Current Events

  • Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm
    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm rep...Read more

    x

    Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm

    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm repeatedly. Daily levels of CO2 can vary due to weather, and there are seasonal trends as well. The level of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to increase, now over 120 ppm since the Industrial Revolution began. For more on the Keeling Curve, see http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. Find out more about greenhouse gases and warming.
  • Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley
    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Io...Read more

    x

    Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley

    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. On May 20th, a massive tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities - destroying over 100 homes and hitting two elementary schools and a hospital - with many casualties and deaths. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues suffering from these storms. For more on the May 20th storms, see the NOAA Storm Prediction Center Storm Report.
  • Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education
    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of ...Read more

    x

    Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education

    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of sustainability. Here is a link to the one-page bill: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2366_00_0000.pdf. See report on Bloomberg News.

    Image courtesy of Paquita Zuidema.

From: Dr. Paquita Zuidema
Ronald Brown (ship), November 12, 2008

First Cut at Data Analysis

I thought I would try to give a flavor to analyzing real-time data. The plot I've attached shows atmospheric water vapor paths and cloud liquid water paths, produced from a standard microwave radiometer. This is a cloud remote sensing instrument that points upwards and measures radiation given off naturally by the atmosphere. It is most responsive to water vapor and - just like your microwave oven at home - liquid water. I also have red dots on the plot, to indicate the water vapor paths from another instrument (weather balloon soundings). The red dots and black points don't always line up together so well! This is my first look at this data and the challenge now is to figure out what happened. One interesting thing you can see in the figure, however, is that the red dots got higher at the end of the plot. This is when the ship was coming into port, and shows that the land was moister (overall) than the ocean. This may be because the land surface is usually warmer than the ocean, with heating of the land from the sun driving an afternoon sea breeze that brings in moisture off of the ocean into land.

Postcards from the Field: Climate Science from the Southeast Pacific

You might also be interested in:

Traveling Nitrogen Classroom Activity Kit

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

What are the results of VOCALS?

Long after the VOCALS campaign is completed, the scientists’ work will continue. They must process, review, and study the data to determine what has been learned. Many model runs will be made and analyzed....more

How Clouds Form

A cloud is composed of tiny water droplets or ice crystals that are suspended in the air. A series of processes have to happen in order for these water droplets or ice crystals to form into clouds in the...more

Electromagnetic Radiation

Electromagnetic radiation is the result of oscillating electric and magnetic fields. The wave of energy generated by such vibrations moves through space at the speed of light. And well it should... for...more

Radio Waves

Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation. A radio wave has a much longer wavelength than does visible light. We use radio waves extensively for communications. Radio waves have wavelengths as...more

Winds in the Southeast Pacific

Winds in the Southeast Pacific have a strong influence on regional climate and play an important role in several large-scale, global climate phenomena. The Hadley cell is a global atmospheric circulation...more

Ocean-Atmosphere Coupling in the Southeast Pacific

The ocean and the atmosphere in the Southeast Pacific Ocean are connected in many ways. Strong trade winds blow northward along the west coast of South America. These winds stir up the ocean, bringing...more

Rhea George

Many students in atmospheric science were motivated to enter the field by some fascinating extreme weather event experienced as a child. This was not the case with me. When I was an undergraduate I was...more

Shop Windows to the Universe

We now offer the Cool It! card game in our Science Store. Cool It! is the new card game from UCS that teaches kids about the choices we have when it comes to climate change.

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation and NASA, our Founding Partners (the American Geophysical Union and American Geosciences Institute) as well as through Institutional, Contributing, and Affiliate Partners, individual memberships and generous donors. Thank you for your support! NASA AGU AGI NSF