Environment
November 4, 2014
‘Future proofing’: Present protections against challenges to come
You can’t predict the future, but you can prepare for it — that’s the thinking behind architect (and architecture graduate student and UW staff member) Brian Rich and his principles of “future proofing” existing and historical buildings.
October 30, 2014
Trout trick-or-treat: fish gobble furry animals with four feet
Freshwater fish with bellies full of shrews – one trout a few years back was found to have eaten 19 – aren’t as random as scientists have thought.
October 29, 2014
Fires and floods: North Cascades federal lands prepare for climate change
UW scientists worked with managers of federal parks and forests to come up with a strategy to address warmer temperatures, increased wildfires and more flooding in the North Cascades region.
October 24, 2014
Large X-ray scanner to produce 3-D images for labs across campus
A state-of-the-art imaging machine is coming to the University of Washington for use by researchers in a variety of disciplines.
U.S. Navy awards $8 million to develop wave, tidal energy technology
The UW has an $8 million, four-year contract to develop technologies that can harness waves, tides and currents to power naval facilities worldwide.
October 16, 2014
Athletics initiatives, barriers to sustainability topics for Sustainability Summit
Theannual one-day Sustainability Summit this year is the centerpiece of a new weeklong SustainableUW Festival.
October 10, 2014
Citizen science key to keeping pace with environmental change
Better integration of citizen science into professional science is a growing consideration at the UW and elsewhere.
October 9, 2014
Migrating animals’ pee affects ocean chemistry
Tiny animals migrating from the ocean’s surface to the sunless depths helps shape our oceans. During the daylight hours below the surface the animals release ammonia, the equivalent of our urine, that plays a significant role in marine chemistry, particularly in low-oxygen zones.
October 3, 2014
Not stuff of musty museums: Enlist evolutionary biology against modern threats
Using evolutionary biology is one way to try to outwit evolution where it is happening too quickly and to perhaps find accommodations when evolution occurs too slowly.
September 23, 2014
Dying brain cells cue new brain cells to grow in songbird
Using a songbird as a model, scientists have described a brain pathway that replaces cells that have been lost naturally and not because of injury.
September 19, 2014
Join expedition online: UW students help install cabled deep-sea observatory
UW students have had a unique experience off the coast of Washington and Oregon helping scientists and engineers complete construction of the world’s largest deep-ocean observatory.
September 11, 2014
UW-built sensors to probe Antarctica’s Southern Ocean
Floating sensors built at the UW will be central to a new $21 million effort to learn how the ocean surrounding Antarctica influences climate.
September 5, 2014
California blue whales rebound from whaling; first of their kin to do so
The number of California blue whales has rebounded to near historical levels and, while the number of blue whales struck by ships is likely above allowable U.S. limits, such strikes do not immediately threaten that recovery.
September 4, 2014
Predicting when toxic algae will reach Washington and Oregon coasts
Better understanding of how a deadly algae grows offshore and gets carried to Pacific Northwest beaches has led to a computer model that can predict when the unseen threat will hit local beaches.
September 2, 2014
Dwindling waterways challenge desert fish in warming world
One of Arizona’s largest watersheds – home to many native species of fish already threatened by extinction – is providing a grim snapshot of what could happen to watersheds and fish in arid areas around the world as climate warming occurs.
August 21, 2014
Cause of global warming hiatus found deep in the Atlantic Ocean
Observations show that the heat absent from the Earth’s surface is plunging deep in the north and south Atlantic Ocean, and is part of a slow, naturally recurring cycle.
August 15, 2014
Research from 1960s shakes up understanding of West Coast earthquakes
A new study used seabed samples collected by UW graduate students in the late 1960s to question current interpretations of earthquake frequency along the West Coast.
August 13, 2014
Snow has thinned on Arctic sea ice
Historic observations and NASA airborne data provide a decades-long record showing that the snowpack on Arctic sea ice is thinning.
August 8, 2014
Ancient shellfish remains rewrite 10,000-year history of El Niño cycles
Piles of ancient shells provide the first reliable long-term record for the powerful driver of year-to-year climate changes. Results show that the El Niños 10,000 years ago were as strong and frequent as they are today.
August 7, 2014
Ocean’s most oxygen-deprived zones to shrink under climate change
Predictions that the lowest-oxygen environments in the ocean will get worse may not come to pass. UW research shows climate change, by weakening the trade winds, will shrink these extremely low-oxygen waters.
