An independent organization of leading scientists and journalists researching and reporting the facts about our changing climate and its impact on the American public.
Climate Central surveys and conducts scientific research on climate change and informs the public of key findings. Our scientists publish and our journalists report on climate science, energy, sea level rise . . . . Read More
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The “astounding loss of sea ice this year is adding a huge amount of heat to the Arctic Ocean and the atmosphere, said Jennifer Francis, an atmospheric scientist at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “It’s like having a new energy source for the atmosphere.… Read More
The official end of the Arctic Ocean melt season could come any time now, but the sea ice that covers the North Polar region has already smashed the previous record low for end-of-summer ice area set in 2007. Since March, according to one calculation, the amount of ice that has disappeared is equal to the areas of Alaska and Canada, combined.… Read More
The summer of 2012 has been one for the record books in the lower 48 states. On the heels of the country’s warmest-ever spring, several record-breaking June and July heat waves kept the Southwest, Midwest and Atlantic Coast sweltering. July went on to become the all-time warmest month on record for the country. [add statistic from August once we’ve… Read More
A team of European scientists, parched soil is more likely than damp soil to trigger some kinds of rainstorms — and the fact that climate models assume the opposite may lead them to make unrealistic projections. “In terms of future climate, it could mean that you simulate longer droughts than would happen in reality, said co-author Phil Harris, of… Read More
In May, a team of British scientists abruptly canceled an experiment they had been planning for nearly two years. The Stratospheric Particle Experiment for Climate Engineering, or SPICE, was intended to test ways of injecting tiny particles of sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere, with the eventual goal of filtering out sunlight to cool the… Read More
The extreme heat helped spread and intensify a massive drought that has shown no signs of abating in many areas, particularly across the West and High Plains. Nebraska and Wyoming saw their driest summers on record, and several other states in those regions saw one of their top ten driest summers.… Read More
The record drought in the U.S. is forecast to ease in some regions during the fall, but a large area from the West to the High Plains may be left high and dry by prevailing weather patterns through the end of November, according to the federal government’s latest seasonal drought outlook.… Read More
Forests cover some 30 percent of Earth’s surface, and it’s hard to overestimate how crucial they are to the functioning of the planet. Forests provide shelter for uncountable numbers of species, hold soil in place that would otherwise wash away, pull excess carbon out of the atmosphere, absorb and re-emit water at such a rate that they literally … Read More
