Check it out: Spanish Language Reports on Climate Impacts in Washington

By Karen Hills, Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, Washington State University

The recent heatwave in the Pacific Northwest has many of us thinking about climate change and what life may look like as the region warms. The Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington (UW) recently announced the release of two publications in Spanish, helping to spread this information to a portion of the population that may otherwise have less access to this information.

The reports,  Sin Tiempo Que Perder and Cambiando las Líneas de Nieve y las Líneas de Costa, were originally published in 2018 and 2020, and written for a general audience. The translation project was spurred by Elisa Lopez, project director of the Wenatchee-based Team Naturaleza, who reached out to the UW Climate Impacts Group. Isabel Carrera Zamanillo, assistant director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Stanford University School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences (and formerly of the UW College of the Environment), provided the original translations.

“Warmer temperatures, more severe floods, intensifying wildfires — the impacts of a changing climate are already being felt across Washington, and affect some communities disproportionately. We must engage and mobilize all communities to make real progress in preparing for the effects of climate change. Increasing the accessibility of climate change impacts science is critical to mobilizing all of our communities, especially those that have been historically marginalized from the adaptation field. The UW Climate Impacts Group and our partners hope that the Spanish translations of these reports will support efforts to engage with Spanish-speaking communities on the issues of climate change and climate impacts across our state.” – UW Climate Impacts Group

Here are brief summaries from the Climate Impacts Group’s website as well as links to the Spanish and English versions of these reports:

• Sin Tiempo Que Perder (No Time to Waste) summarizes the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C and answers questions such as: What are the anticipated global consequences of additional warming? What are the implications for Washington state? And, What are the options for limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C? (English version).
• Cambiando las Líneas de Nieve y las Líneas de Costa (Shifting Snowlines and Shorelines) draws from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2019 Special Report on Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, as well as research from the Climate Impacts Group. This brief answers questions such as: How are the ocean and cryosphere being affected by human activities? What are the environmental, financial and social costs of these impacts — for Washington as well as globally? And, What can we do to prepare our communities for the impacts of climate change? (English version).