The nonprofit Climate Central came out with a map that shows you which coastal areas are going to be at risk of flooding as global warming causes ocean tides to rise. The hardest-hit areas in Los Angeles could include the low-lying area around the ports of San Pedro and Long Beach and the area surrounding Marina Del Rey, including Venice. more ›

Hosted by environmentalist and former Vice President Al Gore, 24 Hours of Reality airs online tonight beginning at 7pm CT (5pm PT) as part of The Climate Reality Project. "24 presenters. 24 time zones. 13 languages. 1 message." more ›

Since 2007, one day a year has marked Earth Hour, during which folks across the globe shut off the lights and unplug for an hour to draw attention to energy overuse and climate change. This year's event is now upon us: Earth Hour 2011 is tonight at 8:30 p.m. (local time). The event has grown since its origins, with 2009 and http://laist.com/2010/03/27/lights_out_for_earth_hour_tonight_a.php counting 88 countries and 128 countries, respectively, that took part. more ›

If you think life is hard on a cruise ship, try taking the train! Unstoppable pits Captain Kirk and Malcolm X against an iron horse with a serious vendetta, several tons of chemicals, and a hundred schoolkids thrown in for good measure. more ›

Normally, a 3D family adventure isn't worth a hoot, but Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole may be a bonafide barn storm. The animated film's voice talent includes Hugo Weaving, Geoffrey Rush, Helen Mirren and Sam Neill. Critics are middling, but cite director Zack Snyder's dark tones and violence as high-points, so your kids may grow some teeth in the process... more ›

Tonight all over the world people, businesses, and landmarks will be turning out their lights for just 60 minutes as part of the annual effort to promote awareness of climate change and energy conservation, Earth Hour. more ›

Tonight at 7:30 pm, Zócalo and The Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West present the program How Will Climate Change Transform L.A.? Moderated by Paul Wennberg, director, Linde Center for Global Environmental Science at the California Institute of Technology, the panel includes CalTech Professor of Environmental Science Tapio Schneider, UCLA Associate Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Alex Hall, and Pulitzer Prize winning environmental writer Usha McFarling. The event takes place at The Huntington in San Marino. Free, but reservations are recommended. more ›

Tomorrow night, cities all over the world will be participating in Earth Hour, when citizens are asked to turn out the lights and go unplugged for one hour to inspire awareness about global climate change and energy conservation. The annual event originated in Sydney, Australia, and is being championed in major metropolitan areas world-wide. more ›

">cannot tell cars, and now, ships to lower their emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency argues that "unlike smog and diesel fumes, climate change is a global problem, not a state one," says the LA Times in their leading California section article today. And the EPA is right, it is a global problem. But time is of the essence, so what's with the wait? more ›

Political Briefs and Dispatches from around California more ›

• Tribune Company CEO Dennis FitzSimons will be stepping down at the end of the year, letting Chicago businessman Sam Zell take over the company. The Tribune Company owns the Los Angeles Times.
• President Bush signed a huge Energy Bill yesterday, in hopes of "reducing our dependence on oil, confronting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations of our country a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure."
• Looks like Sean Preston and, uh, the other little Chee-to whose name escapes us will have a little fucked up cousin very soon! Jamie Lynn Spears, following in her sister's dirty, unshod footsteps, got herself knocked up.
• California's population has grown by 11.5% since 2000 -- but the annual growth rate has slowed overall, possibly due to slower job growth: "Those who left... were fleeing an economy in which just 5,800 jobs per month were created -- down from more than 20,000 per month the previous year."
• Sean Penn's road-trip flick "Into the Wild" garnered four SAG Award nominations, including one Best Lead Actor nod for star Emile Hirsch. SAG has reached an agreement with the writers guild that will allow the ceremony to proceed as planned.
• This week's rainfall brings California's yearly total up to the seasonal norm. More relief may still be on the way.
• Approximately 25,000 residents in Northridge and other parts of the Valley were affected by power outages yesterday. Cal State Northridge shut down classes, but power has been restored to most customers.
• There may be hope yet for television in the New Year! Stephen Colbert & Jon Stewart will return to cable on January 7th without their writing staff. Stewart and Colbert commented: ""We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence."

more ›

So Merriam-Webster's word of the year is w00t. Sort of uninspiring, right? As in, aren't there thousands of other words that communicate so much more, mean so much more than the gamer battle-cry for "yes! i just killed your guy and i still have seven lives left!"?!?!? Surely there are more important things that happened in the word world than this, we kept thinking. Surely there were actual words that should have won. "Facebook" was... more ›

Los Angeles is cleaning up after a wet weekend that drenched the southland and knocked out power to thousands. Want asthma? LAUSD is building seven new schools near freeways, despite scientific studies saying such construction could damage the children's lungs. Huell Howser is here. That's amazing! The city's neighborhood councils could be in for some major changes. Maybe now, you'll actually understand what they are. A Los Angeles man suspected of shooting his pregnant girlfriend... more ›

If there's one thing I hate more than the MSM's obsessive coverage of the presidential campaigns, it's the gross fickleness and inanity inherent in the coverage itself. Given that the next president will need to tackle a whole host of weighty issues immediately upon taking office — global warming, the Iraq war, healthcare and the deficit, just to name a few — you might think the press would be busy providing in-depth and insightful... more ›

Tod Brilliant is a self-made eco-celebrity and decided his top 10 list to share with LAist readers would be about the most critical websites that will help you learn to save our massively fucked planet. more ›

Truth be told, LAist hasn’t been dying to see a movie on opening night for a long, long time. But there is just something about global climate change as a result of a consumption-driven society that just gets us all in the mood – so we headed out to the ArcLight this week to see An Incovenient Truth. YOU MUST GO SEE THIS MOVIE. It will change your life, or at least the way you think, if you let it. It is a truly touching and captivating documentary that intertwines the science of global warming with former Vice President Al Gore's personal history and longtime commitment to communicating the need to reverse the effects of global climate change. We thought it would be more Michael Moore kicking ass and taking names, but its message is a quieter and hopefully less partisan one. You are to walk away not in dispute over anything in the film and rather feeling like something has to be done about this problem. more ›

A report released last month by the California Climate Change Center at UC Berkeley says that global warming presents California with valuable business opportunities. "Managing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in California" says that "climate action in California can yield net gains for the state economy, increasing growth and creating jobs." In more simple terms, that spells ECONOMIC BENEFIT. If California is smart, our state could easily become "a leader in the new technologies and industries that will come into existence worldwide due to the common goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions." more ›

Will Arizona be a blue state, once Phoenix boasts scenic beach-front property? more ›