IoES in the News
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Stephanie Pincetl in The Hill: Humans are the cause of most wildfires. Climate change will make that worse
In California, the electric utilities’ infrastructure runs through highly flammable areas. “There’s just no question about that because we bring electricity long distance into the urbanized areas,” said Stephanie Pincetl,…
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Daniel Swain in Grist: Is climate change happening faster than expected? A climate scientist explains.
“I’m less convinced that recent events tell us that things are moving faster than projections have suggested,” Swain said. “But I am increasingly convinced that we’ve underestimated the impacts of…
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Daniel Swain in The Washington Post: Here’s what to know about dry thunderstorms and how they increase wildfire risk
“And if that layer under the cloud base is somewhat dry, as it often is out West, a lot of that water can evaporate before it actually hits the surface.…
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Alex Hall in UCLA Newsroom: Climate change definitively linked to increases in extreme rain and snow, UCLA research finds
A UCLA study published in Nature Communications shows definitively that abnormally heavy rain and snowfall events around the world are becoming more severe due to human-driven climate change. “These findings…
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Daniel swain in The Guardian: Climate scientists shocked by scale of floods in Germany
The intensity and scale of the floods in Germany this week have shocked climate scientists, who did not expect records to be broken this much, over such a wide area or…
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Daniel Swain in KQED: Drought-Stricken California Hasn’t Mandated Statewide Water Restrictions. Here’s Why
Former Gov. Jerry Brown required Californians to conserve 25% of their water during the third year of the last major drought. State leaders have not yet taken that step during this…
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Daneil Swain on Slate Podcast: It’s Hot. It’s Flooding. Is This the New Normal?
In this episode of Slate’s “What’s Next: TBD,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain discusses why it’s not too late to turn things around and what are the right questions to…
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Edith de Guzman weighs in for Nature: Racism is magnifying the deadly impact of rising city heat
Scientists are mapping correlations between race, poverty and heat in cities, and suggesting solutions to reduce the dangers. In Los Angeles, researchers have calculated that two basic interventions — planting…
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Daniel Swain in The Guardian: American west stuck in cycle of ‘heat, drought and fire’, experts warn
As fires propagate throughout the US west on the heels of record heatwaves, experts are warning that the region is caught in a vicious feedback cycle of extreme heat, drought…
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Oscar Neyra-Nazarrett for The Startup Pill — 29 Innovative Mining Startups Worth A Follow In 2021
ESE student Oscar Neyra-Nazarrett’s startup listed as one of 29 innovative mining startups worth a follow in 2021.
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Daniel Swain in The Los Angeles Times: California fires are burning faster, getting harder to fight
Vegetation is at record-dry levels for this time of the year, and it is at least six weeks ahead of where it should be, said UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain.…
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Richard Jackson in The Los Angeles Times: Biden has a plan to remove some freeways. Will it make cities more healthy?
President Biden’s plan calls for highway removal to right historical injustices and improve the health of people who live nearby. At least four bills in Congress would fund such efforts,…
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Deepak Rajogopal in MIT Technology Review: Why the grid is ready for fleets of electric trucks
Existing technology can support heavy-duty electric trucks that travel short distances, though longer trips still pose a challenge. “You can always keep waiting for the perfect technology to come,” Deepak…
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Governor Newsom Holds Virtual Discussion with Leading Climate Scientists on State’s Progress Toward Carbon Neutrality
Governor Gavin Newsom today hosted a virtual meeting with internationally renowned scientists and climate change experts, including IoES’ director Marilyn Raphael, to discuss California’s ambitious climate goals, efforts to protect…
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Daniel Swain Weighs in for Reuters — Heat wave in Pacific Northwest ‘virtually impossible’ without climate change
“There is a clear human fingerprint on this particular extreme heatwave in the Pacific Northwest, and in general on extreme heatwaves everywhere in the modern era we’re living through,” said…
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Alex Hall in EcoWatch: Human Activity Linked to Extreme Rainfall
A new UCLA study links human activity to intensifying rainfall.”These findings further elevate the urgency of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to prevent even larger impacts down the road,” said Alex…
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Beate Ritz in Neurology Today: Air Pollution May Increase Risk for Parkinson Disease
New research from Seol suggests elevated exposure to nitrogen dioxide from air pollution was linked with a greater risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. “We know that it is a disorder…
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Paul Barber in UCLA Newsroom: Scientists create genetic library for mega-ecosystem in Pacific Ocean
Now, UCLA ecologist Paul Barber and colleagues from UCLA and three other institutions have created a library of DNA “barcodes” that identify 605 species in the California Current, including 275…
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Alex Hall study featured in The Conversation: Global evidence links rise in extreme precipitation to human-driven climate change
Human activities, such as burning fossil fuels for transportation and electricity, have worsened the intensity of extreme rainfall and snowfall over land in recent decades, not just in a few…
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Brad Shaffer in The Los Angeles Times: This architect is trying to save cougars from becoming roadkill on California freeways
Brad Shaffer, an evolutionary biologist at UCLA, has high hopes the wildlife crossing will reshape not just the landscape for its top predator but the character of Southern California. “From…
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Daniel Swain in Bloomberg: Drought Indicators in Western U.S. Flash Warnings of the ‘Big One’
Summer in the U.S. begins with widespread drought already at historic levels across 11 states. Experts warn of worsening conditions once wildfires start. “As far as drought goes, this is…
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Rajit Gadh in The Hill: Summer heat brings new challenge to electric grid
Rajit Gadh, director of the University of California, Los Angeles’s Smart Grid Energy Resource Center expressed concern that grid issues were cropping up so early this year. “We’re very early…
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Travis Longcore and V. Kelly Turner in National Geographic: Los Angeles confronts its shady divide
Trees cover is abundant primarily in rich, mostly white neighborhoods in Los Angeles. But in predominantly Black&brown neighborhoods such as Huntington Park, which is 97% Hispanic, shade is vanishingly rare.…
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Stephanie Pincetl weighs in for CalMatters — Water shortages: Why some Californians are running out in 2021 and others aren’t
Drought resilience depends on location but also extraordinary engineering — determining which California places are running out of water this year and which remain in good shape. The issue is…
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IoES Director of Communications David Colgan in Los Angeles Magazine: For L.A.’s Jet Setters, Semiprivate Flights Are Taking Off
Some Angelenos are waving goodbye to flying commercial and opting for luxe—and sometimes surprisingly cheap—semiprivate flights. But traveling this way has a greater environmental impact, says David Colgan from the…
