Rebecca Lindsey

1 month ago | climate.gov | Michon Scott |Rebecca Lindsey

This article was first published in August 2014, and it has been updated to include new research published since then. This article is one of a three-part series on past temperatures. One is about how warm the Earth has been “lately.” The other is about the coldest Earth's ever been. Our 4.54-billion-year-old planet probably experienced its hottest temperatures in its earliest days, when it was still colliding with other rocky debris (planetesimals) careening around the solar system.

2 months ago | climate.gov | Rebecca Lindsey

HighlightsA trifecta of fire-friendly climate conditions set the stage for the January 2025 fires: back-to-back wet winters that boosted vegetation, a record-dry fall, and an extremely strong Santa Ana wind event. By one estimate, record-low fall precipitation had a bigger influence on the exceptionally low vegetation moisture than the near-record summer and fall temperatures.

Dec 10, 2024 | climate.gov | Rebecca Lindsey

File Name Resolution File Size View Download arctic-report-card-2024--sea-ice--2400px.jpg 2400 × 2981 1,184.9 KB According to NOAA’s 2024 Arctic Report Card, the amount of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean at the end of the summer melt season in September was the sixth smallest on record. The ranking added another year to a nearly two-decade long streak: the last 18 years are the 18th-smallest ice extents of the 46-year satellite record.

Dec 10, 2024 | climate.gov | Rebecca Lindsey

File Name Resolution File Size View Download arctic-report-card-2024--caribou-numbers--2400px--corrected-01.jpg 2400 × 2446 1,067.9 KB According to NOAA’s 2024 Arctic Report Card, the number of caribou that roam the Arctic tundra grazing on lichen and other cold-hardy plants has declined by 65 percent over the past few decades.

Dec 10, 2024 | climate.gov | Michon Scott |Rebecca Lindsey

Over the 2023–2024 season, snow accumulation across the Arctic exceeded the 1991–2020 average, according to the Arctic Report Card. While some localized areas experienced snow cover duration that was relatively long compared to recent years, long-term records show on average snow is melting earlier in both North America and Eurasia. This map shows how the length of the 2023-24 snow-covered season ranked in the historical record dating back to 1998.