One certainty under climate change is that global ocean levels are rising. A new report led by Washington Sea Grant and the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group provides the clearest picture yet of what to expect in Washington state.
The report includes projections for more than 150 different sites along the Washington coastline, from all marine shorelines in Washington state. It incorporates the unique geology-driven land motion, with uplift at Neah Bay and sinking in Seattle. And it provides the latest, probabilistic estimates to let planners weigh the risks of different scenarios.
The projections, posted online July 30, include an embedded Google map where anyone who is involved with planning projects along the coast can download estimates for their location.
Diving robots find Antarctic winter seas exhale surprising amounts of carbon dioxide
Greta Shum/Climate Central/Flickr
UW’s Stephen Riser (left) drops a float into the Southern Ocean during a 2016/17 cruise.
More than 100 oceanic floats are now diving and drifting in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica during the peak of winter there. These instruments are gathering data from a place and season that’s poorly studied, despite its important role in regulating the global climate.
A new study from the University of Washington, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Princeton University and several other oceanographic institutions uses data gathered by the floating drones over past winters to learn how much carbon dioxide is transferred by the surrounding seas. Results show that in winter the open water nearest the sea ice surrounding Antarctica releases significantly more carbon dioxide than previously believed.
“These results came as a really big surprise because previous studies found that the Southern Ocean was absorbing a lot of carbon dioxide,” said lead author Alison Gray, a UW assistant professor of oceanography. “If that’s not true, as these data suggest, then it means we need to rethink the Southern Ocean’s role in the carbon cycle and in the climate.”
Harmful dyes in lakes, rivers can become colorless with new, sponge-like material
UW
Anthony Dichiara, left, and Jin Gu prepare an experiment to remove color from water using a sustainably made, reusable sponge material.
Dyes are widely used in industries such as textiles, cosmetics, food processing, papermaking and plastics. Globally, we produce about 700,000 metric tons of dye each year to color our clothing, eyeshadow, toys and vending machine candy.
During manufacturing, a tenth of all dye products are discharged into the waste stream — most escape conventional wastewater-treatment processes and remain in the environment, often reaching lakes, rivers and holding ponds, and contaminating the water for the aquatic plants and animals that live there. Even a little added color can block sunlight and prevent plant photosynthesis, which can disrupt entire aquatic ecosystems.
A team led by the University of Washington has created an environmentally friendly way to remove color from dyes in water in just seconds. The technique was described in a paper published online in June in the journal Applied Catalysis B: Environmental.
“A small amount of dye can pollute a large volume of water, so we needed to find a way to very quickly and efficiently remove the color,” said senior author Anthony Dichiara, an assistant professor of bioresource science and engineering in the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. “We were pretty impressed with what we were able to achieve.”
Kupe and the Corals: bringing science to life for kids
Padilla-Gamiño and teachers attending a coral reef workshop in Hawaii.
As a burgeoning marine biologist, Jackie Padilla-Gamiño found herself on the shores of Moorea, one of the best places in the world to study corals. The South Pacific island’s healthy reefs, shimmering clear waters, and pristine ecosystems set the stage for the newly minted Dr. Padilla-Gamiño to immerse herself in coral reef ecology.
She quickly realized others were interested in her research, too. While preparing over 100 coral fragments for an experiment along the shoreline, the local kids — who had been playing in the island’s salty lagoon nearby — became intrigued by Padilla-Gamiño’s work. They gathered closer to get a peek and ask questions.
“They were very curious and spoke French and Tahitian,” says Padilla-Gamiño. “In my broken French and English, I tried to tell them what I was doing.”
Padilla-Gamiño immediately saw herself in the kids. She grew up in Mexico and recalls seeing foreign scientists doing research in the field there. They appeared to be doing something interesting, she says, but would soon disappear back to their own home countries.
“You never knew what they were up to. And even if they published their data, as a kid that’s not something I had access to or would even understand.”
That experience drove Padilla-Gamiño, an assistant professor at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, to think of ways to connect her research to those curious kids. Thoughts of a children’s book took hold, and the idea for “Kupe and the Corals” was born. Two years later the book was published.
