The drought that has enveloped southwestern North America for the past 22 years is the region’s driest “megadrought” — defined as a drought lasting two decades or longer — since at least the year 800, according to a new UCLA-led study in the journal Nature Climate Change. Thanks to the region’s high temperatures and low precipitation levels […]
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Antarctic sea ice level could reach record low in 2022, UCLA climate scientist says
Sometime in the next few weeks, during late summer in the Southern Hemisphere, the area covered by sea ice around Antarctica will reach its annual minimum. According to UCLA climate scientist Marilyn Raphael, the measurement could set a new record low, just five years after the last record was established. That’s because current conditions in […]
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Days with hazardous levels of air pollutants are more common due to increase in wildfires
After decades of air quality improvement due to the Clean Air Act of 1970 and other regulations since, the Western U.S. is experiencing an increase in the number of days with extremely high levels of two key types of air pollutants due to climate change. From 2000 to 2020, the growing number of wildfires — […]
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Nearly half of caregivers in California experienced financial stress, UCLA CHPR study finds
November 29, 2021 – Nearly half or 44.4% of California’s estimated 6.7 million adult caregivers reported experiencing some level of financial stress in 2020 due to their role, according to a new study published by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR). In that same year, 13.5% of all caregivers, which refers to adults who reported providing care […]
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A possible case of pandemic fatigue: Californians report slightly lower rates of following certain safety guidelines as COVID-19 rates declined
Did Californians continue to follow COVID-19 state and local safety guidelines as case and death rates declined? The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) has released May 2021 data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) that sheds more light on whether individuals continued to follow suggested safety protocols such as wearing face coverings […]
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UCLA-led study reveals ‘hidden costs’ of being Black in the U.S.
March 8, 2021 – A woman grips her purse tightly as you approach. A store manager follows you because you look “suspicious.” You enter a high-end restaurant, and the staff assume you’re applying for a job. You’re called on in work meetings only when they’re talking about diversity. The indignities and humiliations Black men […]
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Nearly half of California adolescents report mental health difficulties, UCLA CHPR study finds
January 27, 2021 – Mirroring a national trend, 45% of California youth between the ages of 12 and 17 report having recently struggled with mental health issues, with nearly a third of them experiencing serious psychological distress that could interfere with their academic and social functioning, according to a UCLA policy brief released today. The UCLA Center for […]
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UCLA report calls for easier access to data on American Indians’ and Alaska Natives’ health
November 16, 2020 – A new policy brief by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research points out the need for easier access to health data on the nearly 6 million American Indians and Alaska Natives living in the United States. The report’s authors write that the lack of clear data and the challenges in accessing it make it […]
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Study shows large gaps in access to oral health care for poorest Californians
July 28, 2020 – A new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research shows that low-income California adults are less likely to receive timely dental care like regular checkups and are more likely to visit the dentist for specific problems than those with higher incomes — a fact that holds true even for low-income […]
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Earth’s atmosphere far dustier than previously believed
April 14, 2020 – Dust is a key component of Earth’s climate system. When it interacts with clouds, oceans and the sun’s radiation, it has an overall impact on our planet’s living systems, affecting everything from weather and rainfall to global warming. There are two types of dust in the atmosphere, both kicked up by high-velocity […]
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As stay-at-home orders increase, so do feelings of loneliness and depression
March 23, 2020 – To stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, the governing bodies of cities and states across the country are ordering people to stay home. But studies have shown that the loneliness and depression that may result from social isolation impacts not only mental health, but physical health as well. Jena Lee, MD, a […]
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UCLA Anderson Forecast Announces the Arrival of the 2020 Recession in Revision of Forecast Released Earlier in March
Los Angeles, March 16, 2020 — Revising a forecast published March 12, UCLA Anderson Forecast economists say the U.S. economy has entered a recession, ending the expansion that began in July 2009. The revised forecast, which incorporates data reflecting a rapidly changing U.S. economy, together with a review of the 1957–58 H2N2 influenza pandemic, is […]
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2020 Hollywood Diversity Report: A different story behind the scenes
February 6, 2020 – Oscars viewers this weekend might see the predominantly white nominees and think Hollywood still has a diversity problem. It does. But there are indications that the film industry is starting to get the message that diversity sells. The numbers of acting jobs for women and people of color are getting closer […]
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Oysters as Catch of the Day? Perhaps not, if ocean acidity keeps rising
January 29, 2020 – When it comes to carbon emissions, people tend to focus more on what happens in the atmosphere and on land. But about a quarter of carbon emissions dissolve into oceans, lowering the water’s pH and causing ocean acidification. That could affect what kind of seafood is on the menu in coming […]
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The valley oak is poorly adapted to rising temperatures, UCLA-led study finds
Nov. 27, 2019 – With increasing regularity, Californians are witnessing firsthand the destructive power of wildfires. But not everyone sees what happens after the flames die down, when debris is cleared, homes and lives rebuilt — and trees replanted to help nature recover. New research led by UCLA evolutionary biologist Victoria Sork examines whether the […]
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Solar cells (like people!) work better with caffeine
May 1, 2019 – Scientists at the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA have found that caffeine improves the stability of materials under heat – a property known as thermal stability — of perovskite solar cells, which could someday replace traditional silicon-based solar cells. The research, published today in the journal Joule, was led by Yang Yang, UCLA’s Carol […]
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California ‘browning’ more in the south during droughts
March 28, 2019 – Like a climate chameleon, California turned brown during the 2012–16 drought, as vegetation dried or died off. But the change wasn’t uniform. According to research from UCLA and Columbia University, large areas of the northern part of the state were not severely affected, while Southern California became much browner than usual. “Southern […]
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UCLA researchers studying how the Woolsey fire affects plant and animal recovery
February 15, 2019 – After the Woolsey fire burned more than 150 square miles in November in the Santa Monica Mountains, two of the most important questions became how long it would take plants and animals to recover, and which ones will thrive or die out after the mountains’ worst fire ever recorded. Now, a […]
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Seeing double could help resolve dispute about how fast the universe is expanding
Jan. 22, 2019 – The question of how quickly the universe is expanding has been bugging astronomers for almost a century. Different studies keep coming up with different answers — which has some researchers wondering if they’ve overlooked a key mechanism in the machinery that drives the cosmos. Now, by pioneering a new way to […]
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Proposed changes in federal immigration policy could cost CA billions of dollars and thousands of jobs
Dec. 18, 2018 – U.S. immigration officials use the term “public charge” to describe people applying for a green card who are deemed likely to become primarily dependent on the government to meet their basic needs. Under proposed changes to Department of Homeland Security immigration rules that could be implemented as soon as spring 2019, […]