A new computer modeling study from NCAR investigates how an increase in shrubs in the Arctic may affect permafrost. Over the past few decades, a warming climate has meant that the Arctic’s grassy tundra is being increasingly overtaken by shrubs.
The effects of a warming climate on hail are largely unknown, as global climate models are too coarse in resolution to simulate hailstorms in detail. But a new modeling study now tackles this subject, looking at the future of hail in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains over the coming decades.
New research led by NCAR scientist Thomas Galarneau provides an in-depth analysis of two extreme weather events whose connection may come as a surprise: Russia’s intense heat wave in summer 2010 and the heavy rains that occurred simultaneously in Pakistan.
Understanding and predicting both climate variability and change—on all spatial and time scales—was the theme of the first-ever Open Science Conference of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP).
To honor his memory and inspire continuation of his work, about 200 people gathered in late August at NCAR for the 2011 Stephen H. Schneider Symposium in celebration of his contributions to research, education, and science communication.
Climate change is not expected to affect the extent or frequency of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation over the 21st century, but it could worsen its impacts. That’s the conclusion of a modeling study published in Journal of Climate in September.
The HIPPO field project is enabling researchers to generate the first detailed 3-D mapping of the global distribution of gases and particles that affect Earth’s climate.
A group of scholars and students from nine countries came together in Boulder this summer for two weeks of study dedicated to the world’s second largest and second most populous continent.
A small but active group of discipline-crossing specialists are analyzing the response of disease transmission to temperature, moisture, and other atmospheric variables.
New research that involves NCAR's Bette Otto-Bliesner questions conventional wisdom with regard to massive iceberg discharges in the North Atlantic Ocean during the last glacial period, pointing toward climate rather than ice sheet instability as a cause.
A new study involving NCAR's Bette Otto-Bliesner looks at rising sea levels during the warmth of the last interglacial period (130,000 to 120,000 years ago) and finds that melting ice sheets contributed far more to rising sea levels than thermal expansion.
If you’re an American, it’s tough to avoid corn. This ubiquitous starch turns up in soft drinks, compostable cups, and automobile fuel—and even plays a role in U.S. heat waves, including the intense one of 2011.
The Sun drives our climate, so a slowdown in solar activity would surely put the brakes on global warming—wouldn’t it? That question percolated through the media following a set of reports from a solar physics meeting.
