computer architectures.
Michael Wehner is a ... read more >>

Marine scientists have long understood the detrimental effect of fossil fuel emissions on marine ecosystems. But a group led by a UC Santa Barbara professor has found a point of resilience in a microscopic shelled plant with a massive environmental impact, which suggests the future of ocean life may not be so bleak.
As fossil fuel emissions increase, so does the amount of carbon dioxide oceans a ... read more >>

A 20-foot diameter sinkhole developed on Chicago’s South Side Thursday. By late afternoon, it had grown to 40 feet in diameter and swallowed three cars.

It was a dramatic element of the week’s storms, but it raised a question: What is a sinkhole?

To start -- there are two main types of sinkholes: naturally induced and human induced, according to Jim Kaufmann, a research physical scientist ... read more >>

A new report discusses the potential effects of climate change on the wildlife along the coastal line as a result of continuous sea level rise. ... read more >>

Fracking is used described as efficient way to extract natural gas, however it is contributing to the leaking of methane, massive water usage and groundwater contamination, fracking has also been linked to increases in seismic activity, which may contaminate groundwater. ... read more >>

The crisis facing the European carbon market will not deter China from plans to establish its own emissions trading platform or its other climate pledges, the senior official responsible for climate change said on Thursday. Xie Zhenhua, vice-director of the National Development and Reform Commission in charge of climate policies, said efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions were a "domestic requi ... read more >>

Two newly discovered alien planets might be water worlds whose global oceans are teeming with life, scientists say. Computer models suggest both planets are covered by uninterrupted oceans, which could theoretically support a wealth of aquatic lifeforms. The existence of the distant exoplanets, called Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f, was unveiled during a NASA press conference today (April 18). ... read more >>

It's been a bad week for efforts to develop green energy around the world. A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that progress towards carbon-free energy production has basically stalled. "Despite much talk by world leaders," said IEA executive director, Maria van der Hoeven, "and despite a boom in renewable energy over the last decade, the average unit of energy produced t ... read more >>

It wasn’t a hurricane, but nearly five inches of rain fell in the Chicago area Thursday.
"This is a new kind of storm associated with climate change,” said Tom LaPorte, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Water Management. “It's been around for five or six years. Other storms are rather local, but in this case the entire region got really walled.”
Take Evanston for example. The Metropolitan ... read more >>