In a recent article published in Nature, NASA scientists analyzed mass spectrometry data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft to find concentrated and complex macromolecular organic material (with molecular masses above 200 atomic mass units) ejected from the ocean beneath the icy crust of Saturn's moon, Enceladus. This new finding suggests that a thin organic-rich film exists on top of the... Continue Reading →
June 14, 2018 – ENSO Update: El Niño Watch
NOAA CPC's current ENSO alert system status is El Nino Watch: ENSO-neutral is favored through Northern Hemisphere summer 2018, with the chance for El Niño increasing to 50% during fall, and ~65% during winter 2018-19. http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.shtml https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/june-2018-enso-update-el-ni%C3%B1o-watch
Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in 2070, under low and high emissions scenarios
A team of experts in biology, oceanography, glaciology, geophysics, climate science and policy, analyzed the potential impacts of two different future scenarios of carbon emissions, RCP2.6 (low emission & strong action) and RCP 8.5 (high emission & weak action), on Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. The team assessed key systems including global average air temperature; Antarctic contribution... Continue Reading →
Antarctic ice sheet lost 2,720 ± 1,390 billion tonnes of ice between 1992 and 2017
A team of scientists leading the ice sheet mass balance inter-comparison exercise (IMBIE) combined satellite observations of the Antarctic ice sheet, its changing volume, flow and gravitational attraction with modelling of its surface mass balance from 1992 to 2017. Their report, recently published in Nature, showed that the Antarctic ice sheet lost 2,720 ± 1,390 billion tonnes of... Continue Reading →
Antarctic ice shelf disintegration triggered by sea ice loss and ocean swell
Understanding the causes of recent catastrophic ice shelf disintegrations is a crucial step towards improving coupled models of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and predicting its future state and contribution to sea-level rise. An overlooked climate-related causal factor is regional sea ice loss. Here we show that for the disintegration events observed (the collapse of the... Continue Reading →
Man-made nutrient pollution could make coral reefs more vulnerable to ocean acidification
A team of scientists from California State University and University of Hawaii carried out a series of laboratory experiments adding nitrate and phosphate to aquariums that contain the coral reef community (corals, seaweeds and dead reef rubble). Their experiments showed that in nutrient polluted seawater, the calcification by coral reefs became less effective disrupting the relationship between... Continue Reading →
June 2, 2018 – Preliminary data from NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center indicate that the U.S. had a record low number of tornadoes
The spring severe weather season for the U.S. (March - May) is finally over. We had 449 EF0 - EF5 tornadoes from Jan 1 to June 2, which is a record low number for the period and certainly well below the historical average during 2005 - 2015 (792). Recent studies have suggested that U.S. tornado... Continue Reading →
Ocean to Climate 