Climate & Environment

SoCal to bake under brief heat wave this week

Triple digit temperatures are expected Wednesday and Thursday.

The sun sets over the ocean and people stand in the water.

Cleaning up smog is suddenly much harder. Reined in by Trump, what will California do next?

With seven of its ambitious rules for cars, trucks and trains repealed, California officials must find new ways to clean up the nation’s worst air pollution.

An orange tinted skyline in downtown, with buildings partially obscured by smog and a light aircraft flying through the polluted air.

Six months after January’s fires, recovery is just beginning for many

There’s been significant progress in the recovery effort, but there’s a long road ahead.

A wide shot of the coastline showing a long row of destroyed homes and the beach right next to it.

Triple-digit heatwave starting Tuesday, elevating fire risks

Heatwave expected to last through Friday, with the hottest days forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.

Large crowds are silhouetted by the setting sun as they celebrate Independence Day before watching fireworks displays shooting off the pier and illuminating the ocean in Huntington Beach Friday, July 4, 2025.

This UCLA research project needs your help studying birds after wildfires

"Project Phoenix" relies on community science to study how wildfire smoke effects birds.

Birds near MacArthur Park lake, with the downtown Los Angeles skyline in the background, in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025.

Madre Fire burns over 70k acres, more 'extreme' fire weather ahead

The Madre Fire burning in San Luis Obispo near Highway 166 is California's largest fire this year.

Two black and white law enforcement vehicles are on a road with dark plumes of smoke behind them.

Rolling Hills, also grappling with landslide damage, seeks its own buyout program for affected residents

Rancho Palos Verdes has already started its FEMA-funded buyout program for homes destroyed by the land movement.

When Fourth of July fireworks are over, what is LA breathing?

Air quality is uniquely terrible after all those official and illegal fireworks are detonated to celebrate Independence Day. What exactly is in the air and what should you do about it?

A firework sparkles silver, yellow and orange at sunset, with trees and hills framing the image.

Six months after the fires, are LA beaches safe?

A nonprofit has run tests on sand and water samples and reports that risks to human health appear to be low.

A beach, with the ocean along the right and sand on the left. The sky is a little gray and hazy, but a distant coast can be seen in the background. The remnants of what appears to be a burnt structure is sitting on the sand on the far left of the photo.

Low clouds bring slight cooling to SoCal

Temperatures will be a couple degrees cooler today in SoCal compared to earlier this week.

SoCal National Parks are recruiting campsite volunteers. Here's how to apply

Campsite hosts can live inside the parks for several months to help visitors with resources and more.

The outdoor entrance sign to Joshua Tree National Park.

One of the biggest obstacles to building new housing in California has now vanished

In a legislative battle a decade in the making, lawmakers just exempted infill urban development from the California Environmental Quality Act. That’s a big deal.

Two men wearing hard hats and long-sleeved bright orange shirts bend over to work on the wood frame roof of a housing complex under construction.

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