Climate Impacts Group
September 30, 2024
UW Climate Impacts Group contributes to new WA State Climate Resiliency Strategy
The University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group has supported a newly released plan for state agencies to address the regional impacts of climate change. The plan, led by the Department of Ecology, includes 10 state agencies’ strategies to address climate impacts.
August 12, 2024
Report describes the barriers Pacific Northwest coastal Tribes face in adapting to climate change
The University of Washington, the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and others held collaborative listening sessions with Northwest coastal Tribes to hear their experiences in adapting to climate change. A new report summarizes those experiences, while an upcoming grant program hopes to help address barriers identified in the report.
November 14, 2023
5th National Climate Assessment authors include UW climate experts
Three UW experts are among the authors of the newly released Fifth National Climate Assessment, an overview of climate trends, impacts and efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change across the nation.
June 26, 2023
New report, tool suggest how Washington can better protect against extreme heat
Two years after the Pacific Northwest heat dome — the deadliest weather-related disaster in state history — a collaborative effort has drawn up recommendations for how people and groups across the state could prevent future heat-related illness and save lives. The effort involves a report led by the UW Climate Impacts Group and an interactive risk-mapping tool led by the UW Center for Health and the Global Environment,
April 18, 2023
Q&A: County-scale climate mapping tool helps Washington agencies prepare for the future
The UW Climate Impacts Group created an interactive tool that lets state agencies and local governments see what climate scientists project for their county and what they might want to consider when developing their districts’ comprehensive plans through 2100.
June 14, 2022
UW, Seattle Public Library, Seattle Public Utilities collaboration uses VR goggles to visualize sea level rise in Seattle
The Our Future Duwamish project, available to community groups through The Seattle Public Library, uses an Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset to help viewers imagine rising seas from a vantage point along the South Seattle waterway.
June 10, 2022
Q&A: Amy Snover, outgoing director of the UW Climate Impacts Group
Amy Snover, the retiring director of the UW Climate Impacts Group, reflects on her past decade of leadership and on how the groundbreaking climate preparedness group has evolved over more than a quarter century of existence.
February 28, 2022
UW authors in IPCC report emphasize threats to human health and well-being
Two University of Washington experts in climate change and health are lead authors of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The new report titled Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptations and Vulnerability, published Monday morning, details in over three thousand pages a “dire warning” about the consequences of inaction on reducing…
September 27, 2021
UW Climate Impacts Group, partner organizations launch the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative
The UW Climate Impacts Group, along with nine community, nonprofit and university partners, is launching a program of community-led, justice-oriented climate adaptation work across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative will be founded with a five-year, $5.6 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. The program will be one of eleven across the country funded through NOAA’s Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments program.
January 14, 2020
Faculty/staff honors: Consulting assignment in Africa, honorary doctorate in Bern, conservation leadership award
Recent honors to UW faculty and staff include an honorary doctorate from the University of Bern, an award for biodiversity conservation and a consulting assignment for the World Health Organization.
January 9, 2020
By the numbers: UW in the media in 2019
In 2019, the University of Washington was mentioned in 4,143 news articles around the world. Among those, UW experts were quoted 2,290 times: 1,185 in national or international outlets and 1,105 in regional and local outlets.
February 12, 2019
Assessing riverside corridors — the ‘escape routes’ for animals under climate change — in the Northwest
A study led by the University of Washington pinpoints which riverside routes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana will be the most important for animals trying to navigate a changing climate.
November 29, 2018
Forests, human health, Northwest outlook: UW researchers involved in Fourth National Climate Assessment
University of Washington researchers contributed to the Fourth National Climate Assessment that considers impacts, risks and adaptation across the United States.
November 26, 2018
UW, Tableau create interactive tool to explore more than a century of Pacific Northwest weather observations
A new, free tool with temperature and precipitation records across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana as far back as 1881 lets users play around to discover significant trends. It also includes historical snow records for Washington state.
