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Over the past thousand years, the long-term, interdecadal variability of mountain snowpacks in Western North America followed a steady pattern: when northern snowpacks were unusually heavy, southern snowpacks were unusually light by a similar amount, and vice versa.  However, this “asynchronous” pattern broke down in the middle to late 20th century when snowpacks in both [...]

Many people think of Polar Bears when they think about climate change, but they aren’t the only animals feeling the impacts. On Endangered Species Day, pandas, gorillas and tigers will get attention, but far away from the limelight, high in the mountains of western North America, the American Pika will continue its slow retreat from [...]

When you hear about the ozone hole, you probably think about sun burns and skin cancer.  Or, maybe you think about aerosol cans, CFCs and the Montreal Protocol.  You probably don’t picture stronger winds and frothier oceans, but the latest research shows that ozone depletion isn’t just about UV rays – it’s about Earth’s climate [...]

Over time, as the world’s average temperature has climbed, Northern Hemisphere plants in boreal and Arctic regions have benefited from these warmer conditions.  A NASA-funded study conducted by an international team of 21 scientists recently discovered that the annual temperature profiles and plant productivity rates once found at lower latitudes have shifted north by 4 [...]

Learn more about how scientists use old weather data to reconstruct past weather. Global weather reconstructions from National Maritime Museum on Vimeo. In order to understand what the weather will do in the future, scientists need to understand what the weather did in the past. That’s a challenging endeavor because reliable, historical weather observations can [...]

Across America, climate change has already started to interrupt nature’s rhythm.  Plants have begun to flower at different times than before, largely in tandem with long-term temperature and precipitation trends.  The USA National Phenology Network has compiled some of the most robust analyses of observed flowering season changes for each region of the United States [...]

If you’re one of the 10-20 percent of Americans who suffer from seasonal ragweed allergies, the latest climate change research won’t be welcome news – especially if you live in the Upper Midwest.Scientists have discovered that today’s ragweed pollen season, which peaks in the summer and fall, is as much as 27 days longer than [...]

Even though extreme weather events can be notoriously unpredictable, some things are coming into focus.   In 2011, the U.S. had more weather-related billion-dollar disasters (14) than at any other point in its recorded history, and the losses from 2012’s Hurricane Sandy and drought may prove to be even costlier.  Our climate’s mean conditions and extremes [...]

Globally, humans draw nearly one-third of our fresh water from underground sources, supplying 36 percent of domestic water, 42 percent of agricultural water and 27 percent of  industrial water.  However, our water demands are beginning to alter this critical resource in profound ways.  Until now, scientists have struggled to understand how increased demand coupled with [...]

Could lessons from its 44-year climatology improve our forecasts of cold snaps? Jet streams are the air traffic controllers of Earth’s weather. These fast-moving “rivers of air” meander through the atmosphere’s landscape, pushing around mountains and valleys of high and low pressure. The jet stream’s position can be a great clue for predicting some types of [...]

Two divergent stories are beginning to emerge about America’s snowfall.  While one study showed that American snowfall might decline in the future, another found that the biggest snow-producers – extreme snowstorms – have increased.  In fact, there have been twice as many extreme snowstorms in the past half century as there were in the preceding [...]

According to a recent study, birds living in unstable climates are more likely to cheat on their significant others.  But avian cheaters have good intentions – by mating with multiple partners, female birds can improve their offspring’s ability to cope with variable future weather conditions. Studies have shown that chicks born from cheating have higher [...]

In Brief: Most of the headline-grabbing cold weather outbreaks during the Northern Hemisphere winters of 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 can be explained by natural variability.  However, a greater percentage of the Northern Hemisphere was dominated by anomalously warm weather outbreaks in these seasons and increasing global temperature trends over the past half-century may have been more [...]

As Earth’s climate warms and local temperatures and precipitation patterns change, plants and animals move to stay within their zones of preferred temperature and moisture levels. Obviously, animals can move much more readily than plants, which can only move generation-by-generation as their seeds are spread by winds, water and the more mobile animals. A particular [...]

2012 was the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States.  Globally, it was the ninth (by NASA estimates) or tenth warmest (by NOAA estimates).  2012 was also the 36th year in a row where the average global temperature was above the 20th century average. The recent 30-40 year warming trend is obvious on [...]

Climate change means geographic changes in the distribution of certain temperature and moisture conditions. Because most species are optimized to live within specific climate conditions, a mobile species will try to track these conditions as they expand, contract or shift to the north/south or uphill/ downhill. Less mobile species may adjust their life cycles or [...]

On the other side of the Great Lakes in Ontario, Canada live two species of flying squirrel, the northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) and the southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans). These two species inhabit more northerly and southerly ranges, respectively. Climate change means geographic changes in the distribution of temperature and moisture conditions. Because most [...]

The world’s largest ice mass is found around the South Polar region on the continent of Antarctica. This ice is actually two separate ice sheets. The East Antarctic ice sheet is situated on a mountainous continental mass and its elevation and size make it resistant to melting. The West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS) essentially sits [...]

In Brief: In the eastern United States, the recent warming trend and the pause in minimum winter temperature rise since 1995 are causing diverse responses among bird species, with an overall increase in bird diversity and a decline in body size being two observed effects. Because they are highly mobile, birds’ ranges are often suggested [...]

In Brief: Warmer winter temperatures in the western United States compared to the 1960s are prompting American kestrels to adopt wintering grounds closer to their nesting grounds. This enables them to more quickly return and compete for nesting sites and mates in the spring. The highly mobile nature of birds compared to reptiles and even [...]