News

No sign of fossil fuel pollution peak as the world falls further behind climate targets

Emissions of carbon caused by fossil fuel pollution continued to grow slightly in 2023 to 36.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, setting yet another new record despite increasingly urgent warnings from scientists about the need for steep and immediate decreases. NOAA provides about a quarter of all the atmospheric CO2 observations and about half of all the surface ocean CO2 observations used in the analysis.

2024 Antarctic ozone hole ranks 7th-smallest since recovery began

Healing continues in the atmosphere over the Antarctic: A hole that opens annually in the ozone layer over Earth's southern pole was relatively small in 2024 compared to other years. NOAA and NASA scientists project the ozone layer could fully recover by 2066.

Photo feature: ‘The sun is finally back' at the South Pole

On September 20, after six months of darkness, the return of the sun at the South Pole signaled the arrival of spring in the Southern Hemisphere. For scientists at NOAA’s South Pole Atmospheric Baseline Observatory (SPO), located at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Research Station, that’s a welcome sight.

NOAA and United Airlines partner to measure greenhouse gases, pollutants with high-tech flight instruments

NOAA and United Airlines have announced an agreement to equip a Boeing 737 with a sophisticated instrument package that will measure greenhouse gases and other pollutants during domestic flights. It’s a first step in establishing a partnership that could significantly improve monitoring of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases, as well as improving the accuracy of weather forecasts in the United States.

Understanding the basics of carbon dioxide

As atmospheric greenhouse gas levels continue to rise, it is important to understand the basics of what these gases are, how NOAA monitors them, and what they mean for our global climate. Continue reading to learn all about carbon dioxide and why it keeps making headlines.

Biden-Harris Administration awards $4.9 million to advance drought monitoring and prediction in U.S. West through the Investing in America agenda

Today, the NOAA announced $4.9 million in funding for the agency’s labs and research partners to improve drought monitoring and prediction in the American West. This research combines $3.1 million in funding from NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) program and $1.8 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to improve decision-makers’ capacity to protect life, property and ecosystems in the region from drought.

A class of ozone-depleting chemicals is declining, thanks to the Montreal Protocol

New research by a team including current and former NOAA-affiliated scientists has shown that atmospheric concentrations of a class of ozone-depleting chemicals used as refrigerants, foam blowing agents and solvents peaked in 2021 and are now beginning to decline as nations comply with restrictions called for by the Montreal Protocol.

Nitrous oxide emissions grew 40 percent from 1980 to 2020, accelerating climate change

Emissions of nitrous oxide, the third most important human-made greenhouse gas, rose 40 percent from 1980 to 2020, according to a new report by the Global Carbon Project. The new study, published today in the journal Earth System Science Data, finds nitrous oxide is accumulating in Earth’s atmosphere faster than at any other time in human history.

During a year of extremes, carbon dioxide levels surge faster than ever

Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever — accelerating on a steep rise to levels far above any experienced during human existence, scientists from NOAA and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography offsite link at the University of California San Diego announced today

The world’s benchmark climate monitoring station passes a major milestone

On May 17, 1974, staff of the new National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Geophysical Monitoring for Climatic Change program took their first atmospheric measurements for what would become one of the most scientifically significant records of humanity’s impact on Earth’s climate.

No sign of greenhouse gases increases slowing in 2023

Levels of the three most important human-caused greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—continued their steady climb during 2023, according to NOAA scientists. While the rise in these heat-trapping gases recorded in the air samples collected by NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory in 2023 was not quite as high as the record jumps observed in recent years, they were in line with the steep increases observed during the past decade.

Sunset at the South Pole signals 6 months of darkness

On March 20 the Northern Hemisphere had its first full day of spring. But for researchers and staff at NOAA’s South Pole Observatory, March 20 brought austral autumn, and along with it the last appearance of the sun at the South Pole for six months.

Women’s History Month: A Conversation With Dr. Xin Lan

This article continues a series of interviews with NOAA Climate Program Office (CPO) employees and CPO-funded scientists in celebration of Women’s History Month. Dr. Xin Lan is a carbon cycle scientist with NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory (GML) through the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) of University of Colorado Boulder.

Women’s History Month 2024: What it means to me

March is National Women’s History Month, an opportunity to celebrate pioneering women in American history, while turning an eye to the contributions women are making—and will make—to society, especially in career fields historically inaccessible to women. In this video series, #WomenOfNOAA share advice they would give to their younger selves.

Meet the women of NOAA advancing greenhouse gas research

While the women of NOAA Research contribute to innovative and impactful progress towards NOAA’s mission year-round, during Women’s History Month we take the opportunity to get to know them on a deeper level. Meet six women who are advancing NOAA's greenhouse gas research.