New maps of ozone air pollution support Global Burden of Disease study New maps of ozone air pollution support Global Burden of Disease study Researchers have mapped global ground-level ozone concentrations by year for the Global Burden of Disease study using a data fusion approach, the first time this method was applied to ozone observations. Read more
Understanding the Arctic polar vortex Understanding the Arctic polar vortex In late February, as the Southern Plains and Gulf Coast suffered through an unusually strong blast of wintry weather, weather talk turned to the polar vortex and the possibility that the extreme cold was yet another example of weather-gone-wild due to global warming. Read more
Short-range weather modeling application released to forecasting community Short-range weather modeling application released to forecasting community Data sharing will enable new innovations in numerical weather prediction science NOAA and partners have released the source code for its next-generation short-range forecast application to the weather research community to accelerate development of the model, which predicts atmospheric behavior on a timescale from less than an hour to several days, including critical life-saving weather and water forecasts during extreme events. Read more
New rating system charts a path to improved tornado forecasts New rating system charts a path to improved tornado forecasts All tornadoes -- whether large or small -- originate from thunderstorms, but not all thunderstorms are the same. Nighttime twisters, summer tornadoes and smaller events can be tougher to forecast. New research in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society presents a method for rating the skill of tornado warnings based on environmental challenges. Read more
New study identifies mountain snowpack most “at-risk” from climate change New study identifies mountain snowpack most “at-risk” from climate change As the planet warms, scientists expect that mountain snowpack should melt progressively earlier in the year - but that melt isn't evenly distribted from location to location. Read more
Researchers make small but important step in seasonal tornado forecasting Researchers make small but important step in seasonal tornado forecasting A new model named SPOTer (Seasonal Probabilistic Outlook for Tornadoes) shows promise in predicting active seasons 1-2 months in advance. 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