Josie Garthwaite
- Communications Director, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
San Francisco
Science writing & comms @StanfordDoerr
Articles by Josie Garthwaite
Prescribed fires can cut smoke pollution for years, miles beyond burn areas
12 June 2026 Author(s): Josie Garthwaite In brief Analysis of 20 years of smoke and fire data across California shows low-severity fire immediately cuts the risk of very severe wildfire in the same location by 92%, with benefits extending miles beyond burned areas. Expanding use of prescribed fire in California’s conifer forests to 500,000 acres per year could reduce dangerous fine particle pollution from smoke by about 10% over a decade and as much as 20-25% in the most active fire years.
Atlantic bluefin's comeback reveals an ocean-spanning mix that could upend how this iconic fish is managed
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked peer-reviewed publication trusted source proofread Researchers Steve Wilson and Robert Schallert tagging an Atlantic bluefin tuna off Nova Scotia.
New research shows path to affordable water in fast-growing cities
By 2050, up to half the world's urban population will face water scarcity. A new model of water supply, demand, and policies in a drought-prone city of 7 million in India shows how policies could prevent the poor from bearing the heaviest burden. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest sci-tech news updates. When multi-year droughts hit Pune, India, in the coming decades, water access for millions of people in this rapidly growing city will depend on choices made today.
New research shows path to affordable water in fast-growing cities
Inner suburbs of Pune. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 By 2050, up to half the world's urban population will face water scarcity. A new model of water supply, demand, and policies in a drought-prone city of 7 million in India shows how policies could prevent the poor from bearing the heaviest burden. When multi-year droughts hit Pune, India, in the coming decades, water access for millions of people in this rapidly growing city will depend on choices made today.
Satellite imagery and AI reveal development needs hidden by national data
The Multi-task Observation using Satellite Imagery and Kitchen Sinks (MOSAIKS) approach transforms satellite imagery for each administrative polygon into a vector of image features. Credit: Nature Communications (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-68805-6 For years, Iceland, Switzerland, and Norway have ranked near the top of the United Nations' annual index of countries based on indicators of well-being and quality of life.
Rice Fields Are Drowning and the Damage Is Accelerating Worldwide
Intensifying floods are rapidly undermining global rice production, putting food security at risk for billions. Credit: Shutterstock New research shows that severe flooding is becoming a major and growing threat to global rice production, wiping out millions of tons of grain each year. Scientists found that even a single week of total submergence can kill most rice plants, a risk that is increasing as extreme rainfall intensifies in key river basins.
Research helps untangle the complexity of small-scale fisheries
By classifying small-scale fisheries into five broad types, a Stanford-led study helps clarify a diverse sector essential to global nutrition and local economies. Across the world's coral reefs, rivers, lakes, coastal waters, and high seas, fishers with simple tools and small boats harvest some 40% of the world's wild-caught fish. These small-scale fishers may feed as much as a quarter of the global population, providing essential nutrients and upholding local economies.
Weather behind past heat waves could return far deadlier
Your experience on PreventionWeb Please help us improve PreventionWeb by taking this brief survey. Your input will allow us to better serve the needs of the DRR community. See the survey 18 November 2025 Author(s): Josie Garthwaite jittawit21/Shutterstock Cooling requires huge amounts of energy at the exact moments when demand is already high.
Weather behind past heat waves could return far deadlier
The weather patterns that produced some of Europe’s most extreme heat waves over the past three decades could prove far more lethal if they strike in today’s hotter climate, pushing weekly deaths toward levels seen during the COVID pandemic, according to a November 18 study in Nature Climate Change.
Severe floods cut global rice yields, threatening food security for billions
Severe flooding has slashed global rice yields in recent decades, threatening food security for billions of people who depend on the grain. The losses amounted to approximately 4.3%, or 18 million tons of rice per year, between 1980 and 2015, according to research from Stanford University published in Science Advances. Damage has accelerated since 2000 due to more frequent extreme floods across major rice-growing regions, a trend likely to be exacerbated by climate change, the researchers found.
Severe floods threaten global rice yields, study finds Original
Severe flooding has slashed global rice yields in recent decades, threatening food security for billions of people who depend on the grain. The losses amounted to approximately 4.3%, or 18 million tons of rice per year, between 1980 and 2015, according to research from Stanford University published November 14 in Science Advances.
Tracking microplastics from sea to body
On the edge of California's Monterey Bay, ecologist Matthew Savoca and a team of volunteers sift through sand and seawater for microplastics, one of the planet's most pervasive forms of pollution. Originating in everyday items, these bits of plastic smaller than a sesame seed turn up just about everywhere researchers have looked—including in our own bodies and in habitats from alpine mountains to the deep ocean.
