Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy

We are excited to support the 3rd Annual Pediatric Health Equity Symposium, along with Intermountain Children’s Health & Primary Children’s Hospital and the University of Utah Department of Pediatrics.

This year’s meeting will focus on how individual and community health equity outcomes intersect with environmental health and climate stressors. A full symposium will bring together clinical leaders, legal scholars, scientists, policy makers, operational leaders, and community members.  Registration is open! https://lnkd.in/gh55zXts @uofu_science @uofumedicine @intermountain

Today the Great Salt Lake Strike Team — a collaboration of technical experts from Utah’s research universities and state agencies, which includes the Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy — released their 2025 data and insights summary.
 The new report can be read here:
 https://lnkd.in/g5wDDfws The new analysis finds:
 💧The lake’s benefits are numerous. The costs of inaction to Utah’s economy, human health, and ecological conditions remain significant, and that Utah receives numerous economic, ecological, and human health benefits from the lake. 💧Utah is making progress.
 This includes water conservation, infrastructure investment, statutory and regulatory reforms, berm management, and other actions.   💧This is a long-term endeavor. Stabilizing and raising lake levels, managing salinity, and protecting economic, human, and species health will require many years of stewardship leading up to the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and beyond.   💧Utah has a plan.
 Later this month, the Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s Office will release the 2034 Plan for a Healthy Great Salt Lake. The plan builds upon the Great Salt Lake Strategic Plan, released in January 2024, by identifying actions needed over the next ten years to preserve the benefits Great Salt Lake provides to Utah and the world. Data developed by the Strike Team informs this plan. 🤔 Other noteworthy findings: We get what we put in: 🔴 Under a “do nothing” scenario, Great Salt Lake is very likely to decline into lower lake levels that create “Serious Adverse Effects” in the next 30 years. 🟡 But, under a scenario of adding 250,000 acre feet per year, the lake could rise a couple feet and avoid the worst adverse effects.
 🟢 Under a promising scenario, with an additional 770,000 acre feet a year, the lake could achieve healthy ranges in 30 years.
 💨 Compared to similar dust hotspots, the Salton Sea and the former Owens Lake in California, Great Salt Lake has comparatively fewer dust monitors in place, even though the affected population area is much larger. In other words… we need more dust monitors people!

The Wilkes Center and the College of Science are excited to host Nobel Laureate STEVEN CHU for the annual Frontiers of Science lecture, Tuesday, February 18, 6 p.m. at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Please RSVP to attend by February 12. https://lnkd.in/d23bNvV7

Our 3rd annual Climate Solutions HACKATHON is weeks away! 
This year the focus is tackling WATER RESOURCES. * How can we make agriculture more water efficient? * How do we build resiliency to drought and flooding events? * How can we protect municipal water supplies? Come assemble a team (or we’ll help you find a team) and join us Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31st-Feb. 1st, 2025.
 All University of Utah students are invited for this 24-hour problem-solving competition. Network with peers and experts, and get creative! FREE food and refreshments. 🥙🥗🥘 Thousands of dollars in cash prizes awarded to the top ideas.🥇🥈🥉🏆💵 Learn more and register here: https://lnkd.in/gyt9CFF8 #climatesolutions #hackathon #water #waterislife

New research led by Meng Liu, PhD, and Wilkes Center Director William Anderegg finds that the sensitivity of ecosystem productivity to disturbances differs between regions, with dryland ecosystems becoming more sensitive to water stress after disturbances, whereas wet regions become less sensitive. On average, they find ecosystem sensitivity requires approximately five years to recover to pre-disturbance levels. Climate-sensitive disturbances impact ecosystem productivity and carbon uptake. 
 Their research is published in Nature Climate Change . https://lnkd.in/gSxweVmK

Wilkes Center Director Dr. William Anderegg provided comments and feedback during the drafting process for the U.S. Congressional Budget Office’s new report “The Risks of Climate Change to the United States in the 21st Century”, published December 19, 2024.
 Read the entire report here: https://lnkd.in/gpUWAFmK
 Summary: “The economic effects of climate change will depend on the extent of its physical effects. Those effects are highly uncertain. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2100, there is a 5 percent chance that average global temperatures will be more than 4 degrees Celsius (4°C) warmer than they were in the latter half of the 19th century and an equal chance that they will have risen by less than 2°C. In the United States, sea levels have a 5 percent chance of rising by about 4 feet or more by 2100 and an equal chance of rising by about 2 feet or less. Damage from natural disasters is also expected to increase.”
 “The uncertainty of climate change’s physical effects implies a wide range of possible economic consequences, ranging from benign to catastrophic. In this report, CBO focuses, where possible, on the 5th and 95th percentiles of the distributions of potential outcomes. The report examines the possible economic effects of climate change on gross domestic product (GDP), real estate markets, and other areas that influence the economy and the federal budget.” The report was prepared at the request of the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. In keeping with the Congressional Budget Office’s mandate to provide objective, impartial analysis, the report makes no recommendations. https://lnkd.in/gS8ts9Vt · 1m 2 minutes ago

Wilkes Center affiliate Sara Grineski, a professor of Sociology, published findings from her new study showing that exposure to ozone pollution during pregnancy was associated with increased odds of the baby having intellectual disability. Ozone air pollution is commonly experienced in Utah and around the Mountain West when sunlight interacts with wildfire smoke or fossil fuel emissions. While previous studies have found evidence linking PM2.5 pollution exposure during pregnancy to intellectual disability in children, this is the first such study to find a link to ozone pollution. If not addressed, evidence suggests climate change will worsen ozone pollution in the future. Check out the story to learn more. https://lnkd.in/gw6Vt_3W https://lnkd.in/g3zj-TzS #climatechange #ozone

We are seeking a part-time Creative Content Assistant to support our marketing and communications programs. This position is ideal for a University of Utah student who is interested in current research into climate change solutions, environmental journalism/communications, and science communication.  Go here to apply: https://lnkd.in/gzJYB3_d

Congratulations to Professor William Anderegg for being recognized as one of Clarivate’s most Highly Cited Researchers in 2024 in the fields of Plant & Animal Science, and Environment & Ecology. Dr. Anderegg is Director of the Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy, and Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Utah. Each researcher selected has authored multiple Highly Cited Papers™ which rank in the top 1% by citations for their field(s) and publication year in the Web of Science™ over the past decade. Of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers are 1 in 1,000. https://lnkd.in/gkqxQJ-f

Registration is OPEN for the Wilkes Center's Climate Solutions HACKATHON on Water Solutions! All University of Utah students are invited for this 24-hour problem-solving competition. Come join a team, network with peers and experts, and get creative! FREE food and refreshments. Thousands of dollars in cash prizes awarded to the top ideas. Go here to learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/gyt9CFF8