Latest Climate model Stories

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAVA) today announced the arrival of AMSTAR, a new digital storage library that will preserve and protect valuable scientific data for the next 15 to 20 years. The new system, designed by Sun Microsystems and based on the Sun StorageTek(TM) SL8500 Modular Library, will give NCAR five times its current storage capacity, enabling it to generate increasingly sophisticated computer studies of Earth's climate....

Scientists are hoping to discover new information on how clouds over the Pacific Ocean can affect the global climate and weather systems. The clouds, some greater than the size of the US, refract sunlight back into space and chill the ocean below. The researchers expect to learn about the clouds' properties and if pollution from activities could alter the arrangement of these cloud systems. The study will engage 200 scientists from 10 countries in the research. An additional team of 20...

Scientists focus on hurricane-prone Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea to assess likely changesResearchers are homing in on the hurricane-prone Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea to assess the likely changes, between now and the middle of the century, in the frequency, intensity, and tracks of these powerful storms. Initial results are expected early next year.The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., working with federal agencies as well as the insurance and energy...

Measurements taken by air, land, and sea will improve climate modelingDuring October and November 2008, some 150 scientists from 40 institutions in eight nations "” including scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory "” will take part in an international field experiment designed to make observations of critical components of the climate system of the southeastern Pacific. Because elements of this system are poorly understood and poorly...

The U.S. Department of Energy announced it will make available more than 10 million hours of computing time to study advanced climate change models. The department's Office of Science will allocate the computer time to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to explore advanced climate change models at three of the department's national laboratories. The project is part of a three-year agreement on collaborative climate research that was signed Monday by the two agencies. NOAA...

Answers may be hidden in the tropopause, 32,000 to 56,000 feet highScientists are deploying an advanced research aircraft to study a region of the atmosphere that influences climate change by affecting the amount of solar heat that reaches Earth's surface.Findings from the project, based at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., will be used by researchers worldwide to improve computer models of global climate in preparation for the next report by the...

The sun has powered almost everything on Earth since life began, including its climate. The sun also delivers an annual and seasonal impact, changing the character of each hemisphere as Earth's orientation shifts through the year. Since the Industrial Revolution, however, new forces have begun to exert significant influence on Earth's climate."For the last 20 to 30 years, we believe greenhouse gases have been the dominant influence on recent climate change," said Robert Cahalan,...

Using state-of-the-art supercomputers, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory climate scientists have performed a 400-year high-resolution global ocean-atmosphere simulation with results that are more similar to actual observations of surface winds and sea surface temperatures. The research, led by LLNL atmospheric scientist Govindasamy Bala, appears in the April 1 edition of the Journal of Climate.The researchers used the Community Climate System Model (CCSM), which is sponsored by the...

NASA and Columbia University Earth Institute research finds that human-made greenhouse gases have brought the Earth's climate close to critical tipping points, with potentially dangerous consequences for the planet. From a combination of climate models, satellite data, and paleoclimate records the scientists conclude that the West Antarctic ice sheet, Arctic ice cover, and regions providing fresh water sources and species habitat are under threat from continued global warming. The research...

BOULDER, Colo. -- Arctic sea ice is melting three times faster than many scientists project, U.S. researchers reported Monday, just days ahead of the next major international report on climate change.Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado in Boulder concluded, using actual measurements, that Arctic sea ice has declined at an average rate of about 7.8 percent per decade between 1953 and 2006.By contrast, 18 computer models used by the...