No more blackouts?

Today, more than 1.3 billion people are living without regular access to power, including more than 300 million in India and 600 million in sub-Saharan Africa. In these and other developing countries, access to a main power grid, particularly in rural regions, is remote and often unreliable.

Increasingly, many rural and some urban communities are turning to microgrids as an alternative source of electricity. Microgrids are small-scale power systems that supply local energy, typically in the form of solar power, to localized consumers, such as individual households or small villages.  

Mandatory state policies work best to curb power plant emissions, study finds

“Due to the current void in national leadership on the issue of climate change, efforts at the state and local level are more important than ever,” says Eri Saikawa, an assistant professor of Environmental Sciences.

Reforestation: Knowing When to Let Nature Take its Course

In forest restoration, letting nature take its course may be the most effective and least expensive means of restoring the biodiversity and vegetation structure of tropical forests, according to a new study by an international team of researchers, including UConn ecology and evolutionary biology professor emerita Robin Chazdon.

Human-Caused Warming Increasing Likelihood of Record-Breaking Hot Years

A new study finds human-caused global warming is significantly increasing the rate at which hot temperature records are being broken around the world.

Global annual temperature records show there were 17 record hot years from 1861 to 2005. The new study examines whether these temperature records are being broken more often and if so, whether human-caused global warming is to blame

Major Return on Investment from Improving Climate Observations

A well-designed climate observing system could help scientists answer knotty questions about climate while delivering trillions of dollars in benefits by providing decision makers information they need to protect public health and the economy in the coming decades, according to a new paper published today.

Our Vision for Moving Humanity Forward

We can’t completely predict what our world will look like 25 years from now, but we constantly study trends so that we can anticipate the rapid changes taking place in our industry.

Dozens of New Wildlife Corridors Identified for African Mammals

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have identified 52 potential wildlife corridors linking protected areas across Tanzania. Using a cost-effective combination of interviews with local residents and a land conversion dataset for East Africa, they found an additional 23 corridors over those previously identified by Tanzanian government reports.

Sensors Applied to Plant Leaves Warn of Water Shortage

Forgot to water that plant on your desk again? It may soon be able to send out an SOS.

Easing the Soil's Temperature

Soil characteristics like organic matter content and moisture play a vital role in helping plants flourish. It turns out that soil temperature is just as important. Every plant needs a certain soil temperature to thrive. If the temperature changes too quickly, plants won’t do well. Their seeds won’t germinate or their roots will die.

JRC at COP23: A Cleaner, Greener Planet is Both Possible and Affordable

Limiting global warming below the critical 2C level set out in the Paris Agreement is both feasible and consistent with economic growth – and the knock-on improvements to air quality could already cover the costs of mitigation measures and save more than 300,000 lives annually by 2030.