Blowin’ in the Wind
Wind is all around us, constantly playing an essential role in life across California and on Earth. But what is wind and what forces are responsible for moving the...
Geomorphology
Zion vs Yosemite: the Science behind the Splendor
Spectacular Sierra Nevada canyons, such as Yosemite and Kings, and the magnificent high desert canyons sliced found found in Zion national Park motivate and challenge us to learn more about the natural history of our dynamic planet.
Chasing the Desert Superbloom, 2023
Our last two stories illustrated how the storms of 2023 left lasting imprints across our Golden State. Here, we compare and contrast landscapes around Anza Borrego and the Antelope...
Surfing CalifornIA
Though it didn’t originate here, surfing has inspired countless publications, movies, videos, songs, and works of art that have propagated across the globe from the Golden State. Surfing has...
Storm Chasing in the California Desert
When temperatures rise during early summer, residents of the desert and mountain Southwest U.S. begin anticipating the arrival of their annual monsoon season. (1) Welcome to our first in...
Natural History of a Grain of Sand
While strolling along a California beach, stream, or riverbed, or plodding over a sand dune, you may not realize that there is a captivating world of natural history at...
Badlands In a New York Minute?
When it comes to erosional landforms, badlands are the speed demons of geomorphology.
Adventures of a Water Drop, California Style
Forward: An Autobiographical Synopsis Let me introduce myself. I am a California water drop. I condensed from billions of water vapor molecules in the air above the North Pacific...
Desert Quakes and Ancient Lakes: Geopostcards from Searles Valley
In early July 2019, a series of powerful earthquakes fractured the desert, generating violent seismic waves that eventually rippled across the state and dissipated into California’s distant cities. A...
Great Volcanoes of Northern California
Devastating earthquakes, floods, droughts, fires, and now a deadly virus: nature has thrown her share of disasters our way over the years. But there is one potential catastrophe that...
