News & Blog | Program on Climate Change

Jun 4, 2019 |

UW 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.

Congratulations 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 more

May 9, 2019 |

Events, PGraSC

The 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.

May 2, 2019 |

In the News, People

Congratulations 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.

Deep 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.

Apr 11, 2019 |

In the News, People

Janneke 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.

WOMEN 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"

Feb 21, 2019 |

Events

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.

Feb 15, 2019 |

Announcements, General

Updates from the PCC Graduate Student Steering Committee (P-GraSC)

The PCC Graduate Student Steering Committee (P-GraSC) is about to have it’s third meeting of the 2018-19 academic year. In the fall, we welcomed new members and said goodbye to those who finished their terms. PCC Assistant Director Miriam Bertram attended the first meeting and PCC Director Cecilia Bitz attended our second meeting to lead discussions of current PCC initiatives. This year, P-GraSC is coordinating a wide range of outreach and education efforts, which include augmenting the Slide Database on the PCC website and supporting a monthly, local event called ‘Climate Science on Tap’.

Feb 12, 2019 |

In the News

Early spring rain boosts methane from thawing permafrost by 30 percent

As permafrost thaws, wetlands form, from which methane is released into the atmosphere due to microbial and plant processes. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with atmospheric warming abilities that can be up to 32 times stronger than that of carbon dioxide. A new study led by Dr. Rebecca Neumann, an associate professor in the UW Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, was recently published in Geophysical Research Letters examining the impact that spring rainfall has on permafrost thaw and wetland methane emissions.