UN climate report: Human activity is driving climate change. Where does that leave Washington?

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The UN-appointed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Sixth Assessment Report, known as the AR6 WG1, on August 9, 2021. It addresses the current state of the global climate, how climate change is shifting, how humans are the leading cause, and possible climate futures. Matt Rogers is quoted.

“In my research I have seen a lot of people on the ground in Washington state take climate change into consideration and how they prepare their communities for upcoming changes and what we can expect as climate changes. It is really heartening. We can always do more, and there are people working on it, but it’s going to take all of us.” – Matt Rogers

‘Every part of a degree of warming that we can avert will make the future better’

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Researcher Amy Snover explains why the IPCC report matters, what it says about climate change in the Northwest, and how communities can prepare.

“This will just keep getting worse until we stop it,” Snover said. “The science is really clear that every bit, every part of a degree of additional warming makes the future worse, which means that every part of a degree of warming that we can avert will make the future better. I do this work because the future isn’t written yet. We’re actually writing it every day we live, and I want to be part of making the future better.”

Hitting Home: Latest climate change report underscores impacts for Skagit County

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As Skagit County experienced yet another stretch of oppressive heat, smoke and continued drought this past week, news alerts kept coming about massive fires in the U.S., Canada and Greece along with word of a Code Red announced in the latest report from a United Nations group studying climate change. Guillaume Mauger is quoted.

Announcing two Spanish-language reports on climate impacts in Washington

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The UW Climate Impacts Group and several community partners are excited to share two Spanish-language reports on the impacts of climate change for Washington State. The reports — Sin Tiempo Que Perder and Cambiando las Líneas de Nieve y las Líneas de Costa — were originally published in English in 2018 and 2020, and are written for a general audience including policy makers, community organizers, journalists and the public.

Warmer temperatures, more severe floods, intensifying wildfires — the impacts of a changing climate are already being felt across Washington, and affect some communities disproportionately. We must engage and mobilize all communities to make real progress in preparing for the effects of climate change. Increasing the accessibility of climate change impacts science is critical to mobilizing all of our communities, especially those that have been historically marginalized from the adaptation field. The UW Climate Impacts Group and our partners hope that the Spanish translations of these reports will support efforts to engage with Spanish-speaking communities on the issues of climate change and climate impacts across our state.

Sin Tiempo Que Perder summarizes the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C and answers questions such as: What are the anticipated global consequences of additional warming? What are the implications for Washington state? And, What are the options for limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C?

Cambiando las Líneas de Nieve y las Líneas de Costa draws from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2019 Special Report on Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, as well as research from the Climate Impacts Group. This brief answers questions such as: How are the ocean and cryosphere being affected by human activities? What are the environmental, financial and social costs of these impacts — for Washington as well as globally? And, What can we do to prepare our communities for the impacts of climate change?

The Spanish translations of these reports were a team effort. The process was spurred by Elisa Lopez, project director of the Wenatchee-based Team Naturaleza, who reached out to the UW Climate Impacts Group with an interest in partnering to create Spanish translations for Shifting Snowlines and Shorelines. Isabel Carrera Zamanillo, assistant director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Stanford University School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences (and formerly of the UW College of the Environment), provided the original translations. Additionally, Elisa Lopez provided a community review of the translation; Heidi Roop, assistant professor at the University of Minnesota (and formerly science communications lead for the Climate Impacts Group), offered proofreading support on both reports; and Monique Heileson, an independent visual designer, re-created the original layout of the reports for the Spanish translations. The UW CIG is thankful for the support and efforts of our partners who made this project possible.

The English-language versions of these reports — No Time to Waste and Shifting Snowlines and Shorelines — are also available on the Climate Impacts Group website.