News & Research Highlights

A new study shows that, on a single day in 2020, more than 68 percent of the U.S. West—representing about 43 million people—were affected by harmful levels of air pollution. It was the highest number of affected people in 20 years. Large wildfires and severe heat events occurring at the same time have worsened air pollution.

New NOAA research demonstrates that the effects of fire emissions on the atmosphere are even larger and far more widespread than previously believed. Fires contribute to one of the most common and harmful constituents of urban air pollution: ozone.

Continental System for High-resolution prediction on Earth-to-Local Domains (C-SHiELD) combines a global view of weather patterns with the ability to focus on regional and local weather. This helps meteorologists better predict smaller extreme storms over the continental United States.

Researchers have gained new insights about a marine heatwave in the Northwest Atlantic in 2017. Their newly published study shows how circulation patterns likely influenced the event

Spectacular footage from inside a hurricane; a major ocean mapping milestone; new insights on the continued impacts of climate change, and much more. As the year draws to a close, we’re taking a look back at a few of our biggest research stories of the last 12 months

Failed monsoon rains that reignited the southwestern U.S. drought. A spring heat wave in western Europe. Intense Siberian wildfires. Scientists say human-caused climate change made these extreme weather events more likely, according to new research published today in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS).

NOAA and partners have launched approximately 100 new Argo floats across the Atlantic Ocean to collect data that supports ocean, weather and climate research and prediction. These will bolster the international Argo Program, which maintains a global array of about 3,800 floats that measure pressure, temperature and salinity of the upper 1.2 miles of the ocean.

Data-driven tools will help communities accelerate equitable resilience.

Pattrn, a group committed to data-driven, participatory fact mapping, highlighted work by the Western Water Assessment (WWA) Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) team in a new video.

Recent research suggested the Southern Ocean might absorb less atmospheric carbon dioxide than previously thought. But a new study published this week in the journal Science confirms the role of the Southern Ocean as a significant carbon sink.