“Kupe and the Corals” tells the story of a young boy who undertakes a journey of discovery, learning about the vast and diverse corals right in his backyard. While out on the reef one night with his father, he observes thousands tiny pink “bubbles” in the water. Curiosity leads him to a village elder and a scientist to talk about what he saw, where he learns how important corals are to the animals inhabiting the reef and to the people who live on the island.
“I wanted to leave something behind to share with these kids. That’s why for me, it was important to have it be translated into Tahitian,” says Padilla-Gamiño.
Padilla-Gamiño prepares coral fragments for experimentation in Moorea.
But Padilla-Gamiño wanted to reach even more kids. Beyond Tahitian, “Kupe and the Corals” has been translated into Paumotu, a Polynesian language spoken by people in the Tuamotu archipelago, as well as French, Spanish and English — five languages in all.
Initially, not all of Padilla-Gamiño’s colleageus were supportive of her efforts to write a children’s book, especially as a young scientist who was trying to establish her career. At first, this feedback made her second-guess her own priorities. But in the end, she chose to move forward and write the book.
“I remember thinking, ‘What? No, this is the time. We cannot wait to communicate.’ Maybe the kids I saw will have access to this book, and maybe we can generate change earlier. I don’t want to wait for the next generation, I want it to be this generation.”
“Kupe and the Corals” was published as part of the National Science Foundation’s Long Term Ecological Research program in their Schoolyard Series.
Policy pivot: A new emphasis on restoration to protect Puget Sound
Haley Kennard
The Qwuloolt project, north of Everett, sought to restore the mouth of the Snohomish River — key salmon habitat — by breaching dikes that had for years allowed the area to be used as farmland. The marsh is seen here in 2016.
In a growing region, protecting Puget Sound is about more than recovering certain species of threatened and endangered animals with marine protected areas. It’s also about protecting the livelihoods and diverse cultures of the people who live there and balancing their needs with the needs of the natural world.
A team of University of Washington researchers and their collaborators tackled this quandary in a study spanning years and miles, across Puget Sound’s rural towns and urban centers. Through surveys and interviews with residents, tribal members, boaters, and state and federal agency contacts, they found that policies are shifting toward restoration projects that include input from more groups and offer a range of benefits to Puget Sound, including flood control, salmon recovery, recreation and habitat protection.
They believe this study, published in June in the journal Ocean and Coastal Management, is the first to document what has been a five- to 10-year policy shift in Puget Sound. Their study provides insights on how future restoration policies can meet the needs of various constituencies in the region.
California plain shows surprising winners and losers from prolonged drought
Bureau of Land Management/Wikimedia
Carrizo Plain National Monument in the spring 2017 wildflower bloom.
The Carrizo Plain National Monument is a little-known ecological hotspot in Southern California. Though small, it explodes in wildflowers each spring and is full of threatened or endangered species. A study led by the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley tracked how hundreds of species in this valley fared during the historic drought that struck California from 2012 to 2015. It shows surprising winners and losers, uncovering patterns that may be relevant for climate change.
“The Carrizo Plain is one of the global hotspots of endangered species, with endangered species at every trophic level: plants, rodents, carnivores,” said lead author Laura Prugh, a UW assistant professor of quantitative wildlife sciences, part of the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. “It also is an ideal laboratory to see how an exceptional climate event affects a whole ecosystem.”
UW professor Cecilia Bitz elected American Geophysical Union fellow
UW Atmospheric Sciences’ Cecilia Bitz.
Cecilia M. Bitz, a University of Washington atmospheric scientist, has been elected as a fellow of the American Geophysical Union. The UW honoree is among 62 new 2018 fellows from 21 countries.The scientific group recognizes only one in 1,000 members each year for major scientific work and sustained impact.
Bitz is a UW professor in the atmospheric sciences department and director of the Program on Climate Change. She was recognized for her work studying the Arctic. Bitz’s research looks at the role of sea ice in the climate system and high-latitude climate and climate change. She also studies the predictability of Arctic sea ice and she co-leads the Sea Ice Prediction Network.
