Nov 16, 2016

Large forest die-offs can have effects that ricochet to distant ecosystems

Abigail Swann, Dave Minor and Juan Villegas take measurements of live and dead trees in central New Mexico.

Major forest die-offs due to drought, heat and beetle infestations or deforestation could have consequences far beyond the local landscape. Wiping out an entire forest can have significant effects on global climate patterns and alter vegetation on the other side of the world, according to a study led by the University of Washington and published Nov. 16 in PLOS ONE. “When trees die in one place, it can be good or bad for plants elsewhere, because it causes changes in one place that can ricochet to shift climate in another place,” said lead author Elizabeth Garcia, a UW postdoctoral researcher in atmospheric sciences.

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Nov 2, 2016

New study looks at what lies below Mount St. Helens

The last major eruption of Mount St. Helens, about 50 miles northeast of Portland, was in 1980. The mountain spewed steam and ash in 2004, and has since been rebuilding a new lava dome.

The reason for the location of Mount St. Helens is an enigma. The volcano lies farther west than other peaks in the Cascades volcanic arc. Research published this week may begin to explain why.

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Sep 28, 2016

10 UW Environment stories you may have missed over the summer

Journal pages list all the species of plants the UW Environmental Studies class has seen by the penultimate day of their backpacking trip in the Olympic National Park backcountry. Here, the group takes a break at Grand Pass.

At the conclusion of a long and arduous academic year, many students look forward to the rest and relaxation that comes with summertime. But while many are enjoying the glorious downtime of a few months without classes, others — faculty, undergrads, graduate students and postdocs — are in the field and in labs pushing their research forward. The summer of 2016 was no different.

Westerly winds have blown across central Asia for at least 42 million years

The gusting westerly winds that dominate the climate in central Asia, setting the pattern of dryness and location of central Asian deserts, have blown mostly unchanged for 42 million years. A University of Washington geologist led a team that has discovered a surprising resilience to one of the world’s dominant weather systems. The finding could help long-term climate forecasts, since it suggests these winds are likely to persist through radical climate shifts.

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Aug 5, 2016

Geophysical Sciences

UW geologist: Ancient Chinese flood is latest to match oral, geologic histories

An ancient landslide once blocked the Yellow River at Jishi Gorge in China, shown here. The resulting lake eventually burst through the rubble dam, causing what may have been one of history’s largest floods.

A paper published this week in Science finds evidence to support stories that a massive flood occurred in China about 4,000 years ago, during the reign of Emperor Yu. The study, led by Chinese researcher Qinglong Wu, suggests that a huge landslide dam break could have redirected the Yellow River, giving rise to the legendary flood that Emperor Yu is credited with controlling.

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