Viewed from a satellite, the hub of the UCI campus easily stands out from its surroundings, since it looks rather like a huge eye, with the green iris of Aldrich Park staring back at you. It\u2019s an apt vision, since the university has been a watchful eye over this world for most of its history.<\/p>\n
UCI\u2019s founding chancellor, Daniel G. Aldrich Jr., a soil chemist, had a steadfast concern for the environment, from picking up stray candy wrappers on campus to seeing that \u2013 at a time when many universities were slow to address students\u2019 surging interest in ecology \u2013 UCI was devoting several biological science courses to it. In 1970, Aldrich launched the nation\u2019s first school of social ecology, to study human society as a system as complex and interconnected as nature.<\/p>\n
In 1983, UCI atmospheric chemist F. Sherwood Rowland issued his first paper linking chlorofluorocarbons to damage of the Earth\u2019s protective ozone layer. When his subsequent studies amounted to a stunning indicator of mankind\u2019s effect on the ecosystem, some derisive voices likened him to Chicken Little claiming the sky was falling. The Nobel committee felt otherwise, and Rowland\u2019s 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry (shared with UCI postdoctoral scholar Mario J. Molina) confirmed UCI\u2019s status as a center for climate science.<\/p>\n
Fellow atmospheric chemist Ralph Cicerone joined UCI in 1989 to develop the Department of Earth System Science \u2013 another national first \u2013 bringing researchers from several disciplines together to identify environmental problems and solutions. Later UCI\u2019s chancellor, Cicerone left in 2005 to become president of the National Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n
There are sites on campus now named for all three scientists, but their legacies are far more evident in the numerous faculty across campus \u2013 a few of whom are highlighted on the following pages \u2013 who continue today to push at the boundaries of our knowledge of the world, the challenges that climate change poses to it, and the possible solutions that might provide for a better tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Containing Wildfires With Satellite Data<\/h2>\n![\"James](\"https:\/\/news.uci.edu\/files\/2022\/07\/randerson_170502_01-sz-768x512-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nJames Randerson. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cIt was an amazing time when I started at UCI in 2003,\u201d says James Randerson, a much honored, published and cited professor of Earth system science. \u201cWe had the atmospheric scientist Ralph Cicerone as chancellor. We had the first Earth system science department in the country \u2013 and for years, it was the only one. I think UCI led the way for universities realizing the importance of understanding what climate change and sustainability are going to be like in this century.\u201d<\/p>\n
Randerson advises the U.S. Department of Energy, is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 2018 became the inaugural Ralph J. & Carol M. Cicerone Chair in Earth System Science.<\/p>\n
His lab\u2019s current projects include globally mapping wildfire patterns to understand how climate extremes influence them; using satellite remote sensing to learn how fires are affecting ecosystems; finding ways to gauge the vulnerability of terrestrial ecosystems and their capacity to store carbon as climate changes; and improving climate models to better forecast the biosphere\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re mainly interested in using this information to arrive at solutions,\u201d Randerson says. \u201cOne thing we\u2019re working on with NASA is a $200 million constellation of satellites to provide global, around-the-clock data measuring fire outbreaks and how they\u2019re spreading. This could be invaluable in containing fires before they spread. The damage from wildfires here in the Western states alone runs into tens of billions of dollars annually.\u201d<\/p>\n
His team is finding plenty to be concerned about, such as larger and more frequent wildfires in the U.S. West; drought-damaged trees less able to store carbon or survive fires; lightning storms expected to increasingly spark fires across the Arctic tundra, releasing trapped carbon into the atmosphere; and the severity of climate change stunting economic growth and equity around the world.<\/p>\n
Emphasizing the hopeful aspects of their work is key, he says. \u201cI\u2019m optimistic that UCI can really contribute to important solutions, but you can easily get overwhelmed by the scope and magnitude of what\u2019s happening on the planet,\u201d Randerson says. \u201cMany students experience what you could call climate fatigue. So I try to frame our discussions to keep a balance between providing optimism for how we can transform things and reminding them how precious the time is that we have to accomplish those things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stalagmites Reveal Ancient Clues<\/h2>\n![\"Kathleen](\"https:\/\/news.uci.edu\/files\/2022\/07\/220404_Johnson_02345_sz-768x512-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nKathleen Johnson. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Kathleen Johnson, UCI associate professor of Earth system science, studies the history of Earth\u2019s atmosphere and climate from a deeply counterintuitive vantage: underground in ancient caves.<\/p>\n
Holding a 2-foot speleothem that looks like petrified marble cake, she explains, \u201cThis piece of stalagmite spans about 40,000 years of history, reaching back beyond the peak of the last ice age. It\u2019s a little like an ice core, but instead of water being frozen, the chemistry of the water has been transferred to the chemistry of these calcite layers that were deposited by the water as it dripped into a cave. The oxygen and carbon composition tells us things about the climate above the cave at the time it formed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Studying stalagmites is not a new science, but Johnson is applying novel methods to seek new answers. \u201cOne of the main points of paleoclimate research is that looking at the mechanisms under which climate has changed naturally in the past helps us better understand the climate system today and what the implications might be for the future,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Johnson sources materials with the help of recreational cavers, park managers and local community members and has been underground herself in various parts of the world, where, along with the stalagmites, she\u2019s encountered bats, roaches, plenty of grime and, once, a Burmese python.<\/p>\n
Her recent research centers on the Asian monsoon region, a crucial part of the global climate system, with much of the world\u2019s population relying on predictable summer rains. Johnson\u2019s studies indicate that a major dry spell over 8,000 years ago may have been precipitated by a shift in oceanic water circulation, which could happen again in the not-too-distant future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re also finding that there\u2019s a striking correlation between monsoon strength and changes in the Earth\u2019s orbit,\u201d she adds. \u201cLearning about these past changes helps us have an eye toward what the future might hold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nClimate Computing<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nStatistics, computing and machine learning play a significant role in trying to find solutions for climate change. \u201cComputer models can help make predictions about climate events or help us understand the relationship between different components of the environment,\u201d says Veronica Berrocal, UCI associate professor of statistics. She uses computing and statistics to arrive at answers to complex environmental questions. Two recent projects involve tracking the effects wildfires have on public health and using satellites and computer models to gauge changing pollutant levels across California. \u201cComputer models can help fill gaps in information,\u201d Berrocal adds. \u201cIf you\u2019re trying to track air pollution, for instance, and there are areas where there are no monitors, statistical models can extrapolate their levels based on monitoring data from nearby areas and computer model outputs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nLighter-Than-Air Solutions to Heavy Problems<\/h2>\n![\"Jack](\"https:\/\/news.uci.edu\/files\/2022\/07\/brouwer-powertogas_161031_02_sz-768x512-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nJack Brouwer. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
If hydrogen power can produce half the energy that Jack Brouwer does when talking about it, it\u2019ll be a formidable force for the future. Once he gets going, it\u2019s a nonstop flow of ideas.<\/p>\n
Brouwer is a UCI professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and directs the campus-based National Fuel Cell Research Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy research focuses on how we might integrate very high levels of renewable primary energy resources into all applications economywide,\u201d he says. \u201cEven if we\u2019re making the most of sun and wind power, we still need more zero-emission resources, along with ways of storing energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe solutions I focus on are hydrogen electrolyzers and fuel cells. I look at how we might be able to use water plus renewable electricity to make hydrogen, store and distribute it throughout society, and then use it where it makes the most sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brouwer envisions a near future in which electrical grids run on zero-emission, hydrogen-powered fuel cells and turbine engines and in which hydrogen-based systems power aircraft, cargo ships and long-haul trucks. \u201cGreen steel\u201d plants employing hydrogen in a solid oxide electrolysis system would reduce the huge carbon footprint of steel production.<\/p>\n
