Earth

Earth

Tree rings tell tale of megadroughts

Tree rings in ancient timber show that the Colorado Plateau experienced a 60-year drought in the 12th century.

Earth

Storm Center

Scientists aboard planes that flew into the cores of Katrina and other hurricanes in 2005 collected unprecedented data on the structure and development of the massive storms.

Earth

Trouble for forests of the northern U.S. Rockies?

Climate change over the coming decades may cause forests in northern portions of the U.S. Rockies to stop absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and instead become net emitters of the gas.

Earth

Darker days during Arctic summer

Satellite observations indicate that Arctic regions reflected less sunlight into space in the summer of 2006 than in other recent years, a change that may exacerbate the warming of Earth's climate.

Earth

Dust Bowl affected midwestern climate

During the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, immense clouds of airborne soil blocked so much sunlight that much of the Great Plains region was significantly cooler than normal during summer months.

Earth

Age and gender affect soot’s toxic impact

Except in young females, small blood vessels in rodents lost the ability to precisely regulate blood flow after exposure to an oily constituent of diesel soot.

Earth

Wildfire, Walleyes, and Wine

An international panel's latest report on the impacts of climate change highlights an overlooked need: preparing for droughts, floods, heat waves, and other disasters.

Earth

Storm Norms: Caribbean corals and sediments yield clues to hurricane frequency

The recent increase in hurricane activity in the North Atlantic, a phenomenon that some scientists blame on climate change, actually reflects a return to normal after a lull in the 1970s and 1980s.

Earth

Guidelines for wind farms

National policies to maximize the benefits of wind farms while lessening their environmental impacts may be needed.

Earth

NOAA’s Virtual World

Players of the virtual reality game Second Life can now soar through a virtual hurricane, experience rising through the atmosphere atop a weather balloon, and more at the National Atmospheric Administration’s new site. Go to: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/outreach/sl/

Earth

Ice Age Ends Smashingly: Did a comet blow up over eastern Canada?

An extraterrestrial object apparently exploded above Canada about 12,900 years ago, sparking devastating wildfires and triggering a millennium-long cold spell.

Earth

Using seismometers to monitor glaciers

Seismic instruments could be used to estimate the amount of ice that shears away from glaciers as they flow into the sea, offering a way to better estimate sea level rise due to the breakup of those ice masses.