Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science

Donate Here.

Join in the fun, support our department’s mission to generate new knowledge, and educate and train the next generation of weather, climate, and air quality experts! 

The new records of climate change, record temperatures, and heat waves every year are prompting scientists to alleviate the situation. Read more about it in The New York Times. 

AI analysis of historical satellite images show USSR collapse in 1990s increased methane emissions, despite lower oil and gas production. But new University of Washington research uses early satellite records to dispute that assumption. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has put Fairbanks in its “serious” category for persistently violating Clean Air Act standards for PM2.5 levels and has threatened sanctions. The community for years has tried a variety of methods to improve air quality in the portion of the Fairbanks North Star Borough failing to meet air quality standards. 

A study co-led by Professor Jeff Riffell (BIO) and Professor Joel Thornton (ATMS) suggested that the presence of nitrate radicals (NO3) degrades common wildflowers’ scent molecules, reducing the flowers’ attractiveness to pollinating insects. 

Professor Mike Wallace (Left) received the Japan Prize in the Fields of Resources, Energy, the Environment, and Social Infrastructure along with Professor Sir Brian Hoskins (Right) from the UK. Their research established a scientific foundation for understanding and forecasting extreme weather and climate events that the world is experiencing. 

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope you had a wonderful time during the holiday season. The UW ATMS Newsletter 2023-2024 has now been published, please give it a read. 

Professor Cliff Mass was elected Councilor of the American Meteorological Society, joining Professor Shuyi Chen on the AMS Council which is the principal governing body of the Society! Election results can be found here. 

Graduate Student Ursula Jongebloed and Prof. Becky Alexander’s new findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy showing that North Atlantic marine productivity may not be declining as had been proposed. 

Based on the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, the department maintains its No.1 position in atmospheric and climate science. Read more about it here.