News & Blog
Making a Real Connection: Using a Computer Game to Communicate about Climate Change and National Parks
Do you like playing games? I’m talking about board games, cooperative team challenges, outdoor sports… If you’re a fan of getting your game on, you are not alone! Engaging in creative play provides captivating experiences that appeal to many people in ways that other types of experiences simply can’t match. Not only do games entertain, but they can also provide effective tools for learning, particularly about topics that are difficult to communicate about.
Read moreClosing the Gap Between Science and Use: New Interactive Data Visualizations of Washington’s Sea Level Rise Projections Using Tableau
Want your science to be used by planners or decision makers? Interactive data visualizations are a great way to make your information more accessible and usable. Providing users with easy “soundbites” to take away from your tool helps too. Scaling climate projections to local, policy-relevant scales is difficult. Trying to take these results andpackage them in an accessible way for decision makers can be even more challenging.
Read moreCongratulations to Eric Steig, named AAAS fellow
Eric Steig uses ice cores to study climate variability, and has been an active voice on the board of the UW Program on Climate since it was founded. Eric regularly teaches courses central to the Climate Minor (ESS 201, Earth's Climate System) and the Graduate Certificate in Climate Science (ATMS/ESS/OCN 589 Paleoclimatology: Data, Modeling, and Theory), educational programs central to the Program on Climate Change. Congratulations Eric!
Read more in UW NewsUW Climate Scientists Contribute to Multi-Institute Hackathon to Understand New Climate Model Data
by Robert Jnglin Wills Modeling centers around the world are now releasing data from simulations with the next generation of climate models, the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). For three days in October, thirty UW climate science graduate students and postdocs got together to see what they could learn about future climate change from these new simulations. We combined efforts with CMIP6 hackathons at two other institutes, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York.
Read morePCC Updates: December 2019
Welcome to new Program on Climate Change Director Becky Alexander and PCC Board Members. In case you missed it, the PCC has a new director, Becky Alexander (Atmospheric Sciences). Read more in her welcome letter. Thank you to Cecilia Bitz for her leadership as PCC Director from 2017 to 2019. Welcome Nives Dolsak (SMEA), Aaron Donohoe (APL), Alex Gagnon (OCN), Soo-Hyung Kim (SEFS), and Greta Shum (ATMOS) to the 2019-2020 PCC Governing Board.
Read morePCC/GCeCS Information Session
Graduate Certificate in Climate Science (GCeCS) 2019 Capstone and Outreach Opportunities December 2019 Each fall graduate students interested in learning more about the Program on Climate Change (PCC) and the Graduate Certificate in Climate Science (GCeCS) gather to introduce themselves and learn about capstone opportunities. On 7 Nov 2019 twenty-five students heard directly from three mentors, from fellow students working on capstones, from the PCC Director Becky Alexander, and from GCeCS adviser Miriam Bertram.
Read moreClimate Change Impacts on 21st Century Food and Water Security
A 2019 Program on Climate Change Summer Institute and Friday Harbor Symposium, 11-13 September 2019 Written by Becky Alexander, PCC Director and Atmospheric Sciences Professor The PCC held another highly successful Summer Institute (SI) at Friday Harbor Labs from September 11-13, 2019 organized by Cecilia Bitz and David Battisti (both Atmospheric Sciences). The topic of this year’s SI was “Climate Change Impacts on 21st Century Food and Water Security”.
Read moreAfter Counting Our Summer Institute Carbon Emissions—Now What?
By Alex Stote The PCC Summer Institute, which brings together UW climate scientists, UW grad students, and several visiting climate scholars for a 3-day conference at Friday Harbor Labs, took a critical look at its own emissions footprint for the first time in its 11-year tenure. The exercise seemed fitting with year’s theme (Climate Change Impacts on Food and Water Security), and with the recent push-back climate scientists have received for their “business-as-usual” practices in their professional lives.
Read moreDoes a Few Degrees C of Global Warming Matter? or Understanding and Using Simple Climate Models, the 2019 Current Climate Change Workshop for High School Teachers, University of Washington, 18 May 2019.
By Miriam Bertram, Workshop Facilitator As global warming continues, and the resultant impacts on the biosphere become increasingly apparent, our young people are taking to the streets to demand political action. As these young people traverse the educational system, they need coursework and context for understanding and changing the future, for understanding what they are marching to achieve. To serve our youth, high school science teachers need resources for expanding their knowledge and keeping up with climate as it changes.
Read moreCongratulations Becky Alexander, our new PCC Director
Welcome to Becky Alexander, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, our new Program on Climate Change Director. She and her group study how aerosol formation and the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere change in response to both climate change and anthropogenic activities. Thank you to the many members of the PCC community who provided thoughtful input during this selection process.
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