Is Los Angeles' perfect sunny weather gone?

Darcy Mullane '24

Editor-in-Chief of Design

Rainfall in Los Angeles has rapidly increased as climate change rages on, but what has really caused it and who has it affected? 

The increase in storms can be directly linked to climate change and how the heating of the planet has shifted water cycles. With the warmer atmosphere, the air is able to hold moisture longer, and the water vapor goes through the water cycle by condensing into clouds and then rain. These storms are rooted in environmental events called atmospheric rivers. 

According to the Los Angeles Times, scientists explain that “when the atmosphere grows one degree warmer, the air’s water-holding capacity increases by up to 3.9%” (James). 

Many foreigners in Los Angeles are wondering the same thing–why is this a big deal? 

To begin, global warming should not be getting so extreme that it is creating a climate phenomenon, but we have let it get to the point where it is affecting more than our environment, and now it’s affecting our livelihoods as well. 

Since Los Angeles is not equipped for the amount of rain it has gotten over the past couple years, there has been extreme flooding, increased car accidents and mudslides. 

The Los Angeles river was not made with the idea that there would be multiple annual storms, so it is not permeable (water cannot sink into the ground.) Natural rivers are permeable because they have sediment, not concrete, as the base. 

These natural rivers flood as well, but the solution to making the Los Angeles river decrease in flooding would be a semi-permeable base. This means there would be patches of soil and grass as well as concrete, so water has somewhere to seep into and does not just rush down the river. 

With this flooding, comes mudslides. Mudslides are caused by there not being enough vegetation to keep the mud from just sliding down the hill. Since Los Angeles is mainly shrubs and other vegetation that has not adapted to the amount of rain the city gets, there is an increase in mudslides. 

Driving down the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) after rain, one can see mudslides and lanes closed off as a result. It is not just the PCH, but also most roads on mountain sides. 

Topanga Canyon, specifically, has been closed for just over a month as it has been extremely dangerous to drive up the canyon due to rock slides. This closure has led to increased traffic all over Los Angeles and frustration from locals. 

With Topanga being inaccessible from the PCH, this has led to small local businesses of Topanga losing customers because people cannot make it through the canyon. 

But what can we do? The weather is out of our control, right? 

No.  We are the cause of all this rain as we have amplified climate change. The biggest thing we can do is vote for people and legislation that are helping combat climate change. There are also little things we can do like carpooling, not patronizing fast fashion, or eating less meat to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

Climate change may seem irreversible and terrifying to think about, but the more we talk about these problems the better chance we have at saving the planet.