Alex Hall is a Professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Director of the Center for Climate Science at UCLA and Interim Director of UCLA’s Sustainable LA Grand Challenge. His research is focused on reducing climate change uncertainty at both regional and global scales.

At the regional scale, he has been active in the development of downscaling techniques to understand climate change at the scales most relevant to people and ecosystems. Alex and his team at the Center for Climate Science use these techniques to create neighborhood-scale projections of future climate. They have recently completed downscaling studies over the Los Angeles region and the Sierra Nevada, and projects are currently under way to investigate the future of extreme precipitation and fire in California.

Alex was a Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 5th Assessment Report’s chapter on regional climate change and a Contributing Author to its chapter on climate model evaluation. He was also Coordinating Lead Author of the Los Angeles Region Report, part of California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment. In 2016, he received the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award, and in 2019, he was awarded the AGU’s Future Horizons in Climate Science: Turco Lectureship.

Projects

global climate model evaluation

Global Climate Model Evaluation

Although our research is primarily focused on regional climate change concerns, we are active in global climate research as well. That's because regional climate research starts with a toolkit developed to operate the global scale. A better understanding of those global tools — their strengths and limitations — helps us do better regional work.

the california climate expedition

The California Climate Expedition

The California Climate Expedition is an annual bicycle journey led by Center for Climate Science director Alex Hall and our partners at OnePulse. Each journey explores climate change impacts and solutions first-hand and raises funds for a critical area of climate-related research.

ensuring the sustainability of los angeles water management under climate change

Ensuring the Sustainability of Los Angeles Water Management Under Climate Change

In Fall 2018, the UCLA IoES Center for Climate Science kicked off a new five-year project aimed at improving the sustainability of water management operations and planning in Los Angeles County. Our researchers will work closely with key water agencies to ensure that water resources managers take cutting-edge climate science into account.

los angeles regional climate assessment

Los Angeles Regional Climate Assessment

For more than a decade, the State of California has undertaken periodic scientific assessments with the goal of understanding future climate change impacts on the state. For the first three…

the future of extreme precipitation in california

The Future of Extreme Precipitation in California

Our researchers are investigating the effects of climate change on heavy precipitation events in the state. Specifically, we're focusing on atmospheric rivers, moisture-laden filaments of air that move across oceans and produce heavy precipitation when they make landfall. Understanding how atmospheric rivers are affected in a changing climate is key to smart water planning in the future.

developing metrics to evaluate the skill and credibility of downscaling

Developing Metrics to Evaluate the Skill and Credibility of Downscaling

Within the climate science community, a variety of techniques are used to "downscale" information from global climate models and produce fine-scale projections of future climate, but the relative strengths and weaknesses of these techniques are not well-understood. In this project, we are comparing downscaling techniques and establishing best practices.

climate change in the los angeles region

Climate Change in the Los Angeles Region

The most comprehensive study of climate change in LA to date, the Climate Change in the Los Angeles Region Project was conducted by Center for Climate Science Faculty Director Alex Hall and his research group between 2010 and 2015. Dr. Hall and his team developed a novel method for bringing global climate model projections to high spatial resolution, creating neighborhood-by-neighborhood projections of future climate over the greater Los Angeles region under different scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions.

climate change in the sierra nevada

Climate Change in the Sierra Nevada

Using an innovative technique to produce high-resolution future climate projections, our team is answering key questions about the fate of the Sierra Nevada snowpack, a critical natural resource that not only supports an iconic ecosystem but also provides freshwater to millions of Californians.

climate change in los angeles county: grid vulnerability to extreme heat

Climate Change in Los Angeles County: Grid Vulnerability to Extreme Heat

In this project, UCLA and Arizona State University researchers developed a sophisticated and in-depth description of future electricity demand, grid response, and vulnerability due to increased heat events in Southern California Edison territory under current and future climate scenarios. The project's findings enable innovative grid management and operation strategies and identify adaptation guidance.

Recent Publications

A Hybrid Dynamical-Statistical Downscaling Technique, Part II: End-of-Century Warming Projections Predict a New Climate State in the Los Angeles Region.

F. Sun, D. Walton, and A. Hall

Published Work | Journal of Climate

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Observed Climate-Snowpack Relationships in California and their Implications for the Future

Sarah Kapnick, Alex Hall

Published Work | Climate

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Accumulation and melt dynamics of snowpack from a multiresolution regional climate model in the central Sierra Nevada, California

T. Pavelsky, S. Kapnick, A. Hall

Published Work | Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres

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El Nio-Southern Oscillation impacts on winter winds over Southern California

Neil Berg, Alex Hall, Scott Capps, Mimi Hughes

Published Work | Journal of Climate Dynamics

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