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California – Analysis and Comment

Common household products such as cleaning agents can contain a wide range of harmful chemicals. gawriloff/istock via Getty Images

Body lotions, mothballs, cleaning fluids and other widely used products contain known toxic chemicals, study finds

Manufacturers don’t usually have to disclose what’s in products like shampoo and household cleaners, but a new study finds that these products can contain hazardous ingredients.
Fires are increasing in high mountain areas that rarely burned in the past. John McColgan, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service

Fire danger in the high mountains is intensifying: That’s bad news for humans, treacherous for the environment

Fires here can affect meltwater timing and water quality, worsen erosion that triggers mudslides, and much more, as two scientists explain.
Prompts like this sign in Coalinga, California, may get people to use less water – but paying them could be more effective. Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images

A new strategy for western states to adapt to long-term drought: Customized water pricing

Even after January’s storms, California faces a water-scarce future. An economist and an engineer propose a way to test higher water prices as a conservation strategy without hurting low-income users.
The fire risk goes beyond rising temperatures and dry conditions. Samuel Corum / AFP via Getty Images

Western wildfires destroyed 246% more homes and buildings over the past decade – fire scientists explain what’s changing

More homes are burning in wildfires in nearly every Western state. The reason? Humans.
Electrifying trucks and cars and shifting to renewable energy are crucial for California’s zero-emissions future. Sergio Pitamitz / VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

How California’s ambitious new climate plan could help speed energy transformation around the world

California is one of the world’s largest economies, and it’s aiming for net-zero emissions by 2045. A transportation expert involved in the plan explains why it just might succeed.
Driving into floodwater, as this vehicle did in Sonoma County, Calif., on Jan. 5, 2023, can be extremely dangerous. Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

Flood forecasts in real-time with block-by-block data could save lives – a new machine learning method makes it possible

The majority of flood-related deaths involve vehicles in water. What if flood models could warn of the risks street by street using real-time storm forecasts? Machine learning can make it possible.
Exposed lakebed at the Salton Sea on Dec. 29, 2022. RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Human actions created the Salton Sea, California’s largest lake – here’s how to save it from collapse, protecting wild birds and human health

Fifty years ago, the Salton Sea was a draw for boaters and fishermen; today it’s an ecological time bomb. Two water experts who served on a state review panel describe its proposed rescue plan.
Following historic drought in 2021, reservoir levels dropped down in the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, which gets its waters from the melting snowpack from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. (pxhere.com)

Scientists dig deep and find a way to accurately predict snowmelt after droughts

Unprecedented droughts leave the subsurface drier than usual, affecting water supply in subsequent years.