IoES in the News
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Daniel Swain in The Guardian: ‘Potentially the worst drought in 1,200 years’: scientists on the scorching US heatwave
Researchers had long forewarned of this crisis and now they’re seeing their studies and models become real life. “The most distressing part? This was predictable’,” says Daniel Swain on The…
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Doctoral Student Danielle Hoague in Grist: Decades after Watts revolted, the Black neighborhood is being ‘revitalized’ — but the cost is steep
Los Angeles’ future is haunted by its past in the South L.A. neighborhood of Watts. A community that has experienced social, economic, and environmental neglect for decades is now the…
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Karen McKinnon Research Featured in UCLA Newsroom: Reduced humidity increases wildfire threat in Southwest United States
Atmospheric moisture decreased by a third in California and Nevada since 1950, a study led by Karen Mckinnon of ULCA’s Insitute of the Environment and Sustainability finds. For an already…
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Yifang Zhu in Newswise: UCLA-led Research Finds Connections Between Air Quality and COVID Vulnerability
A UCLA-led team has found that U.S. counties with higher exposures to poor air quality, historically, saw higher county-level COVID-19 mortality rates in 2020, with a 7.6% increase in COVID-19…
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Daniel Swain in New York Magazine: California’s Last Fire Season Was a Historic Disaster. This One Might Be Worse.
“Most Californians — their experience with wildfire was seeing it on the evening news, watching the live helicopter shots of the Chaparral burning above Los Angeles,” Swain says. “Maybe seeing…
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V. Kelly Turner Op-Ed in Next City: As Urban Areas Feel the Heat, It’s Time for National Cool Communities Standards
“Over the past 30 years, guess what kind of weather disaster has killed more Americans than any other? It’s not hurricanes or tornadoes. It’s not flooding or lightning. It’s heat. And…
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Oscar Neyra-Nazarrett Announced as Recipient of 2020-2021 Spark Grant — Harvard Innovation Labs
ESE student Oscar Neyra-Nazarrett’s mining startup listed as a 2020-2021 Spark Grant Recipient in Harvard Innovation Labs’ article.
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Daniel Swain in Popular Science: What you need to know about the heatwave and drought scorching the western US
For many states, summer is off to a historically hot and dry start. Across the western half of the United States, heat records are being broken by the dozen. On…
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Daniel Swain in Los Angeles Magazine: Maps Illustrate Just How Bad the Drought Really Is
Scientists are tracking drought conditions that are worse than they’ve been in at least 20 years. “There’s a 100 percent chance that it gets worse before it gets better,” UCLA…
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IoES Graduate Student Robert Ulrich writes for Nature: Queer geoscientists need more than visibility
Visibility is important, but to be truly inclusive, we need to create strong, resilient, and intersectional geoscience communities that confront the violence from both within and outside of academia, argues…
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Daniel Swain in The New York Times: Where the Grass is Greener, Except When It’s ‘Nonfunctional Turf’
Much of the West is experiencing the worst drought in decades, a “megadrought” that has kindled early wildfires and severe water shortages — and the seasonal heat has hardly begun.…
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Troy Carter in Nature World News: Scientists Recreate Aurora Borealis in Lab to Understand How Northern Lights Are Formed
Now, for the first time, researchers have demonstrated and made confirmation of the mechanism whereby the particle acceleration takes place – by replicating the process in a laboratory. Just as…
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Alex Hall and other UC experts convene to discuss innovative solutions to California’s wildfires
Wildfires have had a devastating impact on California over the last four years, and with the state in severe drought, another dangerous fire season looms. UCLA Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences…
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Troy Carter in UCLA Newsroom: ‘Surfing’ particles: Physicists solve a mystery surrounding aurora borealis
Scientists know that electrons and other energized particles that emanate from the sun as part of the “solar wind” speed down Earth’s magnetic field lines and into the upper atmosphere,…
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Jon Christensen Research featured in CALmatters: Every Californian needs a walk in the park
Recent research by UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability showed that 57% of Californians live within a typical walk, bike ride or short drive of a state park. Although 59%…
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Alex Hall in Capital Public Radio: California Drought Could Mean Peak Fire Season Months Earlier Than Usual
The last 18 months have been among the driest and hottest on record in California, leading Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a drought emergency in over 40 counties. Moisture levels…
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Daniel Swain in Axios: The Southwest’s new climate peril
Studies show that a warming climate is exacerbating the drought, and in some ways may be triggering it in the first place. That means the Southwest is drying out —…
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Daniel Swain in The Weather Channel: These Eight Facts Show the Seriousness of California’s Drought
According to the latest Drought Monitor analysis as of May 25, not only is the entire state of California in drought, but 26% of the state is in “exceptional drought”,…
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Benefits of Infrastructure Funding Measures Stymied by Barriers in L.A. County
As billions of dollars become available, UCLA-Liberty Hill Foundation report recommends actions for community-informed, integrated infrastructure to improve quality of life for Angelenos Affordable housing adjacent to a public transit…
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Miriam Marlier in National Geographic: In California, extreme heat and ozone pollution hit poor communities hardest
A new study identifies places in the state where the climate-intensified health risks are linked. “We’re exposed to air pollution and extreme heat, often at the same time. Now we’re…
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Daniel Swain in ABC News: Grim western fire season starts much drier than record 2020
Scientists say the outlook for the western U.S. fire season is grim because it’s starting far drier than 2020’s record-breaking fire year. UCLA meteorologist Daniel Swain, who also works for…
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Gregory Pierece in Public Policy Institute of California: A Look at California’s Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Gaps
The State Water Board recently completed a multi-year needs assessment of the state’s safe drinking water challenges. One big takeaway: more money is needed. The study identified a funding gap…
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Daniel Swain in KTLA: fire season starts much drier in U.S. West than record-shattering 2020
As bad as last year’s record-shattering fire season was, the western U.S. starts this year’s in even worse shape. The soil in the West is record dry for this time…
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Deepak Rajogopal on NPR and KPCC’s “Take Two:” Intimate Partner Violence and Homelessness, Community College Police Training, Ride Share …
Professor Deepak Rajagopal weighs in on California’s landmark mandate on Uber and Lyft to go electric & zero carbon for NPR and KPCC’s “Take Two.” The episode aired May 24,…
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Stephanie Pincetl in Popular Science
Summer’s right around the corner, but the heat is already on. From unrelenting sunshine to sizzling grills, feeling hot (and cooling down) are part of the daily grind now. Stephanie…
