The discovery of a novel sulfur compound during a 2017 NASA airborne research campaign will likely spur a scientific reassessment of a fundamental marine chemical cycle which drives the formation of oceanic clouds that play a key role in moderating climate. “People thought the sulfur budget was well understood,” said NOAA scientist Patricia Quinn, who was not involved in the study. “This throws a kink in the whole works.”
Using a new powerful NOAA global climate model, NOAA and partner researchers show that big storm-induced spikes in sea levels will increase in the future from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic coast as warming progresses, but will be driven by differing forces.
Air & Sea Chronicles
Editor's note: Air & Sea Chronicles is NOAA's blog series documenting the ATOMIC mission in Barbados. This post is by Cindy Sandoval, a communications specialist from NOAA Fisheries who was on detial assisting NOAA Communications with ATOMIC outreach.
Over 50 Barbadian or Bajan students toured NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown during the vessel’s short port call in Bridgetown, Barbados. While aboard, students learned about NOAA’s mission, the role the vessel plays in cutting-edge research, and why their island nation is at the center of an unprecedented effort to better understand the interactions of atmosphere and ocean.
When severe weather threatens, NOAA National Weather Service forecasters issue warnings to alert people. Based on the location of the storm, the same warning gives some communities more time than others. Researchers are testing an experimental concept to provide more continuous hazardous weather information for the public.
More frequent and intense rainfall events due to climate change could cause more landslides in the High Mountain Asia region of China, Tibet and Nepal, according to the first quantitative study of the link between precipitation and landslides in the region.
An expanded and redesigned version of NOAA’s online, open-source Climate Explorer tool was released today to improve support for local planners, policy leaders, and facility and resource managers. The tool gives people a way to explore conditions projected for their locations in the coming decades.