Climate Projections | NOAA Climate.gov

Photo from a National Guard helicopter showing flooded neighborhoods in Port Arthur, TX, from Hurricane Harvey

Climate change is probably increasing the intensity of tropical cyclones

March 31, 2021

A panel of hurricane experts reviewed more than 90 research studies on the observed and projected changes in tropical cyclones for an updated summary of what the science says about the human influence on these devastating storms.

Global map of impact of warming on spring thaw of winter snowpack

Which mountain snowpacks are most vulnerable to global warming?

March 22, 2021

Early disappearance of winter snowpack can have a major impact on spring and summer water supplies for people, ecosystems, and agriculture.

Climate & French fries

November 19, 2020

Warmer conditions will pose new challenges for producers of Americans’ favorite side dish but advance knowledge and innovation will help potato growers prepare.

2020-21 Winter outlook leans warm and dry across southern U.S.

October 15, 2020

The elevated odds for a warm winter extend to the East Coast and Appalachian Mountains states. In the North, a wetter than average winter is favored from the Ohio Valley northwestward along the U.S.-Canada border.

Brief periods of dangerous humid heat arrive decades early

May 12, 2020

Climate models project dangerous combinations of heat and humidity by the end of the 21st century. New research says these extremes are already happening.

Annual forecast challenge and other research highlight the complexity of sea ice prediction

April 8, 2020

In 2015, NOAA's Climate Program Office (CPO) invited grant proposals from sea ice and climate scientists looking to better understand and predict Arctic sea ice behavior, on timescales ranging from days to decades. This is our second story on some of the resulting research.

A pair of maps of the CONUS with shaded contours showing increasing chances of above or below average temperature (top) and precipitation (bottom)

Temperature and precipitation outlooks for February 2020

February 5, 2020

Across a wide swath of the United States from the Gulf Coast to the Mid-Atlantic, February is more likely to be above average than below average in terms of both temperature and precipitation.

Why should I trust scientists’ climate projections for 50 or 100 years from now when they can’t accurately forecast the weather more than 2 weeks from now?

October 29, 2020

Weather and climate occur on different scales of time and space, and depend on different aspects of Earth's environment. Weather describes atmospheric conditions at a particular time and place. Climate is the overall statistical characteristics of weather and environmental conditions, such as long-term averages and ranges of variability, for a given place and season.

Are there positive benefits from global warming?

October 29, 2020

Yes, there will probably be some short-term and long-term positive benefits from global warming, but the negative costs and impacts of continued global warming are very likely to far outweigh the positive benefits over the course of this century.

How will global warming harm human health and well-being?

October 29, 2020

From heat-related illness, to the spread of pests and pathogens into new areas, to the accumulation of toxins in seafood, global warming is likely to have serious impacts on public health.

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