Applied Physics Laboratory
October 22, 2024
Paws of polar bears sustaining ice-related injuries in a warming Arctic
Polar bears in some parts of the high Arctic are developing ice buildup and related injuries to their feet. The changes appear to be an unexpected consequence of climate change, related to changing conditions in a warming Arctic.
October 17, 2024
Life could exist on Mars in shallow meltwater pools below icy surface, study suggests
Researchers think meltwater beneath Martian ice could host microbial life. New results show that dusty ice could allow deeper layers to melt, while allowing enough sunlight through to support photosynthesis.
May 14, 2024
UW-led project to study ozone, atmospheric layers a finalist for next-generation NASA satellite
A project led by the University of Washington to better understand our atmosphere’s complexity is a finalist for NASA’s next generation of Earth-observing satellites. STRIVE will receive $5 million to conduct a one-year concept study, and then will hear whether it is selected for launch.
October 25, 2023
UW experts offer hot takes on El Niño, weather and ocean temperatures
Five University of Washington experts comment on the current El Niño, its effect on Pacific Northwest winter weather, as well as on regional and global ocean temperature trends.
September 21, 2023
NSF funds internet-connected ocean observatory through 2028
The National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Washington $52.4 million over five years to continue operating the Regional Cabled Array, a cabled deep-ocean observatory about 300 miles offshore from Newport, Oregon. The grant is part of a $220 million total investment that will fund the internet-connected ocean observatory, known as the Ocean Observatories Initiative, through 2028.
May 23, 2023
Q&A: UW polar bear expert appears in BBC-produced film about the Arctic
Polar scientist Eric Regehr studies polar bears on Wrangel Island, an island off Russia that is home to the highest concentration of polar bears in the world. Regehr and UW glaciologist Ian Joughin will field audience questions after screenings of “Arctic: Our Frozen Planet,” which focuses on the changing Arctic environment.
September 28, 2022
UW-developed wave sensors deployed to improve hurricane forecasts
Researchers dropped technology developed at the University of Washington off the coast of Florida this week to measure ocean waves in the path of Hurricane Ian. The test is one part of a broad effort to improve forecasts for these fast-moving and deadly systems.
June 16, 2022
Newly documented population of polar bears in Southeast Greenland sheds light on the species’ future in a warming Arctic
A new population of polar bears documented on the southeast coast of Greenland use glacier ice to survive despite limited access to sea ice. This small, genetically distinct group of polar bears could be important to the future of the species in a warming world.
March 10, 2022
Newest satellite data shows remarkable decline in Arctic sea ice over just three years
In the past 20 years, the Arctic has lost about one-third of its winter sea ice volume, and winter sea ice in the Arctic has lost about a foot and a half of thickness over just the past three years. This thinning is largely due to loss of older, multiyear sea ice that is more resistant to melting.
October 28, 2021
How Dungeness crabs’ complex lifecycle will be affected by climate change
Results show that by the end of this century, lower-oxygen water on the Pacific Northwest coast will pose the biggest threat to Dungeness crabs. And while these crabs start as tiny, free-floating larvae, it’s the sharp-clawed adults that will be most vulnerable.
October 1, 2021
Three UW teams awarded NSF Convergence Accelerator grants for misinformation, ocean projects
Three separate University of Washington research teams have been awarded $750,000 each by the National Science Foundation to advance studies in misinformation and the ocean economy.
September 14, 2021
UW part of $25M NSF-funded effort to retrieve Earth’s oldest ice core
University of Washington glaciologists will join colleagues from around the country in a new effort to retrieve an ice core more than 1 million years old from East Antarctica, to better understand the history of our planet’s climate and predict future changes.
July 1, 2021
Last ice-covered parts of summertime Arctic Ocean vulnerable to climate change
The region north of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic has been termed the Last Ice Area, where sea ice will remain the longest in summertime, providing a refuge for ice-dependent Arctic species. But conditions last summer show that parts of this region are already experiencing less summer ice due to climate change.
June 11, 2021
Edge of Pine Island Glacier’s ice shelf is ripping apart, causing key Antarctic glacier to gain speed
Satellite images show that from 2017 to 2020, Pine Island Glacier’s ice shelf lost about one-fifth of its area, mostly in three dramatic breaks. This caused the glacier to speed up by 12%, hastening its downward motion and boosting its contribution to rising seas.
June 9, 2021
Endangered blue whales recorded off southwest coast of India
Endangered blue whales are present and singing off the southwest coast of India. The results provide insight into a poorly studied population and suggest conservation measures should include this region.
April 28, 2021
UW launches GeoHazards Initiative; names Paros Chair in Seismology and GeoHazards
Leveraging the tectonic laboratory of the Cascadia subduction zone, the University of Washington today announced a new effort to best understand how to study and live with the threats of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanos, landslides and other seismic hazards. Dubbed the GeoHazards Initiative, the interdisciplinary work aims to develop and promote the adoption of early detection systems both on land and at sea to help prevent the loss of human life and property.
February 24, 2021
Record-high Arctic freshwater will flow through Canadian waters, affecting marine environment and Atlantic ocean currents
The Arctic Ocean’s Beaufort Sea has increased its freshwater content by 40% over the past two decades. When conditions change this freshwater will travel to the Labrador Sea off Canada, rather than through the wider marine passageways that connect to seas in Northern Europe. This has implications for local marine environments and global ocean circulation.
September 23, 2020
Some polar bears in far north are getting short-term benefit from thinning ice
The small subpopulation of polar bears in Kane Basin were doing better, on average, in recent years than in the 1990s. The bears are experiencing short-term benefits from thinning and shrinking multiyear sea ice that allows more sunlight to reach the ocean surface, which makes the system more ecologically productive.
