News & Features

Greenhouse gas pollution caused by human activities trapped 49% more heat in the atmosphere in 2021 than they did in 1990, according to NOAA scientists. Carbon dioxide remained the leading culprit, but other heat-trapping gases included methane and nitrous oxide.

NOAA’s Climate Program Office announces seven new projects for Fiscal Years 2022-2024 to develop model-based monitoring of key climate-impact areas. Totaling $2.7 million, the projects address coastal inundation, wildfire smoke, flash droughts, heat stress, and vulnerability to humid heat.

As electricity providers add renewable energy to their portfolios, a new study shows that more accurate wind forecasts generated by a NOAA weather model is saving the utilities—and consumers—big money.

A new study links the record-low Arctic sea ice extent in 2012 tropical sea surface temperatures. The study finds that back-to-back La Niña events in 2010 and 2011, followed by a marginal El Niño may have affected Arctic sea ice.

An annual survey is underway to provide fisheries and oceanographic data to support sustainable management of the fast-changing Bering Sea. These surveys help decision makers better understand the impacts of events such as sea ice loss.

A new NOAA study finds that reducing particulate air pollution in Europe and North America has contributed to an increase in the number of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic basin, and a decrease in the number of these storms in the Southern Hemisphere.

A newly published study suggests a major sea-surface freshening during the mid-20th century, and a southward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, affecting tropical rainfall patterns.

NOAA, the National Integrated Heat Health Information System, and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Climate Change and Health Equity have launched a new public information series called the Climate and Health Outlook. Melding weather forecasts and health resources, the Outlook aims to reduce high-heat health risks and save lives.

The Argo program started in 1998 when scientists proposed a global array of autonomous floats to take temperature and salinity measurements of the world’s ocean. The program has won an award “for innovation in large-scale autonomous observations in oceanography with global impacts in marine and climate science and technology.”

The National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) Interagency Communications Group will host a heat season awareness social media campaign during the week of May 16, 2022. Themes will cover heat-related illness, heat vulnerability, outdoor and indoor workers, exercise in hot conditions, and preparedness.