The hole in Earth’s ozone layer is the smallest it’s been since 1988, NASA satellite estimates observed. While the ozone hole is still enormous—measuring about 19.6 million square kilometers (7.6 million square miles, or 2.5 times the size of the U.S.) at its annual peak extent this Sept. 11—that’s much smaller compared to the average […]
By Joe Sandler Clarke A wildfire is blazing in Greenland right now. Satellite images show a fire in west Greenland has been burning for a week, with the first sighting on July 31. Local media reports said smoke from the blaze, 90 miles northeast of the small town of Sisimuit, has risen two kilometers into […]
Scientists predict that so much pollution is pouring into the Gulf of Mexico this year that it is creating a larger-than-ever “dead zone” in which low to no oxygen can suffocate or kill fish and other marine life. The Guardian reported that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is expected to announce this week […]
By Scott Weaver At a time when storms are getting more destructive, floods more devastating and people and property more vulnerable, accurate weather forecasting is more critical than ever. Which is why the Trump administration’s brazen proposal to slash funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) most important forecasting and storm prediction programs […]
By Nika Knight A new report shows that many previous estimates of global sea level rise by 2100 were far too conservative, the Washington Post reported Thursday, and the research comes as new maps and graphics from Climate Central vividly show how disastrous that flooding will be for U.S. cities. The report, Snow, Water, Ice […]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Thursday it is investigating the unusually high number of humpback whale deaths off the U.S. Atlantic Coast. A total of 41 humpback whales died in the waters off Maine to North Carolina since January 2016, including 15 that washed up dead this year. That’s about three times […]
By Mikey Jane Moran “There are no cod left in Cape Cod,” said a New England chef with a shrug of his shoulders. And he really means no cod. The salty docks of Gloucester, Massachusetts—once the hub of American fishing culture, bustling with wind-blown fishermen hauling nets full of squirming fish—is nearly deserted. Due to […]
The California government may have declared the drought over, but scientists say the land still has a lot of catching up to do. A new study has found that California’s hardest hit areas will likely need several decades for their long-term average precipitation to recover back to normal levels. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration […]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that carbon dioxide levels in 2016 broke records for the second year in a row with an increase of 3 parts per million (ppm). The measurements are coming from the Mauna Loa Baseline Atmospheric Observatory in Hawaii and were confirmed by NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in […]