During active hurricane eras, a persistent zone of high vertical wind shear along the U.S. East Coast provides protection from rapidly intensifying hurricanes. With high emissions, that shear is projected to relax.
Members of the Karuk Tribe in northern California maintain that the age-old tradition of prescribed burning holds the answer to climate adaptation planning in the Klamath River range.
Forecasters think the tropical Pacific climate phenomenon known as El Niño is likely to visit this winter. What might that mean for snow?
Impacts of global warming on Great Plains summer rainfall and vegetation are biggest unknowns.
But basin-wide quiet periods favor rapid intensification of U.S. landfalling hurricanes.
A saildrone observed the growth and decay of a bloom of ocean plants in the Alaskan Arctic in late summer 2017. Such blooms affect the rate of regional ocean acidification, which occurs as surface waters absorb human-produced carbon dioxide.
Models suggest 2016's extreme warmth may be the Arctic's new normal within a decade.
A lack of persistent sea ice in waters around the Bering Strait this winter disrupted travel, damaged roads and other infrastructure, and prevented traditional hunting and fishing in several coastal communities in western Alaska.