Beast from the East 2? What 'sudden stratospheric warming' involves and why it can cause freezing surface weather
Sudden warming more than 10 km above the north pole can mean sudden freezing down here.
Jan. 11, 2021 • ~6 min
atmospheric-science weather jet-stream beast-from-the-east
Wildfire smoke changes dramatically as it ages, and that matters for downwind air quality – here's what we learned flying through smoke plumes
Thousands of chemical compounds in wildfire smoke are interacting with each other and sunlight as the smoke travels. For people downwind, it can become more toxic over time.
Dec. 17, 2020 • ~8 min
chemistry health environment science air-pollution particulates atmospheric-science wildfires smoke environmental-health pm-25 flight firefighting smoke-inhalation
Remembering Mario Molina, Nobel Prize-winning chemist who pushed Mexico on clean energy -- and, recently, face masks
Molina, who died on Oct. 8, 'thought climate change was the biggest problem in the world long before most people did.' His research on man-made depletion of the ozone layer won the 1995 Nobel Prize.
Oct. 10, 2020 • ~6 min
nobel-prize climate-change fossil-fuels atmospheric-science face-masks wind-energy green-jobs mexico ozone-layer clean-energy nobel-prize-in-chemistry montreal-protocol clean-air
Video: How ancient ice cores show ‘black swan’ events in history – even pandemics
Ice cores can preserve evidence of 'black swan' events like pandemics and droughts, but the glaciers from which they are collected are disappearing.
Sept. 3, 2020 • ~8 min
geology climate-change atmospheric-science glaciers ice-cores paleoclimatology glaciology
Hurricane Laura was the latest storm to strengthen fast, but is rapid intensification really becoming more common?
Laura went from a tropical storm to a major hurricane in less than 24 hours, sending coastal residents scrambling to prepare. Hurricanes Harvey and Michael exploded in strength in similar ways.
Aug. 28, 2020 • ~6 min
climate-change hurricanes sea-surface-temperatures meteorology natural-disasters atmospheric-science oceans wind
Hurricane Laura was the latest storm to strengthen fast, but is this rapid intensification really becoming more common?
Laura went from a tropical storm to a major hurricane in less than 24 hours, sending coastal residents scrambling to prepare. Hurricanes Harvey and Michael exploded in strength in similar ways.
Aug. 28, 2020 • ~6 min
climate-change hurricanes sea-surface-temperatures meteorology natural-disasters atmospheric-science oceans wind
Hurricane Laura was the latest storm with rapid intensification, but is this really becoming more common?
Laura went from a tropical storm to a major hurricane in less than 24 hours, sending coastal residents scrambling to prepare. Hurricanes Harvey and Michael exploded in strength in similar ways.
Aug. 28, 2020 • ~6 min
climate-change hurricanes sea-surface-temperatures meteorology natural-disasters atmospheric-science oceans wind
Are hurricanes strengthening more rapidly?
Hurricanes Harvey, Michael and now Laura all had rapid intensification, but is it really becoming more common?
Aug. 28, 2020 • ~6 min
climate-change hurricanes meteorology natural-disasters atmospheric-science oceans wind
A massive Saharan dust plume is moving into the southeast US, bringing technicolor sunsets and suppressing tropical storms
From June through October, it's not unusual for huge Saharan dust plumes to blow across the Atlantic. They can darken skies but also bring calmer weather and electric sunsets. Here's how they form.
June 25, 2020 • ~7 min
climate hurricanes storms atmospheric-science weather air-quality atlantic-ocean dust sahara tropical-rainforest
We caught bacteria from the most pristine air on earth to help solve a climate modeling mystery
Climate models have been overestimating how much sunlight hits the Southern Ocean. This is because the clouds there are different from clouds anywhere else. Bacterial DNA helped us understand why.
June 19, 2020 • ~9 min
climate bacteria antarctica climate-models atmospheric-science weather clouds southern-ocean
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