He also foresees the gas as a major means of energy storage, saying: \u201cHydrogen has advantages over other chemical batteries. For example, airplanes can\u2019t handle the weight or mass of traditional energy storage systems, while hydrogen is the lightest fuel that we know of, which is why we use it in rockets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hydrogen isn\u2019t without its hurdles, one being that it\u2019s highly flammable. Though it\u2019s been safely handled under-industrial uses, Brouwer notes, it will take work to render it suitable for general use.<\/p>\n
Selling officials on hydrogen power was also once a hurdle, but he points to the recent bipartisan federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which has allocated $9.5 billion to advancing technology for hydrogen production. \u201cThat\u2019s more funding than we\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d Brouwer says, \u201cand it really accelerates the timeline for a zero-emissions future.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nInfrastructure and Floods<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cI was the kid who always had his arm out the car window, feeling the flow of the wind resistance on my hand. Now I develop computer codes and numerical methods to simulate flooding based on the mechanics of fluid flow,\u201d says Brett Sanders, UCI professor of civil and environmental engineering as well as urban planning and public policy. Though drought is a more immediate concern in California, Sanders cautions that the state is overdue for a historic flood. The last one, in 1862, inundated much of Southern California. \u201cThere\u2019s a massive flood risk, and our infrastructure doesn\u2019t seem up to the task of containing these events,\u201d he says. \u201cWith my simulation tools, we\u2019re increasingly able to predict and plan for such events \u2013 and in a way where outcomes are more equitable to everyone.\u201d The simulations also help him to imagine flood control plans that could have other benefits. One example Sanders cites is to redesign the Santa Ana River channel to better deal with flooding while also helping the waterway carry much needed sediment to coastal wetlands and sand-starved beaches. He says: \u201cWhat can we do to best handle a flood but also design it to be of use when it isn\u2019t flooding \u2013 to help us have a more sustainable water supply or a healthier ecosystem or a more livable city?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nLinking Environmental and Human Health<\/h2>\n![\"Jun](\"https:\/\/news.uci.edu\/files\/2022\/07\/220518_Wu_0115_sz-768x512-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nJun Wu. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Not long ago, smog was as much a part of the Southern California landscape as the Hollywood sign it sometimes obscured. Though less visible and greatly diminished, air pollution is still a part of our lives, says Jun Wu, a UCI professor of public health in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still see a lot of adverse health effects,\u201d she says. \u201cConcentrations of fine particulate matter have even risen due to wildfires. And while outdoor pollution temporarily dropped during the COVID shutdown, we published a paper showing that indoor pollution increased, because with everyone staying indoors, there were more combustion byproducts from cooking, more chemicals from cleaning products and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wu and her department colleagues and students track such data, particularly in underserved communities, to present stakeholders such as health officials and civic leaders with information and potential solutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look at environmental exposures of people to various agents, such as air pollution, noise, heat, wildfires, etc. and also at the health impact of those exposures,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
For example, Wu is collaborating with Alana LeBr\u00f3n, a UCI assistant professor of public health in the Department of Health, Society and Behavior, on a study of lead contamination in Santa Ana and its effects on children\u2019s health and academic performance. In addition, she\u2019s helping communities tackle concerns about air pollution and wildfire impacts, including industrial and firework emissions in Santa Ana.<\/p>\n
Wu\u2019s work isn\u2019t all about dealing with problems: \u201cI\u2019m very excited to be exploring the beneficial effects that parks and other green spaces can have on better health outcomes for people \u2013 how they can help relieve stress, improve concentration and encourage physical activity. Trees can also absorb certain chemicals from the atmosphere, while a tree canopy provides shade. Unfortunately, the vulnerable communities that have more pollution are also the communities that have less green space, so the goal is finding ways to address that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plankton Building Blocks<\/h2>\n![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/news.uci.edu\/files\/2022\/07\/Martiny_012320_0267_sz-768x512-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAdam Martiny. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The smallest ocean microorganisms have been and continue to be building blocks of life on this planet, and they may come in especially handy in our future, according to Adam Martiny, UCI professor of Earth system science as well as ecology and evolutionary biology.<\/p>\n
As an indicator of plankton\u2019s ubiquity, he notes that scientists nine decades ago were puzzled to find that the deep ocean had a chemical makeup very similar to that of plankton on the surface. It didn\u2019t take long to determine that the phenomenon was the result of billions of years of plankton living, dying and sinking. Martiny adds, \u201cEverything that lives in the ocean either eats a microbe or eats something that\u2019s eaten a microbe. They form the base of the food chain.\u201d<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s this: Phytoplankton, a type of plankton that converts sunlight into energy through photosynthesis, absorb CO2 \u2013 as do trees and plants on land.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the CO2 in our atmosphere keeps rising and things get hotter, we likely can\u2019t reduce our emissions fast enough to avoid some pretty dire conditions,\u201d Martiny says. \u201cSo we also need to remove some of the CO2 we already have in the atmosphere. We don\u2019t have the space to plant enough trees for that, whereas if you look from here to Hawaii, there\u2019s a lot of water there. If we could stimulate phytoplankton growth with nutrients all the way out to Hawaii, it would potentially make a dent in the large amounts of CO2 we have in the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n
If such a plan sounds risky, that\u2019s because it is.<\/p>\n
Martiny says: \u201cAre we willing to change the entire ocean in order to take CO2 out of the atmosphere? With any solution we look at, we really need to understand the consequences, because if we roll them out, we\u2019re going to change part of the planet, and we better make sure that we get it right. But if we don\u2019t try, we might be looking at a few thousand years of a very hot planet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s still a lot that we have to learn,\u201d he adds. \u201cUnderstanding these pathways is going to lead to important engineering principles for carbon removal in the future, and UCI is gearing up to be an important part of all that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTracking El Ni\u00f1o<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nThe El Ni\u00f1o weather phenomenon exerts its influence over much of the world and can bring droughts, floods and other extreme conditions, making it crucial that climate scientists understand its cycles. Complicating that, \u201cthe El Ni\u00f1o of the 21st century is not the El Ni\u00f1o we knew in the 20th century,\u201d says UCI Earth system science professor Jin-Yi Yu, whose expertise is in climate dynamics, particularly atmosphere-ocean interactions. He was a pioneer in the discovery that El Ni\u00f1o often shifts to a second point of origin \u2013 in the mid-Pacific, not just near the Peruvian coastline \u2013 affecting its patterns, frequency and intensity. Much of Yu\u2019s research is done within complex computer weather models from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, to which he adds updated records of sea surface temperature cycles, wind data and other variables. \u201cEl Ni\u00f1o affects everything from crops in California to hurricanes in the Atlantic to fisheries in India, and we need to keep advancing our understanding,\u201d Yu says. \u201cIf, for example, we ever want to do something to mitigate or reduce some effects of global warming with geoengineering, it\u2019s essential to understand everything we can about El Ni\u00f1o.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe Law of the Land \u2013 and the Sea and Air<\/h2>\n![\"Alejandro](\"https:\/\/news.uci.edu\/files\/2022\/07\/220518_Camacho_0238_sz-768x512-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAlejandro Camacho. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cClimate change is the central challenge of our time, and, obviously, that makes it a moral imperative to try to think through how we address it,\u201d says UCI Chancellor\u2019s Professor of law Alejandro Camacho. \u201cIt\u2019s also a personal concern: I care about my children and their children and how the planet can adjust, and that doesn\u2019t happen without responsive policymaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
As far back as 2006, while teaching law at the University of Notre Dame, he was challenging legal processes, goals and institutions that were too rigid to take the \u201cchange\u201d part of climate change into account. Camacho says: \u201cAn example of maladaptive management would be a policy that is never revisited or adjusted. More effective governance involves systematically learning from new information and changing circumstances and adjusting policies accordingly. Climate change is a global example of the need for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a theme Camacho explored, with co-author Robert Glicksman, in the 2019 book Reorganizing Government: A Functional and Dimensional Framework. It suggests the need to rethink and adjust not only public processes and goals but also institutions over time, with the intent of making them more responsive, equitable and effective.<\/p>\n
