Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science
July 27, 2020
Pristine air over Southern Ocean suggests early industrial era’s clouds not so different from today’s
A new study led by the University of Washington and the University of Leeds uses satellite data over the Southern Hemisphere to understand the makeup of global clouds since the Industrial Revolution. This research tackles one of the largest uncertainties in today’s climate models — the long-term effect of tiny atmospheric particles on climate change.
May 11, 2020
EarthLab announces Innovation Grant recipients for 2020
Research projects funded for 2020 by EarthLab’s Innovation Grants Program will study how vegetation might reduce pollution, help an Alaskan village achieve safety and resilience amid climate change, organize a California river’s restoration with tribal involvement, compare practices in self-managed indigenous immigrant communities and more.
April 28, 2020
Agricultural pickers in US to see unsafely hot workdays double by 2050
A new study looks at temperature increases in counties across the United States where crops are grown. It also looks at different strategies the industry could adopt to protect workers’ health.
March 24, 2020
Ships’ emissions create measurable regional change in clouds
Years of cloud data over a shipping route between Europe and South Africa shows that pollution from ships has significantly increased the reflectivity of the clouds. More generally, the results suggest that industrial pollution’s effect on clouds has masked about a third of the warming due to fossil fuel burning since the late 1800s.
January 30, 2020
Video: UW’s new broadcast meteorology course is first on West Coast
The University of Washington has long boasted one of the country’s top programs in atmospheric sciences. Now, the UW is also teaching undergraduates how to share that knowledge online and on TV as a broadcast meteorologist.
December 10, 2019
UW scientist to lead NASA field study of East Coast snowstorms
To better understand large, disruptive snowstorms, a University of Washington atmospheric scientist will lead a NASA field campaign this winter to fly through major snowstorms along the East Coast. The multi-institutional team will observe snow as it forms in clouds to help with satellite monitoring of snowfall and ultimately improve forecasts.
October 2, 2019
Abigail Swann on Science News’ list of 10 young scientists to watch
The University of Washington’s Abigail Swann is honored by Science News on its list of 10 promising early- and mid-career scientists.
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 21, 2019
3 UW graduate students earn NASA fellowships, continue legacy of success
Three University of Washington graduate students are among this year’s recipients of a prestigious NASA fellowship that funds student research projects in the fields of Earth and planetary sciences and astrophysics.
August 6, 2019
How the Pacific Ocean influences long-term drought in the Southwestern U.S.
Analyzing the full life cycle of long-term droughts and how they relate to El Niño and La Niña conditions in the Pacific Ocean could eventually lead to better prediction of damaging, multiyear droughts in the Southwestern U.S.
July 16, 2019
8 UW professors elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences in 2019
Eight scientists and engineers from the University of Washington have been elected this year to the Washington State Academy of Sciences.
May 1, 2019
Atmospheric scientist Chris Bretherton elected to National Academy of Sciences
Chris Bretherton, a professor of atmospheric sciences and of applied mathematics, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
April 4, 2019
April ‘Weather Madness’: UW wins top team, individual prizes in national forecasting contest, now enters tournament round
A University of Washington team placed first in a national weather forecasting contest that began in September. A UW graduate student also developed a model that for the first time beat out all human competitors.
March 26, 2019
Air quality agencies can breathe easier about current emissions regulations
A University of Washington-led study provides a fuller picture of the relationship between nitrogen oxides — the tailpipe-generated particles at the center of the Volkswagen scandal, also known as NOx, — and PM2.5, the microscopic particles that can lodge in lungs.
March 4, 2019
Mystery of green icebergs may soon be solved
Research by UW’s Stephen Warren suggests that some icebergs are green because they contain frozen, iron-rich seawater from certain regions of East Antarctica.
February 8, 2019
Video: Washington’s state climatologist comments on Puget Sound snowstorms
Nick Bond, Washington’s state climatologist, comments on the unusual weather in Western Washington.
October 17, 2018
UW atmospheric scientists to study most extreme storms on Earth, up close
UW atmospheric scientists leave next week for a six-week field campaign in South America to study the most intense storms on the planet.
October 2, 2018
Video: Washington’s state climatologist predicts this will be an El Niño year
Washington state climatologist Nick Bond explains what our upcoming El Niño winter means for the Pacific Northwest.
October 1, 2018
High CO2 levels cause plants to thicken their leaves, which could worsen climate change effects, researchers say
When levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rise, most plants do something unusual: They thicken their leaves. Now two University of Washington scientists have shown that this reaction by plants will actually worsen climate change by making the global “carbon sink” contributed by plants was less productive.
