NOAA selects University of Colorado-Boulder to lead Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences NOAA selects University of Colorado-Boulder to lead Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences NOAA has selected the University of Colorado-Boulder to continue a federal/academic partnership that extends NOAA’s ability to study climate change, improve weather models, and better predict how solar storms can disrupt communication and navigation technologies. Read more
New NOAA awards to fund studies of weather warnings, social media, Internet tools and public response New NOAA awards to fund studies of weather warnings, social media, Internet tools and public response How do people sift important weather information out of the incessant buzz of 24/7 social media, text messages, smart phone alerts, and overflowing email inboxes? Four new research awards funded by NOAA seek to answer this question. Read more
Magnifying Smoke Magnifying Smoke NOAA instrument uncovers first direct evidence of “lensing,” other heat-trapping effects of wildfire smoke particles A new study directly measures the heat-trapping effect of wildfires during an actual wildfire that burned near Boulder, Colo., in 2010. Read more
NOAA researchers studying how cities influence approaching thunderstorms NOAA researchers studying how cities influence approaching thunderstorms Do urban areas have an influence on incoming storm systems? NOAA's National Severe Storms Lab is trying to find out. Read more
Joint BOEM, NOAA, USGS mission discovers record depth for Lophelia coral on Gulf of Mexico energy platforms Joint BOEM, NOAA, USGS mission discovers record depth for Lophelia coral on Gulf of Mexico energy platforms A team of federal and university scientists on a 10-day expedition in the Gulf of Mexico has discovered Lophelia coral growing deeper than previously seen anywhere in the Gulf. Read more
NOAA, partners find increase in airborne ethanol NOAA, partners find increase in airborne ethanol Changes in the composition of transportation fuels are showing up in the atmosphere Ethanol, now used commonly in U.S. transportation fuels, is turning up in urban air at more than six times the levels measured a decade ago, according to a new study by a team of NOAA researchers and colleagues. 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