UCSD - University of California - San Diego

10/08/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/08/2026 08:25

From Solutions to the Super El Niño: UC San Diego at Climate Week New York

Published Date

October 08, 2026

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Is any progress being made on global emissions reductions? What solutions are on the table to help society move the needle on climate action?

UC San Diego leaders addressed these questions and more at Climate Week New York, held Sept. 20-27, 2026, in New York City. An event that coincides with the United Nations General Assembly meeting, Climate Week New York has grown into one of the leading global events on climate change, drawing 100,000 attendees, thought leaders, investors and brands looking to move the needle on climate action, investment and solutions.

Leading voices from across UC San Diego spoke at events throughout the week. David Victor, professor of innovation and public policy at UC San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy and director of the Deep Decarbonization Initiative, was a featured speaker on the future of the energy grid and reported on strategies for one ready climate fix: reducing contrails from aircraft.

According to Victor, those wispy clouds that appear in an airplane's wake can be big contributors to the planet's warming, making them low-hanging fruit for climate action.

"Contrails are one of a whole class of 'short-lived climate pollutants' that have a big impact on the climate and can be reduced very rapidly - with big benefits for the climate at low cost," said Victor.

Jack Gilbert, a microbiologist jointly appointed by UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Department of Pediatrics, advocated for soil health as a climate solution. As faculty director of the Soil Health Center, Gilbert sees improved soil health as a way to increase food security and sequester carbon. He took this message to working sessions led by XPRIZE on agriculture innovation and accelerating restoration technologies that could make the engineering and recovery of healthy, resilient soil ecosystems a scalable discipline.

"Soils are the living infrastructure of the planet - the ecosystems beneath our feet that feed us, filter our water, sequester carbon and host the microbial communities that make life possible," said Gilbert. "With a boost from microbiology, there is great opportunity in regenerating our soils to build a more sustainable, climate-resilient food system."

"Global emissions growth has started to slow down. Not enough to stop climate change, but a completely different picture from the early 2000s when emissions were poised to soar over the coming century." David Victor, professor of innovation and public policy at UC San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy and director of the Deep Decarbonization Initiative

The strengthening El Niño was also a topic at Climate Week, with Scripps Oceanography research economist Denali Pinto invited to highlight new research into the science of flood modeling and risk mitigation in California and nationwide at an event organized by the California Ocean Science Trust. Pinto, a contributor to the new report "Strengthening Incentives for Flood Risk Reduction in Catastrophe Modeling and Insurance: Recommendations for California Coastal Counties," shared expertise on the scale of damages that floods pose to coastal communities and economies, which could be exacerbated this year by El Niño, as well as recommendations to ensure insurance models reflect loss reductions. She was joined onstage by Scripps alumna Kara Voss, an advisor at the California state Department of Insurance.

Meenakshi Wadhwa, vice chancellor for marine sciences at UC San Diego and director of Scripps Oceanography, participated in the United Nations Solutions Dialogue on Ocean Action and Leadership at UN headquarters. The talk brought together world leaders and ocean professionals to address climate change, protect ocean ecosystems and advance the blue economy. Wadhwa spoke about the need to invest in ocean observations at a time when federal funding is on the wane and researchers argue that opportunities to understand threats are being missed.

From left: Kara Voss (Model Advisor, California Department of Insurance), Andy Neal (Senior Managing Director, Reinsurance Solutions, Aon), Firas Saleh (Director of Product Management, Moody's), Denali Pinto (Research Economist, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego), and Talley Burley (Senior Manager, Climate Risk and Insurance, Environmental Defense Fund) participate the session organized by the California Ocean Scienced Trust. Credit: Tammy Weckwerth/NSF NCAR.

Meenakshi Wadhwa, vice chancellor for marine sciences at UC San Diego and director of Scripps Oceanography, participated in the United Nations Solutions Dialogue on Ocean Action and Leadership at UN headquarters. The talk brought together world leaders and ocean professionals to address climate change, protect ocean ecosystems and advance the blue economy. Wadhwa spoke about the need to invest in ocean observations at a time when federal funding is on the wane and researchers argue that opportunities to understand threats are being missed.

