Climate Change

Climate change touches every part of the world and increasingly affects daily lives in profound and challenging ways. We’re exploring numerous aspects of this existential threat, including projecting future realities, public policy and adaptation.

Magazine

In the News

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Opinion: A summer of extreme heat and wildfire shows the cost of human folly. CCSC’s Stephanie Pincetl in the LA Times.

As Greece attempts to recover from the recent destructive wildfires around Athens, Southern Californians facing our own heat wave should take note of the pattern that enabled them. It should be well-known by now: sprawl into the urban-wildland interface where development collides with nature, the corresponding replacement of grass, shrubs and other plants native to the area with many more trees for shade, then strain on the land thanks to drought, record high heat and wind, intensified by climate change. The conditions that led to the worst wildfires in Greece this year, burning 156 square miles, damaging more than 100 homes and causing at least one death, apply in Los Angeles too.


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The 2025 La Kretz Center Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

Now accepting applications for our annual postdoctoral fellowship. Deadline November 25th, 2024.


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Daniel Swain for NatGeo—Drought, flooding, drought again: Is ‘weather whiplash’ our new normal?

UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain explained for National Geographic that California’s extreme weather patterns—marked by rapid transitions between droughts, floods, and wildfires—are examples of “weather whiplash.” This phenomenon, exacerbated by…

Record drought, heat, and floods all create conditions that make large wildfires, like the Park Fire seen here in August, more likely. PHOTOGRAPH BY FRED GREAVES, REUTERS/REDUX

Headline

Alex Hall for 1470 & 100.3 WMBD — Climate-related ‘one-two punch’ seen driving Los Angeles wildfires

UCLA climate scientist Alex Hall discussed wildfire risks around Los Angeles for 1470 & 100.3 WMBD, emphasizing the role of seasonal winds and human activities in exacerbating fire conditions. Southern…

A firefighter sprays water on the Park Fire burning near Forest Ranch, Calif., Saturday, July 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

Announcements

UCLA Ranked Among Top 10 Most Sustainable Universities in the World

UCLA has been ranked as the #9 most sustainable university in the world by Sustainability Magazine. This prestigious ranking highlights UCLA’s commitment to environmental stewardship through decades of initiatives in…

Videos

Climate chaos with climatologist Daniel Swain

UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain joined EarthSky’s Dave Adalian for a live discussion on the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events caused by climate change. Swain, known for…

UCLA’s Comprehensive Sustainability Plan

UCLA has a long history of sustainability leadership — from early energy efficiency efforts and the formation of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability in the 1990s, to the establishment of…

Publications



Advancing a Net Zero Urban Water Future in the United States Southwest: Governance and Policy Challenges and Future Needs

Courtney Crosson*, Stephanie Pincetl, Caroline Scruggs, Neha Gupta, Rashi Bhushan, Sybil Sharvelle, Erik Porse, Andrea Achilli, Adriana Zuniga-Teran, Gregory Pierce, Dominic L. Boccelli, Charles P. Gerba, Melinda Morgan, Tzahi Y. Cath, Bruce Thomson, Steve Baule, Steve Glass, Mark Gold, James MacAdam, Luke Cole, Mead Mier, Catlow Shipek, and Thomas Meixner

Published Work | 2024 | ACS EST Water

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