News & Blog
Antarctic sea-ice models improve for the next IPCC
Lettie Roach (postdoctoral researcher, UW Atmospheric Sciences) recently led a study published in Geophysical Research Letters, evaluating the newest generation Antarctic sea-ice models. This is one of many reports that were produced to inform the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Roach says, "We’ve been looking at all the new models released, and we are seeing improvements overall. The new simulations compare better to observations than we have seen before. There is a tightening up of model projections between this generation and the previous, and that is very good news.'
Read more at UW Environment NewsPCC/JISAO Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship Announcement
The PCC in partnership with JISAO announce a new interdisciplinary graduate fellowship opportunity to begin in fall 2020. This fellowship will support one or more students with a clear passion for working across academic boundaries on projects grounded in climate science broadly considered. The applicants will submit a written proposal for research that would not be possible without this funding, and that builds collaboration across disciplines.
Read moreHow can communities reduce their carbon footprint? An introduction to Community Choice Aggregation and community science
Here in Seattle, hydropower supplies more than 85% of our electricity. But in Arlington County, Virginia, the dominant utility derives at least 50% of its energy from fossil fuels. This leaves electricity consumers with little power over their carbon footprints—how can communities reduce their greenhouse gas emissions while tied to a utility-controlled energy mix? Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) offers an alternative to existing utilities, providing renewable energy options at competitive rates.
Read morePCC Updates: May 1, 2020
We are in the place in between. These last few months have been challenging for instruction, for fieldwork, for just being able to focus with little in-person human interaction. One challenge now is defining a pathway forward, ways to adapt PCC programming that fosters community in the uncertainty that defines the times. At the PCC board meeting on April 20, Rebecca Woodgate voiced what many on the board were thinking– that moving our major annual event, the PCC Summer Institute, scheduled for September, online, is the right thing to do.
Read moreThe Program on Climate Change Winter Welcome 2020. In the Time Before.
On 25 February 2020, 80 climate scientists, educators and staff from across campus gathered in person to celebrate much that was new in the community for 2019/2020. What we did not realize at the time was that this was going to be one of the last face-to-face interactions we could have as a community for months. Two weeks later, on March 9 the University of Washington went to remote operations, finishing the winter quarter online.
Read morePolar bears in Baffin Bay skinnier, having fewer cubs due to less sea ice
Kristin Laidre, a UW professor of aquatic and fishery sciences recently published a new study showing that polar bears are spending more time on land than they did in the 1990s due to reduced sea ice. Bears in Baffin Bay are getting thinner and adult females are having fewer cubs than when sea ice was more available.
Read more at UW NewsChanges in the Madden-Julian Oscillation affect global precipitation
UW Atmospheric Sciences professor Daehyun Kim studies tropical weather patterns, and contributed to a recent paper in Nature which suggests that trends in decreased rainfall here in the Pacific Northwest may be linked to warming in the Western Pacific Ocean, near Indonesia. The warming ocean affects weather patterns, increasing rainfall in the Amazon, southwest Africa and northern Australia, and reducing it in parts of Asia and Western North America.
Read MoreCongratulations to Kyle Armour, 2020 Sloan Fellow for Early Career Research
Kyle Armour is an assistant professor in the School of Oceanography and Department of Atmospheric Sciences. He is studying the role of the ocean in climate change using a combination of oceanographic and atmospheric observations, numerical climate model simulations and theory, and is a lead author on the upcoming Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report. Kyle currently serves on the PCC Board and has been an active member of the PCC community since he was a graduate student at UW. Congratulations Kyle!
Read more at UW NewsLucas Vargas Zeppetello on staying one step ahead of climate skeptics
"If I could go back and rewrite the abstract of my group’s paper, I would include a sentence that points out why a feedback between surface temperatures and downwelling longwave radiation does not preclude the existence of the greenhouse effect." Lucas Vargas Zeppetello, graduate student in Atmospheric Sciences at the UW writes about his responses, both emotional and practical, to the misrepresentation of his discussion of radiation balance as published in his first research paper. "Don’t @ Me: What Happened When Climate Skeptics Misused My Work"
Read Lucas' EOS Opinion pieceConnecting ice-core data with climate models: An interdisciplinary project to examine glacial-interglacial changes in Antarctica
Which of the following is a more effective tool for learning about past changes in Earth’s climate: measurements from paleoclimate records or outputs from climate model simulations? Depending on who you ask, you will probably get a different answer to this question. Through my research on climate in Antarctica, I’ve been convinced that both tools are equally important. In fact, both tools are necessary in order to maximize understanding of the Earth’s climate system.
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