April 30, 2020
First results from NASA’s ICESat-2 map 16 years of melting ice sheets
Loss of ice from Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets since 2003 have contributed 0.55 inches to global sea level rise, with about two thirds coming from Greenland ice. The new, detailed satellite measurements provide a global picture of ice sheet change — and insights into the future of Greenland and Antarctica.
February 27, 2020
Video: Warming Arctic means less ice, bigger waves
Throughout the month of November 2019, a team of University of Washington researchers chased storms in the Arctic Ocean. The project, Coastal Ocean Dynamics in the Arctic, or CODA, is looking at how water currents shift and waves hit the coast with more open water, to provide better forecasts and predictions for the region’s future.
February 12, 2020
Polar bears in Baffin Bay skinnier, having fewer cubs due to less sea ice
Satellite tracking of adult females and visual monitoring of polar bears in Baffin Bay show changes from the 1990s to the period from 2009 to 2015. Bears in Baffin Bay are getting thinner and adult females are having fewer cubs than when sea ice was more available.
December 4, 2019
Outlook for the polar regions in a 2 degrees warmer world
With 2019 on pace as one of the warmest years on record, a new international study reveals how rapidly the Arctic is warming and examines global consequences of continued polar warming.
November 5, 2019
Fall storms, coastal erosion focus of northern Alaska research cruise
A University of Washington team is leaving to study how fall storms, dwindling sea ice and vulnerable coastlines might combine in a changing Arctic.
November 4, 2019
Swordfish as oceanographers? Satellite tags allow research of ocean’s ‘twilight zone’ off Florida
UW marine scientists are using high-tech tags to record the movements of swordfish — big, deep-water, migratory, open-ocean fish that are poorly studied — and get a window into the ocean depths they inhabit.
October 23, 2019
UW team sending autonomous surfboard to explore Antarctic waters
This week a UW team is releasing a robotic surfboard to explore the surface ocean around Antarctica.
September 20, 2019
Two UW ice researchers to participate in year-long drift across Arctic Ocean
Two UW researchers — Bonnie Light, a principal physicist at the UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory and an affiliate associate professor of atmospheric sciences, and Madison Smith, a recent UW graduate who is now doing her postdoctoral research at the UW — will join for the fifth of the six two-month legs, in summer 2020.
August 8, 2019
More than 100 years of Arctic sea ice volume reconstructed with help from historic ships’ logbooks
A new study provides a 110-year record of the total volume of Arctic sea ice, using early U.S. ships’ voyages to verify the earlier part of the record. The longer record puts the recent loss into perspective.
April 25, 2019
Public talks kick off study of ice loss, warming and coastal changes in northern Alaska
A UW team will visit Alaska’s North Slope Borough the week of April 28 in preparation for a two-year study of how waves, ice loss and warming are affecting the low-lying region.
January 23, 2019
One year into the mission, autonomous ocean robots set a record in survey of Antarctic ice shelf
A team of ocean robots developed at the UW is the first group of self-guided ocean instruments to travel under an ice sheet and come back to report long-term observations.
December 18, 2018
February’s big patch of open water off Greenland? Not global warming, says new analysis
New analysis shows that odd winds, not warming, caused the unusual patch of open water north of Greenland last February.
December 14, 2018
UW glaciologist gets first look at NASA’s new measurements of ice sheet elevation
UW glaciologist Ben Smith shared a first look at the NASA ICESat-2 satellite’s view of Greenland and Antarctic glaciers at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
December 13, 2018
Hark! UW talents — on page and disc — for the good Dawgs on your holiday shopping list
As the year comes to a close and festivities abound, some UW faculty creations can make great gifts for the thinking Dawg on your giving list.
November 14, 2018
First tally of U.S.-Russia polar bears finds a healthy population
The first assessment of polar bears that live in the biologically rich Chukchi Sea region that spans the U.S. and Russia, finds that the population is healthy and not yet suffering from declining sea ice.
October 12, 2018
New UW-authored children’s book offers a robot’s-eye view of the deep ocean
In a new UW-authored book, a cartoon robot takes young readers on a School of Oceanography voyage to explore the deep ocean.
September 10, 2018
UW polar scientists advised NASA on upcoming ICESat-2 satellite
Two UW polar scientists were among a dozen experts who advised NASA on its upcoming ICESat-2 mission to monitor the 3D surface of the Earth. The mission is scheduled to launch Sept. 15 from California.
August 23, 2018
Hack week: Study supports collaborative, participant-driven approach for researchers to learn data science from their peers
A team from the University of Washington, New York University and the University of California, Berkeley has developed an interactive workshop in data science for researchers at multiple stages of their careers. The course format, called “hack week,” blends elements from both traditional lecture-style pedagogy with participant-driven projects.
July 2, 2018
Study identifies which marine mammals are most at risk from increased Arctic ship traffic
Regions of Arctic water are becoming ice-free in late summer and early fall. A new study is the first to consider potential impacts on the marine mammals that use this region and identify which populations will be the most vulnerable to ships.
June 21, 2018
NASA, NSF expedition to study ocean carbon embarks in August from Seattle
More than 100 scientists and crew from more than 20 U.S. research institutions, including the UW, will depart in August for a month-long expedition to study how the ocean absorbs carbon from the atmosphere.
June 18, 2018
Great white sharks dive deep into warm-water whirlpools in the Atlantic
Tracking of two great white sharks reveals for the first time that in the open ocean they spend more time deep inside warm-water eddies.
June 4, 2018
Polar scientist Kristin Laidre documents perspectives of polar bear hunters in East Greenland
Twenty-five polar bear hunters in East Greenland were interviewed before the first formal assessment of this subpopulation, one of 19 subpopulations of polar bears in a changing Arctic.
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