Latinos in the United States helped propel the national economy forward with a total economic outuput, or gross domestic product, of $3.2 trillion in 2021, according to a new study by UCLA researchers and colleagues. The findings of the latest U.S. Latino GDP Report, produced annually by the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and […]
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Posted inEnviro
Human-set fires 13,000 years ago led to extinction of megafauna in Southern California
Around 13,000 years ago, during a period of a couple of hundred years, the massive mammals that roamed Southern California rapidly disappeared from the region. One likely reason was major wildfires that were ignited by human beings, according to new research by researchers from UCLA and the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum. That counters […]
Posted inEnviro
Birds raise fewer young when spring arrives earlier in a warming world
Rising global temperatures are making it harder for birds to know when it’s spring and time to breed according to a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A large collaboration led by scientists at UCLA and Michigan State University has found that birds produce fewer young if they start breeding too early […]
Posted inLife
Small acts of kindness are frequent and universal, study finds
A new study by UCLA sociologist Giovanni Rossi and an international team of collaborators finds that people rely on each other for help constantly. In the study, published in Scientific Reports, the authors — who also included researchers at universities in Australia, Ecuador, Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K. — explore the human capacity for cooperation. They found […]
Posted inCalifornia
Q&A: UCLA’s Tyrone Howard on the importance of learning Black history
Black History Month offers an opportunity to explore the full history of the Black experience in the United States and beyond. But even as the 2023 observation is underway, the teaching of Black history remains under attack in the U.S. Since 2021, according to Education Week, 42 states have introduced legislation that would restrict the teaching […]
Posted inSci/Tech
When migrating birds go astray, disturbances in magnetic field may be partly to blame
January 13, 2023 – It seems logical enough that bad weather can sometimes cause birds to become disoriented during their annual fall migrations — causing them to wind up in territory they’re unaccustomed to. But why, even when weather is not a major factor, do birds travel far away from their usual routes? A new […]
Posted inCalifornia
Study: Air for disadvantaged L.A. residents is more polluted, more toxic
People dealing with the most socioeconomic disadvantages in greater Los Angeles also face higher levels of toxic air pollution, according to a new UCLA-led study. Researchers collected air samples from 54 locations over two-week periods in September 2019 and February 2020, and then analyzed the samples to determine how much PM 2.5 pollution was present, […]
Posted inCalifornia
Medi-Cal’s long-term care services reach only a small portion of seniors, disabled adults
Two Medi-Cal care programs designed to help seniors and disabled adults avoid being placed in nursing homes serve only a fraction of those presumed to be eligible, according to a study published today by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Improving access to and expanding the reach of these long-term support services could keep hundreds of thousands […]
Posted inCalifornia
Climate change makes catastrophic flood twice as likely, study shows
California lives with a sleeping giant — an occasional flood so large that it inundates major valleys with water flows hundreds of miles long and tens of miles across. Motivated by one such flood that occurred in 1862, scientists investigated the phenomenon in 2010. They called it the “ArkStorm scenario,” reflecting the potential for an […]
Posted inSci/Tech
UCLA scientists discover places on the moon where it’s always ‘sweater weather’
Future human explorers on the moon might have 99 problems but staying warm or cool won’t be one. A team led by planetary scientists at UCLA has discovered shady locations within pits on the moon that always hover around a comfortable 63 degrees Fahrenheit. The pits, and caves to which they may lead, would make […]
Posted inCalifornia
Megadrought in southwestern North America is region’s driest in at least 1,200 years
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 […]
Posted inSci/Tech
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 […]
Posted inCalifornia
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 — […]
Posted inCalifornia
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 […]
Posted inCalifornia
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 […]
Posted inUS
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 […]
Posted inCalifornia
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 […]
Posted inSci/Tech
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 […]
Posted inCalifornia
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 […]
Posted inSci/Tech
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 […]