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Sunset view from underneath an airplane's wing

NOAA researchers fly out over the Pacific to investigate cloud-forming marine sulfur

While the shade offered by clouds on a hot sunny day can be obvious, quantifying the actual climate impact in terms of solar energy remains a challenging task. This is because the volume, thickness, and lifetime of marine clouds can change rapidly, and the processes that govern how and where clouds  form and how gases and aerosols in the air interact with cloud droplets are highly complex. In a marine environment, many of those gases and aerosols in the air come from the ocean itself. 

Graduate student Anuszka Mosurska assists with taking measurements for the shoreline community monitoring effort in Utqiaġvik. Credit: Dave Partee | Alaska Sea Grant.

5 ways NOAA scientists are answering big questions about climate change

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.

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.

NOAA Research’s top 5 stories from 2020

From predicting smoke movement from massive wildfires, to investigating how marine life is responding to a quieter ocean, 2020 was a big year for NOAA science. As this unprecedented year draws to a close, we’re looking back at some of our biggest research endeavors in 2020. Here are 5 of our most-read stories from the last year.

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