Tag: Environment

A zoomed in image of the Antarctic strawberry feather star, formally known as Promachocrinus fragarius. (via Emily McLaughlin, Nerida Wilson and Greg Rouse)

Scientists Discover New, ‘Otherworldly’ Species with 20 Arms in the Antarctic Ocean

11/7/2023 - By ctvnews.ca. Ten rays. Twenty arms. Strawberry-like. That’s how a team of scientists from Australia and the United States have described a new, creepy-looking underwater species they discovered after a series of research expeditions near Antarctica. Emily McLaughlin, Nerida Wilson and Greg Rouse published their findings on the newfound species in… SEE MORE

2023 Ozone Hole Ranks 16th Largest, NASA and NOAA Researchers Find

11/1/2023 - By nasa.gov. The 2023 Antarctic ozone hole reached its maximum size on Sept. 21, according to annual satellite and balloon-based measurements made by NASA and NOAA. At 10 million square miles, or 26 million square kilometers, the hole ranked as the 12th largest single-day ozone hole since 1979. During the… SEE MORE

This NOAA GOES-16 satellite image shows Hurricane Otis shortly after it rapidly intensified to category 5 strength on October 24.

Scientists Find Two Ways that Hurricanes Rapidly Intensify

10/31/2023 - By DAVID HOSANSKY. Hurricanes that rapidly intensify for mysterious reasons pose a particularly frightening threat to those in harm’s way. Forecasters have struggled for many years to understand why a seemingly commonplace tropical depression or tropical storm sometimes blows up into a major hurricane, packing catastrophic winds and driving a… SEE MORE

The Altius-600 uncrewed aircraft system demonstration model appears with Hurricane Hunter NOAA WP-3D Orion, known as “Miss Piggy,” at NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida, during an uncrewed aircraft system flight test on May 25, 2022. The Altius was recognized by the 2024 Guinness World Records book for the longest endurance flight inside a tropical cyclone by an uncrewed aircraft. (Image credit: NOAA/Aircraft Operations Center)

NOAA flies straight into the Guinness World Records book

10/30/2023 - By noaa.gov. Record-setting robots recognized for endurance, capturing top wind speed It’s one — no, two! — for the record books. The 2024 edition of the Guinness World Records book recognizes NOAAoffsite link and industry partners with two world records: 1) wind speed recorded by an uncrewed surface vehicle; and 2)… SEE MORE

A home is left standing among debris from Hurricane Ike September 14, 2008 in Gilchrist, Texas. Credit: David J. Phillip-Pool/Getty Images

FEMA Offers Every State $2 Million to Adopt Safer Building Codes

10/25/2023 - By scientificamerican.com. First-of-its-kind FEMA funding aims to update archaic building codes that leave millions of people exposed to climate-fueled hurricanes, floods and other extreme weather CLIMATEWIRE | Two houses are side by side. One is a crumpled mess of splintered wood and ripped insulation. The other stands perfectly intact. This image… SEE MORE

2023-24 U.S. winter outlook: wetter South, warmer North

10/23/2023 - By climate.gov. This year, El Niño is in place heading into winter for the first time in four years, driving the outlook for warmer-than-average temperatures for the northern tier of the continental United States, according to NOAA’s U.S. Winter Outlook released today by the Climate Prediction Center—a division of the National Weather Service.… SEE MORE

Deadly Waterborne Bacteria Are Surging Because of Climate Change

10/18/2023 - By time.com. Climate experts have long warned about the myriad ways that warming temperatures can negatively affect human health. Now that global temperatures are predicted to increase by 1.5°C by the 2030s, that risk is becoming increasingly real. One long-held prediction that appears to be coming true—according to the results of… SEE MORE

Assessing the Global Climate in September 2023

10/13/2023 - By ncei.noaa.gov. Earth had its warmest September; sixth consecutive month of record-high global ocean surface temperature September Highlights: Last month, the January–September 2023 period surpassed January–September 2016 as the warmest such year-to-date period on record. Record-warm temperatures covered 20% of the world's surface this September, which was the highest percentage… SEE MORE

Three phases of the tropical Pacific atmospheric circulation pattern: El Niño, La Niña, and neutral. During El Niño, the engine driving tropical circulation shifts to the east, while during La Niña, it's stronger than average. Figure by climate.gov.

What we Talk About When We Talk About the Jet Stream and El Niño

10/5/2023 - By climate.gov. A robust El Niño is developing in the tropical Pacific, and we’re looking ahead to potential impacts on winter weather and climate. For specifics on this upcoming winter, you’ll have to wait for next month, when NOAA CPC will release their winter outlook. Today, I’m going for the big… SEE MORE

On September 10, 2023, Antarctic sea ice hit a historic low of 16.96 million sq km, 1.03 million sq km below the 1986 record

2023 Antarctic sea ice winter maximum is lowest on record by a wide margin

9/29/2023 - By climate.gov. Overview of conditions On September 10, 2023, sea ice in the Antarctic reached an annual maximum extent of 16.96 million square kilometers (6.55 million square miles), setting a record low maximum in the satellite record that began in 1979. This year’s maximum is 1.03 million square kilometers (398,000 square miles) below the previous… SEE MORE