News

Increasing Risk of Another Cape Town’s Day Zero Drought in Twenty-First Century
Dec. 23, 2020

The Cape Town “Day Zero” drought was caused by an exceptional 3-year rainfall deficit. Combined with management practices and infrastructure shortcomings, the drought caused one of the most serious water crises ever experienced in any heavily populated metropolitan area, with extensive economic impacts.  Through the use of a higher-resolution…

The GFDL Global Atmospheric Chemistry-Climate Model AM4.1: Model Description and Simulation Characteristics
Dec. 16, 2020

The atmospheric model documented in this study, AM4.1, marks the culmination of GFDL’s 4th-generation model development effort that included comprehensive revisions of atmospheric dynamics, physics, and chemistry, and biogeochemical coupling to land…

2020 Was a Record Year for Hurricanes
Dec. 10, 2020

The most active Atlantic hurricane season on record began two weeks ahead of schedule and ended on November 30, 2020. Overall, this season was one for the record books. There were 30 named storms (meaning storms where top winds were 39 miles per hour or greater instead of the average 12). Of those storms, 13 were hurricanes (top winds of 74 mph…

Isaac Held Named 2020 AAAS Fellow
Nov. 25, 2020

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elected AOS Senior Meteorologist Isaac Held as an AAAS Fellow. Fellows are elected each year for their contributions to STEM disciplines, including pioneering research, leadership within a given field, teaching and mentoring, fostering…

Rapidly Intensifying Hurricanes Portend Trouble in a Warming World
Nov. 19, 2020
The 2020 season will go down in history for the dominance of the fast-blooming storms that prowled the Atlantic, raising the question of whether this is the new normal.  Ten storms rapidly intensified this Atlantic season, some to a record degree. (CIMES Director
The GFDL Earth System Model Version 4.1 (GFDL-ESM4.1): Model Description and Simulation Characteristics
Nov. 13, 2020

The Earth system model documented in this study, ESM4.1, marks the culmination of GFDL’s 4th generation model development effort that included comprehensive revisions of atmospheric dynamics, physics and chemistry, ocean physics, biogeochemistry and ecosystems, sea ice, and land physics, biogeochemistry and ecosystems. These efforts were merged…

Study: Climate Change is Pushing Hurricanes Inland
Nov. 12, 2020

The National Weather Service has run out of letters for hurricanes in this record-breaking season, which is why tropical storms have started to sound like…

Large, Delayed Outbreaks of Endemic Diseases Possible Following COVID-19 Controls
Nov. 11, 2020

Measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 through non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as mask wearing and social distancing are a key tool in combatting the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. These actions also have greatly reduced incidence of many other diseases, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Increasing Probability of Rapidly Intensifying Storms
Nov. 9, 2020

Hurricane Eta is the ninth named storm and fifth consecutive hurricane to rapidly intensify this year, a phenomenon that has doubled in proportion since 1982. Models indicate that climate change increases the…

Princeton Project Expands to Create a Worldwide Fleet of Robotic Floats to Monitor Ocean Health
Oct. 29, 2020

On October 29, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a $53 million grant — shared among a consortium of the country’s top ocean research institutions — to build a global network of chemical and biological sensors that will monitor ocean health.

Scientists at Princeton University, Monterey Bay…