Climate Impacts Group

What can be learned from the Pacific Northwest’s 2021 heat wave

A new report reveals strategies to prevent the hundreds of deaths tied to the prolonged heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest for several weeks in late June and July 2021, leading to a widespread public health emergency that strained the state’s emergency and healthcare systems. The Climate Impacts Group’s latest report on extreme heat in Washington State is referenced. 

Can Seattle take the heat? Officials say area is better prepared this summer

Emergency officials say the Seattle area is better prepared for extreme temperatures this summer than it was before the Northwest’s deadly heat dome of 2021. But making the region thoroughly heat-proof could take many years, and climate activists say government is not moving with the urgency that a climate crisis deserves. The Climate Impacts Group’s latest report on extreme heat in Washington State is referenced.  

Saving lives from extreme heat: Lessons from the deadly 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave

The heat dome that descended upon the Pacific Northwest in late June 2021 met a population radically unprepared for it. Dr. Jason Vogel, Climate Impacts Group, and Dr. Brian Henning, Gonzaga University, co-authored this article for the Conversation. The Climate Impacts Group’s latest report on extreme heat in Washington State is referenced. This story was also run in the Lake County News, Kiowa County Press, Times Union, Fast Company, the Everett Daily Herald and the Daily News.  

Climate Impacts Group & partners release report in English and Spanish aimed at preventing heat-related illness and death in Washington

Texto en español a continuación

Two years ago, in the summer of 2021, Washington experienced the deadliest weather disaster in the state’s history with days of record-breaking heat. More Washingtonians died from heat exposure each day during the 2021 heat dome than die from heat exposure in a typical summer.

The devastating impacts of the heat dome, coupled with projections that extreme heat events will be more frequent and more intense as the climate changes, serve as a call to action to address heat vulnerability across our state. 

In the hot seat: Saving lives from extreme heat in Washington state describes the problem of extreme heat and outlines specific, actionable guidance for short-term emergency response and long-term risk reduction. 

Chile deploys a task force to fight deadly wildfires. It’s goats.

Goats are being employed help curb the deadly wildfires now scorching mountainous central Chile, as well as across the Pacific Northwest. Crystal Raymond is quoted. 

Drought planning forum explores risks, solutions for Methow Valley

The forum brought together water experts from the valley, the state, and federal agencies in early March. They explained hydrogeology and water storage, and outlined steps to preserve water for rivers and fish, residential and business use, and for agriculture. Research from the UW Climate Impacts Group is referenced.  

WA House passes legislation addressing heat, utility service

The Washington State House passed a new bill aiming to protect vulnerable Washingtonians from dangerous heat waves. Now the legislation awaits Senate approval. If cemented into state law, the bill, HB 1329, would prevent utility services from shutting off residents’ power and water due to nonpayments during National Weather Service heat warnings. Research from the UW Climate Impacts Group is referenced. 

Study finds warming climate may improve North Cascades grizzly bear habitat

As climate change affects ecosystems, one species may benefit from its effects in the North Cascades. A study published Feb. 6 found that the amount of high quality habitat for grizzly bears in the North Cascades will increase across all climate models, scenarios and time periods. Dr. Meade Krosby is quoted. 

New Climate Mapping Tool is a go-to resource for Washington climate projections

Local and state agencies in Washington state need localized and accessible information on climate change to help prepare their communities for climate related impacts. Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington aims to meet this need as a go-to resource for understanding projected changes in climate across the state. The web tool, released in January, was funded by the Washington State Legislature and developed by the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group with assistance from University of Idaho Research Data & Computing Services and input from state and local governments.

Climate Mapping for a Resilient Washington will be included in comprehensive planning guidance from the Washington Department of Commerce, which Commerce is developing in partnership with other state agencies. 

CIG scientists publish paper on extreme heat and response options

Heat waves are becoming more common and intense in Washington state and beyond as a result of climate change, increasing the risk of heat-related illnesses and death. Climate Impacts Group researchers Zach Kearl and Jason Vogel studied the impacts of extreme heat on public health in urban and suburban areas of Washington state. Their resulting paper, Urban extreme heat, climate change, and saving lives: Lessons from Washington state, was recently published in Urban Climate. The paper examines the key factors conditioning public health impacts of extreme heat and a suite of policy options in Washington state.

Kearl and Vogel found extreme heat affects subpopulations differently because of various contextual factors and social determinants of health; this suggests a wide range of policy alternatives is necessary to meaningfully improve health outcomes community wide.