IoES in the News

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“The rise of CCAs (Community Choice Aggregators) has had both direct and indirect positive effects on overall renewable energy consumed in California, leading the state to meet its 2030 RPS targets approximately ten years in advance,” write Luskin Center director JR DeShazo. People in CCAs are using their purchasing power to push larger utilities to work toward increasing renewable energy.

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“Some fire scientists would roll their eyes at the term ‘fire tornado,'” says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “But they aren’t rolling their eyes on this one.” Craig Clements, an associate professor at San José State University, went to investigate the site and "what was left was unlike anything he’d ever seen." 

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“What has been really unusual in the Western U.S. this summer has been the sustained heat,” said Alex Hall, UCLA climate scientist. “It really pulls water out of vegetation, and that sets up conditions for big fires,” – building up the largest fires and fire season in California history.

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By Sonia Aronson A faculty committee is in the process of selecting three finalists for this year’s Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award. In the meantime, here’s the next group of…

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Climate change is creating the perfect dry conditions that allow wildfires to ignite and thrive. “This fire vortex, this pretty terrifying tornado-like feature, and I don’t say that lightly… was made possible by the extreme heat produced by this fire,” said Daniel Swain about the Carr Fire. 

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The Carr fire has done uncommon movement – jumping, turning, and becoming fire tornadoes. Daniel Swain, UCLA climate scientist, talking about fire tornadoes, “Not sure I’ve ever seen anything quite…

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“The temperatures have just been almost inexorably warmer all the time... burn more intensely if the fuels are extremely dry,” said UCLA's Daniel Swain. The heat wave created the dry conditions for wildfires to explode and burn throughout California.

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"California’s sweltering heat and deadly fires this month are no coincidence." Time looks into the correlation between the prolonged heat wave and explosive wildfires. UCLA's Daniel Swain explained how the heat is contributing to California's most damaging fire season.

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The warm and dry season outweighs the wet season. California is in one of its biggest fire season. Northern California saw its wettest winter on record in 2016-17, followed by its warmest summer. That led to extremely dry vegetation by the fall — just before the devastating Santa Rosa fire hit, UCLA's Daniel Swain said.

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Nuns bring local salamander colony back to life. Ambystoma dumerilii once thrived in Lake Pátzcuaro in Mexico, however, as the lake declined, so did the number of salamanders. The nuns took notice and brought them into the convent. The convent now house about 300 salamanders and UCLA's Dr. Brad Shaffer said, "if they’re relatively unrelated, is a very, very healthy, large stock to be working from" to bring back the endangered species.

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“We’re now seeing decades-old scientific predictions being validated in the real world, right before our eyes,” said UCLA climate scientist, Daniel Swain. We can no longer afford to be skeptic…

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A heavy layer of smoke, called an inversion, is covering and making the ground invisible to fire fighting aircraft. Because Sacramento Valley "is a bowl, surrounded on three sides by mountains. It is only open to the south... The air is stagnant at the top, the north end, of the valley,” said UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain. Without visibility, the fire fighting aircraft cannot navigate through the smoke and fly safely.

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“We have these long, hot, dry summers that are getting progressively drier… We’re not at the end of summer yet,” Swain told The Sacramento Bee about the conditions that have…

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UCLA School of Law now offers a specialization in environmental law. Sean Hecht, co-executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment said the addition was pushed not only by administrative planning, but student interest as well.

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Are wildfires all around the world the new normal? UCLA professor Glen MacDonald said, this is not the new normal, this is only a stepping store. He joined Madeline Brand on KCRW's Press Play to talk about the global wildfires and it is featured in the third section under "Fires burning all over the world: We might look back and say 'those were the good old days'".

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“Over decades there has been a trend toward less moisture in the soil and forest, and that is affecting how dry the vegetation is becoming in summer,” said UCLA's Daniel Swain in the New York Times. These trends are ultimately increasing the risk of wildfires and contributing to Yosemite's largest closing.

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“It’s a lot easier to get bad fires under these conditions,” UCLA's Daniel Swain said, “because you don’t need as much of a push from the winds.” The Carr fire was started by a single car malfunction and sparked into one of the largest fires in California's history. 

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“Over the years, we’re putting more people in harm’s way,” UCLA’s Daniel Swain said. “More people living in high fire risk areas than usual.” As people sprawl out to less…

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“It rises, stretches and spins, like a ballerina.” UCLA's Daniel Swain described the movement and evolution of the Carr fire into a fire vortex – a scary phenomenon affecting Redding, CA that is making the fire more difficult to contain.

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CBS SF BayArea covered the Carr Fire as it spiraled into a fire tornado. UCLA climate scientist, Daniel Swain, explained the phenomenon and said, “it allows fire to jump over barriers..It causes it (the fire) to do crazy, very unpredictable things.”

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Yale shows pride in three alumni finalists in the Pritzker Awards. These three women are taking environmental problems head-on – transforming the food industry, strengthening community initiatives, and bringing affordable solar energy to low-income communities.

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By Sonia Aronson Last week UCLA announced 20 candidates for the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award. Over the next few weeks, we’ll introduce you to them One will take home…

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What is Los Angeles doing to reduce blackouts during these heat waves? Lauren Hunt joined Madeline Brand on KCRW's Press Play to speak on what the city and utility companies are working on and what you can do to help reduce blackouts and your carbon footprint.

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With climate change increasing the frequency of wildfires, who is liable for the damages? UCLA's Sean Hecht joined Libby Denkmann on KPCC's AirTalk and explained who is being held liable now and how that may shift in the future.

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Trump is trying to push back and cap the fuel-efficiency standards. UCLA law professor, Ann Carlson, said,“This proposal is an extraordinary repudiation of sensible climate policies, an assault on California’s…