Environment
February 25, 2013
UW undergraduates embark on three-week research cruise off Japan
Eleven UW undergraduates leave today on an unusually ambitious research and teaching expedition to study the Kuroshio Current off Japan.
February 21, 2013
Using amount of fish caught as measure of fisheries health is misleading
Do changes in the amount of fish caught necessarily reflect the number of fish in the sea? “No,” say UW researchers in a “Counterpoint” commentary in Nature.
February 20, 2013
Searchable by cell phone or GPS unit, interactive map for arboretum being created
UW Botanic Gardens is digitizing 55 years of handwritten plant records and creating an interactive GIS map for the Washington Park Arboretum.
February 19, 2013
Mutant champions save imperiled species from almost-certain extinction
Species facing widespread and rapid environmental changes can sometimes evolve quickly enough to dodge the extinction bullet. UW scientists consider the genetic underpinnings of such evolutionary rescue.
February 18, 2013
Mussels cramped by environmental factors
The fibrous threads helping mussels stay anchored are more prone to snap when ocean temperatures climb higher than normal.
February 15, 2013
Firing range lead exposure reduced with UW workplace health expertise
UW’s Field Research and Consultation Group in Environmental and Occupational Health assess ventilation systems and airborne lead levels in firing ranges, and offer advice on lowering exposure.
February 13, 2013
European satellite confirms UW numbers: Arctic Ocean is on thin ice
New satellite observations confirm a University of Washington analysis that for the past three years found accelerated declines in the volume of Arctic sea ice.
February 12, 2013
Get off my lawn: Song sparrows escalate territorial threats – with video
UW researchers have discovered a hierarchical warning scheme in which territorial song sparrows use increasingly threatening signals to ward off trespassing rivals.
February 6, 2013
Smartphones, tablets help UW researchers improve storm forecasts
Atmospheric scientists are using pressure readings from some new smartphones and tablet computers to improve short-term thunderstorm forecasts. A weather station in every pocket would offer an unprecedented wealth of data.
January 31, 2013
Cyclone did not cause 2012 record low for Arctic sea ice
A huge Arctic cyclone in August was not responsible for the historic minimum seen soon after in Arctic sea-ice extent.
January 23, 2013
Greenland ice core shows Antarctica vulnerable to warming
A UW scientist’s work aided a Greenland ice study that could indicate where Earth is headed with climate change.
January 15, 2013
International study: Where there’s smoke or smog, there’s climate change
A new international assessment found that soot, or black carbon, is a major contributor to global warming — second only to carbon dioxide.
January 14, 2013
Salmon runs boom, go bust over centuries
Salmon runs are notoriously variable: strong one year, and weak the next. New research shows that the same may be true from one century to the next.
Potential harvest of most fish stocks largely unrelated to abundance
Fisheries managers should sharpen their ability to spot environmental conditions that hamper or help fish stocks, and not assume that abundance translates to sustainable harvest.
January 2, 2013
Let there be daylight: New book illustrates use of natural light in design — with slide show
Christopher Meek, research associate professor of architecture, answers questions about the book he co-authored, “Daylighting Design in the Pacific Northwest.”
December 26, 2012
Piranha kin wielded dental weaponry even T. rex would have admired — with video
Taking into consideration size, an ancient relative of piranhas weighing about 20 pounds delivered a bite with more force than prehistoric whale-eating sharks or – even – Tyrannosaurus rex.
December 17, 2012
Plumes across the Pacific deliver thousands of microbial species to West Coast
Microorganisms – 99 percent more kinds than had been reported in findings published just four months ago – are hitching rides in the upper troposphere from Asia.
December 13, 2012
Energy Dept. funds UW project to turn wasted natural gas into diesel
The U.S. Department of Energy this month awarded $4 million to a team, led by UW chemical engineers, that aims to develop bacteria to turn the methane in natural gas into diesel fuel for transportation.
December 10, 2012
Armbrust shares $35 million to investigate tiniest ocean regulators
Oceanographer Ginger Armbrust has received a multi-million dollar award to spend as she wishes on her research into ocean microbes and their role in regulating ocean environments and our atmosphere.
December 7, 2012
Greenland ice sheet carries evidence of increased atmospheric acidity
Research suggests rising atmospheric acidity is probably why levels of the isotope nitrogen-15 in Greenland ice samples dropped around the time of the Industrial Revolution.
