IoES in the News
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Daniel Swain in The New York Times — Fires, Then Floods: Risk of Deadly Climate Combination Rises
Global warming is greatly increasing the risk that extreme wildfires in the American West are followed by heavy rainfall, a new study has found, highlighting the need for better preparations…
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Daniel Swain in The Los Angeles Times: Think of L.A. spring as the pause between California catastrophes — with poppies
“Spring was kind of a reprieve. It’s as if climate and weather and natural hazards can take a breather,” Swain explains. “You do have fires, but not as bad as…
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Edith de Guzman Research Published in the International Journal of Biometeorology
Ph.D. researcher Edith de Guzman and colleagues found that roughly one in four lives currently lost during heat waves could be saved. They calculated how different tree cover and albedo…
Blog
Rajit Gadh on concerns over Russian cyberattacks against U.S. — KABC-TV
“After the defenses, you still have to have resilience. Let’s say we have two power plants and one goes down — can the other one take the load of this…
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Oases of Nature: Pockets of Paradise on Campus
With hundreds of species of birds, animals, and insects all around us, UCLA is an urban ark of unique and surprising California biodiversity. Enjoy this guided trip of our magnificent…
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UCLA-led study shows that aging slows to a crawl when the animals hibernate
“Our results from different statistical approaches reveal that epigenetic aging essentially stalls during hibernation,” said lead author Gabriela Pinho, who conducted the study as a UCLA doctoral student advised by…
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Emily Lindsey in Scientific American: New Augmented Reality Models Bring Ice Age Animals to Virtual Life
As an example, Lindsey cites the sculpture of a Columbian mammoth sinking into the Lake Pit outside the La Brea Tar Pits Museum—a portrayal that could perpetuate the misconception that asphalt pools…
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Cara Horowitz in Nature: This US Supreme Court decision could derail Biden’s climate plan
West Virginia vs. EPA will be a major test of how aggressively this new court is going to be reshaping legal doctrines, says Cara Horowitz, co-executive director of the Emmett…
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Daniel Swain in The New York Times: What Winter’s Dry Spell Means for California’s Fire Season
This winter’s extreme rainfall and dryness might average out to near-normal levels of precipitation. But that’s no insurance policy against fire, scientists say. “We still get dry years and wet…
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Marilyn Raphael in The New York Times: Sea Ice Around Antarctica Reaches a Record Low
The drop surprised scientists and may help them understand more about climate change affecting Antarctica and its waters. “It’s really unprecedented,” said Marilyn N. Raphael, a professor of geography at…
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Park Williams research: Forest fires increasingly affecting rivers and streams – for better and worse
Even years after the smoke clears, forest fires can significantly affect the amount of water flowing in rivers & streams and increase the risk for floods & landslides, a new…
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New UCLA podcast explores the complexities Los Angeles’ urban ecosystem
“What this project is really about is understanding and respecting the complexity of the urban ecosystem, and understanding that if you pull one thread, it changes everything else,” said Chase…
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Glen MacDonald in The Hill: Southern California wildfires expected to increase in frequency by end of century, study says
Wildfires in Southern California are expected to grow significantly by the end of the century given a projected increase in global temperatures due to climate change. A new study led by University…
Awards
Marilyn Raphael elected president of American Association of Geographers
Marilyn Raphael, director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, has been chosen to lead the American Association of Geographers — a global network of researchers, educators and…
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WIRED: Battery-Powered Trains Are Picking Up Speed
Last fall, researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Deepak Rajagopal from UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability predicted that retrofitting traditional diesel locomotives with battery power could save railroads…
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The Way We Talk About Climate Change Matters, Bill Nye Says – Daniel Blumstein weighs in for The New York Times
“Our future depends on getting the tone right,” Daniel Blumstein, a professor at UCLA’s Institute of Environment and Sustainability, said. He added that the goal should be to eliminate as…
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In California, a New Fight to Stop Building in the Path of Fire. Dr. Pincetl in The New York Times.
“We’re at a kind of inflection point between the legacy of the 20th century and the imperatives of the 21st century,” said Stephanie Pincetl, director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at U.C.L.A. “No, you can’t just develop whatever you want to because you want to — that’s over. There’s no accountability in that over the long term.”
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Tina Trude discovers ocean microbes that can survive up to 120°C — New Scientist
UCLA marine geomicrobiology professor Tina Trude and her research team have discovered ocean microbes that can survive up to 120°C and possibly higher temperatures.
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Daniel Swain new research assesses Western US population to hazardous co-occurrence of fine particulate matter and ground-level ozone
The hazardous co-occurrence of fine particulate matter and ground-level ozone is more common as wildfires and extreme hot weather increase. A new study co-authored by the University of California, Los Angeles‘s…
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Rajit Gadh amongst awardees for University of California $20M grant
UCLA professor Rajit Gadh, with a team from three other UC campuses and the national labs in Berkeley and Livermore, won a grant award from the University of California to…
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Essay — Stephanie Pincetl on California’s need for an agricultural revolution
Thinking about the state’s future and its magnificent resources and agricultural productivity, the fact that much of agriculture today is intertwined with dependence on hydrocarbons—from fertilizers, fumigants and pesticides to…
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Stephanie Pincetl discusses land use development and safety in face of increasing wildfires with The Los Angeles Times
The orders reflect a growing realization that developers simply can’t continue to push into unoccupied areas without dramatically increasing fire risk, especially as climate change-fueled warming and drying has primed more land to burn more intensely, said Stephanie Pincetl, a professor at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.
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Daniel Swain writes for Outside Magazine: The Deadly Dynamics of Colorado’s Marshall Fire
UCLA climate expert Daniel Swain explains how a convergence of climate change, urban sprawl, and extreme weather fueled the costliest wildfire in Colorado history.
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New analysis led UCLA & Berkeley: Safe drinking water may be out of reach for almost 400,000 Californians
“Because this study is limited to three common contaminants, the results likely underestimate the actual number of Californians impacted by unsafe drinking water from other chemicals. The at-risk populations are…
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How to farm in a dry world — Dr. Pincetl for the Los Angeles Times
For California agriculture to survive, we will need nothing short of a revolutionary re-envisioning of the future. The alternative is extinction. Stephanie Pincetl is a professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and founding director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA. This article was produced in partnership with Zócalo Public Square.