Extreme weather changes not only how many people migrate, but who does
When severe heat waves, droughts, and other weather-related disasters strike, age and education shape who migrates and who stays put, according to a study in Nature Communications. The study describes how extreme weather can push some groups to move across borders and trap many others in place. These results contrast with mass migration scenarios often invoked in public debates about climate change.
Climate change cuts global crop yields, even when farmers adapt
The global food system faces growing risks from climate change, even as farmers seek to adapt, according to a June 18 study in Nature. In contrast to previous studies suggesting that warming could increase global food production, the researchers estimate that every additional degree Celsius of global warming on average will drag down the world’s ability to produce food by 120 calories per person per day, or 4.4% of current daily consumption. kAm“(96? 8=@32= AC@5F4E:@?
Climate change cuts global crop yields, even when farmers adapt
Josie Garthwaite University of Illinois The global food system faces growing risks from climate change, even as farmers seek to adapt, according to a June 18 study in Nature. In contrast to previous studies suggesting that warming could increase global food production, the researchers estimate that every additional degree Celsius of global warming on average will drag down the world’s ability to produce food by 120 calories per person per day, or 4.4 percent of current daily consumption.
Falling future yields: Farmers will be unable to adapt to destabilizing climate change
The global food system faces growing risks from climate change, even as farmers seek to adapt, according to a June 18 study in Nature. In contrast to previous studies suggesting that warming could increase global food production, the researchers estimate that every additional degree Celsius of global warming on average will drag down the world’s ability to produce food by 120 calories per person per day, or 4.4% of current daily consumption.
How Climate Messaging Can Backfire—And How to Improve It
Many Americans misjudge which personal behaviors have the biggest impact on carbon emissions, researchers have found. But efforts to improve climate literacy that focus too narrowly on individual actions may inadvertently dampen public support for collective solutions.
Colorado River water market could help fish and farmers alike
A market-based approach to managing water in the Colorado River basin could provide more reliable supplies for farmers, communities, and industry amid ongoing drought and excess demand. The right market design and a little extra investment could also help threatened fish species, researchers have found. The study, published June 20 in Nature Sustainability, details a new system for leasing rights to water from the basin while reallocating some water to imperiled habitats.
Climate change cuts global crop yields, even when farmers adapt
The global food system faces growing risks from climate change, even as farmers seek to adapt, according to a June 18 study in Nature. In contrast to previous studies suggesting that warming could increase global food production, the researchers estimate that every additional degree Celsius of global warming on average will drag down the world’s ability to produce food by 120 calories per person per day, or 4.4% of current daily consumption.
Why common climate messaging often backfires - and how to fix it
Many Americans misjudge which personal behaviors have the biggest impact on carbon emissions, researchers have found. But efforts to improve climate literacy that focus too narrowly on individual actions may inadvertently dampen public support for collective solutions.
Decarbonization improves energy security for most countries, study finds
A pivot from fossil fuels to clean energy technologies by 2060 would improve energy security and reduce trade risks for most nations, according to an April 9 study in Nature Climate Change. Lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, and rare earth minerals are among the prized materials for countries and corporations racing to secure supplies for energy systems that do not add greenhouse gases to our atmosphere.
Melting ice, more rain drive Southern Ocean cooling Original
Melting ice, more rain drive Southern Ocean cooling by Josie Garthwaite for Stanford News Stanford CA (SPX) Apr 01, 2025 Global climate models predict that the ocean around Antarctica should be warming, but in reality, those waters have cooled over most of the past four decades. The discrepancy between model results and observed cooling, Stanford University scientists have now found, comes down mainly to missing meltwater and underestimated rainfall.
Melting ice, more rain drive Southern Ocean cooling
Global climate models predict that the ocean around Antarctica should be warming, but in reality, those waters have cooled over most of the past four decades. The discrepancy between model results and observed cooling, Stanford University scientists have now found, comes down mainly to missing meltwater and underestimated rainfall.
The opportunity costs of carbon capture Original
The opportunity costs of carbon capture by Josie Garthwaite Stanford CA (SPX) Feb 18, 2025 For most countries around the world, sourcing energy entirely from wind, solar, geothermal, and hydropower by 2050 would reduce their energy needs and costs, improve air quality, and help slow climate change, according to a Feb. 9 study in Environmental Science and Technology.
