UC San Diego is one of the world’s leading centers for atmospheric research and how climate change is affecting rainfall, freshwater in rivers and reservoirs, and the incidence and severity of wildfires.

How to Diversify and Improve the Reliability of San Diego’s Water Supply

With so many questions being raised about the region’s water supply, the July 16 meeting of the University of California, San Diego Economics Roundtable comes at a perfect time for answers from Maureen Stapleton, General Manager of the San Diego County Water Authority. She will speak on the topic “The True Value of Water," in a presentation beginning at 7:30 a.m. at the UC San Diego Faculty Club. more

Scientists Urge Global Action to Preserve Water Supplies for Billions Worldwide Melting glaciers, weakening monsoon rains, less mountain snowpack and other effects of a warmer climate will lead to significant disruptions in the supply of water to highly populated regions of the world, especially near the Himalayas in Asia and the Sierra Nevada Mountains of the western United States.more

Climate Change Means Shortfalls in Colorado River Water Deliveries The Colorado River system supplies water to tens of millions of people and millions of acres of farmland, and has never experienced a delivery shortage. But if human-caused climate change continues to make the region drier, scheduled deliveries will be missed 60-90 percent of the time by the middle of this century. more

Is Air Pollution Reducing California's Water Supply? The Sierra Nevada snowpack that supplies more than 30 million Californians with their water has shown a steady decline over the past century, possibly in part because of the state's air pollution. But as drought preparations ramp up across the state, researchers are attempting to verify this hypothesis by analyzing the particles in air pollution. more

Jacobs School Water Conservation

Research Makes Headlines around the World Water conservation research that Jacobs School of Engineering professor Jan Kleissl and his mechanical engineering and environmental engineering students are performing in California’s Imperial Valley is making headlines around the world. more

Lake Mead Could Be Dry by 2021 There is a 50 percent chance Lake Mead, a key source of water for millions of people in the southwestern United States, will be dry by 2021 if climate changes as expected and future water usage is not curtailed, according to a pair of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. more