One in a million: NOAA ocean profilers hit new data transmission milestone One in a million: NOAA ocean profilers hit new data transmission milestone The Argo fleet, now more than 3,000 floats strong, recently collected its one millionth temperature and salinity profile. Read more
New NOAA technical report reveals global sea level rise scenarios through 2100 New NOAA technical report reveals global sea level rise scenarios through 2100 Today, NOAA released a report that estimates global mean sea level rise over the next century based on a comprehensive synthesis of existing scientific literature. Read more
Arctic continues to break records in 2012: Becoming warmer, greener region with record losses of summer sea ice and late spring snow Arctic continues to break records in 2012: Becoming warmer, greener region with record losses of summer sea ice and late spring snow NOAA scientists participated in a panel discussion of the annual Arctic Report Card, which has summarized the quickly changing conditions in the Arctic since 2006. Read more
The Earth at night: Suomi NPP satellite offers unprecedented views The Earth at night: Suomi NPP satellite offers unprecedented views Scientists today unveiled unprecedented snapshots of Earth at night. Global composite images, constructed from cloud-free nighttime images from the new NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite, were showcased at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting in San Francisco. Read more
NOAA, California partner to improve forecasts of powerful 'atmospheric river' winter storms NOAA, California partner to improve forecasts of powerful 'atmospheric river' winter storms NOAA scientists and colleagues are installing the first of four long-term "atmospheric river observatories" in coastal California this month, to better monitor and predict the impacts of landfalling atmospheric rivers. Read more
New NOAA experimental tool offers customizable views of Great Lakes water level data New NOAA experimental tool offers customizable views of Great Lakes water level data Researchers, educators, residents can compare decades of data on a single screen The new NOAA Great Lakes Water Level Dashboard presented this week at the American Geophysical Union annual fall meeting this week offers interactive displays of water level data for the North American Great Lakes. 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
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
Emissions of a banned ozone-depleting gas are back on the decline 10Feb2021 Read more New analyses of global air measurements show that five years after an unexpected spike in emissions of the banned ozone-depleting chemical chlorofluorocarbon CFC-11, they dropped sharply between 2018 and 2019. Read more
Is the Southern Ocean absorbing or emitting carbon dioxide? 11Feb2021 Read more The answer is important for understanding how the Earth system is responding to climate change. Read more