Sustainability Scrutinized

What seems environmentally friendly at first glance may be more damaging than we think

The Inevitable Climate Catastrophe

Discussing the harmful effects of climate change through an informative sci-fi story Brrrring! Brrrring! Startled, I wake up to constant, repeated notifications on my iPhone. Trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes, I reach for my phone to snooze the sound, when I realize that this noise isn’t coming from my alarm – …

Transforming Carbon Dioxide Into Usable Materials

How is chemistry contributing to the fight against climate change?

The Apocalypse Is Not Coming

Why statements about a future of fire — or even no future at all — driven by climate change are neither accurate nor beneficial

It Can’t Be

By Sophie Wang The house was silent. A flame rushed over the hill towards it. In the window, Anna pressed her fat-cheeked little face against a window and chuckled as the flames slammed into the glinting walls and lapped at the metal. “You know, people used to run from fires,” her great-great-great-grandma’s machine croaked. “What …

Mushroom Mania: The Bizarre, Lovely World of Mycology

Mushroom hunting sometimes gets a bad rap, whether because of associations with “magic mushrooms” or horror stories about accidental poisonings. But mushroom hunting offers a fascinating glimpse into the mycological wonderland of our backyards, parks, and forests. By Daria Syskine Unidentified mushrooms (possibly family Psathyrellaceae) at Rancho San Antonio Park. Like other fungi, they’re small …

Facing a Crossroads: Tule elk in Point Reyes National Seashore Park

By Daria Syskine A Land Before Time  Picture the San Francisco Bay Area before the first Spanish explorers. It would still be mostly recognizable, though coastline development would be replaced by expansive tidal marshes, and the golden hills rimming the valley would be green with native, drought-adapted bunchgrasses. What would really look different would be the animals. …

Crash Course: Natural Disasters

A geographical overview of disaster-prone California By Charlotte Chui Located next to the Pacific Ocean and nestled on top of thousands of known fault lines, California has a reputation as one of the most disaster-prone states. The state is the breeding ground for various natural disasters, ranging from raging floods to damaging wildfires. With this …

Glass Half-Empty: Addressing reservoir water waste

By Shreya Parjan Brown is the new green. Burgundy blotches cover Santa Clara county on drought watch maps. A hotline even allows you to report that pesky water-wasting neighbor. And so we forge ahead. Another year of drought. Another year of meeting the stringent county goals of water usage reduction. But what if, at the same time …

Thinking Green: Our California Wetlands

By Daria Syskine The dense, sweet scent of fennel drifts across the landscape. It grows in thick clumps along the side of the bike trail. As we ride past the final stretch of trailer parks, houses and office buildings on the side of the trail, the wetlands open up before us — dark briny streams cutting curving …