Climate Impacts Group

Op-Ed: Weather disasters can teach us how to prepare for the future

With climate change our challenge now is to reduce the impacts of flooding on our communities. We can do that by learning from these events when they happen, writes Guillaume Mauger, UW research scientist at the Climate Impacts Group in an Op-Ed. 

Evacuations, search for missing persons continue after flooding in Washington

Extreme flooding pretty much cut off Seattle from the rest of the country last Friday. Meade Krosby is quoted. 

“We received a pretty shocking amount of rain in a very small amount of time across the state, particularly in Western Washington,” Krosby said. “Our soils are already really saturated, our rivers are already really high, and so getting this huge amount of precipitation in a really small amount of time led to significant flooding throughout the state.” 

Floods cut off Seattle from rest of the U.S.

As floods hit parts of the Northwestern U.S., Dr. Meade Krosby warned that policymakers must be pushed to develop immediate and long-term solutions.  

Famously soggy Seattle sees its wettest fall on record

Seattle, a city known for soggy weather, has seen its wettest fall on record. The National Weather Service says 19.04 inches (48.4 centimeters) of rain fell between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, breaking a record set in 2006. Meade Krosby is quoted. This story from the Associated Press also ran in the Washington Post, The Register Citizen and Rome Daily Sentinel. 

“We know that climate change makes those kinds of extreme events both more likely to happen and more severe.” – Meade Krosby  

With climate models predicting less snow, local ski areas look to adapt

Climate modeling suggests that the region’s snowpack is only going to decline. Ski resort managers and owners are aware of this possibility and are doing what they can to proactively adapt. Amy Snover is quoted.  

Big Northwest floods a ‘dress rehearsal’ for a hotter climate

This week’s intense rainfall and flooding in northwestern Washington state and British Columbia offer a glimpse into the future, climate scientists say. Guillaume Mauger and Meade Krosby are quoted.

“We’re going to see events like this happen more frequently and we’re going to see events that are bigger than this one – a higher likelihood of bigger events.” – Guillaume Mauger 

How one Northwest tribe aims to keep its cool as its glaciers melt

Record-breaking heat took a heavy toll on the Northwest this summer, from beaches to cities to mountaintops. In the Washington Cascades, some glaciers lost an unprecedented 8% to 10% of their ice in a single hot season. Harriet Morgan is quoted.

“Our snowpack basically serves as nature’s water bottle. It allows us to store water when we have too much of it, in the winter, and then it provides us this nice reservoir in the summer when we’re not getting that summer precipitation.” – Harriet Morgan 

Northwest glaciers are melting. What that means to Indigenous ‘salmon people’

Up and down the I-5 corridor, people noticed something odd when they looked to the east this summer: bare rock where snow and ice should be. Research from the UW Climate Impacts Group is mentioned.

The Rising Pacific Forces a Native Village to Move. Who Will Pay?

Washington’s Quinault Nation wants to rebuild on higher ground, but $150 million is hard to find. The UW Climate Impacts Group is referenced.  

WA’s frontline communities face the brunt of climate change

Climate preparedness planning must be guided by those who face the most acute risks. A conversation with CIG Director Amy Snover is referenced in this Op-Ed from Crosscut.