February lockdown in China caused a drop in some types of air pollution, but not others

Pollution over Shanghai, China in October 2019.

Atmospheric scientists have analyzed how the February near-total shutdown of mobility affected the air over China. Results show a striking drop in nitrogen oxides, a gas that comes mainly from tailpipes and is one component of smog. Learning how behavior shifts due to the COVID-19 pandemic affect air quality is of immediate importance, since the virus attacks human lungs. The event is also a way for Earth scientists to study how the atmosphere responds to sudden changes in emissions. 

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New studies show how to save parasites and why it’s important

Chelsea Wood alongside one of the ponds in the research experiment.

Parasites have a public relations problem. Unlike the many charismatic mammals, fishes and birds that receive our attention (and our conservation dollars), parasites are thought of as something to eradicate — and certainly not something to protect. But only 4% of known parasites can infect humans, and the majority actually serve critical ecological roles, like regulating wildlife that might otherwise balloon in population size and become pests. 

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Deep-sea anglerfishes have evolved a new type of immune system

Female anglerfish with a parasitic male attached to her back.

Deep-sea anglerfishes employ an incredible reproductive strategy. Tiny dwarfed males become permanently attached to relatively gigantic females, fuse their tissues and then establish a common blood circulation. In this way, the male becomes entirely dependent on the female for nutrient supply, like a developing fetus in the womb of a mother or a donated organ in a transplant patient. In anglerfishes, this unusual phenomenon is called “sexual parasitism” and contributes to the reproductive success of these animals living in the vast space of the deep sea, where females and males otherwise rarely meet. 

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UW Environment announces 2020-2021 dean’s office scholarship recipients

Dubs up, UW Class of 2016!

The College of the Environment is pleased to announce the following undergraduate and graduate scholarships awarded for 2020-21: Del Rio Endowed Environmental Studies Scholarship The Del Rio Family Foundation established the Del Rio Endowed Scholarship Fund for Environmental Studies to encourage and support students with an interest in the environment who are participating in the Educational Opportunity Program. The Program promotes academic success and graduation for under-represented ethnic minority, economically disadvantaged and first-generation college students at the University of Washington. 

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