November 14, 2018
New resources support tribes in preparing for climate change
The University of Washington Climate Impacts Group and regional tribal partners have developed a collection of resources that may be useful to tribes at any stage in the process of evaluating their vulnerability to climate change. The project is a partnership among tribes, tribal associations, universities and the federal government.
October 2, 2018
Former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell brings leadership to UW community, new EarthLab initiative
Former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell brings a lifetime of experience in business, nonprofits, government and the outdoors to the University of Washington, where one of her tasks is to help shape the future of EarthLab, a new university-wide institute that seeks to connect scholars with community partners to solve our most difficult environmental problems.
July 30, 2018
Sea-level rise report contains best projections yet for Washington’s coasts
A University of Washington report provides the best projections yet for sea-level rise due to climate change at 171 sites along Washington’s coasts.
October 5, 2017
Northwest climate science community gathers Oct. 9-11 in Tacoma
The eighth annual Northwest Climate Conference will take place in Tacoma, and begins with a free public discussion featuring UW experts on Monday evening.
May 9, 2017
Shrubs, grasses planted through federal program crucial for sage grouse survival in Eastern Washington
A federal program that pays farmers to plant agricultural land with environmentally beneficial vegetation is probably the reason that sage grouse still live in portions of Washington’s Columbia Basin, according to a new study by UW, state and federal researchers.
September 23, 2016
Week-long exhibit in La Conner joins climate scientists, artists
UW scientists worked with artists for an exhibit at the Museum of Northwest Art focusing on climate change impacts on coastal communities.
November 17, 2015
New report outlines Puget Sound region’s future under climate change
A new report by the University of Washington synthesizes all the relevant research about the future of the Puget Sound region to paint a picture of what to expect in the coming decades, and how to prepare.
October 20, 2015
UW study: Will Puget Sound’s population spike under climate change?
A UW graduate student’s research paper is the first serious study of whether climate change is likely to cause human migration to the Puget Sound region.
September 4, 2015
Climate change could leave Pacific Northwest amphibians high and dry
A new model for snow-fed mountain wetlands projects that the extremely dry conditions seen this year could be commonplace by the 2070s, affecting mountain species.
August 24, 2015
Power lines restrict sage grouse movement in Washington
Transmission lines that funnel power from hydroelectric dams and wind turbines across Eastern Washington affect greater sage grouse habitat by isolating fragile populations and limiting movement, a new study finds.
July 6, 2015
Risk of interbreeding due to climate change lower than expected
Despite worries about interbreeding due to climate change, a new study finds that only about 6 percent of closely related species in the Americas are likely to come into contact by the end of this century.
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.
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.
December 10, 2013
What climate change means for federally protected marine species
As the Endangered Species Act nears its 40th birthday at the end of December, conservation biologists are coming to terms with a danger not foreseen in the 1970s: global climate change.
November 4, 2013
More wildfires, earlier snowmelt, coastal threats top Northwest climate risks
A new comprehensive report co-authored by the UW’s Climate Impacts Group looks at what climate change will mean for Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
April 3, 2013
UW group part of national report, meeting on adaptation to climate change
The UW’s Climate Impacts Group is part of a national report and first-ever national meeting on adapting to the effects of a changing climate.
February 11, 2009
New state climate report indicates coming decades will be challenging
The most detailed report ever on how climate change could affect Washington paints a stark picture, but it should help the state avoid being surprised by climate-related changes coming down the road.
January 17, 2008
Washington state sea levels could rise considerably by end of century
Melting glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica, combined with other effects of global climate change, are likely to raise sea levels in parts of Western Washington by the end of this century, though geological forces will offset the rising water in some areas.
August 16, 2007
State of the climate: Report to cite effects of climate change on state’s health, agriculture
An assessment of the impact of climate change on the state, being launched this week by the UW’s Climate Impacts Group for the Washington Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED), is the most comprehensive ever.
