NOAA

How do you predict a solar storm? Space weather experts explain

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For those who had the chance to see the aurora this weekend, it was quite a spectacular moment. But while seeing the Northern Lights is thrilling and exciting for us, the same coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and geomagnetic storms that make these light shows possible can also wreak havoc on some of the technology that … Read more

The world’s coral reefs are facing another mass bleaching event – ​​perhaps the largest ever

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A diver examines coral bleaching in the southern Great Barrier Reef in March 2024. (AIMS/Eoghan Aston – image credit) The world’s oceans are experiencing another global mass coral bleaching event due to unprecedented heat, scientists from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed. “This is the fourth time coral bleaching has occurred simultaneously in … Read more

Where has winter gone? Spring is coming early as the American winter was the warmest on record

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In much of America, especially in the normally cold north, the country experienced the winter months without, well, winter. In the parka strongholds of Burlington, Vermont and Portland, Maine, the thermometer never dropped below zero. The state of Minnesota called the past three months “the lost winter,” warmer than the infamous “year without winter” in … Read more

How record heat in February prepares US for crop-destroying ‘whiplash’

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Forget spring: This week, much of the interior U.S. gets a taste of summer. A wave of unusually high temperatures — often 30 to 40 degrees above average — is blasting states from Texas to the Dakotas and east to the shores of the Great Lakes. That heat follows the hottest December on record, and … Read more

How scientists use artificial intelligence to predict forest fires

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Forecasting fires is not easy: there are so many different types of challenges that forecasters face, both before a wildfire starts and even while it is active. These fires can start anytime and anywhere. So many different factors need to be considered before we can estimate how quickly this could spread and how deeply it … Read more

From forest fires to melting sea ice, the hottest summer on record had a huge impact on the Arctic

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The year 2023 broke the record for the warmest summer in the Arctic, and people and ecosystems across the region felt the impact. Wildfires forced evacuations across Canada. Greenland was so warm that a research station at the top of the ice sheet recorded the melting in late June, only the fifth melting event on … Read more