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Professor Emeritus William “Bill” S. Reeburgh, a founding professor of UCI’s Department of Earth System Science (ESS), died on July 9, 2021. He was 81. Born February 25, 1940 in Port Arthur, Texas,…

Combining extensive species mapping with remote sensing records of deforestation and fire reveals that the Amazon's biodiversity is extraordinarily vulnerable to changes in forest management and policy enforcement. 

"We have to remember that it took decades to reduce Amazon deforestation, but it may take just a few years to destroy the conservation policy pillars of conservation," said co-author Paulo Brando,…

Professor Emeritus William “Bill” S. Reeburgh, a founding professor of UCI’s Department of Earth System Science, died on July 9, 2021. 

UCI study: Higher heat will limit ecosystem’s role in removing atmospheric CO2.

Researchers looked at the greater Anza-Borrego area, but similar long-term trends are found elsewhere.

Hello Borrego Springs. This is a wake-up call. Living in Borrego and the amazing Sonoran Desert that surrounds the community, you probably thought the desert was heat tolerant and immune to global warming. Hey, it’s already a desert, how bad can it get?

Since the 80's, plant life in the Anza-Borrego Desert in East San Diego County has died off by 35 percent according to a study from UC Irvine. The study's culprit? Major droughts and climate change. 

Climate change is causing plants to die off in massive numbers in Southern California’s deserts and mountains, UC Irvine researchers have found.

Desert plants — famous for tolerance of torrid landscapes — are dying at an alarming rate due to the twin threats of even hotter temperatures and less rain, according to new research published this week.

"They're absolutely on the brink," said one scientist.

Loss of vegetation cover is most stark in desert ecosystems already on edge of habitability.