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  • Alaska earthquake, tsunami warning good reminder for Washingtonians to be prepared | KING 5
    Tuesday, October 20, 2020
    If an Alaskan earthquake triggers a tsunami that could hit Washington, residents would have a few hours to seek higher ground. Harold Tobin, director of the UW-based Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, is quoted. Read More
  • Washington scientists study 'silent quakes' to possibly track bigger earthquakes | KING 5
    Monday, October 12, 2020
    A swarm of thousands of tiny earthquakes deep under western Washington, Oregon and British Columbia has started again. Steve Malone, emeritus research professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, and Harold Tobin, director of the UW-based Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, are quoted. Read More
  • Climate crisis: Greenland on course to lose more ice this century than in any other in past 12,000 years | The Independent
    Thursday, October 1, 2020
    The decline of Greenland's vast ice sheet is accelerating so quickly it is likely to dwarf the losses of any other century over the past 12,000 years, according to a study. Jessica Badgeley, a doctoral student in Earth and space sciences at the UW, is quoted. Read More
  • The worst is yet to come for the Greenland ice sheet
    Wednesday, September 30, 2020
    New paper in Nature with UW grad student Jessica Badgeley and faculty Eric Steig and Greg Hakim, and led by ESS (Geological Sciences) alum Jason Briner (now at U. Buffalo) shows the the worst is yet to come for the Greenland ice sheet. Read More
  • 'Grand claims' of life on Venus lack evidence, skeptics say | MSN
    Sunday, September 27, 2020
    Last week, a team of researchers told the world that they had detected a molecule in the upper cloud layers of Venus typically only created by living creatures here on Earth. The blockbuster announcement made a major splash in the news. But pushback began appearing even as details of the results were coming to light. David Catling, professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, is quoted. Read More
  • New NASA images show 'fresh ice' forming on Saturn's moon | Yahoo! News
    Monday, September 21, 2020
    Composite images captured by an orbiting NASA spacecraft have offered hints that fresh ice is forming in several areas on Saturn's mysterious moon Enceladus. With Geyser-like plumes of ice erupting from the surface of the moon, scientists have suggested that life could lurk in its subsurface ocean. Lucas Fifer, a doctoral student in Earth and space sciences at the UW, is quoted. Read More
  • Decrease in lightning recorded over the lower 48 | Eos
    Monday, September 21, 2020
    Researchers mining data from the National Lightning Detection Network found a 32% decrease in lightning counts in May and June 2020 compared with previous years. Joel Thornton, professor of atmospheric sciences at the UW, and Robert Holzworth, professor of Earth and space sciences, are quoted. Read More
  • Why a blast of rainfall on Oregon's new forest fire scars could trigger landslides | Oregon Public Broadcasting
    Monday, September 21, 2020
    The latest wildfires created perfect conditions for landslides and debris flows, but Oregon's terrain, trees and soil leave many questions about whether they'll happen. Alison Duvall, assistant professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, is quoted. Read More
  • Deep-seated landslides triggered mostly by rainfall, not earthquakes.
    Wednesday, September 16, 2020
    Most landslides in western Oregon triggered by heavy rainfall, not big earthquakes New research published today in Science Advances by former ESS grad student Sean LaHusen, with faculty Alison Duvall, Dave Montgomery and others. Read More
  • Scientists say that Venus life is still a longshot | Forbes
    Tuesday, September 15, 2020
    Since being reported yesterday in the journal Nature Astronomy, the putative detection of phosphine in Venus' upper atmosphere has been gobbled up like raw astrobiological meat. But here's the rub. The putative detection of the toxic phosphine compound -- in and of itself an impressive technical achievement -- doesn't automatically point to any sort of biological source. David Catling, professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW, is quoted. Read More