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Solar-paneled Canals Getting a Test Run in San Joaquin Valley

February 8, 2022
A research project conducted by a UC Merced graduate student is becoming a reality as the Turlock Irrigation District (TID) approved piloting the first-in-the-nation construction of solar panels over water canals. The project is based on research commissioned by a company called Solar AquaGrid...

Wildfires in January? Scientists say climate change could fuel 'a continuous fire season'

January 26, 2022
Even with all the wildfires California has endured, it was a shock to see flames searing the Big Sur coast this week — in the middle of winter. The January blaze, which on Wednesday had burned 700 acres and still was smoldering near homes in the rugged Palo Colorado Canyon, is believed to...

Faculty Report IDs Top Climate Challenges Facing Valley

January 11, 2022
California’s Central Valley is on the front lines of climate change. The Fourth Regional Climate Change Assessment, by a team of UC Merced and affiliated researchers, illustrates the biggest problems — and possible solutions — facing California’s unique biomes and...

California’s water supplies are in trouble as climate change worsens natural dry spells, especially in the Sierra Nevada

December 7, 2021
California is preparing for a third straight year of drought, and officials are tightening limits on water use to levels never seen so early in the water year. Most of the state’s water reservoirs are well below average, with several at less than a third of their capacity. The ...

Microorganisms Consume Last Bits of Oxygen from Low-oxygen Ocean Zones, Study Shows

December 7, 2021
Even the tiniest organisms have a surprisingly huge effect on life in the oceans, eating up the last bits of oxygen in certain areas, preventing larger marine life from surviving there, a new study shows. Department of Life and Environmental Sciences Professor Michael Beman published...

Hotter Summer Days Mean More Sierra Nevada Wildfires, Study Finds

December 7, 2021
The hottest summer days in the Sierra Nevada in California greatly increase the risk that wildfires will ignite or spread, and as the planet keeps warming the risks will increase even more, scientists said Wednesday. The research, which examined daily temperatures and data from nearly 450 Sierra...

Kurtz’s Latest Publication Examines Renewable Energy Expansion

December 6, 2021
Finding creative solutions to lessen humans’ impact on the environment and reduce reliance on fossil fuels is a core tenet of the renewable energy field, something engineering Professor Sarah Kurtz specializes in. In her most recent paper with co-author Nancy Haegel ...

UC Merced, UC Davis Are Ground Zero for Saving Farms and Environment

December 6, 2021
Valley researchers are about to play an even bigger role in helping farmers in California and the rest of the nation tackle the challenges brought by drought and the need to reduce groundwater pumping. UC Merced and UC Davis, which are already deep into research on the effects of climate change...

'Self-serving garbage': Wildfire experts escalate fight over saving California forests

December 1, 2021
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As the Caldor fire roared into the Lake Tahoe basin more than a month ago, Brian Newman took some comfort in the surroundings. An operations section chief with Cal Fire, Newman knew that thousands of acres of trees and brush had been deliberately removed from around...

Winston Cone Optics' Innovative Technology Garners State, National Attention

November 22, 2021
When people hear the word “solar,” many think of solar panels on a house, which generate electricity. But there is another way to use energy harnessed by the sun: heat. Founding faculty member and Director of the University of California Advanced Solar Technologies Institute (UC...

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