Each summer, the seasonal unraveling of the Arctic’s blanket of ice exposes large areas of the ocean to solar heating. The smaller the ice extent, the larger the potential warming influence. Arctic sea ice extent in July 2011 was the lowest for that month in the satellite record.
Near the Earth’s equator, solar heating is intense year round. Converging trade winds and abundant water vapor all combine to produce a persistent belt of daily showers known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone.
More than 90 percent of the warming that has happened on Earth over the past 50 years has occurred in the ocean. Not all of that heating is detectable yet at the surface
We can have record-setting blizzards and global warming at the same time. NOAA scientists explain climate variability, how it influenced our weather this winter, and how it differs from climate change.
A La Niña Watch has been issued by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. But also, we are still in El Niño! Confused? Let the ENSO bloggers explain.
No, your eyes are not deceiving you. The latest ENSO Outlook does in fact favor the end of La Niña with a slightly over 80% chance that ENSO-Neutral conditions will reign supreme by springtime. For more on that and another look at how daily temperatures vary during winter, click below.