Climate change is a global phenomenon, affecting weather events around the world. Therefore, people around the globe need climate information to anticipate potentially damaging floods, droughts, crop and pest conditions, and disease outbreaks. For 20 years, the scientists at the International Desks of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center have provided climate outlooks for weeks and months into the future and trained visiting meteorologists to translate climate data into information that can help decision makers in different parts of the world.
If mid-century projections of sea level rise prove true for New York City, four times as many people may be living in the 100-year floodplain than were previously estimated based only on observed changes.
Average temperatures across the contiguous United States in February ranged from frigid to balmy.
In October 2003, a little-known think tank in the Department of Defense quietly released a report warning that climate change could happen so suddenly it could pose a major threat to our country's national security. Why was the Pentagon worried about abrupt climate change? Because new evidence from Greenland showed it had happened before.
Working with private companies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency uses precipitation data from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center as part of an insurance program for ranchers and those who grow hay or other livestock forage. This video describes how it works.
According to the 2009 National Climate Assessment, heavy downpours have increased in frequency and intensity during the last 50 years. Models predict that downpours will become still more more frequent and intense as greenhouse gas emissions and the planet’s temperature continue to rise.
Great Lakes ice cover most extensive since mid-90s
February 26, 2014
Despite Fall Floods, Drought Persists in Southeastern Colorado
February 18, 2014
Water resources manager Laura Briefer describes how Salt Lake City’s Department of Public Utilities is using climate information to help plan for the city’s future.