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.
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.
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.
Whether you’re looking at the next few weeks or the next few decades, many parts of the United States are likely to face the silent but devastating impacts of drought.
Days lengthen as spring arrives, but several other signs of the season are showing up earlier and earlier. Some animals and insects aren’t adapting fast enough to this "asynchrony," and there's an increasing disconnect with legal dates that govern hunting and other resource management.
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.
A team that includes NCAR scientists Anne Boynard and Alex Guenther has found that the rate at which plant canopies emit isoprene, a volatile organic compound, is influenced by circadian rhythms.
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.
Prior to massive flooding early in 2011, long-term drought plagued the Australian state of Queensland . As part of a broad research program on cloud seeding, NCAR researchers have been steadily crunching data from a 2008–09 field project that looked into how to make the clouds drop more rain on the region.
New research focusing on the Houston area suggests that widespread urban development alters weather patterns in a way that can make it easier for pollutants to accumulate during warm summer weather instead of being blown out to sea.
Alaska is among the fastest-warming places on Earth, with its interior region warming the most statewide. A study by NCAR’s Shannon McNeeley looks at the vulnerability to climate change of native rural communities.
A study led by NCAR postdoctoral researcher Jia Hu and Julia Klein from Colorado State University looks at the relationship between plants, water, carbon, and climate on the Tibetan Plateau, which is warming at a rate twice that of the global average.
Last year, a team of NCAR scientists verified that the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) can be used to depict seasonal snowfall in Colorado with a high degree of accuracy. Now the team is using WRF to forecast future snowfall.
Crop yields are affected by many factors, including breeding, management, and climate. New research from NCAR seeks to better understand these factors and their contributions to historical yield increases, in order to anticipate future changes.
The wolverine is known for its strength and ferocity, but these qualities cannot protect it from a warming world. NCAR research suggests that this aggressive predator may struggle to survive in the contiguous United States over the coming century.
In Kansas City and Tulsa, overnight lows have seldom dipped much below 80°F, with consistently oppressive humidity. Pulses of tropical air flowing north and east from the Gulf of Mexico are largely to blame.
During the stormy summer of 2005, hurricanes Katrina and Rita raised concerns about the potential effects of global warming on tropical cyclones. At the same time, the Amazon rainforest was experiencing one of its most intense droughts of the last century.
A study led by NCAR visiting scientist Erich Fischer analyzes regional climate simulations to project where heat-wave-related health risks will increase in Europe as Earth’s climate warms.
A study that includes NCAR scientists suggests that plant leaves emit far less methane when exposed to sunlight than previously thought. The research estimates that foliage is the source of less than 1% of Earth’s methane emissions.
