Media Watch Archives
What You Need To Know Today
LAist -
Researchers at UC Irvine found out that L.A. County is more at risk for major flooding than was previously thought. Black communities face the largest risk. Researchers pinpoint areas such as Compton, Carson and North Long Beach as being particularly vulnerable. Read More
Study: Los Angeles’ major flood risk is much higher than previously thought
Grist -
When it comes to storm damage, Los Angeles County may not be the first place that comes to mind. But according to a new study, the area’s “hundred-year” flood risk is far greater than what the federal government currently estimates — and a disproportionate danger for Black residents in certain key areas. … And it may not just be L.A. County that is vastly underestimating its flood risk: “Across the U.S., we witnessed one city after the other get hit by flooding and be seemingly unprepared for the amount of flooding that happens,” said Brett Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Irvine and the study’s lead author. Read More
Most vulnerable to flooding: Long Beach north to Bell Gardens
KCRW – Press Play with Madeleine Brand -
In LA, drought and fire are considered the biggest climate problems. But Angelenos should also worry about flooding, according to a new study from UC Irvine. Researchers found that hundreds of thousands of LA County residents could be inundated by at least a foot of flood water — should a once-in-a-100-year storm hit the area. One of the researchers is Brett Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Irvine. Read More
LA Is At Greater Risk Of Flooding Than Previously Thought, Particularly In Black Communities
LAist -
Los Angeles County is at higher risk of major flooding that previously thought, and Black communities throughout the county face the greatest risk. … Using new modeling techniques, researchers at UC Irvine looked at what they call megacities — which include L.A. — to determine which residents would be most at risk should a flood occur. "We did that by ... intersecting our modeling of the flood extent with the census data that shows where people live," said Brett F. Sanders, one of the study's co-authors and a UCI civil and environmental engineering professor. Read More
Turning CO2 solid could allow underground burial
Futurity -
“Certain types of rocks, such as those containing basalt, are rich in divalent metal cations that naturally convert CO2 into stable metal carbonate matter,” says co-lead author M.J. Abdolhosseini Qomi, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine. “Understanding how this process works at the molecular level will help us utilize this beneficial chemistry to help solve the problem of runaway climate change.” Read More
UCI flood modeling framework reveals heightened risk and disparities in Los Angeles
Phys.org -
Flood risk in Los Angeles is vastly larger than previously indicated by federally defined flood maps, and low-income and marginalized communities face a significantly higher threat, according to a study led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine. … "We have developed an innovative, new flood risk modeling platform that, for the first time, enables household exposure and inequalities to be systematically quantified across major metro regions," said lead author Brett Sanders, UCI professor of civil and environmental engineering. Read More
Today’s Headlines: California
Los Angeles Times -
A major flood would hit Los Angeles Black communities disproportionately hard. A study from UC Irvine researchers does not predict when the next 100-year flood will occur. The paper, however, is among the first to examine how whiplashing weather extremes may affect the Los Angeles Basin, concluding that such a flood would cause far greater damage than federal emergency officials have forecast. [Subscription required, you can request an electronic copy of the article by sending an email to communications@uci.edu.] Read More
Aging Infrastructure May Create Higher Flood Risk in L.A., Study Finds
The New York Times -
Hundreds of thousands of people in Los Angeles could experience at least a foot of flooding during a 100-year disaster, a new scientific study has found, highlighting the hazards of aging infrastructure in America’s second-largest city. This is a much higher estimate of flood exposure in Los Angeles than the one produced by the federal government. … The discrepancy is explained, in part, because the new study takes a more realistic view of the city’s water infrastructure, said the report’s lead author, Brett F. Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine. [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/nytimes] Read More
From Activism to Athletics, Here Are the ABCs of College Students
KNBC -
Nowadays, college students do much more than study and go to class. They build communities and strengthen the next generation. …UC Irvine senior and mechanical engineering major, Caden Ziegler, chose the university because of his opportunity to be involved in the shaping of the school. Students nowadays are finding more and more ways to not only shape the campus environment, but the community around them. "When there’s large movements, there is activism on campus, people are vocal," shared Ziegler. He goes above and beyond the call of the typical student. Behind the scenes, Caden does government research for a company in Laguna Hills. Read More
Major flood would hit Los Angeles Black communities disproportionately hard, study finds
Los Angeles Times -
Flooding from a storm event so severe that it occurs only once every 100 years would cause far greater damage to life and property in the Los Angeles Basin than federal emergency officials have forecast, according to UC Irvine researchers who warn also that Black and low-income communities would be hardest hit by the disaster. “We found that nearly 1 million people are living within areas that could be threatened by a 100-year flood,” said Brett Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. “That’s roughly 30 times more people at risk than what the Federal Emergency Management Agency suggests.” [Subscription required, you can request an electronic copy of the article by sending an email to communications@uci.edu.] Read More