When he joined UCI Law 13 years ago, it was coming full circle for Camacho. Before receiving a J.D. from Harvard University and an LL.M. from Georgetown University, he earned bachelor\u2019s degrees at UCI in criminology, law and society as well as political science.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took environmental law and environment protection courses here. I found the issues to be incredibly difficult and complex but also incredibly important to me,\u201d Camacho says. \u201cIt made me decide that environmental law was my calling. It\u2019s where theory turns into action.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with teaching an environmental law practicum, he\u2019s active in a range of related activities. Among them, Camacho is the founder and director of UCI\u2019s Center for Land, Environment and Natural Resources, where, he says, \u201cthe core initiative is what we call workshop roundtables, which bring together experts on a particular environmental topic to advance dialogue and knowledge \u2013 and, hopefully, advance policy. We bring together experts from academia, the public sector, nonprofit organizations and sometimes industry. And it\u2019s not just having a conversation; it\u2019s designed to lead to a document that can be used to help advance policy on these matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWhen Events Collide<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nIt can be difficult enough to track or predict a single climate event. Amir Aghakouchak, UCI professor of civil and environmental engineering as well as Earth system science, specializes in researching what happens when two or more combine. He has refined the use of remote sensing devices such as satellites and radar to track such events and has shared his \u201ctoolbox\u201d for other scientists to use. \u201cInteracting hazards are happening with greater frequency,\u201d Aghakouchak says. \u201cWhat happens when drought and heat waves combine? When terrestrial flooding coincides with ocean flooding? How will these things react differently if the planet\u2019s temperature goes up a degree? Three degrees? There is so much to take into account \u2013 from the effect on vegetation and soil microbes\u2019 ability to absorb carbon to the societal and social justice dimensions of these events.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nScaling Up the Future<\/h2>\n![\"Julianne](\"https:\/\/news.uci.edu\/files\/2022\/07\/220525_DeAngelo_0799_sz-768x512-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nJulianne DeAngelo. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A half-century ago, the famed Yankees catcher and malapropism master Yogi Berra declared, \u201cThe future ain\u2019t what it used to be.\u201d That observation has taken on a grim significance in the ensuing decades\u2019 cascade of floods, droughts, fires and other climate events that suggest the future belongs not so much to the human imagination as it does to the carbon dioxide we\u2019ve released into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n
Meet Solutions That Scale, an interdisciplinary research group launched in January 2021 by the School of Physical Sciences. Its mission statement posits a future that\u2019s not just survivable but flourishing.<\/p>\n
To get there, STS is engaging scientists and other experts from across the UCI spectrum to work with business leaders, government officials and civic leaders to develop and test solutions to pressing environmental problems \u2013 and then develop ways to upscale those solutions to be applied on a global level.<\/p>\n
One ambitious project is aimed at finding alternatives to the fossil fuels that power the freight industry. The effort is led by Earth system science Ph.D. student Julianne DeAngelo \u2013 one of STS\u2019s initial cohort of fellowship students \u2013 with assistance from UCI professors Steven Davis, Jack Brouwer and others. DeAngelo is exploring hydrogen, biofuels and additional alternative power sources to arrive at \u201cthe most cost-effective way to get the freight industry to net-zero\u201d carbon emissions.<\/p>\n
As part of its public outreach, STS conducts a seminar series, with one recent example being a webinar in which 2022 Andrew Carnegie Fellow Michael M\u00e9ndez, UCI assistant professor of urban planning and public policy, discussed \u201cExtreme Wildfire Impacts to Undocumented Latina\/o and Indigenous Migrants.\u201d<\/p>\n
For solutions to be implemented, STS executive board member Richard Matthew, professor of urban planning and public policy, says, \u201cit\u2019s crucial that we have business leaders, policymakers and community leaders in the room. We need business leaders to bring their managerial and investment skills to bear on issues so they can be realized. We need the policymakers with the know-how to develop regulations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re saying is let\u2019s work together and find solutions that make sense from an economic perspective, from a community justice perspective and an ecological perspective. Let\u2019s try those solutions out here. Then \u2013 just as California has always been a source of ingenuity and innovation for the planet \u2013 our solutions can be scaled up across the globe to help other areas addressing similar issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rays of Hope<\/h2>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/news.uci.edu\/files\/2022\/07\/davis-Indiaheatwave_170602_06_sz-768x512-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSteven Davis. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cHave you seen how the latest U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report is structured?\u201d asks Steven Davis, UCI professor of Earth system science and civil and environmental engineering, who wrote a chapter in a previous IPCC report. \u201cThe first part covers the fundamental realities of how the climate is changing. The second assesses what the impacts will be on humans, our infrastructure and so on, while the third part asks, \u2018What can we do about it?\u2019 I\u2019ve spent the bulk of my career squarely in that third part, looking for solutions to mitigate the problems with greenhouse gas emissions and other climate issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis took a winding path to Earth system science, first earning B.A.s in political science and philosophy, then a J.D. \u201cBut I found I wasn\u2019t loving law,\u201d he recalls. \u201cMy wife was studying physical oceanography, and it looked like a lot more fun. I always enjoyed environmental science, so I went back to grad school and earned a Ph.D. [at Stanford University] in geological and environmental sciences. Four years later, in 2012, I joined the great group of colleagues here in Earth system science, and it\u2019s felt like home ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n
The aforementioned IPCC report does not lack for grim climate assessments, and newspapers have almost daily accounts of record droughts, fires, heat waves and other environmental crises.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see a lot of despair out there, but I\u2019m actually feeling more optimistic about climate problems because we\u2019ve made a lot of progress in terms of the attractiveness of the solutions,\u201d Davis says. \u201cRenewable energy technologies like solar and wind, batteries and electric vehicles have all plummeted in cost \u2013 to the point where people are going to start preferring them not because they necessarily even care about the climate, but because they\u2019re the most attractive, best performing and, in some cases, cheapest options out there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt once cost thousands of dollars to get a watt of solar power; now it\u2019s more like 30 cents,\u201d he continues. \u201cAnd new tech is coming along all the time, such as perovskite solar panels. I think we\u2019re really on the brink of what will be a drastic decrease in our energy system CO2 emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis envisions a similar turning point with businesses recognizing greater economic opportunities in building the infrastructure needed to address climate change in the coming decades. \u201cThis is just the start, and there are still a lot of things to wrangle with, like getting the CO2 out of concrete and steel production,\u201d he says. \u201cI see all this as puzzles to be solved, and that\u2019s something people are good at.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBridging Environmental Humanities<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nWhen it comes to tackling issues of the environment, the humanities have a lot to bring to the table: critical analysis, cultural attunement, storytelling, historical context, and a deep understanding of human beliefs and motivations. So in April, UCI\u2019s School of Humanities launched the Environmental Humanities Research Center to give scholars from the school\u2019s various disciplines \u2013 such as history, philosophy and ethnic studies \u2013 a chance to share each other\u2019s work and create new dialogues concerning climate change and sustainability. \u201cColleagues across the school have for years been doing vibrant research and teaching involving issues of ecological and climatological crisis without necessarily communicating with each other,\u201d says center director James Nisbet, chair of UCI\u2019s art history department. \u201cThe center is a way to join forces. We also will reach across the schools to share different perspectives on climate change.\u201d Another branch of the center\u2019s mission is to conduct community outreach, he says, \u201cwhere the public will see the center and UCI as a home for interaction and environmental conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe Effects of Human Populations<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nJames Randerson. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cIt was an amazing time when I started at UCI in 2003,\u201d says James Randerson, a much honored, published and cited professor of Earth system science. \u201cWe had the atmospheric scientist Ralph Cicerone as chancellor. We had the first Earth system science department in the country \u2013 and for years, it was the only one. I think UCI led the way for universities realizing the importance of understanding what climate change and sustainability are going to be like in this century.\u201d<\/p>\n
