Rob Wood, recent AGU Ascent Award winner, to serve as the College’s Associate Dean for Research

Atmospheric Sciences' Robert Wood

The College is pleased to announce that Rob Wood, a professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, has agreed to serve as the UW Environment’s Associate Dean for Research effective September 16, 2017. In this role he will foster multidisciplinary collaborations, promote and support the range of basic and applied research programs across the College and University, and help faculty identify opportunities to partner and collaborate with universities and research organizations around the U.S. 

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Earth's atmosphere more chemically reactive in cold climates

Becky Alexander in the cold room of the UW’s IsoLab with sections of an ice core. Her group is now analyzing ice cores from Antarctica to see if they show the same trend as in Greenland.

Unseen in the air around us are tiny molecules that drive the chemical cocktail of our atmosphere. As plants, animals, volcanoes, wildfires and human activities spew particles into the atmosphere, some of these molecules act as cleanup crews that remove that pollution. The main molecules responsible for breaking down all these emissions are called oxidants. The oxygen-containing molecules, mainly ozone and hydrogen-based detergents, react with pollutants and reactive greenhouse gases, such as methane.  

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UW fisheries, geosciences and oceanography make the top 10 in new subjects ranking

University of Washington took ninth place overall with 45 subjects ranked in the top 10 in the Center for World University Rankings’ inaugural subjects ranking. The ranking features the top global universities in 227 subjects covering all academic disciplines in the sciences and social sciences. This is the highest the UW has placed in a global subject ranking. Three subject areas within the College of the Environment made the list — fisheries (Aquatic and Fishery Sciences), geosciences (Earth and Space Sciences, Atmospheric Sciences) and oceanography (Oceanography). 

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Rapid decline of Arctic sea ice a combination of climate change and natural variability

Arctic sea ice, as seen from an ice breaker ship in 2014.

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. 

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'The blob' of abnormal conditions boosted Western U.S. ozone levels

Researchers use the ski lifts to carry equipment to sample air on the summit. A radon sensor travels to the peak of Mount Bachelor.

An unusually warm patch of seawater off the West Coast in late 2014 and 2015, nicknamed “the blob,” had cascading effects up and down the coast. Its sphere of influence was centered on the marine environment but extended to weather on land. A University of Washington Bothell study now shows that this strong offshore pattern also influenced air quality. The climate pattern increased ozone levels above Washington, Oregon, western Utah and northern California, according to a study published Feb. 

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