New study: Dust, warming portend dry future for the Colorado River New study: Dust, warming portend dry future for the Colorado River Land management efforts could help protect snowpacks, water from a warmer future Reducing the amount of desert dust swept onto snowy Rocky Mountain peaks could help Western water managers deal with the challenges of a warmer future, according to a new study led by researchers at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Read more
New study: Rising temperatures challenge Salt Lake City’s water supply New study: Rising temperatures challenge Salt Lake City’s water supply Sensitivity study helps the city, others in the Intermountain West, plan for the future In an example of the challenges water-strapped Western cities will face in a warming world, new research shows that every degree Fahrenheit of warming in the Salt Lake City region could mean a 1.8 to 6.5 percent drop in the annual flow of streams that provide water to the city. Read more
NOAA Sea Grant awards $1.8 million to Sandy-hit states to better understand public response to coastal storm threats NOAA Sea Grant awards $1.8 million to Sandy-hit states to better understand public response to coastal storm threats NOAA Sea Grant this month announced $1.8 million in grant awards to Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey to enhance the American public’s ability to effectively plan, prepare and respond to natural disasters when they strike—particularly for major storms like Sandy, which resulted in 140 fatalities last year. Read more
Encouraging information from this year’s observations of the Antarctic ozone hole Encouraging information from this year’s observations of the Antarctic ozone hole For nearly 50 years, scientists with NOAA have launched high-altitude balloons from the South Pole, to understand why a hole was forming in the protective ozone layer high in the atmosphere. Now, organizations around the world track the infamous ozone hole through these ballon-sondes, satellite measurements and ground instruments. Read more
Water vapor in the upper atmosphere amplifies global warming, says new study Water vapor in the upper atmosphere amplifies global warming, says new study A new study shows that water vapor high in the sky and the temperature at the Earth’s surface are linked in a “feedback loop” that further warms our climate. Published today, this study gives the first estimate of the size of the feedback’s effect, which may help researchers improve modeling to better understand climate change. Read more
NOAA, Aquarium of the Pacific report on the future of American ocean exploration NOAA, Aquarium of the Pacific report on the future of American ocean exploration More than 100 explorers, scientists, government officials, academics, and industry leaders who attended the inaugural ‘Ocean Exploration 2020: A National Forum,’ in July, have proposed the future of American ocean exploration. NOAA and the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, Calif., hosted the Forum, and released a report this week examining the future of ocean exploration through a coordinated federal effort involving multiple agencies in collaboration with the private sector. 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
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
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