August 6, 2014
Penguins at risk world over, scientists urge new strategies
Scientists writing in the current issue of Conservation Biology call for marine protected areas and partially protected areas to help penguins cope.
August 1, 2014
A unique lab class: UW students explore nation’s largest dam removal
A spring research apprenticeship course had nine undergraduates living at Friday Harbor Labs and studying what will happen to sediment released by dam removals on the Elwha River.
July 29, 2014
Huge waves measured for first time in Arctic Ocean
The first measurements of waves in the middle of the Arctic Ocean recorded house-sized waves during a September 2012 storm. More sensors are going out this summer to study waves in newly ice-free Arctic waters.
July 22, 2014
Oso disaster had its roots in earlier landslides
The UW is part of a new study that shows the disastrous landslide that killed 43 people at Oso, Washington, involved the “remobilization” of a 2006 landslide in the same place.
July 16, 2014
Tracking the breakup of Arctic summer sea ice
An international team has placed sensors on and under Arctic sea ice to monitor this season’s retreat. Scientists hope to understand the physics of the ice edge in order to predict summer conditions in the Arctic Ocean.
July 15, 2014
Sustainable, sharing communities explored in Karen Litfin’s book ‘Ecovillages’
UW political scientist Karen Litfin spent a year traveling to 14 ecovillages worldwide in researching her book “Ecovillages: Lessons for Sustainable Community.”
July 10, 2014
Students calculate future sea-level rise in Olympia
Students in a UW statistics course did a case study on sea-level rise in Olympia. All are co-authors on a new paper that looks at the uncertainties around estimates of rising seas.
June 26, 2014
Foul fumes derail dinner for hungry moths
New research on how pollinators find flowers when background odors are strong shows that both natural plant odors and human sources of pollution can conceal the scent of sought-after flowers.
June 25, 2014
Shellfish center – named after UW’s Ken Chew – to tackle shellfish declines
Washington state’s newest shellfish hatchery has been named after longtime faculty member Ken Chew.
June 16, 2014
Ferries for science: Instrument will monitor flow in Puget Sound
The UW, the state Department of Ecology and Washington State Ferries are working together to get a better understanding of water circulation in Puget Sound.
June 6, 2014
Ocean technology course ends spring quarter with a splash
A University of Washington undergraduate class has students design, build and test their own Internet-connected oceanographic sensors. The students are getting their feet wet, literally, in a new type of oceanography.
International award cites UW for leadership in sustainability
The University of Washington is the only U.S. university named as a 2014 Sustainable Campus Excellence Award winner.
May 27, 2014
UW students, neighbors join forces down on the Union Bay ‘bayou’
Swamp once site of historic Yesler sawmill being restored with UW student and neighborhood help.
May 20, 2014
Shrub growth decreases as winter temps warm up
Many have assumed that warmer winters as a result of climate change would increase the growth of trees and shrubs because the growing season would be longer. But shrubs achieve less yearly growth when cold winter temperatures are interrupted by temperatures warm enough to trigger growth.
May 13, 2014
Health Digest: Cutbacks jeopardize newborns, safe water, MERS facts
The costly effects of cutbacks on maternal/child services, assuring a pure water supply, and what you need to know about Middle East respiratory syndrome.
May 12, 2014
West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse is under way
The collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has begun, according to computer models using detailed topographic maps. The fast-moving Thwaites Glacier will likely disappear in a matter of centuries, researchers say, raising sea level by nearly 2 feet.
May 7, 2014
Greenland melting due equally to global warming, natural variations
Up to half of the recent warming in Greenland and surrounding areas may be due to climate variations that originate in the tropical Pacific and are not connected with the overall warming of the planet. Still, at least half the warming remains attributable to global warming caused by rising carbon dioxide emissions.
May 6, 2014
UW scientist a lead author on third National Climate Assessment
University of Washington climate scientist Amy Snover is one of two lead authors for the Northwest chapter of the newly published National Climate Assessment.
May 1, 2014
Amphibians in a vise: Climate change robs frogs, salamanders of refuge
Amphibians in the West’s high-mountain areas find themselves caught between climate-induced habitat loss and predation from introduced fish. A novel combination of tools could help weigh where amphibians are in the most need of help.
April 30, 2014
See National Ocean Sciences Bowl put the M (for “marine”) in STEMM
The Super Bowl of high school marine studies, the National Ocean Sciences Bowl, takes place this weekend on the UW campus. The theme of this year’s event is ocean acidification.
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