By: Name, UC Los Angeles Institute if the Environmental & Sustainability | April 21, 2021 After passing the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, Congress turned its attention to other critical efforts, including comprehensive legislation to battle climate change. The bill, introduced into the House of Representatives on March 2, aims to fully decarbonize the ... Continue Reading »
Climate
Northern California kelp forest collapse will be hard to reverse
By Tim Stephens, UC Santa Cruz | March 5, 2021 Satellite imagery shows that the area covered by kelp forests off the coast of Northern California has dropped by more than 95 percent, with just a few small, isolated patches of bull kelp remaining. Species-rich kelp forests have been replaced by “urchin barrens,” where purple sea urchins cover a seafloor devoid of kelp and ... Continue Reading »
Climate change and suppression tactics are critical factors in increasing fires
By Lorena Anderson, UC Merced | February 18, 2021 The millions of people affected by 2020’s record-breaking and deadly fire season can attest to the fact that wildfire hazards are increasing across western North America. Both climate change and forest management have been blamed, but the relative influence of these drivers is still heavily debated. The results of a recent ... Continue Reading »
Migratory birds track climate across the year
By Andy Fell, UC Davis | February 18, 2021 As climate change takes hold across the Americas, some areas will get wetter, and others will get hotter and drier. A new study of the yellow warbler, a widespread migratory songbird, shows that individuals have the same climatic preferences across their migratory range. The work is published Feb. 17 in Ecology ... Continue Reading »
Turtles face grim future from rising sea levels
David Colgan, UC Los Angeles | February 8, 2021 About 60% of the world’s turtle species are considered threatened or endangered, making them one of the most vulnerable groups of animals on the planet. A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals new findings about turtles’ evolution so far and the tough prospects they face for ... Continue Reading »
UC Berkeley study shows effects of climate change on desert animals
By Claire Daly Small mammals may be better adapted than birds to the increasing temperatures of California’s deserts caused by climate change, according to a study by UC Berkeley researchers published Friday. The study found that while small desert mammal species have largely maintained their numbers over the past century, the numbers of bird species have dropped as ... Continue Reading »
New study reveals how fences hinder migratory wildlife in the West
By Kara Manke Each year, thousands of migratory mule deer and pronghorn antelope journey northwest from their winter homes in the Green River Basin, a grassland valley in western Wyoming, to their summer homes in the mountainous landscape near Grand Teton National Park. But to reach their destination, these ungulates must successfully navigate the more than 6,000 ... Continue Reading »