Clouds have both cooling and warming effects on climate, so a climate model's ability to parse cloud effects can reduce uncertainty in future climate projections. A new study distinguishes between climate models with low and high climate sensitivity related to clouds and aerosols.
A new study in Nature Climate Change finds regional variations in snowpack melt as temperatures rise. The researchers conclude that, in the United States, snowpack in coastal regions and the south is most “at-risk” from climate change while snowpack in the northern interior of the country is less vulnerable.
Tornados, like most weather phenomena, are hard to predict more than several days in advance. By focusing on active tornado seasons that may be linked to climate signals, researchers at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory have made a small but important step in seasonal tornado that shows promise in predicting active seasons up to two months in advance.
The results of a new high-resolution climate model indicate that global warming made the 2018 Cape Town “Day Zero” drought five to six times more likely than it would have been in the 19th century. Models project that, without significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, such extreme droughts in the Cape Town region will become more frequent, occurring every few years or almost every year by the end of the 21st century.
Lockdowns intended to curb the spread of COVID-19 reduced human-made aerosol emissions in 2020, but the impact on Earth’s energy balance has been less clear. A new study finds that, over the East Asian Marginal Seas (between the coasts of China, Korea, and Japan) in March 2020, aerosol reductions contributed to a drastic drop in clear-sky reflection. Roughly a third of the drop can be attributed to reduced aerosols, and the rest can be attributed to weather variability and long-term emission trends.
The excess carbon dioxide responsible for global warming also increases the acidity of seawater, challenging the growth and survival of oysters and other shellfish. A team led by researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) is helping oyster growers and restoration specialists better manage their future responses to acidification in the Chesapeake Bay.
