News & Research Highlights

Carbon dioxide measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory surged to a seasonal peak of just under 427 parts per million (426.90 ppm) in May 2024. That’s an increase of 2.9 ppm over May 2023 and the 5th-largest annual growth in NOAA’s 50-year record.

A study finds that the Arctic Ocean transition from summer heating to autumn cooling aligns closely with the September 22 equinox.

Atmospheric changes, particularly shifts in the North Atlantic Oscillation, which controls most of the winds over the North Atlantic region, have redirected storm tracks toward Taklamakan and Gobi Deserts.

Variations in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and changes in wind-driven ocean currents combine with long-term global warming to raise sea level along the U.S. Southeast Coast.

The Department of Commerce and NOAA just announced $60 million in funding to help train and place people in jobs that advance a climate-ready workforce for coastal and Great Lakes states, Tribes and Territories.

To predict developing storms, meteorologists employ models that rely on current observations and mathematical calculations to predict a storm’s behavior and track. These complex models use inputs from historic, numeric, oceanic, and atmospheric data.

Funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will allow NOAA to expand a global network of sensors to track carbon dioxide in the ocean. They will also serve to improve the understanding and forecasting of global climatic and environmental changes.

Even though stormy days are rare globally, they have an outsized effect on Earth’s radiation budget. Precipitation days, both drizzle and wet days, contribute to about 80 percent of global longwave and shortwave cloud radiative effects.

When a container vessel crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge and caused it to collapse, ship traffic to the area halted, and train and truck traffic dropped dramatically. NOAA researchers realized they could capture unique data while the port was shuttered.

Around the world, from the surface waters to the seafloor, our oceans are warming, and we are beginning to adapt to and prepare for this change in our climate.