August 2, 2018
UW books in brief: Urban diaries, battling Jim Crow on campus and more
Recent notable books by University of Washington authors tell of the struggle to break free of racism in higher education, taking an “urban diary” approach to documenting city life and more.
July 23, 2018
Study shows why eastern U.S. air pollution levels are more stagnant in winter
Observations over the eastern U.S. show why emissions reductions haven’t achieved the same results in winter as they have in summer.
July 18, 2018
Atlantic Ocean circulation is not collapsing – but as it shifts gears, global warming will reaccelerate
New research suggests the Atlantic Ocean is transitioning back to its slower phase, which means average global air temperatures will go back to rising more quickly.
June 11, 2018
Warmer climate will dramatically increase the volatility of global corn crops
A study of global maize production in 2100 shows dramatic increases in the variability of corn yields from one year to the next under climate change, making simultaneous low yields across multiple high-producing regions more likely, which could lead to price hikes and global shortages.
May 15, 2018
Forest loss in one part of US can harm trees on the opposite coast
If an entire forest dies, new research shows, it has ricocheting effects in the atmosphere that can affect vegetation on the other side of the country.
April 25, 2018
UW faculty selected as authors, editors of international report on climate change
About twice each decade, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, looks at what is known about the science of climate change, the extent to which human activities are changing the Earth’s climate, and what risks these changes pose to human and natural systems. Organized into three working groups, each assessment is…
February 5, 2018
UW atmospheric scientists flying through clouds above Antarctica’s Southern Ocean
UW atmospheric sciences faculty and graduate students are in Tasmania studying how clouds form over Antarctica’s Southern Ocean.
December 11, 2017
Q&A: UW’s Shuyi Chen on hurricane science, forecasting and the 2017 hurricane season
New faculty member Shuyi Chen answers some questions about hurricane science, hurricane forecasting and the 2017 storm season.
September 7, 2017
Ship exhaust makes oceanic thunderstorms more intense
More than a decade of lightning strikes over the Indian Ocean shows for the first time that ship exhaust along major shipping routes alters thunderstorm intensity.
August 31, 2017
Record-low 2016 Antarctic sea ice due to ‘perfect storm’ of tropical, polar conditions
This exceptional, sudden nosedive in Antarctic sea ice last year was due to a unique one-two punch from atmospheric conditions both in the tropical Pacific Ocean and around the South Pole.
July 25, 2017
Could spraying particles into marine clouds help cool the planet?
A first test of humans’ ability to modify clouds would help explain the behavior of clouds and aerosols, while also testing a possible future climate emergency measure.
May 17, 2017
Earth’s atmosphere more chemically reactive in cold climates
A study of a Greenland ice core shows that during large climate swings, chemically reactive oxidants shift in a different direction than expected, which means we need to rethink what controls these molecules in our air.
April 17, 2017
Models, observations not so far apart on planet’s response to greenhouse gas emissions
New analysis debunks reports that recent observations are showing that Earth’s temperature responds less to greenhouse gases than predicted by climate models.
March 13, 2017
Rapid decline of Arctic sea ice a combination of climate change and natural variability
Dramatic declines in Arctic sea ice during the past four decades are due to a mixture of global warming and a natural decades-long hot spot over Greenland.
February 15, 2017
‘The blob’ of abnormal conditions boosted Western U.S. ozone levels
Ozone levels in June 2015 were significantly higher than normal over a large swath of the Western U.S. Analysis ties this air quality pattern to the abnormal conditions in the northeast Pacific Ocean, nicknamed “the blob.”
January 25, 2017
Monsoons to mosquitoes: UW researchers attend national weather conference in Seattle
Researchers from across the UW are presenting their work at the American Meteorological Society’s annual meeting this week in Seattle.
January 18, 2017
Listen to the Earth smash another global temperature record
The year 2016 was officially the hottest in recent history, beating previous records in 2014 and 2015. UW scientists let you hear the data speak for itself.
November 16, 2016
Large forest die-offs can have effects that ricochet to distant ecosystems
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.
November 10, 2016
How lightning strikes can improve storm forecasts
Research shows that real-time lightning observations could significantly improve forecasts of large storm events.
September 30, 2016
CO2 record at Mauna Loa, the music video: The sounds of climate change
University of Washington scientists have put world’s longest-running measure of atmospheric carbon dioxide to music. The result is a 90-second rendition of human-induced climate change: The video project was done by Judy Twedt, a UW doctoral student in atmospheric sciences, and Dargan Frierson, a UW associate professor of atmospheric sciences and amateur musician. Their techno…
September 12, 2016
UW scientist helping direct NASA field study of clouds off Namibia
UW atmospheric scientists are part of a month-long NASA effort to learn how smoke and clouds interact.
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