University of Washington

Saving imperlied salmon in the Pacific Northwest means focusing a lot more on the genetic quality of the fish and a lot less on the quantity of fish cranked out in hatcheries, suggest the authors of a groundbreaking new study in the prestigious science journal Nature.

The notion that spawning lots of salmon in hatcheries could actually impede efforts to bring back struggling wild runs is not a new one. The science on that is solid. But the new study, which focused on the success of salmon runs in Alaska’s hatchery-less Bristol Bay, is “a game-changer,” according to the University of Washington team that produced the research.

Here’s why: The new study documents how Bristol Bay for more than half a century has consistently produced fishable sockeye salmon runs. That’s because in a natural system like Western Alaska, the existence of so many different runs that reproduce in different nooks and crannies of the ecosystem ensures that – whatever happens – some salmon runs will thrive. Runs that do well in cold, wet years are winners sometimes. Other times, when temperature and rainfall are relatively mild, runs better suited to those conditions will boom.

But every year, at least some runs will do well. It’s all about spreading out the risk.

Think of the varied salmon runs of Bristol Bay like a financial portfolio well-positioned to endure whatever goes down on Wall Street: stocks that take advantage of upturns, bonds that hold value in down times and maybe some real estate or pig belly futures or gold bullion thrown in for good measure.

If there is anything that emerged from a recent, three-day Conference on War and Global Health at the University of Washington, it is that the full fury of war is felt long after the last bomb is exploded and guns go silent, when countries at war are forced to deal with health and social maladies that can linger for decades.

In this, there are no victors. The aggressor and the victim, victor and loser, end up suffering big time. And not just in terms of health consequences. The grave after-effects include total destruction of health supply infrastructure as well as the cost of long-term treatment and care for military and civilian casualties of conflicts.

It is often assumed that deaths, injuries displacement and other forms of social disruption characterize human conflict. But the conference underscored the fact that the gravest difficulties are borne years or even decades after the cessation of hostilities...long after media crews have re-directed TV cameras and laptops to other stories.

With a long and celebrated experience of documenting how wars affect global health, members of the Nobel-prize winning Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) presented evidence of the monumental cost as well as severity of health complications occasioned by wars; the escalation in the numbers of war victims and how war situations have worsened global health.

Students in Seattle, Bellingham, Olympia, Portland, Berkeley and in college towns across the nation Thursday raised voices and waved protest signs against rising tuition and fees that threaten access to higher education.

It was called a "National Day of Action." It was bigger on some campuses, where hundreds turned out, and smaller on others, like Bellingham, where only about 20 students turned out. Nationally, tens of thousands of students protested.

In photo at left, seniors Lauren Yee (left) and Tessa Marcovitch march with other protesters across the Western Washington University campus. In lower photo, junior John Morgan protests budget cuts to financial aid. Photos by Lillian Furlong for InvestigateWest.

At Portland State University, about 200 students came out to protest. At the University of Washington, where students paid a 14 percent tuition increase last year and face another 14 percent hike this year, hundreds turned out.

In Bellingham, Western Washington University student Tessa Marcovitch is graduating in June, but said she joined the protest because she "wants the next generation to have a chance to get an education."

John Morgan, 20, joined the Bellingham protest to add his voice to those in opposition to budget cuts to financial aid. Students at all public colleges and universities in Washington face potentially stiff tuition increases next year, with looming and as yet unfilled budget deficits.

If there is any doubt that greenhouse gas emissions have extensive, far-reaching effects on our planet, the newly released results of a careful, long-term study should put any remaining confusion to rest. New research shows the Pacific Ocean is becoming more acidic, weakening shellfish and other marine life at a scarily fast clip - resulting in a 6 percent jump in ocean water acidity over the past 15 years in the top 300 feet of the ocean.

Ocean acidification is caused by carbon dioxide from cars, factories and power plants that causes global greenhouse effects and also dissolves in the ocean, writes Seattle Times science reporter Sandi Doughton.

The process makes seawater slightly more acidic, and also gobbles up carbonate, a basic building block of seashells. The higher acid environment dissolves shells, and kills plankton, marine snails and other small creatures that supply food for the rest of the marine ecosystem. Highly acidic water also kills fish eggs.

The result:

The most extensive survey of pH levels in the Pacific Ocean confirms what spot measurements have suggested: From Hawaii to Alaska, the upper reaches of the sea are becoming more acidic in concert with rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

"The fact that we saw this very significant change over the last 15 years is a reminder of how mankind is affecting the oceans at an ever-increasing rate," said report co-author Richard Feely, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle.

The research teams measured acidity along 2,800 miles of ocean between Oahu and Kodiak in 1991, and returned in 2006 aboard a University of Washington research vessel, analyzing nearly 1,500 water samples over two months.

What will happen to higher education in Washington state if a controversial initiative that would limit tax revenue increases to the rate of inflation passes? One lawmaker says the bill for a public college education would look a lot more like private school tuition.

That’s because K-12 education is protected by constitutional mandate, they say. Not so higher-ed. And something’s got to give, reports Andrew Garber in the Seattle Times.

"The first cut is going to be in higher education. There is no constitutional mandate to maintain our higher-education institutions," said Rep. Kathy Haigh, D-Shelton, chairwoman of the House Education Appropriations Committee. "If these institutions are going to remain viable, they're going to have to increase tuition to something more like private schools."

Critics point out that the condition of the state budget means cuts were inevitable already, economic recovery or not. And it’s not just Washington state's public institutions facing tough times. At the University of Oregon, a 9 percent state budget cutback resulted in a tuition and fee increase of about 15 percent since last year. Other state institution increases range from 3.5 percent to 10 percent.

University of Washington President Mark Emmert says that if I-1033 passes, students could at least expect to see more of the same. Tuition and fees for UW students are just under $6,000. 

The current state budget allows universities to increase tuition 30 percent over two years.

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A study released by the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources found that woody debris could provide a sustainable source of liquid fuel for growing energy demands.

At the request of the Washington Legislature, university scientists looked into how wood-to-energy might play a role in the state's fuel consumption future. They found plant biomass to be the only renewable resource available in the state for conversion to biofuels, and  touted woody debris in particular as the state's best chance for green fuel. It accounts for two-thirds of the state's available biomass.

Utilizing woody debris, they contend, would reduce greenhouse gases not only by offsetting the use of carbon-emitting fuel sources, but also by thinning and making use of overly dense forests, thereby minimizing the carbon dioxide put off by potential wildfires. This may change the way the U.S. Forest Service handles its woody debris, considering that in the past the agency has resorted to burning thinned trees because they don't sell well.

The report finds that besides the 11 million tons of dry forest biomass available annually, additional woody debris from pulp and paper mills can be recovered. The report even suggests that biorefineries, for converting the plant matter to biofuels, be placed near these establishments to maximize debris reclamation and decrease transportation costs.