An international team of researchers has combined satellite imagery and climate and ocean records to obtain the most detailed understanding yet of how the West Antarctic Ice Sheet — which contains enough ice to raise global sea level by 11 feet, or 3.3 meters — is responding to climate change. The researchers, from the University of Washington, the University of Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh, found that the pace and extent of ice destabilization along West Antarctica’s coast varies according to differences in regional climate.
Read more at UW News »Plastic pollution in the oceans is an equity issue, says UW-led report
Many people are aware of plastic pollution in the oceans. Photos of turtles or seabirds entangled in plastic garbage first went viral in the 1990s, and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now the focus of highly publicized cleanup efforts. Less recognized is how marine plastic waste affects human populations, and the unequal burden on different communities. A report, “Towards an Equitable Approach to Marine Plastics Pollution,” outlines the current situation and attempts to address the problem.
Read more at UW News »Dan Brown reappointed director of UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences
The College is thrilled to announce that Dan Brown has agreed to be reappointed director of the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences (SEFS) for a four and a half-year term, effective January 1, 2023, through June 30, 2027. Dan’s research interests focus on land-use change as an outcome of social and ecological processes, and its effects on ecosystems and human well-being.
Read more »Warming oceans have decimated marine parasites — but that’s not a good thing
More than a century of preserved fish specimens offer a rare glimpse into long-term trends in parasite populations. New research from the University of Washington shows that fish parasites plummeted from 1880 to 2019, a 140-year stretch when Puget Sound — their habitat and the second largest estuary in the mainland U.S. — warmed significantly. The study, published the week of Jan.
Read more at UW News »Moving from climate science to global action: reflections from Dean Emeritus Lisa Graumlich on COP27
I’ve been thinking — and worrying — about climate change for a long time. In 1980, I came to the University of Washington to pursue a PhD, wrestling with the problem of detecting the fingerprint of human impact on the climate system. The topic held sway with my colleagues but had no traction with the general public. All that has changed, and that change is now visible in many ways across the globe.
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