Carbon capture more costly than switching to renewables, researchers find
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Carbon capture more costly than switching to renewables, researchers find
For most countries around the world, sourcing energy entirely from wind, solar, geothermal, and hydropower by 2050 would reduce their energy needs and costs, improve air quality, and help slow climate change, according to a study in Environmental Science & Technology. These benefits, the authors say, could be realized at a fraction of the cost of implementing technologies that remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and capture it from stationary emitters like industrial smokestacks.
In India, economic losses from crop damages exceed $800 million per year
“This study underscores the importance of looking at environmental issues under a systems lens,” said study co-author Inês Azevedo, a professor of energy science and engineering in the Doerr School of Sustainability.
Organic Bytes Newsletter #880: Glyphosate Harms Infants’ Health
Organic Bytes Newsletter #880: Glyphosate Harms Infants’ Health! Pamela Ferdinand, U.S. Right to Know: “Glyphosate, a synthetic herbicide best known as the active ingredient in Roundup®, has significantly harmed the health of babies in rural U.S. communities over the last two decades—especially those already at risk of poor birth outcomes, new research shows.
AI predicts Earth’s peak warming
Using AI to refine climate projections For the new study, Diffenbaugh and Barnes trained an AI system to predict how high global temperatures could climb, depending on the pace of decarbonization. When training the AI, the researchers used temperature and greenhouse gas data from vast archives of climate model simulations. To predict future warming, however, they gave the AI the actual historical temperatures as input, along with several widely used scenarios for future greenhouse gas emissions.
AI predicts Earth's peak warming: Hottest years will likely shatter recent records
Researchers have found that the global goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels is now almost certainly out of reach. The results, published Dec. 10 in Geophysical Research Letters, suggest the hottest years ahead will very likely shatter existing heat records. There is a 50% chance, the authors reported, that global warming will breach 2 degrees Celsius even if humanity meets current goals of rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by the 2050s.
Hurricanes, disasters, public health, death rates
HURRICANES & HEALTHHurricanes Linked to Higher Death Rates Long After Storms Pass Published 5 October 2024 U.S. tropical cyclones, including hurricanes, indirectly cause thousands of deaths for nearly 15 years after a storm. Understanding why could help minimize future deaths from hazards fueled by climate change. New research reveals hurricanes and tropical storms in the United States cause a surge of deaths for nearly 15 years after a storm hits.
Faculty-recommended reading on sustainability
The Heat Will Kill You first: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet By Jeff Goodell (2023) “As billions suffer from debilitating and dangerous heat waves, Jeff Goodell provides a vivid and highly readable, if scary, account of the impact of deadly heat on society.
People with gas and propane stoves breathe more unhealthy nitrogen dioxide
Households with gas or propane stoves regularly breathe unhealthy levels of nitrogen dioxide, a study of air pollution in U.S. homes found. “I didn’t expect to see pollutant concentrations breach health benchmarks in bedrooms within an hour of gas stove use, and stay there for hours after the stove is turned off,” said Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Professor Rob Jackson, senior author of the May 3 study in Science Advances.
Policies focused on forest fringe can help combat ‘omnipresent’ tropical biodiversity crisis
Policies focused on forest fringe can help combat ‘omnipresent’ tropical biodiversity crisis By Josie Garthwaite Stanford University News February 15, 2024 Category: Forestry The diversity of life has plummeted over the past 30 years in more than a dozen tropical forest reserves in Mexico, a new study shows.
Researchers identify human activities as drivers of biodiversity decline in central Mexico's reserves
New research shows the diversity of plant and animal life in 14 tropical reserves in Mesoamerica has plummeted since 1990 as roads and cattle ranches have expanded into protected areas. Large mammals, birds, and reptiles are disappearing, while disease-carrying insects and rodents are on the rise.
Biodiversity crisis in protected forests
The diversity of life has plummeted over the past 30 years in more than a dozen tropical forest reserves in Mexico, a new study shows. Even these highly protected areas are seeing the array of plant and animal life follow a now global trend in which a few groups thrive and proliferate in human-altered landscapes where most groups decline. “We had an idea that this was happening globally.
COP28: Stanford experts on ‘loss and damage’ and other topics to watch at the UN climate summit
Representatives from nearly 200 countries will gather in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates this month for the United Nations climate change conference known as COP28. Below, six scholars from the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability describe their hopes and expectations for this year’s summit, where negotiators will take stock of progress on the 2015 Paris Agreement and coordinate climate action for the coming year.
Examining how much wildfire smoke influences air quality trends
Stanford research reveals the rapidly growing influence of wildfire smoke on air quality trends across most of the United States. Wildfire smoke in recent years has slowed or reversed progress toward cleaner air in 35 states, erasing a quarter of gains made since 2000. By spewing plumes of smoke laden with tiny toxic particles called PM2.5, wildfire smoke has slowed or reversed progress toward cleaner air in dozens of U.S. states, Stanford University researchers have found.
