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Major twister hits Oklahoma

By Janet Raloff / May 21, 2013

White ball-shaped cloud structures in this satellite image point to where intense thunderstorms formed on the afternoon of May 20, 2013. The big round ball at top center is where the killer tornado developed. It ravaged Moore, Okla.Caption:
Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC

Its speed, which largely determines the damage it causes, is still unknown

Posted in Weather & Climate | Tagged getinvolved, Harold Brooks, Jarrell, Keli Pirtle, Moore, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Severe Storms Laboratory, Newcastle, NOAA, Norman, NSSL, Okla., Oklahoma, radar, Storm Prediction Center, Texas, topstories, Tornado, tweet, twister, twitter

Predators as climate helpers

By Janet Raloff / February 18, 2013

This freshwater stickleback eats the tiny animals in stream water that graze on plants and algae. This predation allows those plants and algae to collect and store carbon, rather than letting it escape into the atmosphere. Credit: Nicole Bedford, UBC

In lakes and streams, fish and insects can help protect aquatic plants that gobble up greenhouse gas

Posted in Earth & Sky, Environment & Pollution, Weather & Climate | Tagged algae, bromeliad, carbon dioxide, climate, damselfly, ecology, ecosystem, food chain, food web, getinvolved, global warming, grazers, greenhouse gases, James Estes, John Richardson, phytoplankton, ponds, predators, primary production, Santa Cruz, stickleback, stonefly, streams, topstories, Trisha Atwood, trophic levels, University of British Columbia, University of California, zooplankton

Climate’s troublesome kids

By Stephen Ornes / January 30, 2013

During a climate event known as El Niño (shown on the left), the surface of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean warms along the equator (red). During a La Niña event (on the right), the same region cools (blue). Credit: NOAA

The recurring climate events El Niño and La Niña trigger long-lived changes to weather around the world

Posted in Weather & Climate | Tagged Benjamin Giese, buoys, Carmen Boening, climate, climate change, Columbia University, currents, drought, El Niño, ENSO, equator, feature, flooding, global warming, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, La Nina, Miriam Marlier, NASA, NOAA, satellites, Southern Oscillation, storms, Texas A&M University, topstories, trade winds, weather, wildfire

Twister science

By Andrew Bridges / December 9, 2012

Meteorologists are learning what makes a tornado

Posted in Weather & Climate | Tagged Center for Severe Weather Research, Don Burgess, downdraft, feature, Harold Brooks, Jeff Trapp, Joshua Wurman, Karen Kosiba, mesocyclone, meteorologist, National Severe Storms Laboratory, National Weather Service, Paul Markowski, storm chaser, supercells, thunderstorms, Tim Samaras, topstories, Tornado, Tornado Alley, twister, updraft, VORTEX

The high life

By Douglas Fox / November 28, 2012

Clouds are full of living microscopic organisms, not just bits of dust and soot. Some scientists believe that germs living inside clouds might sometimes trigger rain or snow. Credit: Douglas Fox

The sky is full of microscopic life, some of which might even trigger rain or snow

Posted in Weather & Climate | Tagged air, aliens from space, atmosphere, bacteria, biological ice nucleators, Brent Christner, cloud condensation nuclei, cloud seeding, clouds, crystallization, David Barber, dust clouds, Erwinia, feature, fungi, Gary Franc, Gobi Desert, ice crystals, Kimberly Prather, Louisiana State University, Norman Lockyer Observatory, ocean bubbles, photographic plates, pollen, potato blight, rain, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, sea salt, snow, solar wind, soot, topstories, transatlantic dust, University of Wyoming, Venus, water droplets, wave tanks, winds

Evolution of a Frankenstorm

By Stephen Ornes / November 15, 2012

Sandy the superstorm hit the U.S. East Coast just before Halloween, devastating cities in New Jersey and New York. Credit: Robert Simmon/NASA/NOAA GOES Project science team

Huge, late October hurricane turned into a superstorm that savaged much of the eastern United States

Posted in Weather & Climate | Tagged Atlantic City, atmospheric pressure, Caribbean, climate, climate change, earth science, flood, getinvolved, global warming, hurricane, jet stream, National Hurricane Center, ridge, Sandy, Shuyi Chen, storm surge, topstories, tropical wave, trough, University of Miami

Watching our seas rise

By Douglas Fox / November 8, 2012

Satellites, coral reefs, ancient Roman fishponds and sinking cities help us understand how humans are changing sea level

Posted in Weather & Climate | Tagged Antarctica, Bruce Douglas, carbon dioxide, climate, climate change, corals, El Niño, ENSO, feature, Fernando Siringan, Florida State University, Fossil fuels, glaciers, global change, global warming, greenhouse gases, Greenland, Harold Wanless, Helsinki University of Technology, hurricane, Hurricane Katrina, Jason 2, Jason-3, Jeremy Weiss, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Jonathan Overpeck, Josh Willis, JPL, KAMANAVA, Martin Vermeer, meltwater, Meltwater Pulse 1A, NASA, New Orleans, NOAA, ocean height, Paul Hearty, reefs, Robert Deyle, Roman fish ponds, satellites, sea level rise, subsidence, tide gauge, topstories, University of Arizona, University of Miami, University of North Carolina, University of the Philippines

Seal scientists

By Stephen Ornes / September 17, 2012

As elephant seals dove, swam and fed around an Antarctic ice shelf, sensors on their heads took measurements of the surrounding water. Credit: Lars Boehme

Elephant seals help climate scientists understand deepwater heating around Antarctica

Posted in Weather & Climate | Tagged Antarctica, climate change, elephant seals, Fimbul Ice Shelf, getinvolved, global warming, ice shelf, meltwater, Norwegian Polar Institute, Ocean, oceanography, salinity, sea level, Tore Hattermann

A record Arctic melt

By Stephen Ornes / September 10, 2012

Arctic sea ice forms in the ocean, unlike glaciers and icebergs that form from land-based freshwater.

Credit: Andy Mahoney, National Snow and Ice Data Center

Satellites show summer 2012 sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean shrunk to a record low

Posted in Weather & Climate | Tagged Arctic ocean, Arctic sea ice, Arctic sea ice minimum, climate, climate change, environmental science, getinvolved, glacier, global warming, iceberg, Mark Serreze, National Snow and Ice Data Center, NSIDC, satellites, sea ice, temperature, Walt Meier

Hot summer for a cold island

By Stephen Ornes / August 24, 2012

The large iceberg at top-left in this satellite photograph broke off from a frozen river in July. The ice island is twice the size of Manhattan. Higher temperatures around Greenland probably caused the breakup. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen

A rare heat wave rolled over Greenland in July, thawing its ice and snow

Posted in Weather & Climate | Tagged climate change; global warming; Greenland; glaciers; sea level rise; extreme weather; City University of New York; Marco Tedesco; Dorthe Dahl-Jensen; University of Copenhagen; satellites; observatory;, getinvolved

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