Randerson advises the U.S. Department of Energy, is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 2018 became the inaugural Ralph J. & Carol M. Cicerone Chair in Earth System Science.<\/p>\n
His lab\u2019s current projects include globally mapping wildfire patterns to understand how climate extremes influence them; using satellite remote sensing to learn how fires are affecting ecosystems; finding ways to gauge the vulnerability of terrestrial ecosystems and their capacity to store carbon as climate changes; and improving climate models to better forecast the biosphere\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re mainly interested in using this information to arrive at solutions,\u201d Randerson says. \u201cOne thing we\u2019re working on with NASA is a $200 million constellation of satellites to provide global, around-the-clock data measuring fire outbreaks and how they\u2019re spreading. This could be invaluable in containing fires before they spread. The damage from wildfires here in the Western states alone runs into tens of billions of dollars annually.\u201d<\/p>\n
His team is finding plenty to be concerned about, such as larger and more frequent wildfires in the U.S. West; drought-damaged trees less able to store carbon or survive fires; lightning storms expected to increasingly spark fires across the Arctic tundra, releasing trapped carbon into the atmosphere; and the severity of climate change stunting economic growth and equity around the world.<\/p>\n
Emphasizing the hopeful aspects of their work is key, he says. \u201cI\u2019m optimistic that UCI can really contribute to important solutions, but you can easily get overwhelmed by the scope and magnitude of what\u2019s happening on the planet,\u201d Randerson says. \u201cMany students experience what you could call climate fatigue. So I try to frame our discussions to keep a balance between providing optimism for how we can transform things and reminding them how precious the time is that we have to accomplish those things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stalagmites Reveal Ancient Clues<\/h2>\n<\/a><\/p>\nKathleen Johnson. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Kathleen Johnson, UCI associate professor of Earth system science, studies the history of Earth\u2019s atmosphere and climate from a deeply counterintuitive vantage: underground in ancient caves.<\/p>\n
Holding a 2-foot speleothem that looks like petrified marble cake, she explains, \u201cThis piece of stalagmite spans about 40,000 years of history, reaching back beyond the peak of the last ice age. It\u2019s a little like an ice core, but instead of water being frozen, the chemistry of the water has been transferred to the chemistry of these calcite layers that were deposited by the water as it dripped into a cave. The oxygen and carbon composition tells us things about the climate above the cave at the time it formed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Studying stalagmites is not a new science, but Johnson is applying novel methods to seek new answers. \u201cOne of the main points of paleoclimate research is that looking at the mechanisms under which climate has changed naturally in the past helps us better understand the climate system today and what the implications might be for the future,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Johnson sources materials with the help of recreational cavers, park managers and local community members and has been underground herself in various parts of the world, where, along with the stalagmites, she\u2019s encountered bats, roaches, plenty of grime and, once, a Burmese python.<\/p>\n
Her recent research centers on the Asian monsoon region, a crucial part of the global climate system, with much of the world\u2019s population relying on predictable summer rains. Johnson\u2019s studies indicate that a major dry spell over 8,000 years ago may have been precipitated by a shift in oceanic water circulation, which could happen again in the not-too-distant future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re also finding that there\u2019s a striking correlation between monsoon strength and changes in the Earth\u2019s orbit,\u201d she adds. \u201cLearning about these past changes helps us have an eye toward what the future might hold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nClimate Computing<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nStatistics, computing and machine learning play a significant role in trying to find solutions for climate change. \u201cComputer models can help make predictions about climate events or help us understand the relationship between different components of the environment,\u201d says Veronica Berrocal, UCI associate professor of statistics. She uses computing and statistics to arrive at answers to complex environmental questions. Two recent projects involve tracking the effects wildfires have on public health and using satellites and computer models to gauge changing pollutant levels across California. \u201cComputer models can help fill gaps in information,\u201d Berrocal adds. \u201cIf you\u2019re trying to track air pollution, for instance, and there are areas where there are no monitors, statistical models can extrapolate their levels based on monitoring data from nearby areas and computer model outputs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nLighter-Than-Air Solutions to Heavy Problems<\/h2>\n<\/a><\/p>\nJack Brouwer. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
If hydrogen power can produce half the energy that Jack Brouwer does when talking about it, it\u2019ll be a formidable force for the future. Once he gets going, it\u2019s a nonstop flow of ideas.<\/p>\n
Brouwer is a UCI professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and directs the campus-based National Fuel Cell Research Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy research focuses on how we might integrate very high levels of renewable primary energy resources into all applications economywide,\u201d he says. \u201cEven if we\u2019re making the most of sun and wind power, we still need more zero-emission resources, along with ways of storing energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe solutions I focus on are hydrogen electrolyzers and fuel cells. I look at how we might be able to use water plus renewable electricity to make hydrogen, store and distribute it throughout society, and then use it where it makes the most sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brouwer envisions a near future in which electrical grids run on zero-emission, hydrogen-powered fuel cells and turbine engines and in which hydrogen-based systems power aircraft, cargo ships and long-haul trucks. \u201cGreen steel\u201d plants employing hydrogen in a solid oxide electrolysis system would reduce the huge carbon footprint of steel production.<\/p>\n
He also foresees the gas as a major means of energy storage, saying: \u201cHydrogen has advantages over other chemical batteries. For example, airplanes can\u2019t handle the weight or mass of traditional energy storage systems, while hydrogen is the lightest fuel that we know of, which is why we use it in rockets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hydrogen isn\u2019t without its hurdles, one being that it\u2019s highly flammable. Though it\u2019s been safely handled under-industrial uses, Brouwer notes, it will take work to render it suitable for general use.<\/p>\n
Selling officials on hydrogen power was also once a hurdle, but he points to the recent bipartisan federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which has allocated $9.5 billion to advancing technology for hydrogen production. \u201cThat\u2019s more funding than we\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d Brouwer says, \u201cand it really accelerates the timeline for a zero-emissions future.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nInfrastructure and Floods<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cI was the kid who always had his arm out the car window, feeling the flow of the wind resistance on my hand. Now I develop computer codes and numerical methods to simulate flooding based on the mechanics of fluid flow,\u201d says Brett Sanders, UCI professor of civil and environmental engineering as well as urban planning and public policy. Though drought is a more immediate concern in California, Sanders cautions that the state is overdue for a historic flood. The last one, in 1862, inundated much of Southern California. \u201cThere\u2019s a massive flood risk, and our infrastructure doesn\u2019t seem up to the task of containing these events,\u201d he says. \u201cWith my simulation tools, we\u2019re increasingly able to predict and plan for such events \u2013 and in a way where outcomes are more equitable to everyone.\u201d The simulations also help him to imagine flood control plans that could have other benefits. One example Sanders cites is to redesign the Santa Ana River channel to better deal with flooding while also helping the waterway carry much needed sediment to coastal wetlands and sand-starved beaches. He says: \u201cWhat can we do to best handle a flood but also design it to be of use when it isn\u2019t flooding \u2013 to help us have a more sustainable water supply or a healthier ecosystem or a more livable city?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nLinking Environmental and Human Health<\/h2>\n<\/a><\/p>\nJun Wu. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Not long ago, smog was as much a part of the Southern California landscape as the Hollywood sign it sometimes obscured. Though less visible and greatly diminished, air pollution is still a part of our lives, says Jun Wu, a UCI professor of public health in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still see a lot of adverse health effects,\u201d she says. \u201cConcentrations of fine particulate matter have even risen due to wildfires. And while outdoor pollution temporarily dropped during the COVID shutdown, we published a paper showing that indoor pollution increased, because with everyone staying indoors, there were more combustion byproducts from cooking, more chemicals from cleaning products and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wu and her department colleagues and students track such data, particularly in underserved communities, to present stakeholders such as health officials and civic leaders with information and potential solutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look at environmental exposures of people to various agents, such as air pollution, noise, heat, wildfires, etc. and also at the health impact of those exposures,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
