Forecasters think the tropical Pacific climate phenomenon known as El Niño is likely to visit this winter. What might that mean for snow?
The 2018 Arctic sea ice minimum was not a record low, but it was well below the 1981–2010 average, and it continued the long-term trend of Arctic sea ice decline.
How do rainfall totals predicted for Florence compare to an average September in the U.S. Southeast?
In the bull's-eye of heaviest rainfall predicted for Hurricane Florence, parts of North and South Carolina may see more than 4 times their average September rainfall in a single week.
Warming in the West outstrips cooling in the East for a slight overall U.S. warming trend in the first month of fall.
The September 2018 temperature and precipitation Outlooks for the United States predict warmer than average temperatures for much of the country and wetter than average conditions for the central Plains and eastern seaboard.
In addition to carbon dioxide emissions, seasonal changes can alter ocean acidity. Higher ocean acidity can impact people's food, income, and industry.
Global atmospheric carbon dioxide reached 405.0 parts per million (ppm) in 2017, a new record high. In the 1960s, the global growth rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide was roughly 0.6 ppm per year. Over the past decade, however, the growth rate has been closer to 2.3 ppm per year.
The ocean absorbed a net 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon from human activities, which is 36% higher than the 2005-2015 average. While ocean carbon uptake slows atmospheric warming, it also continues the trend of ocean acidification, which stresses shell-building creatures and other ocean life.
The heating imbalance in Earth's oceans reached a new record high in 2017. From 1993–2017, the ocean has accumulated 0.36–0.40 watts of heat per square meter in the top 700 meters and another 0.19–0.35 watts per square meter at depths between 700–2,000 meters.
2017 will likely be the 38th year in a row that, on average, glaciers worldwide have lost ice mass. Cumulative mass losses have accelerated since 2000.