Overview
Research at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) emphasizes a broad study of global change, which is an interdisciplinary initiative addressing natural and man-made changes in our environment that occur on various time scales — from one-time forcings such as volcanic explosions, to seasonal and annual effects such as El Niño, and on up to the millennia of ice ages — and that affect the habitability of our planet.
GISS is located at Columbia University in New York City. The institute is a laboratory in the Earth Sciences Division of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and a unit of the Columbia University Earth Institute.
Announcements
Featured Stories
Climate History Hints at Potential Rapid Changes
New research into Earth's climate history suggests the potential for rapid climate changes, including multiple meters of sea level rise, this century if global warming is not abated. (2011-12-08)
Ancient Dry Spells Offer Clues on Future Drought
Scientists have unearthed new evidence about ancient droughts in Mexico's Yucatán and in New York's Hudson River valley that suggest the future could bring even more serious water shortages. (2011-12-05)
Understanding Ice Formation in Arctic Clouds
Airborne and ground-based measurements from an International Polar Year field project were used to revisit a long-standing problem in cloud physics: what is the primary source of ice crystals in mixed-phase clouds? (2011-11-07)
More Research News & Features
NASA Scientist Receives Climate Communications Award
Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist based at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City, has received the inaugural Climate Communications Prize from the American Geophysical Union.
(2011-10-24)
+ Read News Release
Impact of Tropical Atlantic Temperatures on Rainfall
A regional climate model study examines the influence of warm ocean surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Atlantic in summer to see what an increase of a few degrees Celsius does to rainfall.
(2011-08-10)
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Panoply 3.0 Released
A new major version of the GISS netCDF, HDF and GRIB data viewing application has been released. Panoply is a cross-platform tool that runs on most desktop and laptop computers.
(2011-05-02)
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Adapting to Sea Level Rise in New York City
As warming climate causes sea level rise, coastal urban areas such as New York City face more frequent and intense episodic flooding following storms and inundation of low-lying areas.
(2011-04-26)
+ Read Science Brief
GISS Best Publication of 2010
GISS scientists have voted "Atmospheric CO2: Principal control knob governing Earth's temperature" by Lacis et al. as the top work by institute staff published in 2010.
(2011-04-08)
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Cleaner Vehicle Standards Good for Health, Agriculture, Climate
A new analysis shows stricter vehicle emission standards would yield major health, agricultural, and climate benefits.
(2011-04-01)
+ Read News Release
Recent Publications
Chowdhary, J., B. Cairns, F. Waquet, K. Knobelspiesse, M. Ottaviani, J. Redemann, L. Travis, and M. Mishchenko, 2012: Sensitivity of multiangle, multispectral polarimetric remote sensing over open oceans to water-leaving radiance: Analyses of RSP data acquired during the MILAGRO campaign. Remote Sens. Environ., 118, 284-308, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2011.11.003.
Hansen, J., Mki. Sato, P. Kharecha, and K. von Schuckmann, 2011: Earth's energy imbalance and implications. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 13421-13449, doi:10.5194/acp-11-13421-2011.
Pérez, C., K. Haustein, Z. Janjic, O. Jorba, N. Huneeus, J.M. Baldasano, T. Black, S. Basart, S. Nickovic, R.L. Miller, J.P. Perlwitz, M. Schulz, and M. Thomson, 2011: Atmospheric dust modeling from meso to global scales with the online NMMB/BSC-Dust model: 1. Model description, annual simulations and evaluation. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 13001-13027, doi:10.5194/acp-11-13001-2011.
Alonso-Pérez, S., E. Cuevas, X. Querol, J.C. Guerra, and C. Pérez, 2012: African dust source regions for observed dust outbreaks over the Subtropical Eastern North Atlantic region, above 25°N. J. Arid Environ., 78, 100-109, doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.11.013.
Munasinghe, L., T.-S. Jun, and D.H. Rind, 2011: Climate change: A new metric to measure changes in the frequency of extreme temperatures using record data. Climatic Change, doi:10.1007/s10584-011-0370-8.