Wildfire smoke’s toxic influence
By spewing plumes of smoke laden with tiny toxic particles called PM2.5, wildfire smoke has slowed or reversed progress toward cleaner air in dozens of U.S. states, Stanford University researchers have found. “We document a growing source of pollution that is changing trends in overall PM2.5 in a way that is completely unregulated and that will harm our health,” said lead study author Marshall Burke, an associate professor in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
Ask a scientist: Hurricanes
The Atlantic hurricane season, which peaks in late August, is shaping up to be more active than normal this year, with federal forecasters now predicting 14 to 21 named storms. The projection includes both tropical storms and hurricanes, which are types of tropical cyclones. The above-normal activity, predicted to include up to five major hurricanes, is thanks in large part to record-high temperatures in the parts of the Atlantic Ocean where hurricanes are born.
Illegal market for water expands in Jordan
In Jordan, a shadow market for drinking water is booming. For every gallon of water that’s pumped and trucked to consumers from the country’s officially licensed wells, 10 gallons are sold illegally, according to new research published Aug. 14 in Nature Sustainability. The study reveals a massive and accelerating transfer of water from rapidly dwindling rural groundwater sources to residents and businesses in urban areas, where public water supplies are often unreliable and unequally distributed.
Mission to understand Arctic carbon uptake and 'jewels of the sea'
A Stanford-led expedition in the Arctic Ocean’s Chukchi Sea could help answer questions about how an ice-free Arctic may transform the ocean’s ecosystems and ability to sequester carbon. Since late June, the U.S. research vessel Sikuliaq has been churning through ice in the Arctic Ocean’s shallow Chukchi Sea, carrying 20 scientists and students on a mission to learn about the future of phytoplankton at the top of the world.
Watch loggerhead sea turtles cross the Pacific Ocean
July 12, 2023 Scientists are tracking the epic migration of 100 endangered North Pacific loggerhead turtles from Japan to test a hypothesis that warm water events like El Niño unlock a corridor allowing some turtles to ride ocean currents all the way to North America.
Wildfire smoke and air quality
Smoke from wildfires in Canada has descended on much of the northeastern United States, darkening skies and prompting warnings to avoid the unhealthy air. Wildfire smoke contains high levels of the smallest and deadliest type of particle pollution, known as PM 2.5. These specks of toxic soot, or particulate matter, are so fine they can embed deep in the lungs and pass into the bloodstream, just like the oxygen molecules we need to survive.
Examining the portrayal of climate change in history textbooks Original
California and Texas textbooks have their differences when it comes to teaching teenagers about American history and the way that subjects like race, gender, and immigration weave through it. But a new Stanford University study has found the two states' U.S. history textbooks are surprisingly similar when dealing with climate change and environmental topics.
Climate change in history textbooks
California and Texas textbooks have their differences when it comes to teaching teenagers about American history and the way that subjects like race, gender, and immigration weave through it. But a new Stanford University study has found the two states’ U.S. history textbooks are surprisingly similar when dealing with climate change and environmental topics.
Earth Day and beyond
More than 50 years after the first Earth Day, Stanford experts discuss the experiences that inspire people to learn and care about the environment and take action. Late in January 1969, an enormous oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara slathered 35 miles of shoreline with crude oil and killed thousands of birds, fish, and sea mammals. Just a few months later, debris and pollution in Ohio’s Cuyahoga River burst into flames.
'Doomsday Glacier' Widening Could Increase Global Sea Levels
Thwaites Glacier’s main trunk is poised to widen in a way that could speed up ice loss within 20 years, new research finds. The results underscore the importance of monitoring the glacier more closely to understand how much it will contribute to global sea-level rise. “It’s like a torrential river eating away at the riverbanks and widening in the process,” says senior author Jenny Suckale, an assistant professor of geophysics at the Stanford University Doerr School of Sustainability.
New research highlights an overlooked accelerant of ice loss from Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier Original
In West Antarctica, the 80-mile-wide stream of sliding ice at the heart of Thwaites Glacier is likely to creep outward over the next 20 years, a change that could speed up ice loss, new research finds. "It's like a torrential river eating away at the riverbanks and widening in the process," said senior study author Jenny Suckale, an assistant professor of geophysics at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
Q&A: Willow oil project and Arctic drilling limits
Stanford experts explain why the recently approved Willow oil drilling project in Alaska has sparked controversy, discuss the significance of new limits on oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean, and describe the complicated nature of energy transformation in the fastest-warming place on Earth.
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