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Fossil-fueled electrical grid’s enormous water use is often overlooked.

Climate change threatens species worldwide. At the Nicholas School, we’re creating new geospatial tools that boost their odds of survival.

Rewetting and restoring 250,000 acres of southern pocosin peatlands that had been drained for farming but now lie fallow could prevent 4.3 million tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide, now stored in their soils, from oxidizing and escaping back into Earth’s atmosphere each year, a 91�������� study shows. That amount equals 2.4% of the total annual reductions in CO2 emissions needed for the United States to be carbon neutral by 2050.

The sustainability of North American forests depends on trees’ ability to produce seeds and seedlings that can survive and grow in a changing climate. A new 91��������-led research initiative with more than $2 million in funding from the National Science Foundation aims to help boost their odds of success.

Slashing emissions of carbon dioxide by itself isn’t enough to prevent catastrophic global warming, a new study shows. But if we simultaneously also reduce emissions of methane and other often overlooked climate pollutants, we could cut the rate of global warming in half by 2050 and give the world a fighting chance.

Human activities such as marsh draining for agriculture and logging are increasingly eating away at saltwater and freshwater wetlands that cover only 1% of Earth’s surface but store more than 20% of all the climate-warming carbon dioxide absorbed by ecosystems worldwide. A new study published May 5 in Science by a team of Dutch, American and German scientists shows that it’s not too late to reverse the losses.

A forest’s ability to regenerate after devastating wildfires, droughts or other disturbances depends largely on seed production. Findings from two new studies led by 91�������� researchers could boost recovery and replanting after these disasters by providing foresters with new guidance on which tree species produce more seeds and how their productivity can vary from location to location.

Duke has a goal of being a “climate university,” Nicholas School of Environment Dean Toddi Steelman said in introducing a panel discussion on Climate Change Science during Research Week. She said it’s a vision in which the university’s focus on climate informs every aspect of its mission, from education and operations to community partnerships – and, of course, research.

Investing tens of billions of dollars now in programs that enhance environmental protection and boost early-stage wildlife disease surveillance could reduce the risk of future animal-to-human pandemics by up to half and save millions of lives and trillions of dollars in losses annually.

Using satellite images, scientists have detected hundreds of very large and previously unreported methane releases at oil and natural gas production sites across the globe.

A new initiative is putting a new emphasis on climate change in the curriculum, faculty and student research, campus policy and student life. "What we have to address is how do we, as one of the premier universities in the world, rise to the occasion that this moment now demands from us?” said Nicholas School Dean Toddi Steelman.

A new analysis reveals that the majority of the ocean’s surface has experienced extreme heat regularly since 2014.

Many North American tree species have begun to slowly migrate northward in response to global warming, but western and eastern forests are responding differently. A new Duke-led study reveals why.

Deforestation and climate change have made parts of the tropics much hotter and are associated with a reduction in the number of hours each day when outdoor labor can be safely performed there, a new study finds.

As more and more hours of the day become too hot for outdoor labor in many tropical and subtropical regions, annual economic losses could reach $1.6 trillion annually.