Juan Declet-Barreto

Climate Scientist

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Juan Declet-Barreto is a climate scientist for the UCS Climate & Energy program and the Center for Science and Democracy. He partners with environmental justice groups and activists to research the potential effects of carbon trading on disadvantaged communities, as individual states begin implementation of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. See Juan's full bio.

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Photo: Staff Sgt. Herschel Talley/Nebraska National Guard

The Wettest 12 Months: New Analysis Shows Spikes in Flood Alerts in the US

May 23, 2019 1:24 PM EDT

April 2019 marked the wettest 12-month period in the United States since record-keeping began 124 years ago, breaking the previous record set from May 2015–April 2016.  In most places in the contiguous US, by April 2019 it had already rained more than the annual average during the 20th century. This week, heavy rain is dumping up to 1 foot of rain in northern and central parts of the US. It’s evident that extreme precipitation events are getting more extreme, and also that climate change is one of the culprits. Read more >

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Photo: Barry M. Goldwater Historic Photograph Collection

Climate Justice Requires Prioritization of The Poor and Vulnerable

April 22, 2019 12:03 PM EDT

The legend of the mythological Phoenix tells the story of a “female sacred firebird with beautiful gold and red plumage”. It was said that at the end of its centenarian plus life-cycle, the Phoenix ignited herself among a nest of twigs, and, reducing itself to ashes, a new young Phoenix would arise from the smolder.  It’s a fitting metaphor for Phoenix, Arizona, a relatively young city at 150 years, yet located in the Salt River valley, a Sonoran Desert region that has been inhabited and abandoned by people for thousands of years before its current form as a sprawling metropolitan area.

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Photo: Barry M. Goldwater Historic Photograph Collection (FP FPC 1, Box 8, Folder 1. Historic Photographs, Places: Canals and Irrigation. 1890-1901. Arizona Collection, Arizona State University
Photos: – Barry M. Goldwater Historic Photograph Collection
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona
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Photo: Vasiliki Volkova/Unsplash

Oregon Climate Impacts: 2019 is The Year for Bold Climate Legislation

January 30, 2019 4:46 PM EDT

In the last decade or so, Oregon has endured destructive wildfires, reductions in snowpack, and declining fisheries.  First responder and resident Oregonian communities alike still vividly recall the devastation brought by the 2003 B&B Complex wildfire. Although the Beaver State had a good 2018 ski season, snowpack this winter is more than one-quarter down from what has in the past been considered ‘normal’. Ocean acidification is killing oyster and plankton in farms along the Oregon coast.

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Photo: Vasiliki Volkova/Unsplash
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May Day protest in New York City in 2017.
May Day, NYC, 2017. Photo: Alec Perkins CC-BY-2.0 (Flickr).

NCA4 warns climate change puts our workforce at risk. The case of Latinos shows what we can do about it.

November 30, 2018 1:35 PM EDT

Given that Latinos, along with other groups of color will continue to become a larger share of our workforce, and are more at risk than others to be seriously affected by the impacts of climate change, it is critical that as a society we invest to make them an economically-secure, healthy, and resilient workforce. Read more >

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Photo: Juan Declet-Barreto

Mr President, More Than 3,000 Deaths is Not an “Incredible, Unsung Success”

September 13, 2018 1:58 PM EDT

Last year, I thought throwing rolls of paper towels at victims of Hurricane María in Puerto Rico was the lowest that President Trump could go in disrespecting and failing the people of Puerto Rico in the midst of the climatic catastrophe that was personal to me and my family on the island. But this morning he went even lower with his tweets denying the death toll from Hurricane María in Puerto Rico, adding insult to injury to an enormous disaster exacerbated by a failure to prepare and to help the island recover. Read more >

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