Recent Articles

Do solar storms cause heat waves on Earth?

April 12, 2012

Although solar flares can bombard Earth’s outermost atmosphere with tremendous amounts of energy, most of that energy is reflected back into space by the Earth’s magnetic field or radiated back to space as heat by the thermosphere.

It’s official: March 2012 warmth topped the charts

April 9, 2012

Record and near-record breaking temperatures dominated the eastern two-thirds of the nation and contributed to the warmest March in the contiguous United States since records began in 1895. The average temperature was 8.6 degrees above the 20th century average for March. In the past 117 years, only one month (January 2006) has ever been so much warmer than its average temperature.

U.S. has fourth warmest winter on record; West & Southeast drier than average

March 13, 2012

When NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center crunched the numbers for December, January and February—”meteorological” winter for 2011-2012—it stacked up as the fourth warmest of the past 117 winters. Virtually all of the West received less than its average precipitation.

Warming climate will add to habitat woes for Pacific NW salmon

February 23, 2012

Modeling predicts that increasing greenhouse gas emissions will significantly increase thermal stress on Pacific Northwest salmon in coming decades, making the hard job of restoring endangered wild salmon even harder.

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  • ClimateWatch Videos
    VN:RO [1.9.14_1148]
    Rating: 4.7/5 (3 votes cast)

    Northeast Joins Drought, Spring 2012

    Since the beginning of 2012, drought conditions have worsened along the eastern seaboard, adding to a dry picture for much of the United States.

    VN:RO [1.9.14_1148]
    Rating: 4.4/5 (17 votes cast)

    Droughts & Downpours: Harvesting Rain on a Dryland Farm

    Grower Kirk Brock talks about adapting to rainfall extremes on his dryland farm in Florida and how seasonal climate forecasts should help him improve his operation.

    VN:RO [1.9.14_1148]
    Rating: 5.0/5 (8 votes cast)

    Expanding on the Almanac: Farmer’s Bet on Climate Forecast Pays Off

    Alabama farmer Myron Johnson talks about how adding seasonal climate outlooks to his decisions about when to plant and harvest his cover crops helped produce a bumper cotton crop during the 2010 growing season.

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    A dry beginning for 2012 across much of U.S.

    May 8th, 2012

    Since the beginning of 2012, the contiguous United States has been experiencing drier than average conditions. This lack of precipitation is affecting water availability for agriculture and municipal use, as well as increasing concerns about soil quality and wildfires.