Nives Dolšak writes often on big environmental issues, and frequently publishes in the popular press about how society connects to the natural world. We sat down with Dolšak, who is a professor and the director of the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, and asked her why she chooses to write about the social side of all things environment, and how she approaches writing about such topics for broad consumption.
Read more »Spend time outdoors this summer to reap health benefits
Fresh air, lush foliage, open space and sunshine. Time spent outdoors isn’t just good for the soul—research at University of Washington EarthLab is showing it’s also good for the mind and body. Even in the Pacific Northwest, where the weather is often, let’s say, less than optimal, getting out into nature brings with it a host of health benefits. And there are plenty of options in the Seattle area, even in the heart of the city.
Read more »Common allergen, ragweed, will shift northward under climate change
New research from the University of Washington and the University of Massachusetts – Amherst looks at how the most common cause of sneezing and sniffling in North America is likely to shift under climate change. A recent study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE finds that common ragweed will expand its range northward as the climate warms, reaching places including New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, while retreating from some current hot spots.
Read more at UW Today »‘Ocean memory’ the focus of cross-disciplinary effort by UW’s Jody Deming
The vast oceans of our planet still hold many unsolved questions. Uncovering some of their mysteries has been a decades-long focus for University of Washington oceanography professor Jody Deming. This fall, Deming embarks on a very different type of ocean exploration. A $500,000 grant from the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative, or NAKFI, will allow her and a group representing a wide variety of disciplines in the sciences and the arts to look at the oceans in new ways.
Read more at UW Today »Racial, ethnic minorities face greater vulnerability to wildfires
Environmental disasters in the U.S. often hit minority groups the hardest. When Hurricane Katrina slammed New Orleans in 2005, the city’s black residents were disproportionately affected. Their neighborhoods were located in the low-lying, less-protected areas of the city, and many people lacked the resources to evacuate safely. Similar patterns have played out during hurricanes and tropical storms ever since. Massive wildfires, which may be getting more intense due to climate change and a long history of fire-suppression policies, also have strikingly unequal effects on minority communities, a new study shows.
Read more at UW Today »