ESRL 2007 News
2002 Drought Left Millions of Tons of Extra Carbon Dioxide in Earth's Atmosphere
November 26, 2007
A new NOAA study, appearing in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows how a prolonged drought in North America in 2002 cut the continent's natural uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) in half, leaving more than 360 million tons (330 million metric tons) more of the heat-trapping greenhouse gas in Earth's atmosphere. The amount not absorbed that year is equivalent to annual emissions from more than 200 million U.S. automobiles.
Full Story »»
NOAA Celebrates 50-Year Carbon Dioxide Record
November 26, 2007
Fifty years ago the U.S. Weather Bureau, predecessor of NOAA's National
Weather Service, sponsored a young scientist from the Scripps Institution
of Oceanography to begin tracking carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere at
two of the planet's most remote and pristine sites: the South Pole and the
summit of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. This week NOAA, Scripps, the
World Meteorological Organization, and other organizations will celebrate
the half-century anniversary of the global record of carbon dioxide in
Earth's atmosphere -- often referred to as the "Keeling Curve" in honor of
that young scientist, Charles David Keeling.
Full Story »»
Join ESRL in Celebrating 200 Years of Science, Services and Stewardship
November 9, 2007
On November 9, 2007 NOAA in Boulder will celebrate and commemorate NOAA science,
from its beginnings in the early explorations of our hemisphere, through
its evolution as a preeminent science agency, and forward to its future
role in the understanding and prediction of the Earth system.
Full Story »»
Antarctic Ozone Hole Returns to Near Average Levels
November 1, 2007
The size of this year's Antarctic ozone hole is slightly above the 10-year average
in both depth and overall area, NOAA scientists announced today. Last year's
ozone hole broke records for both ozone loss within the critical layer and for the
size of the area affected.
Full Story »»
Conference Marks 50th Anniversary of Global CO2 Record
November 2007
The 50th anniversary of the global CO2 record, begun by Dr. Charles David Keeling at the
South Pole and in Hawaii in 1957, will be celebrated at a symposium in Kona, Hawaii,
near the Mauna Loa Observatory, on 28-30 November 2007.
This conference brings together leaders of business, government, and science to discuss
the global CO2 record, climate change, and what is needed from future CO2 measurement
systems to monitor the efficacy of mitigation efforts.
Full Story »»
IPCC and Al Gore Share Nobel Peace Prize
October 12, 2007
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has announced that the Nobel Peace Prize for
2007 is to be shared, in two equal parts, between the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr. for "their efforts to
build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change,
and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract
such change."
Full Story »»
A.R. Ravishankara Selected Cochair of the Scientific Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol
September 24, 2007
Dr. A.R. Ravishankara, Director of ESRL's Chemical Sciences Division, was selected
on September 21 as Cochair of the Scientific Assessment Panel of the Montreal
Protocol.
Full Story »»
NOAA Observes the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol
September 16, 2007
Greenhouse gases likely accounted for more than half of the widespread
warmth across the continental United States last year, according to a new
study by four scientists at NOAA's Earth System Research Lab in Boulder,
Colo. Last year's average temperature was the second highest since
record-keeping began in 1895. The team found that it was very unlikely
that the 2006 El Niño played any role, though other natural factors likely
contributed to the unusual warmth. The findings will appear September 5 in
the Geophysical Research Letters, a publication of the American Geophysical
Union.
Full Story »»
Greenhouse Gases Likely Drove Near-Record U.S. Warmth in 2006
August 28, 2007
Greenhouse gases likely accounted for more than half of the widespread
warmth across the continental United States last year, according to a new
study by four scientists at NOAA.
Full Story »»
Tall Tower to Track Front Range Carbon Emissions and Air Quality
July 31, 2007
A new sensor in what will be a broad nationwide network for tracking carbon
is now monitoring the air over Colorado's Front Range. A 1,000-foot-high
tower east of Erie is one of 12 "tall towers" being instrumented by NOAA to
capture the regional ebb and flow of atmospheric carbon.
Full Story »»
Gulf of Mexico and East Coast Carbon Cruise
July 27, 2007
Researchers from NOAA, the University of Colorado and Columbia University
perform research on direct measurements of air-sea gas transfer forcing and
measurements of CO2 and ozone flux by eddy correlation
as part of the Gulf of Mexico and East Coast Carbon Cruise (GEOMECC).
