What Can I Do About Climate Change? Content

How Improving Shade at California Public Schools Can Benefit Children and Communities

Katherine E Kerlin — September 05, 2025 - 10:02am

An interdisciplinary team of public health and environmental science researchers from across the University of California have found that despite efforts by the state and local school districts, many public schools fall short of providing sufficient shade, much less natural playing surfaces, for the 5.8 million children they serve — especially in an era of extreme temperatures.

Arctic Reindeer Could Decline by 80% by 2100

Katherine E Kerlin — August 15, 2025 - 2:29pm

Researchers predict that future climatic change is likely to cause declines in reindeer abundances and their distribution at rates rarely seen over the last 21,000 years.

Reindeer, also known as caribou in North America, are an Ice Age species that have survived many episodes of Arctic warming. They are uniquely adapted to Arctic environments, where they regulate ecosystems and sustain the livelihoods of many Indigenous Peoples.

How Wildlife Navigated National Parks Before and During the COVID ‘Anthropause’

Katherine E Kerlin — July 30, 2025 - 5:10am

The presence of humans and human infrastructure in U.S. national parks has lasting effects on the behaviors of the large animals that call them home, according to a new study.

A Different Perspective on Salmon Farms

Katherine E Kerlin — July 07, 2025 - 10:36am

Salmon farms in British Columbia pose minimal impact on wild salmon populations, according to a review paper, or “Viewpoint,” published in the journal Aquaculture, Fish and Fisheries.

The paper, authored by six fish health experts from 51�ԹϺ�� Davis, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Washington State University, and Oregon State University, reinterprets 20 years of scientific publication to draw its conclusion.

Anchovy Dominated Diets off the West Coast Pose New Dangers for Salmon

Katherine E Kerlin — June 25, 2025 - 12:05pm

A vitamin deficiency likely killed as many as half of newly hatched fry of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon in the Sacramento River in 2020 and 2021. These findings were published June 23 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

CA Clean Air Law Making Strides in Overburdened Neighborhoods

Katherine E Kerlin — June 12, 2025 - 10:56am

For years, families in the Bay Area city of Richmond have lived with smoke and chemicals drifting from a nearby oil refinery. That kind of exposure poses serious health risks, but a new report from 51�ԹϺ�� Davis shows how California’s Assembly Bill (AB) 617 is helping residents take a more active role in monitoring and reducing air pollution in their neighborhoods.

4 Gorillas Reintroduced to the Wild in DRC

Katherine E Kerlin — May 29, 2025 - 10:21am

Four critically endangered female eastern lowland gorillas rescued from the illegal wildlife trade were reintroduced to the wild in Virunga National Park in Democratic Republic of the Congo last December. Continued monitoring shows the gorillas are healthy and appear to be transitioning well.

California Risks Billions in Economic Losses Without Water Supply Action

Katherine E Kerlin — May 14, 2025 - 2:28pm

A new economic analysis by 51�ԹϺ�� professors shows the high cost of inaction on California’s perpetual water supply challenges. It estimates that the state could lose enough water each year to supply up to 9 million households — with economic losses totaling between $3.4 and $14.5 billion per year, depending on the severity of the scenario.

How One Word Could Strip the Endangered Species Act

Katherine E Kerlin — May 13, 2025 - 12:31pm

A rule change proposed by the Trump administration could green-light the destruction of protected species' habitats and gut the Endangered Species Act, write an ecologist and law professor.

Arctic Plants React Unexpectedly to Climate Change

Katherine E Kerlin — April 30, 2025 - 8:00am

Rapid climate change is upending established plant diversity and growth patterns in the Arctic, with species blooming in some areas and declining in others, suggests a study published today in the journal Nature.

The decades-long study of more than 2,000 plant communities across 45 areas in the Arctic tundra found that many locations saw vegetation change in type, abundance and growth, between 1981 and 2022.