models

Climate change could shift summertime hail to simply rain on the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado by 2070, NOAA scientists find.

A new study in Journal of Climate determines that the urban heat island effect may contribute only 2-4% of global warming.

A recent study conducted by economists at San Francisco State University (SFSU) and commissioned by the California Department of Boating and Waterways forecasts the economic impacts of sea level rise on five California coastal communities.

Policy makers, water managers, and others in government and academia frequently use climate model outputs in support of research and management decisions.  Authors of a recent article in Eos propose guidelines for creating and applying climate scenarios to research and management questions.

The evolution of computer models has increased the number of vertical ocean and atmospheric layers, as well and reduced the size of each horizontal gridbox. Current models now include up to 50 vertical layers, an increase in resolution from the time this image was generated.

Using an "ensemble" of 18 global climate models and the moderate "A1B" emissions scenario, researchers at the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) predict warming in the Southwest at the end of this century of approximately 5-7 degrees F for winter (December-February) relative to average temperatures 1971-2000.

Using an "ensemble" of 18 global climate models and the moderate "A1B" emissions scenario, researchers at the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) predict warming in the Southwest at the end of this century of approximately 7-8 degrees F for summer (June-August) relative to average temperatures 1971-2000.

The Walker circulation is the result of a difference in surface pressure and temperature over the western and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. A pressure gradient from east to west and causes surface air to from high pressure in the eastern Pacific to low pressure in the western Pacific. Higher up in the atmosphere, west-to-east winds complete the circulation.

Surface temperatures vary more than air temperatures during the day, but they both are fairly similar at night. The dip and spike in surface temperatures over the pond show how water maintains a fairly constant temperature day and night, due to its high heat capacity. The temperatures displayed do not represent absolute temperature values.