IoES in the News
Blog
Student Blog: Shining a Light on Light Pollution in CIDSR
By Mahliya Purificacion The night sky has long been a source of awe for humanity, serving as inspiration for science, religion, and countless pieces of art and literature. For past…
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Alex Hall in The Los Angeles Times: California is so hot and dry that not even soaking rain can ease fall fire peril
A summer of drought, extreme heat and deadly wildfires will end with much-needed rain this week in parts of California, but it is unlikely to douse the threat of wind-driven fires this fall…
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Chase Niesner in The Los Angeles Times: Inside the war against Southern California’s urban coyotes. ‘Horrific’ or misunderstood?
In Los Angeles, there is a deep division between those who want to eradicate coyotes and those who seek peaceful coexistence with the species. On one hand, people want to…
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Brad Shaffer in The New York Times — Opinion: Humans Have a Long History of Making ‘Very Bad Decisions’ to Save Animals
An ambitious project of more than 100 scientists led by the biologist Brad Shaffer at UCLA is currently working to catalog the genomes of about 230 animal and plant species across…
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Brad Shaffer in The New York Times: novel genomic approaches to biodiversity conservation
The California Conservation Genomics Project, led by UCLA La Kretz Center director Brad Shaffer, is highlighted as a unique, coordinated effort to help avert climate-related extinctions across the state. The article also discusses Shaffer's concept of Urban Arks, where non-native endangered species may find sanctuary in cities and urban environments.
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Gregory Okin in CNN: Our pets are part of the climate problem. These tips can help you minimize their carbon pawprints
Our four-legged friends don’t drive gas-guzzling SUVs or use energy-sucking appliances, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a climate impact. Their meat-heavy diet is the biggest contributor to their…
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Daniel Blumstein in the Los Angeles Times: Don’t worry about that squirrel ‘splooting’ — it’s just trying to beat the heat
“Bears do it, squirrels do it, rabbits do it, dogs [too],” said Daniel Blumstein, a professor at UCLA’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. “They get really flat when they’re…
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Rajit Gadh in dot.LA — Businesses in Los Angeles Are Working to Lessen Burden on Strained Power Grid
Rajit Gadh has led research at UCLA for more than a decade that considers the viability of using electric car batteries to supplement the grid. “[You] can get data from the…
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Daniel Swain in The Los Angeles Times: With Tropical Storm Kay arriving, here’s how to check your flood risk
Tropical Storm Kay, a system along the northern coast of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, is expected to cause heavy rains, flash flooding, strong winds and muggy conditions through Saturday. However,…
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Daniel Swain in the New York Times: Californians Unsure if Tropical Storm Will Be Friend or Foe
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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Rajit Gadh in The Washington Post: California scrambles to avoid blackouts as it pursues a green energy future
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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The real reason a heat wave is pushing California’s power grid to its limits
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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Daniel Swain in Huffington Post: California Endures Worst Days Of Severe, Relentless Heat Wave
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 Award Winner Appointed to President Biden’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council
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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Daniel Swain in The Los Angeles Times: Under a Heat Dome — California will broil this week in a ‘long-duration event’
“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
Future of Life Institute honors Richard Turco and other ‘nuclear winter’ pioneers
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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Daniel Swain in Salon: A shrinking Lake Powell could herald an even worse water crisis in the Southwest’s future
“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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Alex Wang in Barron’s: The U.S. and China Aren’t Talking Climate. Should We Worry?
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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Daniel Swain in The Washington Post: Record rain is hitting drought-stricken areas. That’s not good news.
“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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Cara Horowitz in Financial Times: California climate rule to halt sale of new petrol cars by 2035
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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What’s the deal with all the turtles in Los Angeles parks?
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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Noam Rosenthal Research featured in UCLA Newsroom: Dangerous combination of extreme heat and smoke affected 16.5 million Californians
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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Daniel Swain in Bloomberg: The World’s Rivers, Canals and Reservoirs Are Turning to Dust
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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Renters are largely left out of the eco-home movement – Dr. Pincetl in the OC Register
“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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V. Kelly Turner research highlighted in UC Office of the President: Heat waves aren’t going anywhere. Here’s how we can prepare.
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,”…
