An artistic tribute to a climate science legacy An artistic tribute to a climate science legacy Renowned climate scientist, Dr. Syukuro Manabe, and his pioneering work at GFDL become the subject of an art installation at a Paris train station for COP21. Read more
Great Lakes water levels at or above average for next 6 months Great Lakes water levels at or above average for next 6 months NOAA and Army Corps issue forecast, consider El Niño potential impact Scientists from NOAA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environment Canada have issued a six-month forecast for water levels to be at or above average on Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie into spring of 2016. Lake Ontario water levels are expected to remain close to monthly averages. However, the impacts of the anticipated strong El Niño and other atmospheric anomalies on the forecast are difficult to predict. Read more
HFC greenhouse gases: a tale of two (or more) futures HFC greenhouse gases: a tale of two (or more) futures New research projects greenhouse effect from substances that replaced ozone-depleting products A new paper appearing online in Atmospheric Environment coauthored by researchers at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory looked at the climate implications of various proposals for future HFC use that are being discussed this week under the United Nations Montreal Protocol, the global agreement that protects the ozone layer. Read more
Annual Antarctic ozone hole larger and formed later in 2015 Annual Antarctic ozone hole larger and formed later in 2015 The 2015 Antarctic ozone hole area was larger and formed later than in recent years, according to scientists from NOAA and NASA. On Oct. 2, 2015, the ozone hole expanded to its peak of 28.2 million square kilometers (10.9 million square miles), an area larger than the continent of North America. Throughout October, the hole remained large and set many area daily records. Read more
Warming waters a major factor in Gulf of Maine cod collapse Warming waters a major factor in Gulf of Maine cod collapse New study shows how warming complicates fisheries management For centuries, cod was the backbone of New England’s fisheries and a key species in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. Today, cod stocks in the gulf are on the verge of collapse, hovering at 3-4 percent of sustainable levels. Even setting tighter limits on fishing has failed to slow this rapid decline. Now a new report in Science concludes that rapid warming of Gulf of Maine waters— warming in the last decade faster than in 99 percent of the global ocean —has reduced the capacity of cod to rebound from overfishing, leading to collapse. Read more
NOAA’s Ko Barrett elected vice chair of international climate science panel NOAA’s Ko Barrett elected vice chair of international climate science panel Ko Barrett (left) joins Youba Sokana of Mali and Thelma Krug as IPCC vice chairs The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) elected NOAA’s Ko Barrett to serve as one of three vice chairs for the international body. The IPCC was created to review and assess the most recent scientific, technical, and socio-economic information produced worldwide that is relevant to the understanding of climate change. Read more
When noise becomes signal 27Jul2018 Read more Last spring, Governor Jerry Brown declared an end to California’s historic drought that caused over $5 billion in damage to agriculture as well as substantial impacts to fisheries, infrastructure, human health, and vegetation. The drought was not only severe, but it also spanned the winters of 2015-16 and 2016-17, which had unusual and unexpected precipitation that affected the drought’s evolution. Read more
NOAA Arctic explorers sail North 8Aug2018 Read more This is the first in a series Dispatches from the Arctic on the August science cruise by NOAA and partner scientists aboard the Coast Guard icebreaker Healy. Today's post is from Emily Osborne, Arctic Program Manager at NOAA Research, Janet Hsiao, NOAA John Knauss Sea Grant fellow, and Meredith LaValley of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee. Read more
NOAA organizes first agency-wide event to advance its modeling enterprise 27Aug2018 Read more NOAA constantly strives to improve its models of our changing environment in order to provide citizens, planners, emergency managers, and other decision makers with reliable information they can act on. But improving models takes time, money, and labor—tight budget constraints make this a challenging feat. Documents to download General Modeling Meeting and Fair Flyer(.pdf, 1.33 MB) - 403 download(s) Read more
Searching for the seeds of Arctic clouds 23Aug2018 Read more Editor's note: This is the sixth in a series Dispatches from the Arctic on the August science cruise by NOAA and partner scientists aboard the Coast Guard icebreaker Healy. Today's post is from Dr. Jessie Cremean of NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory. Read more
NOAA and partners test unmanned vehicle to detect harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie 23Aug2018 Read more Scientists from NOAA, the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute will launch and test an unmanned underwater vehicle equipped with technology capable of collecting and processing water samples that can be used to track harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. Read more