News & Research Highlights

Atmospheric scientists led by NOAA have found that wildfires strong enough to spawn their own thunderstorms have a lasting effect on the stratosphere—and climate.

A new study examines water use in three large U.S. water systems: Austin Water, the Southern Nevada Water Authority, and Tampa Bay Water. Changes during drought, sustained engagement, collaboration, and education can lead to long-lasting changes in values around water, the study finds.

Ice coverage has reached a record low in the Great Lakes for this time of year. As of February 13, 2023, only 7 percent of these five freshwater lakes was covered in ice, significantly below the 35-40 percent ice cover expected.

When white lesions began appearing at the famously intact Flower Garden Banks coral reef system, scientists knew a rapid, multi-agency, collaborative response was vital to learn from this coral disease outbreak.

NOAA PMEL oceanographers and colleagues are leading an effort to establish first-of-their-kind standards for calculating and reporting trends in ocean acidification observations

Is climate change outpacing drought assessment? February 28-March 1, the National Integrated Drought Information System and the U.S. Department of Agriculture will host a workshop to address this question. A pre-workshop virtual webinar, recorded February 10, is already available online.

The most common forest fires in the north-central United States are prescribed burns, which are less commonly studied than wildfires. A new study on prescribed burns in northern Michigan revealed distinct chemical signals of certain trees native to the area, highlighting the importance of further studying this region.

Tropical cyclones are still not fully understood at a fine level of detail. A newly published climate-model study demonstrates a better understanding of the processes of tropical cyclone formation, which will help to develop models and future projections.

California is the nation's most populous state, and one of the largest contributors to food security. Reliable precipitation forecasts are in high demand but hard to deliver. A new paper examines the challenges.

NOAA researchers have published the new article titled, “Growing Safely or Building Risk?” The publication analyzes new construction across 5 million parcels in the state of North Carolina, and the relationships between flood risk management effort and development outcomes.