News & Blog
In the News: Kyle Armour quoted on climate predictions in Tangle
PCC Interim Director, Kyle Armour (UW OCEAN & ATMOS), sat down with Ari Weitzman of Tangle (an independent, non-partisan media outlet) on climate predictions, the future of climate, and what scientists know and how. Grab a coffee and check out the article that brings together research, plain language, and context to address climate skepticism and the evolution of the understanding of climate change.
Read moreBeyond Prediction: Building Capacity and Innovation in Adaptation Through a Participatory Evaluation
As the impacts of climate change intensify, communities across Washington are increasingly engaging in climate change adaptation planning to prepare for more frequent and severe climate impacts. Monitoring and evaluation of these plans is a crucial step to improve their efficacy and implementation, but often goes undone, as many communities struggle to assemble the resources and staff capacity evaluation requires. This leaves a critical blind spot as to whether a community’s adaptation practices are yielding the desired results.
Read moreResilience in Diversity: Climate Change and Seed Selection on Organic Farms in Western WA
Since the dawn of agriculture, humans have been stewarding seeds. Traditionally bred seeds are the result of careful selections over time, the inheritors of traits selected by both environmental pressures and human desires. Seeds hold information for how to birth life anew, passed down along with the knowledge of how to care for them. They are tended into crops used for familiar meals and healing medicines.
Read moreWhere We Go From Here - A Youth's Reflections on Moving Towards Action as a Community
My name is Isaac Olson, and 4 years ago, I was a lot more naïve. In December 2020, I was still in my first year as an undergraduate at the UW, barely aware of what my future degrees would be. I had no idea that I would still be at the UW after 4 years, having gotten bachelor’s degrees in both Oceanography and Environmental Studies, and now pursuing a master’s degree with the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs.
Read moreGraubard Fellowship supports high resolution mapping of Sea Surface Temperature anomalies
by Naomi Wharton The ocean can store approximately 1000 times more heat than the atmosphere. As a result, where and when energy is released from the ocean to the atmosphere can have significant consequences for weather and climate patterns. Sea surface temperature (SST) is a key indicator of air-sea processes that transfer energy between the ocean and atmosphere across many spatial and temporal scales.
Read moreOutcomes of our PCC Community Survey
The Program on Climate Change represents a combination of University of Washington members. We all come together with an interest in climate change from faculty, staff, and researchers to grad students, undergrads, and alumni. We form a group focused on accelerating climate involvement, education, and research but we also form a community. To get to know and connect with our community members further, we sent out a survey in February and March 2024, ahead of our Winter Welcome.
Read morePathways to Climate Careers: The Undergraduate Cohort Career Panel
Climate Sciences is a growing field seeing expansion in both educational and career pathways. This growth is seen within UW as more and more students partake in climate change courses, programs, and research. As education in environmental and climate sciences expands, knowing where to take a climate education beyond college is important. To address this, UCo, The PCC’s Undergraduate Cohort, hosted the “Careers in Climate Panel.” The panel, hosted on the evening of Tuesday, February 13th, featured professionals currently working in climate-focused careers, including UW and PCC alumni.
Read moreForecasting the spatial extent of marine heatwaves
by Jacob Cohen, UW Oceanography, Recipient of a PCC Graubard Graduate Fellowship The ocean has absorbed 90% of recent warming associated with anthropogenic climate change; as a result, extreme ocean heat events, known as marine heatwaves (MHWs), are becoming more frequent and more intense. These extreme events can have detrimental impacts on marine ecosystems as well as coastal industries. Accurate MHW forecasts will allow local decision makers and industries to respond to and plan for these events.
Read moreCan ecological forestry improve public health outcomes? The Graubard Fellowship supports a case study in the Central Sierra
by Claire Schollaert As wildfires become more frequent and severe due to climate change and postcolonial fire management practices, there is growing consensus among the forest management community that prescribed burning should be used on the landscape to reduce excess fuels and mitigate extreme wildfire risk. Despite the benefits of prescribed burning to forest restoration goals, these managed fires still produce smoke, which may impact the health of surrounding communities.
Read moreFrom Knowledge to Power: The PCC Could Lead Climate Action - Here's Why it Must
By Brett Anton In the last few weeks of my UW education, I was struck by something one of my professors left me with. “If this is how scared the scientists are…” he said, and then just trailed off. It was not a joyful sentence to finish, but the professor, a member of the ESS department here at UW, had a point.
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