News by Subject Atmospheric Science

Cold cloud top temperatures can tell forecasters if a tropical cyclone has the potential to generate heavy rainfall, and that is exactly what NASA's Aqua satellite found when it observed the temperatures in Tropical Cyclone Belna over northwestern Madagascar.

Understanding what influences the amount of methane in the atmosphere has been identified by the American Geophysical Union to be one of the foremost challenges in the earth sciences in the coming decades because of methane's hugely important role in meeting climate warming targets.

The identification of natural carbon sinks and understanding how they work is critical if humans are to mitigate global climate change. Tropical coastal wetlands are considered important but, so far, there is little data to show the benefits. This study, led by the University of Göttingen showed that mangrove ecosystems need to be conserved and restored as part of the battle against rising carbon levels in the atmosphere. The research was published in Global Change Biology.

A new study shows that the Met Office's operational seasonal forecasting system can predict June rainfall in the middle/lower Yangtze River basin up to four months in advance.

Environmental scientists are always in search of new tools that can better characterize the Earth's surface. In a new study published in Scientific Reports, a group of researchers in the US and Japan reported that Himawari-8, a new-generation geostationary satellite, was able to acquire cloud-free observations every 4 days and capture the seasonal changes of vegetation more accurately than before.

To better understand large, disruptive snowstorms, a University of Washington atmospheric scientist will lead a NASA field campaign studying major East Coast snowstorms beginning Jan. 15. She will present the field campaign this week at the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco.

First study to examine the environmental effects of floral foam finds the plastic material, which breaks into tiny pieces, can be eaten by a range of freshwater and marine animals and affect their health.

The impact of climate change on the world's oceans is becoming increasingly known but new research suggests current computer models could be omitting a crucial piece of evidence when it comes to assessing the scale of ocean dead zones.