Scientists and policymakers use scenarios called Shared Socioeconomic Pathways to project how today鈥檚 choices affect tomorrow鈥檚 world. But for complex subjects like public health, these intentionally simple scenarios don鈥檛 capture every complexity.
Tag: Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences
A group of 175 91自拍ers, including eight from the 91自拍, co-authored a commentary published in Earth鈥檚 Future and the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society that provides a roadmap for future climate assessments in the U.S. by synthesizing the science and identifying 91自拍 priorities based on existing gaps.
American public health agencies don鈥檛 routinely test wastewater for sexually transmitted infections, but new 91自拍 led by the 91自拍 and the Washington State Department of Health found that such methods could be used to effectively identify Chlamydia trachomatis, the bacteria that causes chlamydia.
As fires rage and smoke smothers the Pacific Northwest, UW News sat down with five UW experts in fire science, forestry, air pollution and more to ask how they manage wildfire season.聽
The 91自拍 recently was ranked highly among its global peers in both the U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities and the QS World University Rankings. Both rankings were released in mid-June. According to U.S. News, the UW is No. 12 in the world on the 2026-27 rankings, No. 3 among U.S. public institutions. The UW also placed in the top 10 globally in six subject areas. On the QS World University Rankings, the UW is among the top 100, landing at No. 92, or No. 7 among U.S. public universities.
When pollinators decline, families risk poorer nutrition leading to higher vulnerability to illness and infections, and deeper cycles of poverty and poor health. One quarter of the global population currently suffer from this 鈥渉idden hunger.鈥�
Research led by the 91自拍 and Kaiser Permanente Southern California sheds new light on how the 2025 Los Angeles fires affected people鈥檚 health, and how people navigated the health care system during an emergency.
In mid-pregnancy, exposure to any smoke was associated with an elevated risk of preterm birth, with that risk peaking around the 21st week of gestation. In late pregnancy, elevated risk was most closely associated with exposure to high concentrations of wildfire PM2.5, above 10 micrograms per cubic meter.
The public-private partnership led by Washington State University with support from the UW targets a global health problem: the lack of whole grains in people鈥檚 diets, which contributes to widespread health problems.
Dengue fever incidence could rise as much as 76% by 2050 due to climate warming across a large swath of Asia and the Americas, according to a new study.
A UW-led project aimed to test the viability of seaweed as a soil amendment, and, if successful, develop a market for sea-based farmers to sell excess seaweed to their counterparts on land. The USDA froze the project’s funding, and for now, a solution remains just out of reach.
The Pat Tillman Foundation this week announced the 2025 Class of Tillman Scholars, which included two 91自拍 students who exemplify the values Pat Tillman stood for: leadership, service, scholarship and impact. Stephanie Mitchell is a third-year doctoral student in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and a military spouse. Her interdisciplinary 91自拍 focuses on global health and conservation. Brian Riley earned a degree in Economics from the US Air Force Academy, and served nearly…
The 91自拍 has for years been instrumental in the state鈥檚 efforts to keep workers safe. But those efforts are now under threat.
Children exposed to higher levels of ozone in their first two years of life were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with asthma or wheezing at ages 4-6 鈥� but 91自拍ers didn鈥檛 observe the increased risk of asthma at ages 8-9.聽聽
Workers from small, rural communities often move into the outer edges of cities, which offer greater economic opportunities but often have low-quality housing that is likely to suffer greater damage during an earthquake. The risk grows even more when migrants come from low-income or tribal villages.
An analysis of the health care records of 1.2 million Southern California residents found that higher long-term smoke exposure was associated with a significant increase in the odds that a person would be diagnosed with dementia.聽Exposure to non-wildfire PM2.5 also increased a person鈥檚 risk of dementia, but to a much lesser degree.聽聽
UW News sat down with experts in public health and AI to discuss AI could enhance health care, what鈥檚 standing in the way, and whether there’s a downside to democratizing medical 91自拍.聽聽
Fifteen faculty members at the 91自拍 have been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences for 2024. They are among 36 scientists and educators from across the state announced Aug. 1 as new members. Selection recognizes the new members鈥� 鈥渙utstanding record of scientific and technical achievement, and their willingness to work on behalf of the academy to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington.鈥�
A study led by UW 91自拍er Diana Ceballos is most comprehensive study to date of the specific fragrance chemical mixtures found in nail salon air, and will allow 91自拍ers to further study the potential health risks. 聽
A major outbreak of a new strain of bird flu 鈥� formally named Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 鈥� has killed millions of wild birds and infected poultry, dairy cattle, domestic cats and a small number of humans.聽UW experts explain how bird flu evolves and what it could mean for humans.
