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

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    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

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    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

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    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 Patrick Chuang.

From: Dr. Patrick Chuang
Radisson Hotel, Iquique, November 4, 2008

Iquique Ops Center

Rob Wood's postcard about the Arica Operations Center inspired me to write one about the Iquique Operations Center. Every day, there is a meeting at 10:30 AM to discuss the status and plans of all the different components of the VOCALS project - the various planes, ships and ground sites that are collecting data that will eventually be put together in a big picture describing how the atmosphere and ocean in this area of the world works. The Twin Otter is the only plane based in Iquique, so our modestly-sized group participates in these daily briefings via Skype. The above photo (showing Graham Feingold from NOAA and Bruce Albrecht from the University of Miami) depicts a typical day for us at the daily briefing. Compared to the hustle and bustle of the Arica ops center, it's very low key! That said, we're getting some very interesting data and we look forward to making a significant contribution to the scientific goals of VOCALS.

Postcards from the Field: Climate Science from the Southeast Pacific

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