Arctic sea ice in recent decades has declined even faster than predicted by most models of climate change. Many scientists have suspected that the trend now underway is a combination of global warming and natural climate variability. A new study finds that a substantial chunk of summer sea ice loss in recent decades was due to natural variability in the atmosphere over the Arctic Ocean.
Read more at UW Today »‘Black swan’ events strike animal populations
Black swan events are rare and surprising occurrences that happen without notice and often wreak havoc on society. The metaphor has been used to describe banking collapses, devastating earthquakes and other major surprises in financial, social and natural systems. A new analysis by the University of Washington and Simon Fraser University is the first to document that black swan events also occur in animal populations and usually manifest as massive, unexpected die-offs.
Read more at UW Today »Microbial community responses and demersal fish
Every other week we share the latest peer-reviewed publications coming from the College of the Environment. Over the past two weeks, nine new articles co-authored by members of the College were added to the Web of Science database. They include articles about microbial community responses, demersal fish, and more. Read on!
Read more »Large-scale experiment on the rural Olympic Peninsula to test innovations in forest management
Before humans intervened in forest ecosystems, disturbances such as fire, wind storms and diseases wracked segments of the landscape, killing off swathes of trees and providing spaces for regrowth. Today, forest conditions are largely constrained by logging and conservation strategies, but scientists are recognizing the ecological and community benefits of letting a forest behave in more natural patterns. Scientists at the University of Washington and the state Department of Natural Resources intend to test a management approach that mimics natural disturbance patterns and processes across a portion of the Olympic Peninsula, an area known for having the most rainfall in the lower 48 states, high tree-growth rates and old-growth forests, part of which remain today.
Read more at UW Today »UW's Kristin Laidre awarded Pew marine fellowship to study effects of climate change, subsistence hunting on polar bears
Polar bears depend on sea ice for essential tasks like hunting and breeding. As Arctic sea ice disappears due to climate change, bears across the species’ 19 subpopulations are feeling the strain. But even as scientists try to quantify just how much melting sea ice is affecting polar bears, another group that depends on the iconic mammal for subsistence also is at risk of losing an important nutritional and economic resource.
Read more at UW Today »