Aerosols can reflect sunlight, absorb heat, brighten clouds, or darken snow. See why dirty air can cool and warm the climate at once.
Category - Environment
Akshay Dinesh
What a Snow Squall Warning Means and Why It Can Turn Dangerous So Fast
Snow squalls can erase visibility and freeze roads within minutes. Learn what the warning means and how to respond before conditions change.
Why Seawater Beneath Thwaites Glacier Changes Sea-Level Forecasts
A moving grounding zone lets seawater reach beneath Thwaites Glacier, changing how scientists project its retreat and sea-level contribution.
How GRACE Satellites Track Groundwater From Space
GRACE satellites detect tiny gravity changes to reveal where groundwater, reservoirs, soil moisture, snow, and ice are gaining or losing water.
How Saildrones Measure the Southern Ocean’s Carbon Sink
See how wind-powered Saildrones measure carbon exchange around Antarctica and fill a crucial gap in Southern Ocean winter data.
How to Read NOAA’s 2026–27 Winter Outlook
Learn what NOAA’s winter probability maps mean, where El Niño shifts the odds, and why the outlook is not a seasonal snowfall forecast.
How El Niño Creates a Cascade of Tropical Fires
See how El Niño shifts drought and fire risk across the tropics, why the Amazon can burn, and how satellites reveal hidden fires.
Why Thawing Permafrost Makes the Ground Collapse
Permafrost can contain more ice than soil. See how thaw creates thermokarst, reshaping water, ecosystems, and Arctic communities.
How Scientists Link Extreme Weather to Climate Change
See how event attribution compares real and counterfactual climates to measure whether warming changed an extreme event’s odds or intensity.
What the 2026 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Reveals About a Thinner Arctic
The 2026 Arctic sea ice minimum was not a record low, yet it adds to a clear long-term shift toward less, younger, thinner ice.
Why Fallen Leaves Can Pollute Streams and Lakes
Leaves on pavement can release phosphorus into stormwater. See how fall rain carries nutrients to streams and lakes, and what keeps them out.
Why Fall Can Bring a Second Severe Weather Season
Parts of the South and Mid-South face a second storm season in fall. See how Gulf moisture, cold fronts, wind shear, and nighttime risk combine.
Frost Advisory vs. Freeze Warning: What Each Alert Means
Learn how frost advisories, freeze watches, and freeze warnings differ—and why frost can form when the forecast stays above 32°F.
Why El Niño Can Raise Global Temperatures Months Later
El Niño can lift global temperatures after a delay because ocean heat, tropical rainfall, and atmosphere patterns take time to spread.
Why Frost Appears on Grass Before Roads
Frost forms first on grass when clear, calm nights let thin surfaces cool below freezing faster than pavement and roads.
