Media Watch
Extreme Flooding from Florence Likely, Due to Convergence of Threats
Scientific American -
“We have ignored it in the past, we cannot ignore it in the future,” says Amir AghaKouchak, a civil engineer at the University of California, Irvine …. AghaKouchak is studying how sea level rise might affect such flooding; a 2017 study he co-authored found that when compound flooding and sea level rise were factored in, the chances of floods that exceed what local infrastructure was built to accommodate went up considerably.
PerceptIn’s Self-driving Vehicles Go on Sale in November for $40,000
Venture Beats -
While autonomous cars aren’t as expensive as they used to be, they’re not exactly competitive with midrange family sedans. … Dr. Shaoshan Liu says it doesn’t have to be that way. The University of California Irvine graduate … is the founder and CEO of PerceptIn, a robotics startup headquartered in Santa Clara, California that’s been developing an in-house self-driving car platform since 2016. It today unveiled the DragonFly Pod, an autonomous vehicle priced at just $40,000 that’ll go on sale in November.
We Can Work It Out: Avoiding Disasters
Eos -
Amir AghaKouchak, [associate professor] University of California, Irvine; and Ben van der Pluijm, write, “The key question is, What does it take to prevent natural hazards from becoming human disasters? … This leads to another important question: How can the scientific community inform societies about critical thresholds and strengthen their resilience against natural hazards?”
'Apocalyptic threat': dire climate report raises fears for California's future
The Guardian -
The “apocalyptic threat” the governor described would present itself in myriad ways in a state prone to extreme weather events like drought and wildfires, said Amir AghaKouchak, an associate professor at the University of California, Irvine, and a researcher who contributed to the assessment.
Australia Battling the Big Dry
The New Zealand Herald -
Wild animals moving closer to human populations is a common side effect of drought, Amir AghaKouchak, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the University of California at Irvine, told the Washington Post. "It happens all the time - in Australia with kangaroos, and in some other countries, even cheetahs and jaguars get closer to farms when there's a lack of water," he said.
In Australia, Farmers Dealing with Drought Can Kill Kangaroos that Compete with Their Livestock
The Washington Post -
Wild animals moving closer to human populations is a common side effect of drought, Amir AghaKouchak, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the University of California at Irvine, told The Washington Post. “It happens all the time — in Australia with kangaroos, and in some other countries, even cheetahs and jaguars get closer to farms when there’s a lack of water,” he said.
Trump's Water Policy Tweets Spur Debate, Confusion Amid Record Wildfires
Circa -
Amir AghaKouchak, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine, recently co-authored a study in “Science Advances” showing that regions facing drought conditions have warmed four times faster than parts of the country with average weather conditions. That combined effect of heat waves and droughts is contributing to an uptick in the severity of wildfires in California. “Fires are getting more frequent, more intense,” he said. “Not only that, the fire season is changing.”
Are Droughts Getting Hotter?
International Environmental Technology -
A new study from the University of California Irvine (UCI) has found that temperatures are increasing during droughts in large parts of the United States. The researchers analysed temperature and precipitation records from the 20th and 21st century and found that the mercury was rising at a faster rate in areas affected by drought than other more moderate climates.
Study: Droughts Are Growing Hotter Under Climate Change
Arizona Public Media -
"We've observed a shift of approximately 0.6 degrees Celsius [1.0 Fahrenheit] between the first and the second half of the 20th century. But if you only include months classified as dry, you see that there's almost double the shift in temperature," said lead author Felicia Chiang, a graduate student researcher in civil and environmental engineering at UC Irvine.
A Vicious Climate Cycle: Droughts are Becoming Hotter, Raising Risk of Wildfire, Scientists Say
Los Angeles Times -
A team from UC Irvine that compared temperature changes across the U.S. found that temperatures rise faster in places under drought conditions than they do in places with average climates. This relationship could also raise the risk of concurrent heatwaves and wildfires, the researchers say.