For example, Wu is collaborating with Alana LeBr\u00f3n, a UCI assistant professor of public health in the Department of Health, Society and Behavior, on a study of lead contamination in Santa Ana and its effects on children\u2019s health and academic performance. In addition, she\u2019s helping communities tackle concerns about air pollution and wildfire impacts, including industrial and firework emissions in Santa Ana.<\/p>\n
Wu\u2019s work isn\u2019t all about dealing with problems: \u201cI\u2019m very excited to be exploring the beneficial effects that parks and other green spaces can have on better health outcomes for people \u2013 how they can help relieve stress, improve concentration and encourage physical activity. Trees can also absorb certain chemicals from the atmosphere, while a tree canopy provides shade. Unfortunately, the vulnerable communities that have more pollution are also the communities that have less green space, so the goal is finding ways to address that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plankton Building Blocks<\/h2>\n<\/a><\/p>\nAdam Martiny. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The smallest ocean microorganisms have been and continue to be building blocks of life on this planet, and they may come in especially handy in our future, according to Adam Martiny, UCI professor of Earth system science as well as ecology and evolutionary biology.<\/p>\n
As an indicator of plankton\u2019s ubiquity, he notes that scientists nine decades ago were puzzled to find that the deep ocean had a chemical makeup very similar to that of plankton on the surface. It didn\u2019t take long to determine that the phenomenon was the result of billions of years of plankton living, dying and sinking. Martiny adds, \u201cEverything that lives in the ocean either eats a microbe or eats something that\u2019s eaten a microbe. They form the base of the food chain.\u201d<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s this: Phytoplankton, a type of plankton that converts sunlight into energy through photosynthesis, absorb CO2 \u2013 as do trees and plants on land.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the CO2 in our atmosphere keeps rising and things get hotter, we likely can\u2019t reduce our emissions fast enough to avoid some pretty dire conditions,\u201d Martiny says. \u201cSo we also need to remove some of the CO2 we already have in the atmosphere. We don\u2019t have the space to plant enough trees for that, whereas if you look from here to Hawaii, there\u2019s a lot of water there. If we could stimulate phytoplankton growth with nutrients all the way out to Hawaii, it would potentially make a dent in the large amounts of CO2 we have in the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n
If such a plan sounds risky, that\u2019s because it is.<\/p>\n
Martiny says: \u201cAre we willing to change the entire ocean in order to take CO2 out of the atmosphere? With any solution we look at, we really need to understand the consequences, because if we roll them out, we\u2019re going to change part of the planet, and we better make sure that we get it right. But if we don\u2019t try, we might be looking at a few thousand years of a very hot planet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s still a lot that we have to learn,\u201d he adds. \u201cUnderstanding these pathways is going to lead to important engineering principles for carbon removal in the future, and UCI is gearing up to be an important part of all that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nTracking El Ni\u00f1o<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nThe El Ni\u00f1o weather phenomenon exerts its influence over much of the world and can bring droughts, floods and other extreme conditions, making it crucial that climate scientists understand its cycles. Complicating that, \u201cthe El Ni\u00f1o of the 21st century is not the El Ni\u00f1o we knew in the 20th century,\u201d says UCI Earth system science professor Jin-Yi Yu, whose expertise is in climate dynamics, particularly atmosphere-ocean interactions. He was a pioneer in the discovery that El Ni\u00f1o often shifts to a second point of origin \u2013 in the mid-Pacific, not just near the Peruvian coastline \u2013 affecting its patterns, frequency and intensity. Much of Yu\u2019s research is done within complex computer weather models from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, to which he adds updated records of sea surface temperature cycles, wind data and other variables. \u201cEl Ni\u00f1o affects everything from crops in California to hurricanes in the Atlantic to fisheries in India, and we need to keep advancing our understanding,\u201d Yu says. \u201cIf, for example, we ever want to do something to mitigate or reduce some effects of global warming with geoengineering, it\u2019s essential to understand everything we can about El Ni\u00f1o.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe Law of the Land \u2013 and the Sea and Air<\/h2>\n<\/a><\/p>\nAlejandro Camacho. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cClimate change is the central challenge of our time, and, obviously, that makes it a moral imperative to try to think through how we address it,\u201d says UCI Chancellor\u2019s Professor of law Alejandro Camacho. \u201cIt\u2019s also a personal concern: I care about my children and their children and how the planet can adjust, and that doesn\u2019t happen without responsive policymaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
As far back as 2006, while teaching law at the University of Notre Dame, he was challenging legal processes, goals and institutions that were too rigid to take the \u201cchange\u201d part of climate change into account. Camacho says: \u201cAn example of maladaptive management would be a policy that is never revisited or adjusted. More effective governance involves systematically learning from new information and changing circumstances and adjusting policies accordingly. Climate change is a global example of the need for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a theme Camacho explored, with co-author Robert Glicksman, in the 2019 book Reorganizing Government: A Functional and Dimensional Framework. It suggests the need to rethink and adjust not only public processes and goals but also institutions over time, with the intent of making them more responsive, equitable and effective.<\/p>\n
When he joined UCI Law 13 years ago, it was coming full circle for Camacho. Before receiving a J.D. from Harvard University and an LL.M. from Georgetown University, he earned bachelor\u2019s degrees at UCI in criminology, law and society as well as political science.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took environmental law and environment protection courses here. I found the issues to be incredibly difficult and complex but also incredibly important to me,\u201d Camacho says. \u201cIt made me decide that environmental law was my calling. It\u2019s where theory turns into action.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with teaching an environmental law practicum, he\u2019s active in a range of related activities. Among them, Camacho is the founder and director of UCI\u2019s Center for Land, Environment and Natural Resources, where, he says, \u201cthe core initiative is what we call workshop roundtables, which bring together experts on a particular environmental topic to advance dialogue and knowledge \u2013 and, hopefully, advance policy. We bring together experts from academia, the public sector, nonprofit organizations and sometimes industry. And it\u2019s not just having a conversation; it\u2019s designed to lead to a document that can be used to help advance policy on these matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWhen Events Collide<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nIt can be difficult enough to track or predict a single climate event. Amir Aghakouchak, UCI professor of civil and environmental engineering as well as Earth system science, specializes in researching what happens when two or more combine. He has refined the use of remote sensing devices such as satellites and radar to track such events and has shared his \u201ctoolbox\u201d for other scientists to use. \u201cInteracting hazards are happening with greater frequency,\u201d Aghakouchak says. \u201cWhat happens when drought and heat waves combine? When terrestrial flooding coincides with ocean flooding? How will these things react differently if the planet\u2019s temperature goes up a degree? Three degrees? There is so much to take into account \u2013 from the effect on vegetation and soil microbes\u2019 ability to absorb carbon to the societal and social justice dimensions of these events.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nScaling Up the Future<\/h2>\n<\/a><\/p>\nJulianne DeAngelo. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A half-century ago, the famed Yankees catcher and malapropism master Yogi Berra declared, \u201cThe future ain\u2019t what it used to be.\u201d That observation has taken on a grim significance in the ensuing decades\u2019 cascade of floods, droughts, fires and other climate events that suggest the future belongs not so much to the human imagination as it does to the carbon dioxide we\u2019ve released into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n
Meet Solutions That Scale, an interdisciplinary research group launched in January 2021 by the School of Physical Sciences. Its mission statement posits a future that\u2019s not just survivable but flourishing.<\/p>\n
