IoES in the News

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Experts said the storm’s arrival was certainly unusual; it was one of the closest approaches of an intact tropical cyclone to California in decades, according to Daniel Swain, a climate…

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As California narrowly avoided widespread blackouts, the millions of residents who kept the grid afloat by jacking up thermostats and shutting appliances were not the only ones feeling the heat.…

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Heat’s impact on the grid is twofold, explained Eric Fournier, research director at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. First, more people turn on their air conditioners and run them for longer on hot days, which means electricity demand is higher. Second, heat has a physical impact on the infrastructure of the grid, making wires less efficient at moving electricity and pushing transformers and thermal power plants to their temperature limits. As the temperature rises, those air conditioners have to work harder to cool the air — which means they draw more power, straining the grid even more. “So you get this feedback loop,” said Fournier.

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California has experienced temperatures as high as 117 degrees Fahrenheit in certain areas. “This will be essentially the worst September heat wave on record, certainly in Northern California and arguably…

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2020 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award winner Clara L. Pratte was appointed by President Biden to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC), which gives advice to the White House on…

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“This is going to be a long-duration event,” said UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain. “And that’s sort of characteristic of heat domes — that’s partly because they can sort of be self-persisting,…

Awards

UCLA distinguished professor emeritus and founding director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Richard Turco, received The Future of Life Award for his role in the discovery…

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“The shrinking of Lake Powell is due to a number of factors, including the climate change-induced drying noted above, increasing human demand for water in the Basin, and various specific…

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Following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China canceled bilateral climate discussions with the US on August 5. At this time, the world’s two largest polluters are no longer involved…

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“It is unusual, especially on the extreme precipitation [and] flash flood side,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California at Los Angeles. “They’re not just beating…

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California has enacted laws that would ban the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, aiming to reduce its biggest source of carbon emissions. Cara Horowitz, co-executive director of the…

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Brad Shaffer, director of the UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, was interviewed for a recent article…

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Extreme heat & wildfire smoke are both harmful to our health, but new research led by doctoral student Noam Rosenthal suggests that when we are exposed to both at the…

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The reasons global waterways have dried to a trickle are complex. There’s the impact of the weather-roiling La Nina, prolonged drought in many regions and also simple bad luck. But the…

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“I think that incentives are a way to reward the rich for doing the right thing and don't do a whole lot for the poor," said Stephanie Pincetl, director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA.

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Turner is focused on the issue of extreme heat, and how we can address the looming crisis. “Protecting people from extreme heat will require a coordinated and well-researched government approach,”…

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Climate change is hastening the arrival of a different “Big One” in California. The New York Times features Daniel Swain and Xingying Huang’s research on the state’s coming megastorm.

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“Our findings suggest that some birds may have been able to use more spaces in cities because our human footprint was a little lighter,” said Sanderfoot, who completed the study…

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“When water comes at such a high rate from the sky, it’s really hard to capture it. And so it ends up being more destructive than it is beneficial,” said…

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“If it (passes)… it will mark a true milestone in the United States,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “It will be the first legislation in…

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Yoram Cohen, a desalination expert and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at UCLA  weighs in on Catalina Island’s desalination plant, its impact, and the drought.  “At the end of…

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There’s not necessarily an increase in the number of fires in the West, “but the fires are bigger, more severe, and last longer so the total area burned per year…

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“Climate change is clearly increasing the severity and frequency of unprecedented extreme heat events globally,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Yahoo News…

Blog

The final group of candidates for the 2022 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award includes a government official, an environmental startup evaluator, an epidemiologist and a wildlife director.

Blog

The next group of candidates includes Latino environmental leaders, the CEO of a solar capsule company, an Antarctic oceanographer and an energy director advocating for the protection of Indigenous lands.