atmospheric

Doug Olson heard a loud thud on his roof while folding laundry in October last year. When he went out to investigate the cause of the sound, he didn't find anything out of the ordinary. But earlier this spring, while cleaning out his rain gutters on the roof of his Mill Woods home, Olson discovered a small grey and black rock. Turns out, the rock is a meteorite from space. "I was thinking, 'jeez how come I couldn't find it back when I was looking the first time?'" Olson said on Friday. Named the Menisa, the discovery…

Credit: Geophysical Research Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1029/2023GL106036 Understanding cloud formation in polar regions is essential to discern the influence of solar radiation on the polar ice caps. Existing numerical models, however, struggle to replicate ice clouds accurately. Now, using real-world observations and climate data, researchers from Japan have found that marine bioaerosols carried by streams of warm,…

Map of the total precipitable water vapor in the atmosphere at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time on December 4, 2023. A warm, moisture-laden weather system soaked western Washington and Oregon. A powerful atmospheric river streamed toward the U.S. Pacific Northwest in early December 2023. The long current of water vapor delivered warm, wet weather to much of western Washington and Oregon, toppling daily rainfall and temperature records and escalating flood and debris flow risks. Monitoring Atmospheric Conditions This map shows the…

El Niño is making its return after a nearly eight-year hiatus, and forecasters say it could impact winter weather on the Prairies.The climate pattern happens when the temperature of Pacific Ocean waters along the equator off the coast of Peru rises above normal.The air above that water then warms and moves northward.In Western Canada, this intrusion of warmer air can change the overall pattern of the polar jet stream — a narrow band of fast-moving air that separates colder weather to the north from milder weather to the…

Standardized anomaly time series of regional mean occurrence frequency of the “CAPE > 0 cases” (Freq), surface q, surface T and surface RH in (left) DJF and (right) JJA averaged over the 00 and 12Z observation times for regions outlined in Figures 1a and 1b. The correlation coefficients between Freq and q or T or RH are given in the parentheses (which are significant at the 95% confidence level except for the values marked by *). Credit: Geophysical…

NASA’s Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) was successfully installed on the International Space Station. This process involved using the Canadarm2 robotic arm to place AWE on the ISS’s EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 1. Data collected by AWE will enable scientists to determine the physics and characteristics of atmospheric gravity waves and how terrestrial weather influences the ionosphere, which can affect communication with satellites. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image LabNASA’s Atmospheric Waves…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain An international team of marine biogeochemist and atmospheric scientists have made a rare discovery in the almost uncharted atmosphere of the South Pacific Ocean. They found that nocturnal nanoparticle bursts that contain nitrogenous compounds originate when marine micro-organisms apparently shield themselves from UV radiation. These particles help form clouds over the ocean, which reduces…

A research team used the James Webb Space Telescope to explore the impact of increased CO2 on Earth and exoplanets. Their research found that CO2 additions cause more warming in areas without direct sunlight, affecting global circulation. This phenomenon is consistent on both Earth and TRAPPIST-1e, highlighting the importance of understanding greenhouse gases for exoplanet habitability and Earth’s climate. This study marks a significant advancement in exoplanetary science and climate research.A research team, utilizing…

Our planet is changing. So is our journalism. This weekly newsletter is part of a CBC News initiative entitled "Our Changing Planet" to show and explain the effects of climate change. Keep up with the latest news on our Climate and Environment page.Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox every Thursday.This week: Frazzled by all the plastic packaging on your produce?  Turning invasive fish species into spies Climate scientists are tired of hearing how every month or year is one for the record books…

This image taken from the International Space Station shows swaths of airglow hovering in Earth’s atmosphere. NASA’s new Atmospheric Waves Experiment will observe airglow from a perch on the space station to help scientists understand, and ultimately improve forecasts of, space weather changes in the upper atmosphere. Credit: NASAThe Expedition 70 team on the ISS is busy with scientific research, including aging studies, atmospheric experiments, and microgravity cell analysis, along with ISS maintenance, following…