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Pinpointing the Players in a Rapidly Warming Arctic
Researchers identified the top contributors to Arctic amplification—a phenomenon in which the Arctic has warmed more than twice as fast as the global average temperature—as well as sources of uncertainty in feedback estimates.
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The Shady Role of Shallow Clouds
Clouds can be affected by their own shadows because shaded land evaporates less water than warmed land. This influences the size and water content of the clouds, as well as the circulation around them. Researchers are working to incorporate these smaller-scale effects in Earth system models.
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Long-Term Aerosol Trends in the Continental United States
Researchers found that, in the western United States, increases in aerosols from East Asia decreased the radiative warming effect induced by reductions in U.S. emissions by 25 percent.
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A Sharper View of Wind Changes by Large Storms
Results showed for the first time a strong scale dependence of the time evolution and vertical structure of wind momentum transport in storms.
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Integrating Human System Dynamics Into Earth System Models
This review quantifies key results emerging from the literature on feedbacks between coupled human and Earth system models.
How do human activities and natural systems interact to affect the Earth's climate? Ultimately, that is the question challenging scientists in PNNL’s Atmospheric Sciences & Global Change Division.
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