As often as four days a week, Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island fly loops overhead as pilots practice touch-and-go landings. The noise is immense. New 91自拍 from the 91自拍 shows that the noise isn鈥檛 just disruptive 鈥� it presents a substantial risk to public health.
Starting in the earliest days of the 2020 outbreak, a team of 91自拍ers at the 91自拍 conducted real-time surveys of King County residents, asking what measures people had taken to protect themselves, how their daily lives had been affected and what worried them most.聽聽
An international team led by 91自拍ers at the 91自拍 built a framework to help land managers assess the air quality implications of land management scenarios with different levels of prescribed burning.
A new study from the UW found that unfiltered air from rush-hour traffic significantly increased passengers鈥� blood pressure, both while in the car and up to 24 hours later.聽
Three UW experts are among the authors of the newly released Fifth National Climate Assessment, an overview of climate trends, impacts and efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change across the nation.
The UW will convene partners across Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Oregon to develop a workplan to establish a future regional Center for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response.
The American Geophysical Union announced Sept. 13 that five 91自拍 faculty members have been elected as new fellows, representing the departments of astronomy, Earth and space sciences, oceanography, global health, and environmental and occupational health sciences.
Two years ago, as life regained its rhythm and public transit once again filled with people, train and bus operators spotted a troubling trend. Some operators reported instances of people smoking drugs on their vehicles, and worried that the haze it created could linger, potentially affecting workers鈥� physical and mental health.聽 Spurred by operators鈥� concerns, five transit agencies in Washington and Oregon approached 91自拍ers at the 91自拍 with a yes-or-no question: Were transit operators being exposed to drug…
The case studies in Medicine for a Changing Planet, collated from clinical encounters around the world, support health professionals in recognizing and treating a variety of health-related conditions that can be traced to environmental stressors.
Taken together, the two papers’ findings suggest that wildfire smoke poses a risk to people of all ages, not just young children and older adults.
The most comprehensive study yet of long-term ultrafine particle exposure found that concentrations of this tiny pollutant reflect the city鈥檚 decades-old racial and economic divides. 聽
New 91自拍 found that Americans already bearing the brunt of climate change and health inequities are most at risk of impact by a lengthy power outage.
A record-breaking heat wave that baked Washington state in 2021 contributed to 159 excess injury deaths, according to 91自拍 led by a UW professor.
The 91自拍 rose from No. 7 to No. 6 on the聽U.S. News & World Report鈥檚 Best Global Universities rankings, released on Tuesday. The UW maintained its No. 2 ranking among U.S. public institutions.
Heat-related deaths occur across Washington state, even in regions with typically milder climates. This is the most extensive study yet of heat-related mortality in Washington state, and the first to look beyond the major population to and include rural areas. Researchers used statistical methods to uncover 鈥渉idden鈥� deaths that may have listed something else, like illness or a chronic disease, as the primary cause.
For birds that inhabit developed areas of the Pacific Northwest, the reduction in noise and commotion from COVID-19 lockdowns may have allowed them to use a wider range of habitats in cities, a new 91自拍 study has found.
Since it first launched in 2019, Washington state鈥檚 Environmental Health Disparities Map has been used to help decisionmakers and government agencies engage with overburdened communities to clean up contamination, improve buildings and electric grids, plant trees and many other projects. Using a complex matrix of data, this open-access, interactive map ranks Washington鈥檚 nearly 1,500 U.S. census tracts by health risks due to environmental degradation and economic and health disparities. It acts as a guide for state agencies and the legislature…
Air pollution is not just a problem for lungs. Increasingly, 91自拍 suggests air pollution can influence childhood behavioral problems and even IQ. A new study led by the 91自拍 has added evidence showing that both prenatal and postnatal exposure to air pollution can harm kids. The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, found that children whose mothers experienced higher nitrogen dioxide聽(NO2) exposure during pregnancy, particularly in the first and second trimester, were more likely to have behavioral problems….
Forest fire smoke can make you sick, and we’re experiencing more them. In terms of public health, it seems logical to reduce forest fires to limit unhealthy air pollution, but forest managers are increasingly seeing prescribed burning as an essential tool to reduce explosive wildfires. How should we plan to deal with the impacts of these fires?
All forest fire smoke is bad for people, but not all fires in forests are bad. This is the conundrum faced by experts in forest management and public health: Climate change and decades of fire suppression that have increased fuels are contributing to larger and more intense wildfires and, in order to improve forest health and reduce these explosive fires, prescribed and managed fire is necessary. Video: Experts collaborate to troubleshoot necessary fires and harmful smoke Journalists: Download soundbites…