News & Blog


Effectiveness of a Multimedia StoryMap for Communicating Rapid Glacier Change in Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

Taryn partnered with Kenai Fjords National Park to create a StoryMap that illustrates how glaciers in the park have changed over the past several decades or even the past century. They aimed to communicate how quickly glaciers can change and how they affect their environment. This is a capstone in fulfillment of the UW PCC Graduate Certificate in Climate Science. How do you overcome the idea that glaciers change at “a glacial pace”? 

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Emissions Reduction Partnerships: Potential Points of Collaboration Between the Northwest Seaport Alliance and Their Key Cargo Partners

As part of both an ACORN project and her GCeCS Capstone, Gabriela analyzed the sustainability plans and public emissions reporting of twelve of the Northwest Seaport Alliance’s (NWSA) top cargo partners. The NWSA manages most of the terminals at the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma; much of their emissions are created by cargo partners, or Beneficial Cargo Owners (BCOs), as they bring their goods through the ports. 

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First Steps: Climate Change Curriculum for Agricultural Analysts and Decision-Makers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Piloting the development of a training program to equip analysts and policymakers in the use of agricultural, evidence-based policy analysis and leadership in Sub-Saharan Africa with a component on climate science. A collaboration between PCC graduate students and the Evans School Policy and Research group.  Written by Connor Lewis-Smith and Kristin Hayman Many economies in Sub-Saharan Africa rely heavily on agriculture. 

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Identifying patterns of participation and reluctance in the Bainbridge Island Climate Action Plan

Jacquelyn partnered with Bainbridge Island’s Climate Change Advisory Committee and Climate Change Adaptation/Mitigation Officer to create a focus group with Bainbridge Island’s senior community. This pilot focus group aimed to guide implementation strategies of the Climate Action Plan and serve as a model for future focus groups that other cities can use.  A capstone in fulfillment of the UW PCC Graduate Certificate in Climate Science. 

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The Fifth Annual Spring Symposium was held on May 19, 2022

The PCC Graduate Steering Committee (P-GraSC) hosted the fifth annual PCC Spring Symposium on Thursday, May 19, 2022. The evening featured six student speakers who shared their climate-related research, capstone projects, and outreach, spanning broad topics from sea ice to energy policy to wildfires and more. Molly Wieringa (Atmospheric Sciences) described short-term variability in Arctic sea ice and what factors might help sea ice forecasting. 

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ACORN: A Program on Climate Change (PCC) Student-led Initiative that Connects Academics and Communities to Solve Climate-Related Problems

Three graduate students started the Actionable Community-Oriented Research eNgagement (ACORN) program in 2020 to create a pathway for partnering with communities in addressing climate-related challenges. This effort is now led by a PCC Graduate Steering Committee (P-GraSC) subcommittee with guidance from PCC leadership. The ACORN program was inspired by the AGU Thriving Earth Exchange, which centers community priorities and fosters a partnership between academics and local partners. 

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Climate Justice Institute Winter 2022 Recap

In Winter 2022 the Climate Justice Institute welcomed eight UW faculty members to discuss and build lesson plans through a climate justice lens.  This was the second year of offering this program, with co-sponsorship from the Program on the Environment, the Program on Climate Change and the College of the Environment. As the desire for connecting science and community grows among students, the incorporation of climate, environmental justice, and civic engagement into courses is becoming more prominent. 

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To prevent mass marine extinction event, we must address climate change

Recent research conducted by Dr. Curtis Deutsch and Postdoctoral Research Associate Justin Penn reveal a bleak impending future for ocean biodiversity. Their research, which synthesizes projections of climate change and physiological data of marine species to predict how creatures will be affected by anthropogenic habitat change, reveals that extinctions from modern emissions have the potential to rival the severity of historic mass extinctions under high-emission scenarios. 

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Mystery of rapid yearly retreat of Antarctic sea ice explained by seasonal solar radiation

The source of the rapid annual retreat of Antarctic sea ice has long eluded scientists. However, according to a new study co-authored by former Program on Climate Change Director and current  Atmospheric Sciences Chair Cecilia Bitz, the puzzling long-term actions of Antarctic sea ice may have simply been obscuring a straightforward solution: the fast yearly retreat is simply explained by seasonal solar radiation. 

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UW contributors to IPCC report underscore climate change's threat to humanity

Recently, the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Working Group II report, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, and two distinguished experts on the intersection of human health and climate change from the UW, Dr. Kristie Ebi and Dr. Jeremy Hess, served as lead authors. Dr. Ebi and Dr. Hess specifically authored Chapter 7 of the report, focusing on the “Health, wellbeing and the changing structure of communities,” and Dr. 

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