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 ›

Why did hundreds of giant squid all of the sudden appear off the coast of Orange County last Friday? The Daily News looks into what this could mean about the environment: "Some say they move north in search of a food source. Other scientists say the temperatures in the waters near the equator have increased due to global warming. As a result, the squid head north and have been spotted in the past as far as Alaska. 'Oxygen-depleted waters have increased off our coast in the last few years,' [said Dale] Sweetnam, [a senior marine biologist for the California Department of Fish & Game senior marine biologist for the California Department of Fish & Game]. 'There's a concern from our standpoint because the jumbo squid are voracious eaters. They do eat through a lot of fisheries, such as rockfish and actually market squid.'" more ›

Over in Copenhagen, world leaders are meeting to discuss and hopefully come to an agreement on emissions and global warming. But what are scientists saying about global warming here in California? One interesting and odd nugget is about bristlecone pine trees that are found mountain areas. Scientists are finding that the higher the temperature, the wider a tree's ring measures, which indicates its annual growth. The trees in high altitude areas, which live for thousands of years, have experienced faster normal growth since 1951, according to Discovery. more ›

If you didn't know, Los Angeles is placed within quite a rare landscape, biologically speaking that is. There are only six Mediterranean Biomes in the world making up 2% of the world's land area and Southern California's coast and surrounding mountains are part of that. This is one of the reasons why congress in 1978 decided bring in the Santa Monica Mountains and the five northern Channel Islands into the Department of the Interior under the National Park Service. They were named the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Channel Islands National Park. more ›

A report released yesterday by the state's interagency Climate Action Team that shows the impacts of rising sea levels and what cities and residents must do in regards to flooding, erosion and other effects. If the ocean rises 55 inches, things change drastically, enough to affect hundreds of thousands of people, the LA Times reports. "Detailed maps of the coastline, published on the institute's website, show that residential neighborhoods in Venice and Marina del Rey could find themselves in a flood zone. Water could cover airports in San Francisco and Oakland, parts of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and large swaths of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach." The Pacific Institute has a few different maps, including an interactive Google one, showing what infrastructure--schools, police station--that are affected. more ›

"People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide that the climate would go back to normal in 100 years or 200 years. What we're showing here is that's not right. It's essentially an irreversible change that will last for more than a thousand years," said Susan Solomon, one of the world's top climate scientists, to NPR this week. Today, KCRW's To The Point looked into the issue further, even bringing up population problems as a contributor to causing the global climate change. more ›

Los Angeles is in a drought. Without more rainfall, this city will be starting rationing very soon. New data was released today about our water shortage: more ›

Pastor Robert Jones of a Sacramento-area church visited a state environmental hearing last Wednesday about California's plan to cut global warming emissions. He asked the politicians to keep poorer communities in mind when drafting laws. more ›

Sometimes, what happens around San Francisco applies to Los Angeles. Editor Brock Keeling catches this sign of the times with some humor: more ›

You can't fight the funk: scientists are just beginning to discover some of the more insidious effects of creeping global warming, which is about to put polar bears on the endangered species list -- and wild Alaskan salmon may be next. Alaskan fisheries, long been overflowing with magnificent salmon supplies, are now threatened with a sticky situation: warmer waters in the northern climes are breeding yucky bacteria called Ichthyophonus hoferi --or, Ich. The bacteria, while harmless to humans, makes the salmon mushy and unappetizing, as well as resistant to crucial preservation methods like drying. From the LA Times: more ›

Today over at the Huffington Post, California Senator Barbara Boxer contributes her third post to the locally based blog and news site -- this time in an effort of advocacy: more ›

Yesterday, in the L.A. Times, I read a story that made my blood boil. People with the initiative and the where-with-all to make their cars run on vegetable oil, thus saving themselves money and us all fumes, are being smacked down by the state government for not seeing to such things as, oh, a $300 license from the Meat and Poultry Inspection Branch to collect grease from kitchens. Oh, and road tax, God forbid these forward-thinking citizens should get away without chipping in on the road tax normally included in gas pump prices! That would mean their noble efforts might actually be rewarded. Matthew Tiffany had to shut down his Good Earth Grease Haulers because of too much red tape and fines. What was he thinking, trying to help us all convert our vehicles to help work towards a healthier planet? Dave Eck and his fryer-oil cars, why, what a little tax cheat! Even the governor got nailed for running his Hummer on Costco cooking oil (now there's an odd sentence), without paying the state 18 cents for each gallon of oil, which is apparently the law, clearly as a punishment for setting us all an example. 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 ›

Escape from the city by camping out in the great wide open of the Joshua Tree National Park. more ›

Photo by victoriabernal via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr more ›

Photo by Here in Van Nuys via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr more ›

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A 50' woman was seen terrorizing Venice Beach today. We are sure this has something to do with global warming. More photos from the scene after the jump.... more ›

This LAist poster trudges through Union Station every day for work. Usually the long hallway that connects old Union Station to Gateway Plaza is bland, beige and just plain boring. But once in awhile, some advertiser will cover the walkway with wallpaper for eye candy for tired commuters. more ›

We told you they were coming to speak on global warming, now here's what happened at yesterday's Presidential Forum in West LA. For the second time this month, fire officials are preparing for more wildfires as dry winds approach. Mission Viejo in Orange County is dubbed safest city in America. Sorry Detroit, you're back at the bottom of this list. However, these numbers came from a private research group and people, including the FBI,... more ›

John Edwards is everywhere in LA this weekend. Today, at the Presidential Forum on Global Warming and yesterday, images are pouring in all over these internets of Edwards in Burbank at the WGA Strikes. Best photo caption goes to Variety's Strike Blog, Scribe Vibe, for this picture of Edwards screaming into a bullhorn: "John Edwards was campaign shoutin' like a Southern Democrat out there on Alameda Avenue." A statement released by John Edwards on November... more ›

There are no less than nine green events tomorrow. Surely, the Los Angeles area is getting a lot more hip about being green. And hopefully, when this fad is over, it will be a staple of our lives, embedded into our quotidian conscious. The big event tomorrow is the Opportunity Green Conference at UCLA. The pricey, but well talked about event in green circles, is bringing together sustainable businesses in hopes of creating a community... more ›

" "Just because you've rolled horse manure in powdered sugar doesn't mean you have a doughnut": people aren't very happy with the Farm Bill, and yet the Senate still seems set on passing a totally inadequate "reformed" bill that continues to subsidize Big Agriculture at the expense of our nation's health. City officials are "identifying" Muslim communities across the city -- but it's not profiling, it's "community engagement"!! Those kooky kids at City Hall!... more ›

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Kenneth Turan presents Never Coming to a Theater Near You 7pm @ Studio City Branch Library more ›

Núñez represents downtown Los Angeles, to the south of, and East LA in the state assembly. It is rumored he wants to run for Mayor. It is not like Democrat Fabian Núñez, Speaker of the California State Assembly, is some bogus politician with bad intentions and total self-serving motives. I am not going to argue with him for looking into universal preschool, high speed rail and global warming solutions for California; in fact, I... more ›

Randall Robinson presents An Unbroken Agony 7pm @ EsoWon Books more ›