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NPR

Why Fires Are Becoming California’s New Reality

Delayed rainy seasons, record setting warm summers, increasingly frequent high pressure system, and more. NPR consulted with climate scientist Daniel Swain about why fires are becoming a new norm in…

Featured: Daniel Swain

Vox

VOX Photos: Southern California is burning

“‘The sky is orange, you can smell the smoke, and you know people are losing their homes,’ said University of California Los Angeles environmental scientist Glen MacDonald. ‘It really shows…

Featured Faculty: Glen MacDonald

The Mercury News

What could cause California droughts? Melting sea ice

The Mercury News consulted with IoES post-doctoral scholar/ climate scientist Daniel Swain about about the, “Ridiculously Resilient Ridge” of high pressure that causes droughts and how it affects the weather…

KPCC

3 ways two-day shipping is hurting the environment

“Just by waiting and choosing the standard shipping option,” says Christensen, “you could reduce your carbon footprint dramatically.” 89.3 KPCC’s Take Two segment consulted with IoES faculty member Jon Christensen…

Featured Faculty: Jon Christensen

The Sacramento Bee

Will we be ‘wiped out?’ How climate change is affecting California

When the snow disappears, California will lose what for decades has acted as a natural storage system. Alex Hall, a UCLA professor whose research focuses on reducing uncertainties associated with climate change, said there is mounting evidence that the pattern of long droughts followed by big wet years will become more exaggerated.

Featured Faculty: Alex Hall

Reuters

U.S. withdraws from extractive industries anti-corruption effort

The EITI, which was founded in 2003, and which the United States joined in 2014, sets a global standard for governments to disclose their revenues from oil, gas, and mining assets, and for companies to report payments made to obtain access to publicly owned resources, as well as other donations. “It put more information in the hands of the public,” said Michael Ross, executive director of the Project on Resources, Development, and Governance at the University of California Los Angeles.

Featured Faculty: Michael Ross

Scientific American

Global Climate Meeting Will Forge Ahead, Despite Trump’s Contempt

“The COP president typically has a fair amount of power to set the tone for negotiations,” Horowitz explains. “I expect we’ll see a lot at this COP that relates to the priorities of small island nations.” These nations are extremely vulnerable to rising oceans—their fate is tied to the success of the Paris accord. “They could be among the first to lose significant sovereign territory,” Horowitz says. They will likely push for greater greenhouse gas reductions as well as emphasize adaptation to climate change and paying for losses and damages.

Featured Faculty: Cara Horowitz

The Sacramento Bee

‘It can become unlivable.’ How Jerry Brown is planning for raging fires and extreme heat

Parfrey is part of a regional climate action and sustainability collaboration at the University of California, Los Angeles, where professor Alex Hall led a groundbreaking study that found climate change will push up temperatures by an average of 4 to 5 degrees by the middle of the century. The number of days where temperatures climb above 95 degrees will roughly double on the coast, triple in downtown Los Angeles and quadruple in the valley.

Featured Faculty: Alex Hall

HuffPost

Air Pollution Kills Millions Each Year. Here’s How Cities Can Fight It.

Los Angeles is the poster child for a city that has worked hard to dramatically reduce its air pollution levels. Over the past 50 years, most pollution levels are down more than 75 percent compared to their highs, and that’s despite massive population and economic growth, according to Paulson. 'No other city comes close,' she said. Los Angeles saw tremendous economic development over the past century. But as more people moved in, the city’s blanket of smog grew thicker and thicker. The main culprits were, and still are, vehicle emissions, fumes from industrial plants and the city’s proximity to two of the country’s largest ports.

Featured Faculty: Suzanne Paulson