Category: Climate

An X9 flare, which can be seen in the lower half of the sun, captured by GOES-19’s Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) instrument on Oct. 3, 2024. (Image credit: NOAA)

Five Historically Huge Solar Events

4/21/2025 - By noaa.gov. Space weather impacts numerous facets of everyday life, including power grids, communications, airline operations, global positioning systems (GPS), and satellites. In addition, there are a large variety of phenomena that are driven by the variability of the sun over periods ranging from hours to years. Solar flares are… SEE MORE

Don’t Drain the Swamps: Tidal Wetlands Store Huge Amounts of Carbon

4/19/2025 - By tula.org. Research just published by the American Geophysical Union digs deeper into the carbon-storing power of wetlands along North America’s Pacific coast. A new paper featuring Hakai Institute researchers and led by Oregon State University reveals that the forested tidal swamps of the Pacific Northwest, alongside mangroves in Mexico, stash away… SEE MORE

Assessing the Global Climate in March 2025

4/13/2025 - By ncei.noaa.gov. Above-average temperatures cover much of the globe; lowest sea ice extent March Highlights: Temperatures were above average over much of the globe, particularly in the Arctic, but much below average over central Canada and eastern Asia. Global sea ice extent ranked second lowest on record for March; Arctic… SEE MORE

Assessing the U.S. Climate in March 2025

4/11/2025 - By ncei.noaa.gov. Tornadoes in March were more than double the monthly average and three separate outbreaks produced more than 200 tornadoes Key Points: A multi-day severe weather outbreak in the middle of March caused significant damage across several states from Texas to Tennessee, resulting in multiple fatalities. Two EF-4 tornadoes… SEE MORE

Image Credits: MARCH 20, 2025: At NOAA's South Pole Atmospheric Baseline Observatory, a wave of snow frames Dark Sector telescopes, giving a final glimpse of sunlight before six months of darkness. (Image credit: Ian Crocker/NOAA)

Last Light at South Pole Brings 6 Months of Darkness

4/5/2025 - By noaa.gov. In the Northern Hemisphere, March 20 signals the start of spring. It's the start of fall in the Southern Hemisphere, where researchers and staff at NOAA’s South Pole Observatory recently witnessed the fading light of the sun and the start of six months of darkness. “As the sun gets low on… SEE MORE

Coastal marsh within the Sandy Hook Bay estuary. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jessie Murray

Marsh Madness: Protecting Wetlands & Coastal Habitats

3/28/2025 - By fisheries.noaa.gov. While players duel it out on the court, we’re keeping score of all the ways marsh habitat plays an important role in the protection and restoration work we do for communities, fish, and wildlife. Through early April, NOAA is taking a court-side look at how we protect and… SEE MORE

Nesting east Pacific green turtle in Galapagos - sandy head shot. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Boyd Lyon

Most Sea Turtles Rebounding Worldwide as Conservation Efforts Protect Nests and Habitat, Analysis Finds

3/26/2025 - By fisheries.noaa.gov. Turtle populations still face unpredictable effects of climate change. Once hammered by overhunting and habitat loss, sea turtles have persevered with new protections and conservation efforts. Their populations are now rebounding even as oceans change, a new review has found. “Sea turtles are a shining light of marine… SEE MORE

Lassen National Volcanic Park, Warner Valley, California, May 2012. (Image credit: John Cloud/NOAA)

Spring Outlook: Dry in the West, Milder than Average in the South and East

3/22/2025 - By noaa.gov. Drought to develop or persist for Rocky Mountains, Southwest and southern Plains Today, forecasters from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center — part of the National Weather Service — issued the 2025 U.S. Spring Outlook for temperature, precipitation, drought and flooding for the coming months. Forecasters predict above-average temperatures for the East… SEE MORE

Image Credits: A male northern elephant seal. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Mark Lowry.

From Krill to Elephant Seals, Sentinel Species Detect Hidden Ocean Shifts that Forecast Change

3/18/2025 - By fisheries.noaa.gov. New research identifies species that signal changes in ocean ecosystems. Northern elephant seals weigh in at several thousand pounds and quickly put on more weight when catching squid, fish, and other prey. They feed off the California coast in the so-called “twilight zone” of the ocean (200 to… SEE MORE

Image Credits: What the collision that spawned Earth's Moon may have looked like. Collisions between Earth and rocky debris in the early solar system would have kept the surface molten and surface temperatures blistering. Image courtesy NASA.

What’s the Hottest Earth’s Ever Been?

3/12/2025 - By Michon Scott and Rebecca Lindsey. Our 4.54-billion-year-old planet probably experienced its hottest temperatures in its earliest days, when it was still colliding with other rocky debris (planetesimals) careening around the solar system. The heat of these collisions would have kept Earth molten, with top-of-the-atmosphere temperatures upward of 3,600° Fahrenheit.… SEE MORE