IoES in the News

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Apply now to be a GloCal Health Fellow at CBI

Fellowship applications are now open for advanced PhD and professional students and post-docs to spend a year conducting research related to health (defined broadly) at CBI’s campus in Cameroon through…


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What you need to know about LA’s urban heat problem

Who is measuring the problem and how is LA trying to cool down the city? Urban heat is disproportionate across the county and many residents do not have air conditioning.…

what you need to know about la’s urban heat problem

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Unnatrual Selection: On Extinction and De-Extinction

Why is resurrecting an extinct species (especially megafauna such as dinosaurs) a recurring theme in pop culture? IoES faculty member Ursula K. Heise’s discusses the environmental culture of, “de-extinction,” in her…

unnatrual selection: on extinction and de-extinction

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California Today: Is This What Climate Change Looks Like?

Record high heat waves, multiple blazes, and microbursts all throughout California- is this what climate change looks like? Learn more about Dr. Daniel Swain's thoughts about whether this is correlated with climate change, as featured in the New York Times. 

california today: is this what climate change looks like?

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UCLA assistant adjunct professor partners with Congo Basin Institute

Learn more about Kevin Njabo, an assistant adjunct professor who helped establish the Congo Basin Institute at IoES in this Daily Bruin interview. 

ucla assistant adjunct professor partners with congo basin institute

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Aquaculture can feed the world, new report claims

The results of their study, “Mapping the global potential for marine aquaculture,” published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution on 14 August, demonstrates the oceans’ vast potential to support aquaculture, director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and report co-author Peter Kareiva said. “We need to find more protein for our growing population, and we have pretty much tapped out wild fish as protein sources,” he said. “This study shows that farming fish in the ocean could play a huge role in feeding people without degrading our ocean or overfishing wild species.”

aquaculture can feed the world, new report claims

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Opponents make 11th-hour bid to stop Newhall Ranch development

Stephanie Pincetl, a professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, said the ultimate decision on whether the project moves forward will depend on how broadly a judge interprets the developer’s obligations under the California Environmental Quality Act. “Newhall … complied with the letter of the law," she said. “It’ll depend on the judge and if the judge is willing to look at the larger set of impacts and not rule in a very narrow way.”

opponents make 11th-hour bid to stop newhall ranch development

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The Science Police

In their introduction to the upcoming book, the ecologists Peter Kareiva and Michelle Marvier write: “Working as editors for some of the major journals in our field, we have seen first-hand reviewers worrying as much about the political fallout and potential misinterpretation by the public as they do about the validity and rigor of the science.”

the science police

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Why the Eclipse Could Be a Bummer for Much of L.A.

Sky-watching weather in parts of Los Angeles is expected to be less than ideal. A cutoff low weather system is working to eclipse the historic eclipse today by bringing low clouds to the coast.

why the eclipse could be a bummer for much of l.a.

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Ever wondered how much your pet’s diet impacts the environment?

Meat production has well-documented impacts on the environment, as Okin notes in a study he published this month in the journal PloS ONE: “Compared to a plant-based diet, a meat-based diet requires more energy, land, and water and has greater environmental consequences in terms of erosion, pesticides, and waste.”

ever wondered how much your pet’s diet impacts the environment?

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America’s Fancy Pet Food Addiction Is a Big Problem for the Environment

American pets have been increasingly served up prime cuts of meat, but this food comes at a cost.

america’s fancy pet food addiction is a big problem for the environment

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Fido, fluffy and climate change: The news is not good

Meat-eating cats and dogs create the equivalent of about 64 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, about the same climate impact as a year’s worth of driving from 13.6…

fido, fluffy and climate change: the news is not good

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Straying Too Far? Professor Says Dogs and Cats Harm Climate, Advises Hamsters Instead

In his paper published last week, UCLA professor Gregory S. Okin found that meat-eating dogs and cats create the equivalent of 64 million tons of carbon dioxide per year based on the energy consumption required to produce their food, or the same impact as driving 13.6 million cars.

straying too far? professor says dogs and cats harm climate, advises hamsters instead

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Did we humans contribute to the Texas heat wave? It’s complicated

"One of the clearest signals that is summarized in this report is that California is already a warmer place than it used to be", said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA whose work is cited in the report.

did we humans contribute to the texas heat wave? it’s complicated

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Your Carnivorous Pet May Have a Large Carbon ‘Pawprint’

UCLA researchers say that meat-eating pets meat might have unexpectedly large effects on climate change. Pets generate 64 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, UCLA geography professor Gregory Okin…

your carnivorous pet may have a large carbon ‘pawprint’

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Climate gloom and doom? Bring it on. But we need stories about taking action, too

Facts are not enough. Bring people into the story of science to stimulate their curiosity and inspire them to action. 

climate gloom and doom? bring it on. but we need stories about taking action, too

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Climate gloom and doom? Bring it on.

UCLA’s Jon Christensen urges people to tell stories that inspire action against climate change. 

climate gloom and doom? bring it on.

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Federal report sees human-caused changes to California’s climate

Since the 1980’s, human activity has caused higher temperatures and extreme swings between floods and droughts in California’s climate. 

federal report sees human-caused changes to california’s climate

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Climate gloom and doom? Bring it on. But we need stories about taking action, too

In order to take action, people not only need to hear the bad news, they need to hear the good news too.

climate gloom and doom? bring it on. but we need stories about taking action, too

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Your Pet’s Food Is Not Helping the Environment

Meat production has a significant impact on the Earth's environment — and new research shows that your pets are part of the problem.

do your pets contribute to climate change? one ucla professor says yes

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Here’s what your pets are really doing to the environment

 Armed with a survey estimating that Americans owned 77.8 million pet dogs and 85.6 million pet cats in 2015, Gregory Okin started investigating pets' food needs.

here’s what your pets are really doing to the environment

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Study gives pet lovers paws

A shocking new study unleashed by UCLA is blaming family pets for causing some global warming.

study gives pet lovers paws

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U.S. pets are responsible for 30% of the environmental impact of meat eating

If America’s dogs and cats were their own country, their meat consumption would rank fifth in the world.

u.s. pets are responsible for 30% of the environmental impact of meat eating

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UCLA professor says dogs and cats contribute significantly to climate change

In a study released Wednesday, a geography professor at UCLA calculated that the meat-based food Americans’ dogs and cats eat – and the waste those pets produce – generate the equivalent of about 64 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

ucla professor says dogs and cats contribute significantly to climate change

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LA’s new cleantech chief and a champion for tomorrow’s talent

Vien Truong, Pritzker candidate, featured in GreenBiz.

la’s new cleantech chief and a champion for tomorrow’s talent