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Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the University of California, the California Air Resources Board, and NASA will use aircraft outfitted with atmospheric sampling devices in mid-June to measure greenhouse gases over California, in an effort to better understand the relative contribution of the state’s GHG emissions to the global total.

The native plants unique to California are so vulnerable to global climate change that two-thirds of these "endemics" could suffer more than an 80 percent reduction in geographic range by the end of the century, according to a new University of California, Berkeley, study. Because endemic species - native species not found outside the state - make up nearly half of all California's native plants, a changing climate will have a major impact on the state's unparalleled plant diversity, the researchers warn.

The native plants unique to California are so vulnerable to global climate change that two-thirds of these "endemics" could suffer more than an 80 percent reduction in geographic range by the end of the century, according to a new University of California, Berkeley, study. Because endemic species - native species not found outside the state - make up nearly half of all California's native plants, a changing climate will have a major impact on the state's unparalleled plant diversity, the researchers warn.

The Indian state of Maharashtra is at a crossroads. Its people endure frequent electricity blackouts due to a booming energy demand that far outpaces energy production. One solution is to build more coal-fired power plants, which are among the chief greenhouse-gas-emitting culprits of climate change. Another solution takes a different approach: reduce electricity demand, and the need for more power plants, by implementing energy-efficiency measures. The latter choice may have an edge, thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) facilitated by Berkeley Lab scientists that aims to export California's lessons in adopting energy efficiency strategies to the state of Maharashtra. Maharashtra leads India in energy consumption.

BERKELEY – Some 250 of the world's leading climate and energy researchers, industry representatives and government leaders will convene on Thursday, June 19, in Copenhagen, Denmark, for an international research summit sponsored by the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at the University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with the Copenhagen Climate Council. The conference, "Unlocking the Climate Code: Innovation in Climate and Energy," aims to identify the critical research and development achievements necessary for a successful transition to a low carbon economy. Conference participants will present and debate relevant policy and business models that can support technology innovation in carbon emissions reduction. Nobel Laureate Steve Chu, who is a UC Berkeley physics professor, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and an outspoken advocate of research to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, will give the conference's keynote speech.

The United States may be late to the battle against global warming and the move toward energy independence but decisive action can still save the day, a Barack Obama adviser who was stumping for the Democratic presidential candidate in Oregon said Thursday. Daniel Kammen, senior policy adviser on energy and the environment, conducted town hall meetings in Eugene and Portland with a message balanced between fear and hope. On the one hand, the damaging effects of climate change; on the other, a raft of proposals that will cut carbon emissions, develop new sources of renewable fuels and clean technologies, and usher in an era of “green-collar” jobs. Kammen knows a thing or two about those issues. He’s a professor at the University of California at Berkeley who specializes in energy. He’s the founding director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory that is affiliated with the university. And he’s a lead scientist with the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, one of the groups that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore.

"Water, water, everywhere, / Nor any drop to drink." These words, written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in the 18th century, may soon describe the 21st. In fact, access to fresh water is already an issue of global concern. Scientists involved in UC Berkeley's Keck HydroWatch Center, established in 2006, are hoping to correct our sketchy comprehension of the water cycle by delving into a study so detailed that the water will have nowhere to hide.

Three researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have proposed an innovative way to improve global climate change predictions by using a supercomputer with low-power embedded microprocessors, an approach that would overcome limitations posed by today’s conventional supercomputers.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau outlined for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday the efforts underway on campus to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and discussed research initiatives that have made Berkeley a leading center on energy research and education.