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Weather

As the NASA aircraft DC-8 flew into the storm and collected data after each lightning flash, the researchers found that the concentrations of hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl produced by visible lightning and other regions that were electrically charged soared up to thousands of parts per trillion.

Lightning May Wash Pollution Out of the Air With a Chemical Dubbed ‘Detergent of the Atmosphere’

The oxidizing chemicals hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl may clean the skies of harmful pollutants by reacting with them

The dunes of White Sands National Monument stretch for hundreds of miles in New Mexico.

How Extreme Temperature Swings in Deserts Stir Sand and Dust

Understanding the movement of particles, some of which enter the atmosphere, may help scientists improve climate models and forecast dust storms on Mars

A lightning-caused wildfire in 2013 creates white smoke rising from the tundra in front of the Baird Mountains.

New Research

Climate Change Linked to Increase in Arctic Lightning Strikes

A warming climate makes Arctic lightning possible, and resulting wildfires release immense amounts of carbon from the permafrost

A satellite image of North America taken on August 25, 2020. Smoke from wildfires can be seen rising from California and Hurricane Laura can be seen heading toward Louisiana and eastern Texas as the remnants of Marco swirl over the Southeast.

NOAA’s Weather Forecasting System Just Got a Major Update

The new version of the Global Forecast System could give Americans in the path of a hurricane an additional 36 hours to prepare compared to the old model

Monday's dust storm left Beijing, China, in an orange haze (left). By Tuesday the air was much clearer (right).

Largest Dust Storm in More Than a Decade Blanketed China This Week

Air quality readings in Beijing reached dangerous levels while residents were urged to stay indoors

A fulgurite made of fused quartz found in Florida

Ancient Lightning May Have Sparked Life on Earth

More than a billion strikes a year likely provided an essential element for organisms

An illustration based on the satellite observation data from the first confirmed instance of a space hurricane.

New Research

First Ever Space Hurricane Spotted in Earth’s Upper Atmosphere

The 600-mile-wide swirling cloud of charged particles rained down electrons from several hundred miles above the North Pole

A polynya opens up in the Weddell Sea.

How Rivers in the Sky Melt Huge Holes in Antarctic Ice

New research is causing scientists to rethink how polynyas—massive openings in the sea ice—are formed

Winter Storm Uri brought below-freezing temperatures and snow to 26 states this week, causing millions of people to lose electricity

How Winter Storm Uri Impacted the United States

The Arctic blast has swept across the Lower 48, bringing record cold temperatures and interruptions to electricity and water services

The museum plans to store some 250,000 of its 620,000 artifacts at a new facility in Liévin.

How the Louvre Is Protecting Its Cultural Treasures Against Extreme Weather

Spurred by flooding linked to climate change, the Paris museum is relocating a third of its collection to a new conservation center

New high-speed footage settles a controversy over how electric charges make the connection that leads to bolts of lightning.

New Research

Super High-Speed Footage Captures the Moment a Lightning Bolt Forms

The video shows the electricity reaching from the sky and up from a lightning rod until a thin connection appears

Rescuers found the Dyatlov group's abandoned tent on February 26, 1959.

New Research

Have Scientists Finally Unraveled the 60-Year Mystery Surrounding Nine Russian Hikers’ Deaths?

New research identifies an unusual avalanche as the culprit behind the 1959 Dyatlov Pass Incident

"Yellowknife Flurry," a photograph by Nathan Myhrvold, captures the intricate structure of snowflakes.

These Are the Highest-Resolution Photos Ever Taken of Snowflakes

Photographer and scientist Nathan Myhrvold has developed a camera that captures snowflakes at a microscopic level never seen before

An Argo float, seen in the foreground, is a battery-powered device that automatically measures and transmits information about the environment.

How the Pandemic Is Undermining Weather Monitoring

Scientists are scrambling to patch the cracks forming in the global marine weather monitoring system

Artist's rendering of blue jet lightning blasting from a storm cloud towards space. The International Space Station solar panels can be seen in the foreground.

New Research

Mysterious Blue Jet Lightning Seen From Space

Researchers captured an instance of this poorly understood type of lightning using instruments aboard the International Space Station

Category-4 Hurricane Laura hit Cameron, Louisiana on August 27, 2020 with winds up to 150 mph and storm surge in excess of 15 feet. The storm caused costly destruction along the coast and inland to the city of Lake Charles and was one of seven storms that caused more than $1 billion in damages.

U.S. Breaks Record for Billion-Dollar Climate Disasters in 2020

A total of 22 disasters caused $95 billion in total damage, reflecting climate change’s growing cost

Lightning strikes over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.

Why Are Lightning ‘Superbolts’ More Common Over the Ocean?

Salt seems to be the reason why bolts are brighter over seas than over land

An Evening Grosbeak sits on a branch covered in rime ice in Minnesota.

The Wintertime Wonder of Unusual Ice

Rime ice in the Midwest and hair ice in the United Kingdom have people wondering: Why does ice do that?

An ice core extracted at El Malpais National Monument in New Mexico connects water collection to periods of droughts.

Cool Finds

Ancestral Puebloans Survived Droughts by Collecting Water From Icy Lava Tubes

In ancient New Mexico, cold air in cavernous spaces carved out by lava flows preserved blocks of ice

An American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) on a human finger.

New Research

Higher Temperatures Make Some Ticks Pick Humans Over Dogs

The study’s results suggest certain tick-borne diseases could become even more prevalent as climate change heats up the planet

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