News & Blog
Exploring Climate Change through Video Games and Science Fiction: The Cascadia Project
One thing that makes discussing climate change with people difficult is the perception that the worst effects of climate change will happen sometime in the future, possibly after their lifetime. This makes it challenging to promote a sense of urgency to act on climate issues. It can be hard to accept some level of discomfort in our own lives in order to protect the interests of future generations.
Read moreReady, Set, Curb! A challenge for young students to act on climate
“Learning about climate change can sometimes be scary—terrifying, actually.” The thought crossed my mind while out on a run during my first quarter of graduate school. Overall, I thought to myself, I’m really enjoying my program, but sometimes… sometimes the weight of studying climate science can become heavy. It gets even heavier when you really start to examine the impacts on people and ecosystems, as I found myself researching that quarter.
Read moreUW Researchers detect carbon dioxide outgassing in the Southern Ocean
Alison Gray (UW Oceanography) and her team recently published a paper in AGU about significant carbon dioxide outgassing in the Southern Ocean during the winter. The Southern Ocean was previously thought to be a carbon sink, based off of measurements that were sparse and tended to be from the summer. This paper used data from SOCCOM (Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling) floats that take measurements year-round. Steve Riser (UW Oceanography) leads the UW team that is a part of SOCCOM. They build and test the floats before they are deployed, and have a key role in SOCCOM's observational group.
Read More at ScienceNewsCongratulations to Surabhi Biyani, UW's only 2019 Hollings Undergraduate Scholar
This highly coveted award went to 125 undergraduates across the country--with UW represented by Surabhi Biyani, PCC's current undergraduate assistant, a College of the Environment ambassador and double major in Earth and Space Science and Atmospheric Science. The award is targeted at students who are committed "to help us better understand our changing world" and allows them research opportunities as well as tuition support.
Learn moreThe Third Annual Spring Symposium was held on April 27, 2019
The Program on Climate Change (PCC) held its third annual Spring Symposium on Saturday, April 27, 2019. Over the span of lively morning and early afternoon sessions, 17 students and postdoctoral researchers shared their climate-related research, education, and outreach work through a full program of talks and posters. These presentations represented a variety of perspectives on climate, drawing from observation and modeling of physical and ecological processes on scales ranging from the hyperlocal to global, as well as insights from policy, industry, and philosophy.
Read moreCongratulations to Chris Bretherton, newly elected member of the National Academy of Sciences
Chris Bretherton, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and Applied Mathematics and former PCC Director was elected to the National Academy of Sciences on April 30th, 2019.
Read more at UW NewsDeep ocean warming rates are accelerating in the South Pacific
PCC board member Gregory Johnson (NOAA/PMEL) and former student Sarah Purkey (now at Scripps Institute of Oceanography) have recently published papers in GRL measuring warming rates in the South Pacific with Deep Argo (Johnson) and the impact of these warming rates on local sea level and heat budget (Purkey). Previous measurements of deep ocean temperatures were made on 10-year intervals, and indicate warming since the 1990s, but new data from the Deep Argo floats over the last 4.4 years show that these rates have accelerated.
Read moreJanneke Hille Ris Lambers' Citizen Science Project featured in Science News for Students
Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, a professor in UW Biology, recently had her citizen science project MeadoWatch featured in Science News for Students. Science News for Students in an online publication that aims to provide students with approachable and relevant science news.
Read more at Science News for StudentsWOMEN IN STEM PART 4: CELEBRATING THE IN(DI)VISIBLE WOMEN OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Alex Stote and Zoë van Duivenbode, SMEA graduate students, friends and colleagues, combine their voices to highlight and celebrate women across the planet leading in climate.
Read the article in SMEA's "Currents: A Student Blog"PCC presents "Climate Change and Impacts on the Pacific Northwest", a Whole U Seminar December 2018
Climate change is already affecting life in the Northwest, and impacts are expected to grow over the coming century. How would limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compare to current global commitments? The PCC assembled a panel of UW expert scientists who spoke about where we are headed regarding temperature extremes, snowpack, and impacts on human health, fish, and wildlife. They considered climate impacts from different future emissions scenarios, including current international commitments to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
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