Climate Solutions

There are lots of decisions to be made after being accepted at a university - including figuring out where to live. How do you apply for campus housing and what stipulations are in housing contracts? How do housing costs break down? Is living on campus right for you? Edwin Valderrama from EAOP at UC San Diego breaks down the application process, meal plans, financial details, and more. Series: "STEAM Channel" [Show ID: 35935]

The ocean plays a major role in regulating Earth’s temperature through exchange of chemicals and microbes with the atmosphere. When waves break, ocean-derived biological species including viruses and bacteria are transferred into the atmosphere. These species can ultimately form clouds, altering precipitation and climate. Highlights will be presented of novel experiments being conducted in a unique ocean-atmosphere simulator developed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment (CAICE). Kimberly Prather, Professor of Climate, Atmospheric Science, and Physical Oceanography at UC San Diego will focus on recent CAICE studies aimed at advancing our understanding of how the oceans influence human and planetary health. New insights will be discussed as well as future studies designed to unravel human versus microbial impacts on the changing Earth’s system. Series: "Exploring Ethics" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 35000]

Researchers at UC San Diego are working on cutting edge technology to combat the constant threat of wildfires in California. The WIFIRE Lab is a collaboration between the Qualcomm Institute and the San Diego Supercomputer Center. The technology uses big data from cameras, weather stations, topography and other sources to quickly predict where wildfires will spread. And, it's not just theoretical. Fire departments like LAFD are actively using WIFIRE to get ahead of blazes before they get out of control. Series: "Computing Around UC" [Science] [Show ID: 35075]

Skyelark Ranch, owned an operated by UC Davis graduate Alexis Robertson and her husband Gillies, uses rotational grazing while raising sheep, which can benefit plant growth, drought resistance, and the climate. The grazing encourages plant growth, which through photosynthesis, captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it in the soil, where it can create healthier soils and stay out of our atmosphere. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Agriculture] [Show ID: 34110]

Can geoengineering save the planet? Injecting particles into the atmosphere to counter the warming effects of climate change would do nothing to offset the crop damage from rising global temperatures, according to a new analysis by UC Berkeley researchers. Shading the planet keeps things cooler, which helps crops grow better. But plants also need sunlight to grow, so blocking sunlight can affect growth. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Science] [Show ID: 33999]

As we rethink our energy use, we focus on the highest polluters, and at a global scale. But energy use at a much finer scale seriously threatens the health and safety of hundreds of millions of people who still cook on inefficient wood stoves in developing countries. Berkeley professor Ashok Gadgil and his students launched the Berkeley Darfur Stove project to design and build efficient and inexpensive stoves. They then created a non-profit to manufacture the $20 stoves in Mumbai. The stoves’ efficiency halves the fuel wood to cook each meal, and the time needed to collect it. Women purchasing fuel wood saved about $260 per year. Series: "Cal Future Forum: Our Changing World" [Science] [Show ID: 33083]

Since we don’t yet know how fast and how high sea levels are going to rise, Berkeley urban designer Kristina Hill stresses that our strategies must be ready and be adaptive as conditions change. Rising seas pose multiple dangers. Groundwater rises on top of sea level causing inland flooding. What can we do to prepare? Kristina Hill says a fundamental principle of landscape architecture -- "dig a hole, make a mound” -- offers a time-tested strategy. Series: "Climate Solutions " [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 33070]

At a time of uncertain water supplies, how can we get the most use of our water? By passing water through a material called a reverse osmosis membrane, adding a small amount of hydrogen peroxide and exposing it to ultraviolet light, engineers in Orange County, California have been turning what used to be considered useless wastewater into drinking water for more than 25 years. David Sedlak’s research team at Berkeley has developed technologies to improve the treatment processes. Series: "Cal Future Forum: Our Changing World" [Science] [Show ID: 33071]

We are on a straight-line trajectory that connects increased emissions to a much warmer and much stranger climate. Are there pathways for escaping from the up-escalator of climate change? UC Berkeley Professor Bill Collins examines the key culprits, carbon dioxide and “black carbon” from ordinary diesel combustion. Series: "Cal Future Forum: Our Changing World" [Science] [Show ID: 33068]

Dan Kammen’s Berkeley research group has revealed the need for a dramatic shift to electricity and away from both fossil and biofuels. Meanwhile, 1.3 billion people – 15 percent of the world population – still lack electricity, and their growing demand for it would raise – not lower – global temperatures. The solution, Kammen says, must be local. He sees great promise in efforts to bring together new technologies with best practices to electrify those who don’t have power and to “green it” for everybody else. Series: "Public Policy and Society" [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 33072]