Environment + Climate

A rolling water treatment plant designed by UCLA researchers made a pit stop on campus this week before heading north to the San Joaquin Valley, where it will help address California’s inadequate water supply.

University of California experts gathered for a daylong summit in the state Capitol to discuss impacts and implications of one the most severe droughts on record.

With the worldwide celebration of Earth Day taking place this week in more than 190 countries, a number of organizations have taken note of UCLA’s commitment to sustainability and environmental excellence.

UCLA scientists found that not only have male coquis become smaller, but their mating call has also become shorter and higher pitched; the researchers attribute the change to Puerto Rico's warmer temperatures.

The gift will support research and policy fellows; fund student scholarships and a public service fellowship; support outreach, events and speaker series; and provide resources to attract faculty.

Hosted by Jeanne and Tony Pritzker, the star-studded event raised $650,000 to support UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability research and education initiatives.

Caribbean fighting conch used to be harvested with more meat, but evolved to mature at a smaller size.

The researchers used an innovative technique called clumped isotope thermometry to help determine temperature patterns dating to the last ice age, 20,000 years ago.

UCLA engineering professor Yoram Cohen's Gray2Blue system cleans up a home's gray water for reuse in irrigating the garden. It could save Californians billions of gallons of clean water every day.

With about 70,000 people and the water needs of a small city, UCLA can take small steps toward conservation during California’s drought that will add up to big savings.

In the debate about which plant and animal species endangered by climate change should be rescued and which are expendable, a small band of UCLA botanists is fervently championing a desert plant most of us have never seen or heard of.

A scientist, together with a graduate student, used cutting-edge research tools at UCLA to help Turkish archaeologists decipher a large, neolithic mural that many believe is the world's earliest depiction of a volcanic eruption.

UCLA's Laurence C. Smith and other leading climate scholars call for the development of an early warning system to help society better anticipate the potentially calamitous impacts of climate change.

"Wow, that’s one big fish!" That was the reaction of everyone at UCLA’s Translational Research Imaging Center when a monster fish story became reality in the form of a rare 14-foot, 250-pound oarfish.

A major new environmental research project is the first of UCLA's six Grand Challenges, which aim to address pressing societal issues through multidisciplinary innovations and breakthroughs.

Now housed in the UCLA Department of English, the University of California Press magazine is produced by Jon Christensen with support from UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

Ever wish Los Angeles traffic moved better? It might if more commuters followed the lead of UCLA, where only about half of campus commuters drive alone to work.

Snowfall will drop by 30 to 40 percent in Los Angeles-area mountains by midcentury due to climate change, and things could get worse by 2100 if we don't rein in greenhouse gases, according to a UCLA study.

The effect of rising temperatures on the interaction of species "is going to have very important consequences for the stability and functioning of ecosystems," UCLA biologists say.

In addition to changing HDL from "good" to "bad," the inhalation of emissions activates other components of oxidation, the early cell and tissue damage that causes inflammation, leading to hardening of the arteries.

Using a novel method for measuring land-based temperatures, UCLA researchers found the region is now 10 to 14 degrees hotter than 20,000 years ago, during the last ice age.

UCLA researchers found that people who live up 1.5 kilometers away from freeways — a greater distance than previously thought — are exposed to pollutants each day.

Understanding how turtles protect their hearts and brains from long-term oxygen deprivation may one day improve treatments for heart attacks and strokes in humans.

The new map lets residents find how much energy the average customer in their neighborhood uses, see how that use relates to income level and track energy use over time.

The star-studded March 5 event attended by Barbra Streisand, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening and other celebrities garnered more than $1 million for the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.