To get there, STS is engaging scientists and other experts from across the UCI spectrum to work with business leaders, government officials and civic leaders to develop and test solutions to pressing environmental problems \u2013 and then develop ways to upscale those solutions to be applied on a global level.<\/p>\n
One ambitious project is aimed at finding alternatives to the fossil fuels that power the freight industry. The effort is led by Earth system science Ph.D. student Julianne DeAngelo \u2013 one of STS\u2019s initial cohort of fellowship students \u2013 with assistance from UCI professors Steven Davis, Jack Brouwer and others. DeAngelo is exploring hydrogen, biofuels and additional alternative power sources to arrive at \u201cthe most cost-effective way to get the freight industry to net-zero\u201d carbon emissions.<\/p>\n
As part of its public outreach, STS conducts a seminar series, with one recent example being a webinar in which 2022 Andrew Carnegie Fellow Michael M\u00e9ndez, UCI assistant professor of urban planning and public policy, discussed \u201cExtreme Wildfire Impacts to Undocumented Latina\/o and Indigenous Migrants.\u201d<\/p>\n
For solutions to be implemented, STS executive board member Richard Matthew, professor of urban planning and public policy, says, \u201cit\u2019s crucial that we have business leaders, policymakers and community leaders in the room. We need business leaders to bring their managerial and investment skills to bear on issues so they can be realized. We need the policymakers with the know-how to develop regulations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re saying is let\u2019s work together and find solutions that make sense from an economic perspective, from a community justice perspective and an ecological perspective. Let\u2019s try those solutions out here. Then \u2013 just as California has always been a source of ingenuity and innovation for the planet \u2013 our solutions can be scaled up across the globe to help other areas addressing similar issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rays of Hope<\/h2>\n<\/a><\/p>\nSteven Davis. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cHave you seen how the latest U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report is structured?\u201d asks Steven Davis, UCI professor of Earth system science and civil and environmental engineering, who wrote a chapter in a previous IPCC report. \u201cThe first part covers the fundamental realities of how the climate is changing. The second assesses what the impacts will be on humans, our infrastructure and so on, while the third part asks, \u2018What can we do about it?\u2019 I\u2019ve spent the bulk of my career squarely in that third part, looking for solutions to mitigate the problems with greenhouse gas emissions and other climate issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis took a winding path to Earth system science, first earning B.A.s in political science and philosophy, then a J.D. \u201cBut I found I wasn\u2019t loving law,\u201d he recalls. \u201cMy wife was studying physical oceanography, and it looked like a lot more fun. I always enjoyed environmental science, so I went back to grad school and earned a Ph.D. [at Stanford University] in geological and environmental sciences. Four years later, in 2012, I joined the great group of colleagues here in Earth system science, and it\u2019s felt like home ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n
The aforementioned IPCC report does not lack for grim climate assessments, and newspapers have almost daily accounts of record droughts, fires, heat waves and other environmental crises.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see a lot of despair out there, but I\u2019m actually feeling more optimistic about climate problems because we\u2019ve made a lot of progress in terms of the attractiveness of the solutions,\u201d Davis says. \u201cRenewable energy technologies like solar and wind, batteries and electric vehicles have all plummeted in cost \u2013 to the point where people are going to start preferring them not because they necessarily even care about the climate, but because they\u2019re the most attractive, best performing and, in some cases, cheapest options out there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt once cost thousands of dollars to get a watt of solar power; now it\u2019s more like 30 cents,\u201d he continues. \u201cAnd new tech is coming along all the time, such as perovskite solar panels. I think we\u2019re really on the brink of what will be a drastic decrease in our energy system CO2 emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis envisions a similar turning point with businesses recognizing greater economic opportunities in building the infrastructure needed to address climate change in the coming decades. \u201cThis is just the start, and there are still a lot of things to wrangle with, like getting the CO2 out of concrete and steel production,\u201d he says. \u201cI see all this as puzzles to be solved, and that\u2019s something people are good at.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBridging Environmental Humanities<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nWhen it comes to tackling issues of the environment, the humanities have a lot to bring to the table: critical analysis, cultural attunement, storytelling, historical context, and a deep understanding of human beliefs and motivations. So in April, UCI\u2019s School of Humanities launched the Environmental Humanities Research Center to give scholars from the school\u2019s various disciplines \u2013 such as history, philosophy and ethnic studies \u2013 a chance to share each other\u2019s work and create new dialogues concerning climate change and sustainability. \u201cColleagues across the school have for years been doing vibrant research and teaching involving issues of ecological and climatological crisis without necessarily communicating with each other,\u201d says center director James Nisbet, chair of UCI\u2019s art history department. \u201cThe center is a way to join forces. We also will reach across the schools to share different perspectives on climate change.\u201d Another branch of the center\u2019s mission is to conduct community outreach, he says, \u201cwhere the public will see the center and UCI as a home for interaction and environmental conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe Effects of Human Populations<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nKathleen Johnson. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Kathleen Johnson, UCI associate professor of Earth system science, studies the history of Earth\u2019s atmosphere and climate from a deeply counterintuitive vantage: underground in ancient caves.<\/p>\n
Holding a 2-foot speleothem that looks like petrified marble cake, she explains, \u201cThis piece of stalagmite spans about 40,000 years of history, reaching back beyond the peak of the last ice age. It\u2019s a little like an ice core, but instead of water being frozen, the chemistry of the water has been transferred to the chemistry of these calcite layers that were deposited by the water as it dripped into a cave. The oxygen and carbon composition tells us things about the climate above the cave at the time it formed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Studying stalagmites is not a new science, but Johnson is applying novel methods to seek new answers. \u201cOne of the main points of paleoclimate research is that looking at the mechanisms under which climate has changed naturally in the past helps us better understand the climate system today and what the implications might be for the future,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Johnson sources materials with the help of recreational cavers, park managers and local community members and has been underground herself in various parts of the world, where, along with the stalagmites, she\u2019s encountered bats, roaches, plenty of grime and, once, a Burmese python.<\/p>\n
Her recent research centers on the Asian monsoon region, a crucial part of the global climate system, with much of the world\u2019s population relying on predictable summer rains. Johnson\u2019s studies indicate that a major dry spell over 8,000 years ago may have been precipitated by a shift in oceanic water circulation, which could happen again in the not-too-distant future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re also finding that there\u2019s a striking correlation between monsoon strength and changes in the Earth\u2019s orbit,\u201d she adds. \u201cLearning about these past changes helps us have an eye toward what the future might hold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
