Climate Impacts Group

Letter from the Director – October 2025

Happy Fall!

As the UW community begins a new academic year, we are reminded just how much students and faculty make the Climate Impacts Group what it is. While the CIG is not a degree-granting department, we interact with students in many ways. We host undergraduate summer interns and a graduate student summer school, employ graduate students to support projects, serve on thesis advisory committees, and even teach a course on co-production of climate change adaptation solutions. We’ve found incorporating students and faculty as collaborators on our projects and the cross-pollination of their studies and our research to be invaluable! We’re pleased to introduce you to this summer’s fantastic interns and their projects in this issue. 

Q&A with our summer interns: Studying Adaptation, Building Skills for a Career in Climate

Intern season is one of our favorite times of year! The EarthLab Summer Internship Program is a nine-week paid internship for UW undergraduate students to build knowledge in environmental and climate justice through a cohort-based peer learning model. Every summer, the Climate Impacts Group hosts interns who reliably provide fresh and valuable input on our projects while receiving career development support. This year, our five interns entered the program representing a breadth of disciplines — computer science, education, business marketing & sustainability, medical anthropology and biology. They worked with the Washington State Climate Office on a flood modeling analysis project and Inclusive Excellence evaluation; with the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center on science communications and invasive mussel research; and with CIG scientists on mutual aid research.  

Planning for Extreme Heat in Western Washington: Ongoing workshops highlight opportunities for regional collaboration and coordination

Summers in western Washington have historically been quite mild, but extreme heat has become much more common in the past couple of decades. This summer, the Washington State Climate Office (WASCO) participated in three separate extreme heat planning efforts, led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES).

‘The blob’ returns: Record Pacific Ocean heatwave threatens weather, marine life

It’s back!!! The “blob” has returned. No, not the 1958 sci-fi film of the same name starring a young Steve McQueen in his first leading role. This “blob” is the marine heatwave that now spans much of the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Emeritus State Climatologist Nick Bond is quoted. 

Strategy in action: Achievements and next steps for Washington’s climate resilience strategy

June to August of 2025 was, according to the Washington State Climate Office, the fourth-warmest since 1895. The summer of 2025 was also the seventh-driest in that time span – with much of the state under a drought emergency declaration, the sixth in the past 10 years. The Washington State Climate Office is mentioned. 

West Seattle Ecology Fair 2025, report #2: Heat waves aren’t just a source of discomfort

Today’s West Seattle Ecology Fair at Our Lady of Guadalupe was about more than just connecting with resources… – it was also an opportunity to hear about climate science. Emeritus State Climatologist Nick Bond is quoted and the UW Climate Impacts Group is mentioned.  

The Attacks on Science Continue—This Time at the USGS

Through a massive budget slashing proposal, the Trump administration is threatening [the USGS] by defunding the agency’s biology programs. With a 90 percent cut to its budget, the Ecosystems Mission Area (EMA) would have a mere $29 million to spend next year. The move would be disastrous to this biological research arm of the Interior Department, where scientists monitor the changes to plants and animal populations occurring across the country. Senior scientist Meade Krosby is quoted.  

Glacierless Peak? The icy realms of Washington’s North Cascades lose their cool

Statewide, the summer of 2025 (June-August) was the fourth-warmest and the seventh-driest since 1895. Glacier Peak is trending to be essentially glacierless within 50 years. Engagement Climatologist Jacob Genuise is mentioned. 

Climate Impacts Group Contributes to Recommendations on Washington Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report

The Washington state legislature tasked the Washington state Department of Ecology, with support from the Climate Impacts Group, to analyze recent national and international climate reports and provide recommendations to Washington lawmakers on whether to amend Washington state’s statutory limits on greenhouse gas emissions (RCW 70A.45.040).

National and international reports on climate change, like the fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s sixth assessment report (IPCC AR6) provide broad information on climate change impacts for the nation and globe. Though useful, this information is often too broad to inform local-scale climate resilience efforts in Washington state.

Previous reports on climate impacts for Washington state have focused on assessing changes at future time periods (e.g., 2050s) and under specific future climate scenarios. 

Scientists warn ‘warm blob’ anomaly in Pacific Ocean could make this winter brutal

Something strange is happening in the Pacific Ocean. South of Alaska, sea surface temperatures started surging well above average this summer. The “warm blob” is back, and it has implications for marine life and winter weather. Emeritus State Climatologist Nick Bond is quoted.