The summer of 2021 was a smoky one for Denver and northeastern Colorado. Smoky haze from wildfires in Arizona, California, and the Pacific Northwest shrouded …
Smoked out: Were wildfires responsible for Denver’s record ozone season of 2021? Read More >
NOAA science expertise and data has supported the U.S. government decision to reduce potent greenhouse gas emissions. On September 21st, the United States Senate successfully …
Significant Measure Approved to Reduce Potent Greenhouse Gas Emissions Read More >
NOAA atmospheric measurements are helping to support a national inventory of emissions from an important family of greenhouse gases. For the first time, the U.S. …
NOAA’s observations help EPA track emissions of a family of greenhouse gases Read More >
Scientists from NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory (GML) have undertaken novel development of an uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) “hexacopter” that will enable the lab to not only recommence a long-standing mission that was recently forced to halt, but paves the way toward enhanced operations in the future. The composition of Earth’s atmosphere is rapidly changing due to anthropogenic releases of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), which are powerful greenhouse gasses driving global warming. Also, human-made chemicals such as CFC-11 and CFC-12 (refrigerants) are destroying the ozone layer that filters out ultraviolet (UV) radiation. These CFCs and their counterparts destroy enough of the protective stratospheric ozone layer to produce the Antarctic “Ozone Hole”.
High background levels of ozone pollution make it hard for Las Vegas and other southwestern cities to meet US air quality standards in spring, two …
Background ozone burdens Las Vegas’ air quality in spring Read More >
New NOAA analysis of a ground-breaking global atmospheric airborne research mission shows that smoke from biomass burning substantially contributes to one of the most common and harmful constituents of urban air pollution: ozone. Another record-breaking fire season across the western United States and Canada fouled skies as far downwind as Boston and New York City with wildfire smoke, visibly demonstrating the impacts that fires can have on air quality thousands of miles away. Now, new NOAA research demonstrates that the effects of fire emissions on the atmosphere are even larger and far more widespread than previously believed, and substantially contribute to one of the most common and harmful constituents of urban air pollution: ozone.
This year’s ozone hole developed similarly to last year’s: A colder than usual Southern Hemisphere winter lead to a deep and larger-than-average hole that will …
Antarctic ozone hole is 13th largest on record and expected to persist into November Read More >
When COVID-19 pandemic began in the US, counties and cities across the nation imposed stay at home orders, closed schools or imposed travel restrictions. From March 2020 onward, many Americans hung up car keys and settled into their homes for work and school. Traffic patterns dramatically changed, and previously smog filled vistas became clearer.
New research from NOAA finds that fragrant personal care products – the stuff that makes you smell good – are now responsible for a significant amount of the ozone pollution known as smog that plagues major urban areas.
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.
