PMEL in the News
New recommendations for tsunami-resistant buildings in Washington
The devastation of earthquake-generated tsunami waves is well known. Take the Magnitude 9 tsunami that wiped out portions of the northeast Japanese coastline in 2011. Seismologists and other scientists have long warned that a tsunami and Magnitude 9-plus earthquake will hit the Northwest coast. It has been recorded in the geological record as recently as January 1700.
A new ‘how-to’ for tsunami-safe buildings: ‘We’re trying to save lives’
New design standards created by a group of engineers would require that hospitals, police stations and schools be strong and tall enough to survive a tsunami and provide shelter.
Arctic ice melt is killing birds and will leave caribou stranded
The ongoing loss of sea-ice cover is wreaking havoc on ecosystems across the Arctic, and may spell the end of more species than previously thought. Arctic sea-ice cover has shrunk this year to the second lowest summer level ever recorded, following an unprecedented winter low. “There will be winners and losers,” says Martin Renner of Tern Again Consulting in Homer, Alaska. “Species that rely directly on sea ice, like ivory gulls, will run into difficult times.”
UW makes waves in ocean acidification
The San Juan archipelago, perhaps most famous for its pod of southern resident killer whales, is also home to the UW’s world-renowned biological field station, the Friday Harbor Laboratory (FHL). Built in 1910 on the former Point Caution military reserve, FHL has grown from a single building to a sprawling campus with over a dozen specialized laboratories.
Tainted clam sample to blame for season delay
In a dispiriting reminder of 2015’s disastrous early end to one razor clam season and long delay in starting the next one, word came this Wednesday that marine toxin levels may again be above the safety threshold on the Long Beach Peninsula.