Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have crossed a major threshold: 400 parts per million. Here are five key points on how carbon dioxide is affecting Earth’s atmosphere and the role we're playing in it.
The last month has seen a trail of smashed records across the central United States, as pulse after pulse of cold air careened down the Great Plains. How does this fit into the bigger picture of a warming U.S. climate?
Forests across western North America have been ravaged by the most extensive bark beetle attacks on record. Scientists are getting a better handle on what comes next—and the answers aren’t as straightforward as they expected.
A new study by an NCAR researcher shows that small- to moderate-size volcanoes have helped slow down warming over the last decade, while industrial emissions of Sun-blocking sulfur dioxide over Asia have contributed relatively little to the slowdown.
Broadcast meteorologists are a leading source of information about the atmosphere for the public, but many avoid mentioning global warming. New research finds barriers that may keep them from addressing the science of climate change on the air.
Farmers and other stakeholders are hungry for guidance on how crops may fare as the nation’s climate evolves over the coming decades. This year’s National Climate Assessment includes new findings on agriculture and climate change that draw from collaborations between NCAR and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
How do you determine whether some location, or the nation, is having a truly brutal winter? As it turns out, the story differs depending on whether it’s being told through events, statistics, or opinions.
A team of researchers, including NCAR scientist Carl Schmitt, are climbing high in the Peruvian Andes to assess the extent to which the white ice is being darkened by ash and other particulates that are emitted by nearby industrial operations. The dark particles can accelerate glacial melting, eventually threatening runoff that supplies water for millions of South American residents.
The "waste heat" generated by everyday activities in metropolitan areas alters atmospheric circulation patterns, warming or cooling temperatures across a large region.
Even as the rest of the nation baked in 2012, Alaska froze. The contiguous 48 U.S. states saw their warmest year on record by far, but it was one of Alaska's chilliest.
Though we’re still more than two weeks from the end of 2012, it’s not too soon to get a sense of how the year will go down in meteorological annals. Some of the signals from January to November are so strong that December won’t change the outcome.
First in the queue for the NCAR-Wyoming Yellowstone system is a set of 11 computing-intensive projects tackling major problems in Earth and atmospheric science.
In recent months there’ve been hints of an El Niño on the horizon that might help quench the ongoing U.S. drought. But those hints might turn out to be as meaningless as a mirage on a parched highway.
Until supplies approach a trickle—or a torrent—public attention seldom focuses on water issues. But water is consistently Topic A for a wide-ranging group of researchers.
States are having to make tough decisions regarding their water use and their interaction with water. NCAR scientists are involved in collaborative projects in Colorado, Louisiana, and Oklahoma to evaluate the long-term effects of today’s decisions.
One of the largest bodies of water in the United States, the Ogallala Aquifer, lies underground. Crucial to life in the U.S. Great Plains, it's one of many aquifers around the world under stress as water demands increase. Satellite data are now painting a richer picture of how these water stores are evolving.
As rising temperatures melt glaciers around the world, scientists are tracking the changes and helping glacier-dependent regions adapt to a changing water supply.
