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burning couch

Toxic comeback looms for upholstered furniture

UC Riverside professor of environmental toxicology, David Volz argues that California lawmakers should prevent furniture manufacturers from going back to using toxic, ineffective chemical flame retardants.

By Jules Bernstein | May 2, 2025 | Science / Technology
LA freeway traffic

Study links traffic speed to dirty air

Despite modern cars generally being cleaner and more fuel efficient, a University of California, Riverside study shows that higher speed limits can make city air dirtier.

By Jules Bernstein | April 15, 2025 | Science / Technology
debris flow damage in Los Angeles

Perfect storm: megafires set the stage for debris flows

Andrew Gray, an associate professor of watershed hydrology at UCR, weighs in on the threats to life and infrastructure posed by fast-moving debris flows, and how residents can best respond.

By Jules Bernstein | February 13, 2025 | Science / Technology
LA wildfires at night

More transparency about So Cal's fire-polluted air

Many phone apps offer general but nonspecific information about airborne particles. To help increase public safety amidst the LA fires, UC Riverside scientists are making new, real-time, advanced air pollutant measurements available to the public.

By Jules Bernstein | January 24, 2025 | Science / Technology
animal silhouette against forest fire

A climate scientist’s take on the LA fires

UC Riverside climate scientist Francesca Hopkins explains how carbon emissions from human activities turn into conflagrations, and she has some ideas about making urban landscapes more resilient.

By Jules Bernstein | January 15, 2025 | Science / Technology
plastic bottles

Airborne plastic chemical levels shock researchers

Southern Californians are chronically being exposed to toxic airborne chemicals called plasticizers, including one that’s been banned from children’s items and beauty products.

By Jules Bernstein | October 1, 2024 | Science / Technology
Smoke above UCR campus

Q&A: What, exactly, is going up in flames?

Several Southern California communities are being hit with smoke from the huge Line Fire in the San Bernardino Mountains. UC Riverside experts on environmental pollution describe what we’re breathing.

By Jules Bernstein and David Danelski | September 10, 2024 | Science / Technology
wilted sunflower

What 106-degree heat does to plants

Three UC Riverside faculty experts weigh in on how the extreme summer heat affects our flora.

By Jules Bernstein | September 5, 2024 | Science / Technology, Experts
irrigation pump

Parched Central Valley farms depend on Sierras for groundwater 

New research shows that California’s Central Valley, known as America’s breadbasket, gets as much as half of its groundwater from the Sierra Nevadas. This is significant for a farming region that, in some parts, relies almost entirely on groundwater for irrigation.

By Jules Bernstein | July 25, 2024 | Science / Technology
An artistic illustration showing a warming planet Earth and a thermometer.

Better math adds up to trillions in climate-related savings

A new study greatly reduces uncertainty in climate change predictions, a move economists say could save the world trillions in adaptations for a hotter future.

By Jules Bernstein | March 28, 2024 | Science / Technology
river drought

Rivers may not recover from drought for years

Lack of rainfall is not the only measure of drought. New UC Riverside research shows that despite a series of storms, the impact of drought can persist in streams and rivers for up to 3.5 years. There are two measures of drought in streams. One measure is the total water...

By Jules Bernstein | October 11, 2023 | Science / Technology
LA River

Not such small things: microplastics in our streams

UC Riverside scientists are taking a modern approach to studying a murky subject — the quantity, quality, and sources of microplastics in Los Angeles County’s urban streams.

By Jules Bernstein | April 18, 2023 | Science / Technology
wildfire

Methane from megafires: more spew than we knew

Using a new detection method, UC Riverside scientists found a massive amount of methane, a super-potent greenhouse gas, coming from wildfires — a source not currently being accounted for by state air quality managers.

By Jules Bernstein | April 17, 2023 | Science / Technology
nasty tap water

Manganese in Central Valley water threatens fetuses and children

Water in California’s Central Valley contains enough manganese to cause cognitive disabilities and motor control issues in children, and Parkinson’s-like symptoms in adults.

By Jules Bernstein | April 6, 2023 | Science / Technology
soil sampling at Holy Fire site

Fungi and bacteria are binging on burned soil

UC Riverside researchers have identified tiny organisms that not only survive but thrive during the first year after a wildfire. The findings could help bring land back to life after fires that are increasing in both size and severity.

By Jules Bernstein | February 7, 2023 | Science / Technology
car exhaust

Soil tainted by air pollution expels carbon

New UC Riverside research suggests nitrogen released by gas-powered machines causes dry soil to let go of carbon and release it back into the atmosphere, where it can contribute to climate change.

By Jules Bernstein | February 1, 2023 | Science / Technology
coffee machine

Prof pours cold water on coffee pod controversy

New research from the University of Quebec declares coffee pods are “better for the planet than filtered brew.” Here to weigh in on the matter is UCR's Andrew Gray, who studies the movement of plastic pollutants through the environment.

By Jules Bernstein | January 25, 2023 | Science / Technology
car exhaust

Post-lockdown auto emissions can’t hide in the grass

University of California scientists have a new way to demonstrate which neighborhoods are most affected by air pollution from vehicle emissions. Their technique could help ensure people most affected by pollution will benefit from efforts to reduce it.

By Jules Bernstein | December 5, 2022 | Science / Technology
Sea dust

Why the Salton Sea is turning into toxic dust

The Salton Sea, California’s most polluted inland lake, has lost a third of its water in the last 25 years. New research has determined a decline in Colorado River flow is the reason for that shrinking.

By Jules Bernstein | October 6, 2022 | Science / Technology
litter

Who’s responsible for roadside rubbish?

New UC Riverside research reveals that items in litter typically originate less than two miles from where they’re found — and unless humans remove them, most of these items will never leave the environment.

By Jules Bernstein | February 8, 2022 | Science / Technology
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Tel: (951) 827-1012

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tel: (951) 827-1012
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