Advancing scientific understanding of climate, improving society’s ability to plan and respond
Advancing scientific understanding of climate, improving society’s ability to plan and respond
Coastal sea levels are contributing to coastal flooding and erosion as global sea levels rise, partly due to the thermal expansion of seawater, which accelerates with increasing temperatures. Climate model simulations with increasing greenhouse gas emissions show that future sea-level variability will increase in many regions around the world
NOAA’s Climate Program Office, Climate Generation, and The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program look back on the success of the Stay-In-stitute for Climate Change Education—a three-day virtual conference that brought together more than 300 educators from across the country, along with Canada and Costa Rica, to create a community and gain the confidence, tools, and resources to teach climate change in all subject areas.
Arctic change is generally discussed with average changes, but extreme events and changes to extremes are felt the most by humans and ecosystems.
This is the first North America-focused study to investigate how well and how consistently reanalysis datasets identify extreme temperature events.
Results show that both the onset and size of the 2018 dengue outbreak in Réunion island could have been accurately predicted two weeks in advance, with some accuracy three to four weeks in advance — enough time for enhanced preparedness measures.
Our dear friend and distinguished colleague Dr. Kenneth (Ken) A. Mooney passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on August 17, 2020. While we, his NOAA Climate Program Office (CPO) family, are deeply saddened by his passing and miss him sorely, we are also celebrating his life, leadership, and remarkable legacy of scientific achievements.
Outdoor recreation is a major contributor to the Intermountain West’s economy, but the future viability of many businesses—particularly small businesses—in the industry is threatened by their drought vulnerabilities and the region’s projected increases in drought severity and frequency.
In her lead contribution, she uses the island of Maui as a case study to investigate drivers of land use change as it describes the transitions that the island has experienced. Brewington used satellite imagery to visualize the changes, noting that agricultural land cover has decreased while built-up land cover has increased.
Public lands managers are being asked to plan for ecosystem change due to climate shifts. They must decide among untested approaches such as resisting change, boosting resilience, or encouraging transformation. A new study, supported in part by CPO’s Western Water Assessment RISA team, explored managers’ views on the subject.
Analysis of the last millennium reanalysis climate reconstruction shows a clear connection between Southwest drought and La Niña sea-surface temperature patterns. However, this pattern only explains a small part of the variability associated with past U.S. droughts.