UCLA Scientist Makes Case for Local Climate Action

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Chart showing  LA's August temperature during the end of the century could routinely surpass 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

The research conducted by UCLA professor Alex Hall and his team led to projections that LA’s August temperature during the end of the century could routinely surpass 90 degrees Fahrenheit if regional carbon emissions aren’t reduced soon.

In a recent panel discussion on global warming, world-renowned climate scientist Alex Hall shared alarming data on the future of weather conditions in LA and other cities. Using supercomputing simulations, Hall showed how LA’s climate could rise by approximately 4.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050.

There isn’t a person in the world who cares about the global room temperature. What matters is how climate change manifests itself at the local scale. Our city exists as a global mega-city because of its unique climate. Now that LA has surpassed the carbon dioxide threshold of 400 (parts per million), it is on course to reach 1200 during the period of 2041 to 2060 (if we don’t reduce emissions). This is what we call the ‘business as usual’ scenario and on other hand we expect that the ‘mitigation’ scenario, which corresponds to the least amount of warming (due to improved environmental policies), will result in a level of 460,” said Hall, who recommended visiting the website C-Change.

Read the Full Story or Download the Presentation (PDF).