Increasingly large and intense wildfires in the Pacific Northwest are altering the seasonal pattern of air pollution and causing a spike in unhealthy pollutants in August, new research finds. The smoke is undermining clean air gains, posing potential risks to the health of millions of people, according to the study. The research, led by scientists […]
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Posted inSci/Tech
Protecting the ozone layer is delivering vast health benefits
An international agreement to protect the ozone layer is expected to prevent 443 million cases of skin cancer and 63 million cataract cases for people born in the United States through the end of this century, according to new research. The research team, by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), ICF Consulting, […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Record-breaking ocean heat fueled Hurricane Harvey
BOULDER, Colo. May 11, 2018 — In the weeks before Hurricane Harvey tore across the Gulf of Mexico and plowed into the Texas coast in August 2017, the Gulf’s waters were warmer than any time on record, according to a new analysis led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). These hotter-than-normal conditions supercharged […]
Posted inEnviro
North American storm clusters could produce 80 percent more rain
BOULDER, Colo. November 20, 2017 – Major clusters of summertime thunderstorms in North America will grow larger, more intense, and more frequent later this century in a changing climate, unleashing far more rain and posing a greater threat of flooding across wide areas, new research concludes. The study, by scientists at the National Center for […]
Posted inCalifornia
Scientists link recent California droughts and floods to distinctive atmospheric waves
BOULDER, Colo. April 7, 2017 – The crippling wintertime droughts that struck California from 2013 to 2015, as well as this year’s unusually wet California winter, appear to be associated with the same phenomenon: a distinctive wave pattern that emerges in the upper atmosphere and circles the globe. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Extreme downpours could increase five-fold across parts of the U.S.
BOULDER, Colo. December 6, 2016 – At century’s end, the number of summertime storms that produce extreme downpours could increase by more than 400 percent across parts of the United States — including sections of the Gulf Coast, Atlantic Coast, and the Southwest — according to a new study by scientists at the National Center […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Solar energy boosted by new forecasting system
BOULDER, Colo. August 24, 2016 – A cutting edge forecasting system developed by a national team of scientists offers the potential to save the solar energy industry hundreds of millions of dollars through improved forecasts of the atmosphere. The new system, known as Sun4CastTM, has been in development for three years by the National Center […]
Posted inEnviro
Climate change already accelerating sea level rise, study finds
BOULDER, Colo. Aug. 10, 2016 — Greenhouse gases are already having an accelerating effect on sea level rise, but the impact has so far been masked by the cataclysmic 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, according to a new study led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Satellite observations, which began […]