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Snow melts faster under trees than in open areas in mild climates

By Guest PostNovember 24, 2013Environmentbrian henn, california, cascade mountains, cedar river, city of seattle, diverse animal habitat, ibutton, james lutz, jessica lundquist, maritime forests, mediterranean climates, mild climates, municipal watershed, nicoleta cristea, open areas, phenomenon, researcher, rolf gersonde, sierra nevada range, sites to monitor, snow melting, snowmelt behavior, susan dickerson lange, tree canopy, under trees, university of washington, utah state university

It’s a foggy fall morning, and University of Washington researcher Susan Dickerson-Lange pokes her index finger into the damp soil beneath a canopy of second-growth conifers. The tree cover is dense here, and little light seeps in among the understory of the Cedar River Municipal Watershed about 30 miles east of Seattle.

She digs a small hole in the leaf-litter soil, then pushes a thumb-sized device, called an iButton, about an inch beneath the surface. If all goes well, this tiny, battery-powered instrument will collect a temperature reading every hour for 11 months. Researchers hope this tool and a handful of other instruments will help them map winter temperatures throughout the watershed as they track snow accumulation and melt. (more…)

Nighttime heat waves quadruple in Pacific Northwest

By Guest PostAugust 7, 2013Environmentcascade mountains, climate change, historical record, history books, karin bumbaco, kathie dello, nicholas bond, nighttime heat waves, nighttime low temperature, oregon, oregon climate service, oregon state university, pacific northwest, predictions, quadruple, seatac airport, summer temperatures, temperatures on record, trend, triple digit, university of washington, western washington

Nighttime heat waves are becoming more frequent in western Washington and Oregon.

And if you don’t sleep well in hot weather, this might be a good time to buy a fan, since records show that on average heat waves tend to strike around the last week of July.

University of Washington research shows that the region west of the Cascades saw only three nighttime heat waves between 1901 and 1980, but that number quadrupled to 12 nighttime heat waves in the three decades after 1980, according to a paper published in the July issue of the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology. (more…)

Plumes across the Pacific Deliver Thousands of Microbial Species to West Coast

By Guest PostDecember 20, 2012Environmentaerobiology, aerosol, air pollution, aircraft, asia, atmospheric particle, bacterial, balloons, biomass, cascade mountains, central oregon, dale griffin, daniel jaffe, david j smith, dilution, DNA, dust, dust plume, earth, ecosystem, fungal, global wind circulation, harmless, hilkka timonen, kevin perry, michael roberts, michele birmele, microorganism, molecular method, mount bachelor, NASA, North America, old classification, pacific ocean, peter ward, plume event, pollutant, traditional paradigm, trans pacific trip, troposphere, university of utah, university of washington, west coast

A surprising number of microorganisms – more than 100 times more kinds than reported just four months ago – are leaping the biggest gap on the planet. Hitching rides in the upper troposphere, they’re making their way from Asia across the Pacific Ocean and landing in North America.

For the first time researchers have been able to gather enough biomass in the form of DNA to apply molecular methods to samples from two large dust plumes originating in Asia in the spring of 2011. The scientists detected more than 2,100 unique species compared to only 18 found in the very same plumes using traditional methods of culturing, results they published in July. (more…)

Tag Archives: cascade mountains

Snow melts faster under trees than in open areas in mild climates

Nighttime heat waves quadruple in Pacific Northwest

Plumes across the Pacific Deliver Thousands of Microbial Species to West Coast