Unprecedented 2018 Bering Sea ice loss repeated in 2019 Unprecedented 2018 Bering Sea ice loss repeated in 2019 During winter 2018 the sea ice in the Bering Sea reached record-low levels thanks to persistent warm southerly winds. These conditions caused the ice to retreat to the northern reaches of the 800,000 square mile body of water. Read more
NOAA is developing underwater robots to map, measure toxicity of Great Lakes algal blooms NOAA is developing underwater robots to map, measure toxicity of Great Lakes algal blooms Two underwater robots will be gliding throughout the western Lake Erie basin this week, as NOAA and its partners at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) test technology to autonomously monitor and measure the toxicity of harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes. Read more
Soot from massive 2017 fire clouds persisted in stratosphere for months Soot from massive 2017 fire clouds persisted in stratosphere for months Analysis of fire cloud’s impact will help calibrate climate models A sooty cloud generated by a 2017 firestorm provided an ideal opportunity for researchers to test a climate model that simulated the lifetime of that soot in the stratosphere. Read more
New NOAA app brings earth and space animations to your phone New NOAA app brings earth and space animations to your phone Free tool helps teachers, students understand the Earth NOAA's SOS Explorer Mobile, an app for personal mobile devices, tells earth science stories by playing visually stunning movies on a virtual globe. Read more
Airborne research shows East Coast cities emitting twice as much methane as estimated Airborne research shows East Coast cities emitting twice as much methane as estimated A new NOAA and University of Michigan study using an instrumented airplane has found unexpectedly large emissions over five major cities along the East Coast - twice the total amount of methane and almost 10 times the amount estimated from natural gas. Read more
Robots probe ocean depths in mission to fine-tune hurricane forecasts Robots probe ocean depths in mission to fine-tune hurricane forecasts Four ocean gliders are setting off to sea to bring back data that scientists hope will improve the accuracy of hurricane forecast models. Read more
Dungeness crab larvae already showing effects of coastal acidification 23Jan2020 Read more Analysis of larval crab sampled from coastal waters identified examples of damage to the outer shell of numerous larval Dungeness crabs, as well as the loss of hair-like sensory structures crabs use to orient themselves to their surroundings. Read more
NOAA launches major field campaign to improve weather and climate prediction 7Jan2020 Read more Picture a calm, sunny day at a tropical beach. You look out at the ocean and in the distance a flotilla of small white clouds sails close to the waves. It’s ideal weather and typical of many days in the tropical Atlantic. However, scientists don’t fully understand how these ubiquitous clouds (a type of “shallow convective cloud”) form and impact the ocean, and it represents one of the largest uncertainties in predicting climate change. Read more
Wave gliders, ocean drifters and drones to help international researchers solve key climate question 23Jan2020 Read more American and European scientists are deploying dozens of autonomous and remotely-piloted instrument platforms to capture simultaneous observations of the lower atmosphere and the upper ocean offshore of Barbados with unprecedented detail. Read more
Tiny shells reveal waters off California are acidifying twice as fast as the global ocean 16Dec2019 Read more In first-of-its-kind research, NOAA scientists and academic partners used 100 years of microscopic shells to show that the coastal waters off California are acidifying twice as fast as the global ocean average — with the seafood supply in the crosshairs. Read more