Study of wildfire plumes provide insights into methods that might cool the planet Study of wildfire plumes provide insights into methods that might cool the planet The dynamics that lift smoke from large wildfires into the upper atmosphere could potentially be employed one day to help temporarily cool the planet, based on the findings of a modeling study led by NOAA scientists. Read more
Simulated geoengineering evaluation: cooler planet, but with side effects Simulated geoengineering evaluation: cooler planet, but with side effects A new modeling study led by two NOAA researchers highlights the vast challenges and potentially damaging consequences of solar geoengineering actions large enough to ward off extreme warming by the end of the 21st century. Read more
NOAA’s Climate Program Office announces 2021 Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellows NOAA’s Climate Program Office announces 2021 Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellows Nine new postdoctoral fellows are commencing cutting-edge research projects that will contribute innovative climate science to the research community as well as NOAA's mission. Read more
From Mars to the deep ocean: NOAA and partners describe new technology transforming ocean exploration From Mars to the deep ocean: NOAA and partners describe new technology transforming ocean exploration Editor's note: If you missed the live event. Have no fear. You can watch the program on NOAA Ocean Exploration on YouTube On Wednesday, May 5, at 7 p.m. EDT/4 p.m. PDT, join explorers from an upcoming NOAA Ocean Exploration expedition to hear about innovative technologies NOAA and its partners are developing to advance exploration. Learn how the navigation technology used on NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and Ingenuity Mars helicopter is being adapted for use on an autonomous underwater vehicle in Earth’s deep ocean and how environmental DNA can be used to learn more about the animals that live there. Read more
Seafloor mapping data reveals large number of gas seeps off U.S. West Coast Seafloor mapping data reveals large number of gas seeps off U.S. West Coast The West Coast continental shelf is known to host methane bubble streams, formerly thought to be rare. Now, a new discovery sheds light on the extent and distribution of seafloor methane seeps. Read more
6 ways NOAA scientists advanced our knowledge of the planet in 2020 6 ways NOAA scientists advanced our knowledge of the planet in 2020 NOAA scientists can get a lot done in a year. That’s one big takeaway from the 2020 NOAA Science Report, which outlines our agency’s key scientific accomplishments from 2020. Read more
Despite pandemic shutdowns, carbon dioxide and methane surged in 2020 7Apr2021 Read more The global average carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere surged at the fifth-highest rate in NOAA's 63-year record during 2020. Preliminary estimates of the increase in methane levels indicate it may have been the largest annual jump on record. Read more
Climate-driven shifts in deep Lake Michigan water temperatures signal the loss of winter 16Mar2021 Read more Climate change is causing significant impacts on the Great Lakes and the surrounding region. As the largest surface freshwater system in the world, the Great Lakes have an enormous impact, seen and unseen, on the more than 34 million people who live within their collective basin. Because of their unique response to environmental conditions, Earth’s large lakes are considered by scientists as key sentinels of climate change. A long-term study published in Nature Communications today from NOAA reveals a warming trend in deepwater temperatures that foreshadows profound ecological change on the horizon. While less visible than the loss in ice cover and increasing lake surface temperatures, this latest index of climate change adds to the growing evidence of climate change impacts in the region. Read more
5 ways NOAA scientists are answering big questions about climate change 20Apr2021 Read more From warmer ocean temperatures to longer and more intense droughts and heat waves, climate change is affecting our entire planet. Scientists at NOAA have long worked to track, understand and predict how climate change is progressing and impacting ecosystems, communities and economies. Read more
New study shows promise of forecasting meteotsunamis 31Mar2021 Read more On the afternoon of April 13, 2018, a large wave of water surged across Lake Michigan and flooded the shores of the picturesque beach town of Ludington, Michigan, damaging homes and boat docks, and flooding intake pipes. Thanks to a local citizen’s photos and other data, NOAA scientists reconstructed the event in models and determined this was the first ever documented meteotsunami in the Great Lakes caused by an atmospheric inertia-gravity wave. Read more
NOAA report highlights 2020 climate, weather, ocean research 14Apr2021 Read more Launching uncrewed systems to monitor climate and ecosystem changes in the U.S. Arctic, sequencing the genome for endangered marine species, and improving weather forecasts with advances in regional models — these are just a few of NOAA’s scientific achievements in 2020. The newly released 2020 NOAA Science Report highlights the ways these accomplishments — and many more — provide the foundation for vital services that Americans use every day. Read more