Climate Impacts Group

CIG Director to Speak at Statewide Disaster Resiliency Work Group Meeting – Sept. 5th at 12PM

Dr. Amy Snover will be discussing the climate risks facing Washington state at the Statewide Disaster Resiliency Work Group Meeting on September 5th. This meeting is open to the public and hosted by the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Topics will include climate risks and natural disasters, flooding, drought and wildfire and the meeting will also include a discussion of climate resilience work happening across the state.

When: 12:00-3:00 PM, September 5th, 2019

Location: Capitol Event Center, 6005 Tyee Dr SW, Tumwater, WA. 98512

Meeting Agenda

Live Stream the Meeting 

We’re Hiring: Apply today to join our team as a Marketing and Communications Specialist

This position has been filled.

The Climate Impacts Group and EarthLab are seeking a Full-Time, Temporary Marketing and Communications Specialist to support our efforts in implementing proactive, organization-wide communication strategies focused on catalyzing action towards climate resilience.

The Marketing and Communications Specialist will support CIG’s Lead Scientist for Science Communication and EarthLab’s Communication and Engagement Lead in the execution of the CIG and EarthLab communications strategies and help to increase our engagement with a wide variety of stakeholders. This position will also help to inform new, creative directions for communications product development with the aim of helping increase the reach and impact of the Climate Impacts Group’s regional research and engagement efforts as well as supporting a number of initiatives for EarthLab and its other member organizations. 

New video about the Washington’s ClimeTime initiative features CIG scientist

CIG’s Lead Scientist for Science Communication, Heidi Roop, was featured in a new video about Washington State’s ClimeTime effort which aims to bring climate science to every K-12 classroom in Washington state. CIG partnered with the non-profit, Washington Green Schools, to deliver STEM seminars to over 250 teachers between August 2018 and June 2019. Each seminar explored different climate impacts, worked with teachers to help them understand and interpret regionally-relevant climate data and emphasized how schools and students can engage in meaningful climate solutions. With continued funding from Washington State, the effort will continue over the next two years.

Teaching the teachers how to teach kids about climate science

CIG’s Heidi Roop was featured in the Seattle Times for her work sharing regional climate science with classrooms across Washington state as part of CIG’s partnership with WA Green Schools on Washington’s innovative ClimeTime program. The program is implemented by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and includes Washington Green Schools, the University of Washington and the State Board of Education, among others. 

Climate Impacts Group Welcomes New Deputy Director

The Climate Impacts Group is pleased to welcome Dr. Jason Vogel to the team as our Deputy Director. Jason joins us after twelve successful years as a consultant at Stratus Consulting and Abt Associates where he helped local, state, federal, and international clients adapt to climate change.

Throughout his career, Jason has led many complex interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research teams, including a recent two-year research project on the state of climate adaptation practice with The Kresge Foundation. This project involved engaging over 50 thought leaders to provide comprehensive recommendations for how community champions can take concrete adaptation actions in their own communities. 

CIG, WA Sea Grant & ESS Receive Outstanding Community Impact Award

A team of researchers and communication experts from the Climate Impacts Group, Washington Sea Grant and UW Earth and Space Sciences were recipients of the 2018-2019 “Outstanding Community Impact” Award granted by the College of the Environment. The award acknowledges the teams recent work on assessing the impacts of sea level rise on coastal communities across Washington state as part of the Washington Coastal Resilience Project.

Award Recipients: 

Ian Miller, WSG
Guillaume Mauger, CIG
Harriet Morgan, CIG
Paul Dye, WSG
Nicole Faghin, WSG
Heidi Roop, CIG
Crystal Raymond, CIG
MaryAnn Wagner, WSG
David Schmidt, ESS
Mark Welch, ESS

Their nominators from the Washington Sea Grant and the Climate Impacts Group offered the following insights on the team’s work across the state:

“These outstanding scientists, planners and communication specialists have worked collaboratively and creatively with partners…and provided the clarity and detail necessary to communicate the significance of sea level rise to our community.”

“Within and beyond UW, the project brought together a diverse group of students, faculty and government scientists to address a common problem, deepening collaborations across academic and institutional borders.”

“The team has been instrumental in helping forecast sea level rise, open a dialogue with the public around climate change, and incorporate the emerging scientific data into our planning and construction projects.” 

How $6.2 million could be used to help fish, protect Whatcom communities from floods

A $6.2 million infusion of state dollars will allow Whatcom County to move forward on a project to improve habitat in the Nooksack River as well as protect farms and communities from floodwaters. Science produced by the Climate Impacts Group, which is featured in this story, provides the important scientific underpinning for project like these that are working to increase resilience to climate change across Washington state. 

Upcoming Panel Event on Wildfire with Director Amy Snover

Dr. Amy Snover, Director of the Climate Impacts Group will serve as a panelist for the upcoming UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences (SEFS) Seminar “Fired Up: Building Wildfire Resilient Communities in a Changing Climate” on March 27th, 2019. Amy will be joined by Dr. Brian Harvey from SEFS, Dr. Yufei Zou from the UW Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory and Nick Lauria from Wildfire Defense Systems. The panel by will be moderated by PEMCO VP of Operations, Harris Clarke.

We hope to see you there!

When: March 27th, 2019 from 3:30-5:30PM; reception to follow

Where: Forest Club Room in Anderson Hall, University of Washington Seattle Campus

Assessing riverside corridors — the ‘escape routes’ for animals under climate change — in the Northwest

Under climate change, plants and animals will shift their habitats to track the conditions they are adapted for. As they do, the lands surrounding rivers and streams offer natural migration routes that will take on a new importance as temperatures rise. An open-access study led by the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group’s Meade Krosby pinpoints which riverside routes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana will be the most important for animals trying to navigate a changing climate. The study was published this fall in PLOS One.

“This corridor network is already there, and it’s already important for animal movement,” said lead author Meade Krosby, “Under climate change these will become ‘superhighways’ for animals that are seeking new places to live. 

New CIG Brief Available: No Time to Waste

In October 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, describing the expected impacts of 1.5°C and 2°C of warming and outlining global greenhouse gas emission reduction pathways that could limit warming to those levels. This brief summarizes the Special Report (SR15) and related consequences for Washington state.

It addresses these questions: 

How much warming has already occurred, compared to the 1.5°C threshold?
What are the anticipated global consequences of additional warming?
What are the implications for Washington state?
How much more warming is likely to occur, given current emissions patterns and policies?