For New Englanders, the saying “as American as apple pie” may as well be “as New England as lobster.” But warming sea surface temperatures from climate change are forcing populations of the American lobster to higher latitudes than ever before—and upending fishing communities on the New England coast.
A strong El Niño continued during December 2015 with well above average sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, according to NOAA Climate Prediction Center’s monthly El Niño advisory update.
With this year's ongoing El Niño event, parts of East Africa may be ripe for a potential outbreak of Rift Valley Fever. See how government agencies are using climate data to help predict, and hopefully prevent, an outbreak of this deadly mosquito-borne virus that affects both people and valuable livestock.
Earth’s hottest periods occurred before humans existed. Those ancient climates would have been like nothing our species has ever seen.
Like a prehistoric fly trapped in amber during dinosaurs' days, airborne relics of Earth's earlier climate can end up trapped in glacial ice for eons. How do climate scientists turn those tiny relics into a story about Earth's ancient climate?
A pool of warm water lurking beneath the surface of the western Pacific has been slowly sloshing eastward in the past few months. This traveling wave of warm water is one of the signs that climate conditions are favorable for the emergence of El Niño later this year.
The most likely explanation for the lack of significant warming at the Earth’s surface in the past decade or so is that natural climate cycles caused shifts in ocean circulation patterns that moved some excess heat into the deep ocean.
Climate Matters
August 27, 2013