Full Story »»
Scientists Search Tropical Skies for Answers on Climate Change and Ozone Loss
June 26, 2007
Scientists from NOAA's Earth System Research Lab will be among 400 researchers in Costa Rica this summer to probe one of the most complex and least observed regions of Earth's atmosphere during the rainy season. Based in San Jose, Costa Rica, the NASA-led field study will shed light on key processes related to climate change, the stratospheric ozone layer, and global chemistry.
Full Story »»
Scientists Receive EPA Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award
May 17, 2007
NOAA scientists awarded EPA Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award award for
"Measuring the effectiveness of the Montreal
Protocol in Reducing Chlorine/Bromine Loading and Repairing the Ozone Layer".
Full Story »»
NOAA Lab Opens 3-D Earth Site in Online Virtual World
April 26, 2007
Soar through a hurricane on the wing of a research aircraft, rise gently through the atmosphere atop a
weather balloon, or search for a hidden underwater cave on a side trip from a NOAA submersible. These and other virtual adventures are
attracting large numbers of “avatars,” or virtual selves, to one of the first government-sponsored, Earth-science “islands” in the rapidly growing online world of Second Life.
Full Story »»
New NOAA Climate Observatory in Russia Closes Gap in Arctic Research
April 19, 2007
The Earth System Research Laboratory
will expand its Arctic observation with the addition of a new location in
Tiksi, Russia, joining five existing obsesrvatories placed internationally
along the Arctic rim. It will be an important component of the
Arctic
Atmospheric Observatory Program, closing a significant gap in vital Arctic
atmospheric research. Construction of the climate observatory will begin
this summer.
Full Story »»
Carbon Tracker a Powerful New Tool
to Track Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide by Source
March 21, 2007
Scientists from the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory
announced today a new tool to monitor changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide
and other greenhouse gases by region and source. The tool, called
CarbonTracker, will enable its users to evaluate the effectiveness of their
efforts to reduce or store carbon emissions.
Full Story »»
ESRL Science Making a Difference in Real-time GPS Positioning
March 18, 2007
Recognizing the importance of high resolution measurements to surveying and
navigation, ESRL scientists have developed NOAATrop, an atmospheric model
which uses realtime weather data to improve GPS accuracy.
The California Spatial Reference Center (CSRC) at
Scripps Institution of Oceanography recently started using NOAATrop for
real-time engineering applications in southern California. "This is the first
known operational application of a weather model being used to improve high
accuracy GPS surveying," said NOAA scientist Seth Gutman.
Full Story »»
NOAA Studies Causes of Catastrophic Urban Floods
March 14, 2007
Researchers from the NOAA Earth System Research Lab are
intensively monitoring air, water and soil in the American River basin
between Reno, Nev., and Sacramento, Calif., through the end of March.
Working closely with NOAA National Weather Service forecasters and
hydrologists, scientists are improving predictions of California's heavy
winter rains to help water resource managers prevent catastrophic flooding
in the Sacramento region. New sensors, computer models and other tools
tested during the study, called the Hydrometeorology Testbed (HMT),
eventually will be used to improve NOAA National Weather Service rainfall
forecasts up and down the West Coast.
Full Story »»
Protecting Earth's Ozone Layer Also Helped Slow Climate Change
March 9, 2007
An international agreement to reduce ozone-depleting
chemicals, based in part on science conducted in the 1980s by NOAA
scientists and their colleagues, also has slowed global warming by years,
according to a new study by scientists at the NOAA Earth System Research Lab
and their partners. The double effect occurred because compounds that destroy
the atmosphere's ozone layer also act as greenhouse gases. The findings will
be available in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online
edition this week.
Full Story »»
NOAA Support for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): People, Expertise and Technology
February 2, 2007
NOAA individuals and technology made major contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) international climate science report, of which the summary of the
first chapter was released today in Paris. That summary, the Summary for Policy Makers,
was subjected to line-by-line approval of the participating governments.
The IPCC was created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United
Nations Environment Program to every six years assess the risk of human-induced climate
change, potential impact and options for adaptation and mitigation. The report is issued
throughout the year through the release of three chapters culminating in a synthesis
report in November.
Full Story »»