What happens next—and what we've avoided
In the hubbub of the Copenhagen climate summit and its aftermath, a
global agreement forged almost a quarter century ago stood quietly in
the background, like a modest older sibling. All of the world's nations
have now ratified the Montreal Protocol, which sets limits on the
chlorine-containing...
The life of a legendary meteorologist
Atmospheric
scientists around the world are mourning the loss of Joanne Simpson. The
87-year-old researcher, who upended stereotypes and made landmark contributions
to meteorology, died on 4 March in Washington, DC. "We have a lost a great scientist and a true friend,"
said retired radar...
A prolonged solar minimum gives researchers plenty to mull
If the last few years have seen a so-called quiet Sun,
its silence has spoken volumes. Researchers have taken advantage of a raft of
new sensors and a special observing campaign, the Whole Heliosphere Interval
(WHI) in early 2008, to learn much about what happens when the sun temporarily
powers...
A sterling group toasts the program's 25th anniversary
UCAR's first community program-Unidata-celebrated its
25th anniversary on 15-16 October with a rare gathering of staff, founders,
partners, and collaborators from around the country. Close to 100 attendees,
including many of the people most closely involved with Unidata's birth and
growth,...
PLOWS scoops up insight on winter storm structure
The giant comma-shaped storm systems that traverse the Midwest from fall through spring-otherwise known as extratropical cyclones-carry more than a few secrets along their lumbering paths. Radar, lidar, and profiler beams are now slicing through those storms, hunting for small-scale features that...
UCAR members ponder urban and regional approaches to climate change adaptation
Years before Congress began debating greenhouse-gas
reduction, urban areas were taking action. More than 500 U.S. cities had
pledged by 2007 to reduce their carbon footprints in line with the goals of the
Kyoto Protocol, even though the United States as a whole never ratified the
treaty.
A new simulation portrays 21,000 years of climate in detail
In a bright, quiet, air-conditioned room in eastern Tennessee, a portrait of Earth's progression from ice age to present is taking shape in unprecedented detail. Each day, up to 100 years of climatic history unfolds. By early this year, the story will be complete, thanks to some five...
An armada of tornado researchers builds a moveable field study
Each spring, hundreds of storm chasers prowl the Great Plains.
Though many share their observations through ham radio, cell phones, or
wireless Internet, most of these groups go where they please, each
hoping to grab a dramatic snippet of video or some useful bits of data.
This year they were...
Joachim Kuettner's remarkable life hits a new milestone: year 100
When you've been studying the ways of the atmosphere since the
1930s, you have many tales to tell. Joachim Kuettner has been sharing
his life stories, including some lesser-known ones, in a new round of
oral and video histories. The catalyst is Kuettner's
100th birthday, which he celebrated with...
Beauty and insight emerge from the first comprehensive sunspot model
In a breakthrough that will help scientists unlock mysteries of the
Sun and its impacts on Earth, an international team of scientists from
NCAR and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) has
created the first-ever comprehensive computer model of sunspots. The
resulting visuals...