December 6, 2012
Moths wired two ways to take advantage of floral potluck
Moths are able to enjoy a pollinator’s buffet of flowers because of two distinct “channels” in their brains, scientists have discovered.
November 29, 2012
International study provides more solid measure of shrinking in polar ice sheets
Climatologists have reconciled their measurements of ice loss in Antarctica and Greenland during the past two decades. A second article looks at how to monitor and understand accelerating losses from the planet’s two largest continental ice sheets.
November 28, 2012
Hungry salmon a problem for restoration efforts
Food webs needed by young salmon in the Columbia River basin are likely compromised in places, something that should be considered when prioritizing expensive restoration activities.
November 21, 2012
UW rates gold in sustainability assessment, strongest performer in Pac-12
The UW has the strongest sustainability performance in the Pac-12 according to a new rating system.
November 13, 2012
Roots of deadly 2010 India flood identified; findings could improve warnings
UW researchers find the flash flood was set off by a string of unusual weather events similar to those that caused catastrophic U.S. floods in the 1970s.
November 8, 2012
UW electronics-recycling pledge: Prevent harm to people, environment
The University of Washington has become the first university nationally to sign the e-Stewards Enterprise Commitment, a pledge to be globally responsible in recycling electronic equipment.
October 24, 2012
University of Washington launches research phase of smart grid project
The University of Washington marked the start of the data-gathering phase of the UW Smart Grid Project with an event featuring Washington’s two US Senators.
October 18, 2012
Energy a focus of third annual Sustainability Summit
Next week will be the University of Washington’s third Sustainability Summit, an annual event that celebrates leadership and accomplishments in environmental stewardship and sustainability.
October 17, 2012
Scientists building crowdsourced encyclopedia to further Puget Sound recovery
Representatives of the Encyclopedia of Earth and the Encyclopedia of Life will be on the University of Washington campus Wednesday, Oct. 24, for the public launch of an encyclopedia unique to Puget Sound.
October 12, 2012
U.S. fish and wildlife director, a UW alum, considers challenges posed by landscape changes
It’s time to think differently about how we interact with nature because we’re increasingly disconnected from the natural world, said Dan Ashe during visit to campus.
October 2, 2012
News Digest: Fish and Wildlife director speaks Oct. 3, Rideshare options in face of bus cuts
Fish and Wildlife director, a UW alum, speaks Oct. 3 || UW Rideshare options in face of Metro bus route cuts
UW scientists team with Coast Guard to explore ice-free Arctic Ocean
UW scientists are teaming with the U.S. Coast Guard to study the new frontier in the Arctic Ocean opened up with the melting ice.
October 1, 2012
UW composer fills arboretum byways with her ‘Music of Trees’
A UW doctoral student in musical composition uses sounds from the Washington Park Arboretum to create music that’s part natural, part imagined.
September 23, 2012
Large bacterial population colonized land 2.75 billion years ago
New University of Washington research suggests that early microbes might have been widespread on land, producing oxygen before the atmosphere was oxygen-rich.
September 20, 2012
The original Twitter? Tiny electronic tags monitor birds’ social networks
A tiny digital tag developed at the UW can for the first time see when birds meet in the wild, offering a window into animal social networks. A study in Current Biology used the tags to track the social habits of New Caledonian crows, and found a surprising amount of interaction among the tool-using birds.
September 17, 2012
Shrinking snow depth on Arctic sea ice threatens ringed seal habitat
Scientists found that the habitat required for ringed seals — animals under consideration for the threatened species list — to rear their young will drastically shrink this century.
September 12, 2012
UW celebrates opening of new Molecular Engineering & Sciences Building
The UW’s new Molecular Engineering and Sciences Building opens this fall with a series of kick-off events focused on this emerging area of research. The associated Institute will focus on research applications in medicine and clean energy.
September 10, 2012
Crows react to threats in human-like way
Crows and humans share the ability to recognize faces and associate them with negative and positive feelings. The way the brain activates during that process is something the two species also appear to share.
September 5, 2012
Dinosaur die out might have been second of two closely timed extinctions
New UW research indicates that shortly before an asteroid impact spelled doom for the dinosaurs, a separate extinction triggered by volcanic eruptions killed life on the ocean floor.
September 4, 2012
Gardener’s delight offers glimpse into the evolution of flowering plants
Double flowers – though beautiful – are mutants. UW biologists have found the class of genes responsible in a plant lineage more ancient than the one previously studied, offering a glimpse even further back into the evolutionary development of flowers.
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