Atmospheric

Radioactive Ocean Plume From Fukushima Will Reach USA In 3 Years

The radioactive ocean plume from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear incident will reach the shores of the US within three years from the date of the incident- but it will be harmless, according to a new paper. Atmospheric radiation was detected quickly even in th ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 28 2013 - 9:57am

Atmosphere's Emission Fingerprint Affected By How Clouds Are Stacked

Clouds, which can absorb or reflect incoming radiation and affect the amount of radiation escaping from Earth's atmosphere, remain the greatest source of uncertainty in global climate modeling. ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 2 2013 - 12:58pm

Move Over CO2, Soot Was Causing Climate Change In The 1860s

In the zeal to promote carbon dioxide emissions as a magic bullet to stave off climate change, a lot of other factors were minimized. Soot was a big one, but a new study in PNAS suggests that the abrupt retreat of mountain glaciers in the European Alps in ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 3 2013 - 4:39pm

On The Upside, Global Warming Could Lessen Strength Of El Niño

20 years ago, El Niño had an uncorrected impact on the data that went into global warming models, causing puzzling results. Now, those results have been corrected and instead of El Niño impacting global warming, global warming could be impacting El Niño. ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 11 2013 - 10:49am

Greenland Snowpack Measurements Show A Drop In Atmospheric CO Since The 1950s

Atmospheric levels of carbon monoxide (CO) in the 1950s were actually slightly higher than what we have today, according to  a first-ever study of air trapped in the deep snowpack of Greenland- results that contradict current computer model predictions th ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 17 2013 - 9:24am

Human Activity Affects Latitude/Altitude Pattern Of Atmospheric Temperature

Observational satellite data and a computer model have predicted response to human influence have a common latitude/altitude pattern of atmospheric temperature change. The key features of this pattern are global-scale tropospheric warming and stratospheri ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 18 2013 - 8:30am

Super Typhoon Usagi Heads For China

Super Typhoon Usagi and its 150 MPH winds will be the strongest weather event this year.  The radar on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured an image of Supertyphoon Usagi near the end of a 24-hour period in which Usagi intensi ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 20 2013 - 2:29pm

If Warming Happens, Wind And Rain Belts Could Shift North

An estimate finds that a northward shift of Earth's wind and rain belts could make a broad swath of regions drier, including the Middle East, American West and Amazonia, while making Monsoon Asia and equatorial Africa wetter. ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 23 2013 - 4:30pm

3-D Models Of Electrical Streamers

Streamers may be great for decorating a child's party, but in dielectrics they are the primary origin of electric breakdown and can cause catastrophic damage to electrical equipment, harm the surrounding environment, and lead to large-scale power out ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 28 2013 - 4:38pm

Climate Change: Greenhouse Gas Pace May Be Why Warming Hasn't Kept Up

Most research has focused on the amount of global warming resulting from increased greenhouse gas concentrations but there has been relatively little study of the pace of the change following these increases. A new paper concludes that about half of the w ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 30 2013 - 2:35pm