"In our politically fractured world, the ocean possesses the unique power to unite nations and communities," Wadhwa shared in the session convened by the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean. "We cannot steward what we do not witness, and the ocean observation systems are a key way that we are bearing witness to what's happening to our natural world."

Vice Chancellor Meenakshi Wadhwa speaks at the United Nations Solutions Dialogue on Ocean Action and Leadership at UN headquarters on Sept. 22.

UC San Diego also hosted an inaugural event at New York Climate Week, From Science to Solutions: Breakthroughs for a Changing Planet, featuring Victor and Wadhwa. Moderated by Associated Press global climate editor Peter Prengaman, the event was attended by UC San Diego alumni, industry, governmental representatives, and non-profit organizations, and discussed the divides hindering climate action, but also the progress being made.

"About 15 to 20 years ago, the world was on track for 4 to 5°C of warming above preindustrial levels. Right now we're on track for maybe 2.5 to 3° of warming. I see this as good news because 2.5 to 3° is not 5°, which would have consequences too difficult for climate models to even predict," said Victor.

In China, the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, Victor noted the progress the country has made on moving towards renewables, more efficient coal plants and impressive adoption of electric vehicles, which has reduced its oil consumption and is leveling off emissions.

"Global emissions growth has started to slow down. Not enough to stop climate change, but a completely different picture from the early 2000s when emissions were poised to soar over the coming century," said Victor.

Wadhwa shared how scientists at Scripps are tracking a marine heat wave and a so-called "super" El Niño, noting records already being broken in the Pacific Ocean.

"The Coastal Data Information Program that Scripps manages has seen sea-surface temperatures at the buoys offshore mark 70-plus days of daily temperature records this year - and that is from the marine heat wave before El Niño arrives," Wadhwa said. "The indications are that this El Niño is poised to be very impactful, and Scripps scientists will be on the frontlines managing many of these programs tracking the severity of the event and forecasting potential impacts.

Wadhwa also highlighted the outsized role UC San Diego is playing in developing solutions and adapting to the climate crisis. On the adaptation side, the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes has partnered with reservoir operators, the California Department of Water Resources, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to apply advances in forecasting atmospheric rivers to more flexible reservoir management. A recent study estimated that this new method could save California $150 million every year.

"Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations are allowing reservoirs to capture and retain more water if no storms are in the forecast, or release water before storms to reduce the risk of flooding," she said. "In California, where our climate is so variable, this helps improve water resiliency and risk of hazard."

"In our politically fractured world, the ocean possesses the unique power to unite nations and communities. We cannot steward what we do not witness, and the ocean observation systems are a key way that we are bearing witness to what's happening to our natural world." Meenakshi Wadhwa, vice chancellor for marine sciences at UC San Diego and director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Wadhwa also noted biotechnology advances being applied to coral reef restoration that are showing capacity to increase recruitment of coral larvae, and efforts to identify more heat tolerant strains of kelp for future kelp forest restoration work being led by scientists across UC San Diego.

Beyond the lab, Wadhwa also noted a UC San Diego-led initiative that may give society the most hope in making collective progress on climate: education.

"UC San Diego pioneered a program called the Jane Teranes Climate Change Education Requirement, which requires all first-year undergraduates, regardless of their major, to take an interdisciplinary course connected with climate change education, solutions or societal impacts," said Wadhwa.

The program is the first of its kind at a major public university and the first within the University of California system.

"Students across all majors on campus leave the university equipped to understand and address climate change, which they can then apply to whatever field they enter, whether that's urban planning, economics, engineering or communications," said Wadhwa. "Having more people that understand and care about this issue gives us more hands on deck working towards climate progress."

Have questions about climate change research and education at UC San Diego? Visit https://climatechange.ucsd.edu/ to learn more.

Learn more about research and education at UC San Diego in: Climate Change

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