Climate Number: 69 Gigatons
The biggest collection of ice on Earth is in the South Polar Region. The East Antarctic ice sheet, is situated on top of continental land mass and considered much more resistant to melting than the...
View ArticleClimate Number: Nine Degrees Fahrenheit
The world’s largest ice mass is found around the South Polar region on the continent of Antarctica. This ice is actually two separate ice sheets. The East Antarctic ice sheet is situated on a...
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Climate Fact: Two Tales of American Snowfall
Two divergent stories are beginning to emerge about America’s snowfall. While one study showed that American snowfall might decline in the future, another found that the biggest snow-producers –...
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Climate Fact: Warmer Springs are Reducing Rocky Mountain Snowpacks
Over the past thousand years, the long-term, interdecadal variability of mountain snowpacks in Western North America followed a steady pattern: when northern snowpacks were unusually heavy, southern...
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Climate Fact: Glacial Contributions to Sea Level Rise Now Match Ice Sheets
For years, there were mixed messages about the impact of Earth’s melting glaciers on sea level rise. Evidence collected by glaciologists suggested that glaciers were contributing more to sea level...
View ArticleClimate Fact: Better Glaciology Sharpens Focus on Sea Level Rise
In the six years since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its last assessment report, better models and satellite observations have let scientists refine their estimates of glacial...
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Climate Fact: Thin Clouds Had a Hand in Record Greenland Melting
On a hot summer’s day, clouds are welcome. They offer shade and a merciful break from the sun. But if you’re an ice sheet in Greenland, clouds can give you a meltdown instead. Clouds don’t always...
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Climate Fact: Arctic sea ice is shrinking; Antarctic sea ice is growing – Why?
The Arctic and Antarctic sea ice expands and contracts with the seasons: melting occurs during summer and expansion occurs during winter. The Arctic reaches its minimum extent in September at the end...
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Earth Science Week 2013: Mapping Our World
October 13-19, 2013 is Earth Science Week. This year’s theme is Mapping Our World – an exploration of how geoscientists, geographers and other professionals use maps to represent and study weather and...
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Climate Fact: Warmer Winters Affect Lake Ice Cover
Did you know that freshwater lakes and rivers are unevenly distributed across the Earth? Most freshwater lakes and rivers are in the Northern Hemisphere in regions where air temperatures drop below the...
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Climate Fact: Winter Recreation in a Warming World
Did you know skiing can be traced to prehistoric times? Primitive skis have been found in Sweden dating back to 2,000 years B.C.! Skiing was a means of travel between isolated communities during harsh...
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Climate Fact: Atmospheric Rivers and Precipitation in the West Coast
Did you know that rivers exist in the air? Atmospheric rivers—the Amazons of the air—are vast and unbroken streams of wind that carry water vapor from tropical oceans, moving thousands of miles through...
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Climate Fact: Changes in Russia’s Snow Cover
Russia – host of the 2014 Winter Olympics – is the world’s largest country, spanning over six million square miles and 11 time zones. Due to its large size and because most of the land is over 200...
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Climate Fact: Understanding Weather & Climate From Space
During National Environmental Education Week, April 13-19, 2014, we are celebrating the important role STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math) play in helping us understand Earth’s...
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National Climate Assessment
The National Climate Assessment is a comprehensive report that assesses the science and impacts of climate change across the United States. This report was produced by a team of more than 300 experts,...
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Climate Change in America’s National Parks
The United States was the first country in the world to create a national park—Yellowstone National Park, in 1872. The National Park Service, founded in 1916, currently manages 401 areas that protect...
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Climate Fact: Ice Cover Trends in the Great Lakes
You may remember that the Great Lakes had near-record ice cover this year, with ice remnants present until early June! Ninety one (91) percent of the Great Lakes were covered in ice in 2013/14, making...
View ArticleClimate Fact: Warming Waters for Antarctica, Warming Trend for the Arctic
As 2014 came to a close, important news regarding the poles was released. According to NOAA’s Arctic Report Card for 2014, the Arctic is warming at twice the rate of anywhere else in the planet. Warm...
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Climate Fact: Climate Change and America’s Iconic Glaciers
If you visited Glacier National Park (GNP) a few decades ago, it might have looked a whole lot different than it does today. Today, GNP holds only 25 of the 150 iconic glaciers once found in the park...
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Arctic Sea Ice Winter Maximum
According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Arctic sea ice likely reached its lowest maximum extent in the satellite record on February 25, 2015. Unless late season ice growth takes...
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