Climate Computing<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Statistics, computing and machine learning play a significant role in trying to find solutions for climate change. \u201cComputer models can help make predictions about climate events or help us understand the relationship between different components of the environment,\u201d says Veronica Berrocal, UCI associate professor of statistics. She uses computing and statistics to arrive at answers to complex environmental questions. Two recent projects involve tracking the effects wildfires have on public health and using satellites and computer models to gauge changing pollutant levels across California. \u201cComputer models can help fill gaps in information,\u201d Berrocal adds. \u201cIf you\u2019re trying to track air pollution, for instance, and there are areas where there are no monitors, statistical models can extrapolate their levels based on monitoring data from nearby areas and computer model outputs.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack Brouwer. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If hydrogen power can produce half the energy that Jack Brouwer does when talking about it, it\u2019ll be a formidable force for the future. Once he gets going, it\u2019s a nonstop flow of ideas.<\/p>\n Brouwer is a UCI professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and directs the campus-based National Fuel Cell Research Center.<\/p>\n \u201cMy research focuses on how we might integrate very high levels of renewable primary energy resources into all applications economywide,\u201d he says. \u201cEven if we\u2019re making the most of sun and wind power, we still need more zero-emission resources, along with ways of storing energy.<\/p>\n \u201cThe solutions I focus on are hydrogen electrolyzers and fuel cells. I look at how we might be able to use water plus renewable electricity to make hydrogen, store and distribute it throughout society, and then use it where it makes the most sense.\u201d<\/p>\n Brouwer envisions a near future in which electrical grids run on zero-emission, hydrogen-powered fuel cells and turbine engines and in which hydrogen-based systems power aircraft, cargo ships and long-haul trucks. \u201cGreen steel\u201d plants employing hydrogen in a solid oxide electrolysis system would reduce the huge carbon footprint of steel production.<\/p>\n He also foresees the gas as a major means of energy storage, saying: \u201cHydrogen has advantages over other chemical batteries. For example, airplanes can\u2019t handle the weight or mass of traditional energy storage systems, while hydrogen is the lightest fuel that we know of, which is why we use it in rockets.\u201d<\/p>\n Hydrogen isn\u2019t without its hurdles, one being that it\u2019s highly flammable. Though it\u2019s been safely handled under-industrial uses, Brouwer notes, it will take work to render it suitable for general use.<\/p>\n Selling officials on hydrogen power was also once a hurdle, but he points to the recent bipartisan federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which has allocated $9.5 billion to advancing technology for hydrogen production. \u201cThat\u2019s more funding than we\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d Brouwer says, \u201cand it really accelerates the timeline for a zero-emissions future.\u201d<\/p>\n Infrastructure and Floods<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI was the kid who always had his arm out the car window, feeling the flow of the wind resistance on my hand. Now I develop computer codes and numerical methods to simulate flooding based on the mechanics of fluid flow,\u201d says Brett Sanders, UCI professor of civil and environmental engineering as well as urban planning and public policy. Though drought is a more immediate concern in California, Sanders cautions that the state is overdue for a historic flood. The last one, in 1862, inundated much of Southern California. \u201cThere\u2019s a massive flood risk, and our infrastructure doesn\u2019t seem up to the task of containing these events,\u201d he says. \u201cWith my simulation tools, we\u2019re increasingly able to predict and plan for such events \u2013 and in a way where outcomes are more equitable to everyone.\u201d The simulations also help him to imagine flood control plans that could have other benefits. One example Sanders cites is to redesign the Santa Ana River channel to better deal with flooding while also helping the waterway carry much needed sediment to coastal wetlands and sand-starved beaches. He says: \u201cWhat can we do to best handle a flood but also design it to be of use when it isn\u2019t flooding \u2013 to help us have a more sustainable water supply or a healthier ecosystem or a more livable city?\u201d<\/p>\n Jun Wu. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Not long ago, smog was as much a part of the Southern California landscape as the Hollywood sign it sometimes obscured. Though less visible and greatly diminished, air pollution is still a part of our lives, says Jun Wu, a UCI professor of public health in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still see a lot of adverse health effects,\u201d she says. \u201cConcentrations of fine particulate matter have even risen due to wildfires. And while outdoor pollution temporarily dropped during the COVID shutdown, we published a paper showing that indoor pollution increased, because with everyone staying indoors, there were more combustion byproducts from cooking, more chemicals from cleaning products and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n Wu and her department colleagues and students track such data, particularly in underserved communities, to present stakeholders such as health officials and civic leaders with information and potential solutions.<\/p>\n \u201cI look at environmental exposures of people to various agents, such as air pollution, noise, heat, wildfires, etc. and also at the health impact of those exposures,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n For example, Wu is collaborating with Alana LeBr\u00f3n, a UCI assistant professor of public health in the Department of Health, Society and Behavior, on a study of lead contamination in Santa Ana and its effects on children\u2019s health and academic performance. In addition, she\u2019s helping communities tackle concerns about air pollution and wildfire impacts, including industrial and firework emissions in Santa Ana.<\/p>\n Wu\u2019s work isn\u2019t all about dealing with problems: \u201cI\u2019m very excited to be exploring the beneficial effects that parks and other green spaces can have on better health outcomes for people \u2013 how they can help relieve stress, improve concentration and encourage physical activity. Trees can also absorb certain chemicals from the atmosphere, while a tree canopy provides shade. Unfortunately, the vulnerable communities that have more pollution are also the communities that have less green space, so the goal is finding ways to address that.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam Martiny. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The smallest ocean microorganisms have been and continue to be building blocks of life on this planet, and they may come in especially handy in our future, according to Adam Martiny, UCI professor of Earth system science as well as ecology and evolutionary biology.<\/p>\n As an indicator of plankton\u2019s ubiquity, he notes that scientists nine decades ago were puzzled to find that the deep ocean had a chemical makeup very similar to that of plankton on the surface. It didn\u2019t take long to determine that the phenomenon was the result of billions of years of plankton living, dying and sinking. Martiny adds, \u201cEverything that lives in the ocean either eats a microbe or eats something that\u2019s eaten a microbe. They form the base of the food chain.\u201d<\/p>\n And there\u2019s this: Phytoplankton, a type of plankton that converts sunlight into energy through photosynthesis, absorb CO2 \u2013 as do trees and plants on land.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the CO2 in our atmosphere keeps rising and things get hotter, we likely can\u2019t reduce our emissions fast enough to avoid some pretty dire conditions,\u201d Martiny says. \u201cSo we also need to remove some of the CO2 we already have in the atmosphere. We don\u2019t have the space to plant enough trees for that, whereas if you look from here to Hawaii, there\u2019s a lot of water there. If we could stimulate phytoplankton growth with nutrients all the way out to Hawaii, it would potentially make a dent in the large amounts of CO2 we have in the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n If such a plan sounds risky, that\u2019s because it is.<\/p>\n Martiny says: \u201cAre we willing to change the entire ocean in order to take CO2 out of the atmosphere? With any solution we look at, we really need to understand the consequences, because if we roll them out, we\u2019re going to change part of the planet, and we better make sure that we get it right. But if we don\u2019t try, we might be looking at a few thousand years of a very hot planet.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s still a lot that we have to learn,\u201d he adds. \u201cUnderstanding these pathways is going to lead to important engineering principles for carbon removal in the future, and UCI is gearing up to be an important part of all that.\u201d<\/p>\n Tracking El Ni\u00f1o<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The El Ni\u00f1o weather phenomenon exerts its influence over much of the world and can bring droughts, floods and other extreme conditions, making it crucial that climate scientists understand its cycles. Complicating that, \u201cthe El Ni\u00f1o of the 21st century is not the El Ni\u00f1o we knew in the 20th century,\u201d says UCI Earth system science professor Jin-Yi Yu, whose expertise is in climate dynamics, particularly atmosphere-ocean interactions. He was a pioneer in the discovery that El Ni\u00f1o often shifts to a second point of origin \u2013 in the mid-Pacific, not just near the Peruvian coastline \u2013 affecting its patterns, frequency and intensity. Much of Yu\u2019s research is done within complex computer weather models from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, to which he adds updated records of sea surface temperature cycles, wind data and other variables. \u201cEl Ni\u00f1o affects everything from crops in California to hurricanes in the Atlantic to fisheries in India, and we need to keep advancing our understanding,\u201d Yu says. \u201cIf, for example, we ever want to do something to mitigate or reduce some effects of global warming with geoengineering, it\u2019s essential to understand everything we can about El Ni\u00f1o.\u201d<\/p>\n Alejandro Camacho. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cClimate change is the central challenge of our time, and, obviously, that makes it a moral imperative to try to think through how we address it,\u201d says UCI Chancellor\u2019s Professor of law Alejandro Camacho. \u201cIt\u2019s also a personal concern: I care about my children and their children and how the planet can adjust, and that doesn\u2019t happen without responsive policymaking.\u201d<\/p>\n As far back as 2006, while teaching law at the University of Notre Dame, he was challenging legal processes, goals and institutions that were too rigid to take the \u201cchange\u201d part of climate change into account. Camacho says: \u201cAn example of maladaptive management would be a policy that is never revisited or adjusted. More effective governance involves systematically learning from new information and changing circumstances and adjusting policies accordingly. Climate change is a global example of the need for that.