Monterey County Sustainability Digest

Ecologists estimate that up to 14,000 sequoias have been killed in recent wildfires. The National Park Service for the first time has begun replanting some severely burned areas.

New research warns of a possible collapse in Atlantic Ocean currents due to climate change. That could fundamentally alter global weather patterns.

In October, CSU Monterey Bay received a $1.13 million grant from the U.S. Geological Survey to support its ongoing role in a project called OpenET.

There was a time not so long ago when trained observers were overwhelmed by the number of whales migrating through Monterey Bay.

The Wildlife Conservation Board voted to award $10.3 million to the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County to preserve the 27,000-acre Camatta Ranch in Santa Margarita.

The state’s environmental tool skews which communities are designated as disadvantaged, researchers say. Some immigrant neighborhoods could be left out, while other groups are overrepresented.

California electric vehicle sales dropped significantly in the last half of 2023, raising questions about the state’s ability to phase out gas-powered cars.

Foragers at the beaches in Half Moon Bay might be damaging the area’s reef.

Environmental studies students have rolled out a campaign to gather support from faculty and students, and they believe they now have the research to support implementing a green roof on campus.

Pigs running down the streets of Salinas? “It’s not too far-fetched,” says one trapper. After incessant rain, Monterey County is experiencing a big pig problem.

State Senators Ben Allen and Catherine Blakespear announced a new measure to ban plastic bags statewide—particularly the thicker ones billed as “reusable.”

The funds would help California ports expand to handle giant wind turbines and other equipment. California’s first offshore wind farms are on a fast track off Humboldt County and Morro Bay.

When wildfire smoke and extreme heat combine, they create “a synergistic effect” or an “additional burden” on people’s health, researchers say.

Some automakers are reducing production of electric cars and Tesla sales have dropped. Can California sustain its record pace and meet the state mandate?

As Californians increasingly feel the health effects of climate change, state leaders are adopting sweeping policies they hope will fend off the worst impacts.

Chinook and other salmon runs are collapsing. Conservation groups call it too little, too late. Plan includes dam removals and restoring river flows.

California State University, Monterey Bay has big plans in the coming years: complete campus sustainability by 2030.

As an underground fire burns deep within Chiquita Canyon Landfill, air regulators are raising alarms over the possible spread of toxic vapors.

Alisal Unified School District has added a sixth coach to its growing fleet of electric school buses, retiring another old diesel rig for a shiny new yellow e-bus.

Take a period of limited rainfall. Add heat. And you have what scientists call a “hot drought”—dry conditions made more intense by the evaporative power of hotter temperatures.

Experts worry that the steep decline could stall the state’s battle against climate change. Solar power is critical to meeting California’s ambitious requirement to switch to carbon-free electricity.

Students throughout the nation have been engaging in environmental stewardship projects, as part of NOAA’s Ocean Guardian School program.

Joby Aviation signed an agreement for the first electric air taxi charger installed at a California airport in anticipation of air taxi service in the greater Los Angeles area.

California farmers face challenges posed by multiple types of fruit flies. Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed spending just over $22 million to combat the spread of these flies.

New rules took effect Jan. 1 permanently protecting the most fragile deep sea corals off Southern California. Simultaneously, more than 4,500 square miles of ocean waters are now reopened to fishing after more than 20 years of closures.

The sunflower sea star, Pycnopodia helianthoides—one of the largest and heaviest sea stars in the world—was once common on the West Coast.

Raging storms brought major damage to California’s coastline last winter. But in Half Moon Bay, a different kind of coastal upheaval is gaining momentum—one that could decide the fate of billions of dollars of property and affect hundreds of public beaches.

Restoration efforts at Elkhorn Slough aim to quell public opposition to the removal of nonnative eucalyptus trees—which increase fire risk and guzzle water.

Visitors can see the critically endangered Lord How Island stick insect, on display for the first time in North America, in a special habitat at the zoo’s Wildlife Explorers Basecamp.

The Monterey Bay region, which includes Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, is undergoing a major demographic shift with a younger generation that is more diverse, according to Chris Benner, director of the Institute for Social Transformation at UC Santa Cruz.

A dark-sky movement to save birds from window strikes is sweeping the San Francisco Bay Area. Several cities have passed or are drafting laws restricting light pollution while making windows easier for birds to see.

Novelist Jonathan Franzen looks at how trap-neuter-release policies in feral cat colonies have troubling consequences for city residents, local wildlife and even the felines themselves.