Climate Impacts Group

Nooksack Indian Tribe, Whatcom County environmental leaders discuss Tribe’s climate plan

The Nooksack Indian Tribe has contracted to study the impacts of climate change, timber harvests, temperature change and sediment loading on stream temperature, mass wasting (or slope movement), summer flows and winter glacial retention since 2010 and has created adaptation plans for fish, fish habitats, wildlife, Indigenous foods, water supply and water quality. Harriet Morgan is quoted.

“We see the consequences of this warming unfolding around us every day in our communities as well as in the news. It’s not just this distant problem in the future where we can just kick the can down the road and deal with it later. 

Now Hiring: NW CASC Actionable Science Postdoctoral Scholar!

The Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (NW CASC) is hiring an Actionable Science Postdoctoral Scholar, who will play a leading role in the NW CASC’s efforts to foster co-production of decision-relevant science across the Northwest. The NW CASC Actionable Science Postdoctoral Scholar will advance transdisciplinary research that addresses complex socio-ecological problems by facilitating training for NW CASC fellows, supporting NW CASC regional science dialogue and information-sharing activities and evaluating the efficacy of these activities in advancing actionable climate science and regional communities of practice.

This position requires a Ph.D. or foreign equivalent in an area of natural or social science related to climate change, with demonstrated experience conducting research, assessment, evaluation and stakeholder engagement related to climate change impacts and/or adaptation. 

Hydropower decline adds strain to power grids in drought

Severe drought across the West drained reservoirs this year, slashing hydropower production and further stressing the region’s power grids. And as extreme weather becomes more common with climate change, grid operators are adapting to swings in hydropower generation. Dr. Crystal Raymond is quoted. 

Microsoft, Amazon Urge Climate Mitigation At Wash. Summit

Washington’s insurance industry took a look at the threat of climate change in a summit that included input from executives at Microsoft and Amazon. Amy Snover, who spoke at the summit, is quoted.

“[Climate impacts] will reshape our communities and ecosystems in the Northwest, and climate change matters for all of these communities and ecosystems because they were built and they evolved to cope with the climate of the past. Climate change shifts the foundation of everything that we depend on and everything that’s around us.” – Amy Snover 

Changing climate, changing health

Climate change is likely to produce a warmer, wetter world with more natural disasters. Those changes can affect both our mental and our physical health. Dr. Amy Snover is quoted. 

NW Climate Resilience Collaborative

Ten nonprofit, community and university groups have banded together in a new Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative. The project will advance the efforts of frontline communities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana to adapt to climate change.  

UW Climate Impacts Group and partner organizations launch the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative 

The UW Climate Impacts Group, along with nine community, nonprofit, and university partners, is launching a program of community-led, justice-oriented climate adaptation work across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative will be founded with a five-year, $5.6 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The program will be one of eleven across the country funded through NOAA’s Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments program.

The Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative will advance efforts to adapt to climate change in frontline communities — communities that have been excluded from spaces of power and who are disproportionately facing the impacts of climate change. 

CIG Director to Present at Upcoming WA Insurance Commissioner’s 2021 Climate Summit

Dr. Amy Snover, director of the UW Climate Impacts Group and the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, will present on Climate Risk in the Pacific Northwest at the virtual 2021 Climate Summit. The summit will be hosted by Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler on October 6, 2021.

As climate change impacts like wildfire, smoke and flooding are increasing across the Northwest, insurance companies are experiencing increasing property, life and health claims. The Climate Summit brings together a national audience of climate, government and insurance professionals to discuss how climate change is affecting our communities, regulatory efforts and businesses, and what we can do to prepare for increasing risks in a warming climate. 

Outdoor recreation industry fears for future as these changes impact the North Cascades

As climate change alters the fabric of the Pacific Northwest, increasing the frequency and severity of heatwaves, wildfires and precipitation extremes, outdoor recreation outfitters are scrambling to adapt their business models to shorter seasons and unpredictable conditions. CIG science is referenced.  

Tacoma’s Owen Beach undergoing makeover to protect against rising sea levels

Construction is underway to redesign Owen Beach in Tacoma to make it more resilient against rising sea levels. Research by the UW Climate Impacts Group is referenced.