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a theme Camacho explored, with co-author Robert Glicksman, in the 2019 book Reorganizing Government: A Functional and Dimensional Framework. It suggests the need to rethink and adjust not only public processes and goals but also institutions over time, with the intent of making them more responsive, equitable and effective.<\/p>\n When he joined UCI Law 13 years ago, it was coming full circle for Camacho. Before receiving a J.D. from Harvard University and an LL.M. from Georgetown University, he earned bachelor\u2019s degrees at UCI in criminology, law and society as well as political science.<\/p>\n \u201cI took environmental law and environment protection courses here. I found the issues to be incredibly difficult and complex but also incredibly important to me,\u201d Camacho says. \u201cIt made me decide that environmental law was my calling. It\u2019s where theory turns into action.\u201d<\/p>\n Along with teaching an environmental law practicum, he\u2019s active in a range of related activities. Among them, Camacho is the founder and director of UCI\u2019s Center for Land, Environment and Natural Resources, where, he says, \u201cthe core initiative is what we call workshop roundtables, which bring together experts on a particular environmental topic to advance dialogue and knowledge \u2013 and, hopefully, advance policy. We bring together experts from academia, the public sector, nonprofit organizations and sometimes industry. And it\u2019s not just having a conversation; it\u2019s designed to lead to a document that can be used to help advance policy on these matters.\u201d<\/p>\n When Events Collide<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n It can be difficult enough to track or predict a single climate event. Amir Aghakouchak, UCI professor of civil and environmental engineering as well as Earth system science, specializes in researching what happens when two or more combine. He has refined the use of remote sensing devices such as satellites and radar to track such events and has shared his \u201ctoolbox\u201d for other scientists to use. \u201cInteracting hazards are happening with greater frequency,\u201d Aghakouchak says. \u201cWhat happens when drought and heat waves combine? When terrestrial flooding coincides with ocean flooding? How will these things react differently if the planet\u2019s temperature goes up a degree? Three degrees? There is so much to take into account \u2013 from the effect on vegetation and soil microbes\u2019 ability to absorb carbon to the societal and social justice dimensions of these events.\u201d<\/p>\n Julianne DeAngelo. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A half-century ago, the famed Yankees catcher and malapropism master Yogi Berra declared, \u201cThe future ain\u2019t what it used to be.\u201d That observation has taken on a grim significance in the ensuing decades\u2019 cascade of floods, droughts, fires and other climate events that suggest the future belongs not so much to the human imagination as it does to the carbon dioxide we\u2019ve released into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n Meet Solutions That Scale, an interdisciplinary research group launched in January 2021 by the School of Physical Sciences. Its mission statement posits a future that\u2019s not just survivable but flourishing.<\/p>\n To get there, STS is engaging scientists and other experts from across the UCI spectrum to work with business leaders, government officials and civic leaders to develop and test solutions to pressing environmental problems \u2013 and then develop ways to upscale those solutions to be applied on a global level.<\/p>\n One ambitious project is aimed at finding alternatives to the fossil fuels that power the freight industry. The effort is led by Earth system science Ph.D. student Julianne DeAngelo \u2013 one of STS\u2019s initial cohort of fellowship students \u2013 with assistance from UCI professors Steven Davis, Jack Brouwer and others. DeAngelo is exploring hydrogen, biofuels and additional alternative power sources to arrive at \u201cthe most cost-effective way to get the freight industry to net-zero\u201d carbon emissions.<\/p>\n As part of its public outreach, STS conducts a seminar series, with one recent example being a webinar in which 2022 Andrew Carnegie Fellow Michael M\u00e9ndez, UCI assistant professor of urban planning and public policy, discussed \u201cExtreme Wildfire Impacts to Undocumented Latina\/o and Indigenous Migrants.\u201d<\/p>\n For solutions to be implemented, STS executive board member Richard Matthew, professor of urban planning and public policy, says, \u201cit\u2019s crucial that we have business leaders, policymakers and community leaders in the room. We need business leaders to bring their managerial and investment skills to bear on issues so they can be realized. We need the policymakers with the know-how to develop regulations.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re saying is let\u2019s work together and find solutions that make sense from an economic perspective, from a community justice perspective and an ecological perspective. Let\u2019s try those solutions out here. Then \u2013 just as California has always been a source of ingenuity and innovation for the planet \u2013 our solutions can be scaled up across the globe to help other areas addressing similar issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Steven Davis. Photo by Steve Zylius\/UCI<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHave you seen how the latest U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report is structured?\u201d asks Steven Davis, UCI professor of Earth system science and civil and environmental engineering, who wrote a chapter in a previous IPCC report. \u201cThe first part covers the fundamental realities of how the climate is changing. The second assesses what the impacts will be on humans, our infrastructure and so on, while the third part asks, \u2018What can we do about it?\u2019 I\u2019ve spent the bulk of my career squarely in that third part, looking for solutions to mitigate the problems with greenhouse gas emissions and other climate issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Davis took a winding path to Earth system science, first earning B.A.s in political science and philosophy, then a J.D. \u201cBut I found I wasn\u2019t loving law,\u201d he recalls. \u201cMy wife was studying physical oceanography, and it looked like a lot more fun. I always enjoyed environmental science, so I went back to grad school and earned a Ph.D. [at Stanford University] in geological and environmental sciences. Four years later, in 2012, I joined the great group of colleagues here in Earth system science, and it\u2019s felt like home ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n The aforementioned IPCC report does not lack for grim climate assessments, and newspapers have almost daily accounts of record droughts, fires, heat waves and other environmental crises.<\/p>\n \u201cI see a lot of despair out there, but I\u2019m actually feeling more optimistic about climate problems because we\u2019ve made a lot of progress in terms of the attractiveness of the solutions,\u201d Davis says. \u201cRenewable energy technologies like solar and wind, batteries and electric vehicles have all plummeted in cost \u2013 to the point where people are going to start preferring them not because they necessarily even care about the climate, but because they\u2019re the most attractive, best performing and, in some cases, cheapest options out there.<\/p>\n \u201cIt once cost thousands of dollars to get a watt of solar power; now it\u2019s more like 30 cents,\u201d he continues. \u201cAnd new tech is coming along all the time, such as perovskite solar panels. I think we\u2019re really on the brink of what will be a drastic decrease in our energy system CO2 emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n Davis envisions a similar turning point with businesses recognizing greater economic opportunities in building the infrastructure needed to address climate change in the coming decades. \u201cThis is just the start, and there are still a lot of things to wrangle with, like getting the CO2 out of concrete and steel production,\u201d he says. \u201cI see all this as puzzles to be solved, and that\u2019s something people are good at.\u201d<\/p>\n Bridging Environmental Humanities<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n When it comes to tackling issues of the environment, the humanities have a lot to bring to the table: critical analysis, cultural attunement, storytelling, historical context, and a deep understanding of human beliefs and motivations. So in April, UCI\u2019s School of Humanities launched the Environmental Humanities Research Center to give scholars from the school\u2019s various disciplines \u2013 such as history, philosophy and ethnic studies \u2013 a chance to share each other\u2019s work and create new dialogues concerning climate change and sustainability. \u201cColleagues across the school have for years been doing vibrant research and teaching involving issues of ecological and climatological crisis without necessarily communicating with each other,\u201d says center director James Nisbet, chair of UCI\u2019s art history department. \u201cThe center is a way to join forces. We also will reach across the schools to share different perspectives on climate change.\u201d Another branch of the center\u2019s mission is to conduct community outreach, he says, \u201cwhere the public will see the center and UCI as a home for interaction and environmental conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nLighter-Than-Air Solutions to Heavy Problems<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n
\nLinking Environmental and Human Health<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nPlankton Building Blocks<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n
\nThe Law of the Land \u2013 and the Sea and Air<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n
\nScaling Up the Future<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nRays of Hope<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n
\nThe Effects of Human Populations<\/h2>\n