Our city, Los Angeles, is a city of contrasts. And its climate is no exception. In the span of just a few miles, moderate coastal landscapes give way to the warmer LA basin. Then, subtropical foothills, followed by cooler and wetter mountain ranges. Finally, the deserts of the Antelope Valley, the Mojave, and Death Valley – the hottest place on earth.
Like any region home to over 18 million people, the greater Los Angeles area faces many challenges. Most recently, devastating wildfires that have caused more destruction and loss than our city has ever experienced.
For Alex Hall, Los Angeles and its climate represented the perfect laboratory for what would eventually become his passion – climate science. Today, Hall is a professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science who received a PhD from Princeton working in the research group of future Nobel Laureate and climate modeling pioneer Suki Manabe. For the last 24 years he has been a professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UCLA, where he was also recently named Director of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES).
Our contrasts also bless us with the qualities required to lead in this challenge. The strength and beauty of Los Angeles lies in our diversity. That is true not just of our climate but our people. By embracing the skills, experiences, and training of researchers from across UCLA, we can accomplish this goal.
But back in the early 90’s, he was a new undergrad studying physics at Pomona College. While there, Hall took a class on what was at the time called “global warming.” That class opened a door for him who, like many young college students before and since, was searching for a way to apply his training towards improving our world. “I wanted to do something that felt relevant to society and, as a student of physics, I was finally able to see how I could connect physics to something immediately relevant in that area,” he said.
That devotion to society was put to the test more than ever before when these recent wildfires struck at the heart of Los Angeles. Through UCLA’s Climate and Wildfire Research Initiative (CWRI), which Hall founded in 2023, he has helped lead an effort to better understand these events. He has taken on a mission, coordinating his role as faculty director of the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge (SLAGC) and director of IoES, to restructure the way universities approach research in environment and sustainability. And, earlier this month, Hall helped organize a group UCLA advisors supporting an independent commission tasked with developing policy recommendations to guide a safe and resilient recovery for Los Angeles in the wake of the 2025 wildfires.
Perhaps more importantly, he has championed a new vision for the place of climate science in our society and the role it can and should play in building a better future for us all.
A Climate Crisis at Home
In the wake of unprecedented destruction, Hall and his colleagues immediately set out to untangle the web of factors fueling these disasters. “The fires were a combination of natural and human elements,” he explained. “The dry start to the rainy season we experienced was probably natural. But the summer heat that dried vegetation to a crisp? That was climate change.”
Hall also pointed out another critical factor often overlooked. “The fires were ignited by human activity—electrical equipment, campfires, even fireworks,” he said. “And our urban planning decisions and subsidizing of development in fire-prone areas have only increased the risks. We have to ask ourselves as a society: Do we want to keep building in places where the costs of disasters are socialized?”
Just as these fires were the result of a combination of factors, both human and natural, Hall is quick to emphasize that future solutions must also rely on a union of many approaches. “Yes, we need better climate models, and new technology. But we also need new approaches to urban planning, new organizational structures at our research institutions, and new ways to think of the relationship between humans and nature,” he said.
IoES: Building Interdisciplinary Bridges
As Director of the IoES, Hall says the institute has a dual mission: to educate the next generation of environmentalists, and to support research that brings together the diverse range of disciplines needed to address sustainability and climate change.
Hall hopes to combine his efforts building interdisciplinary bridges at SLAGC with his work at IoES to continue breaking down the traditional silos of academia. “Wildfires are a perfect example,” Hall said. “Addressing this problem requires not just climate scientists, but urban planners, engineers, economists, biologists, and social scientists, to name just a few. IoES connects these disciplines, fostering partnerships and providing the resources needed to make a real impact.”
Hall believes that joining his efforts at CWRI and SLAGC with his new role at IoES uniquely positions UCLA to succeed where other institutions have struggled. “Most universities haven’t figured out how to do interdisciplinary engagement in this area well, but we’re making strides. Our strength lies in our ability to connect people—scholars, policymakers, and industry leaders—with each other, and the tools they need to make a difference.”
“The solutions are within our reach. And in solving these problems, we may just find a better version of ourselves.“
Alex hall
A New Vision for Climate and Society
Hall sees adapting to climate change as about much more than simply mitigating disaster. According to him, climate change adaptation could actually transform society. “The impacts of climate change are forcing us to reexamine our relationship with the planet and with each other,” he said. “That’s an opportunity for growth, for becoming something better.”
In other words, in order to address climate challenges, we’re forced to confront our fragmented relationships with nature and with each other. In fact, Hall believes that it is only by changing these relationships that we can hope to solve our climate crisis in the first place.
Hall envisions an even broader impact from tackling climate change, one that could inspire a shift toward a new way of living. Addressing the crisis might encourage people to become more connected, focus on what truly matters, and strive not just to survive, but to thrive collectively.
For Hall, the work is also profoundly fulfilling. “Every time I learn about another discipline, or collaborate with someone outside my field, my own intellectual horizons are expanded, and that’s exhilarating.”
Our city, Los Angeles, is a city of contrasts. But those contrasts also bless us with the qualities required to lead in this challenge. The strength, and beauty, of Los Angeles lies in our diversity. That is true not just of our climate but our people. By embracing the skills, experiences, and training of researchers from across UCLA, Hall is optimistic.
“The solutions are within our reach,” he said. “And in solving these problems, we may just find a better version of ourselves.”