EurekAlert! News by Subject: Atmospheric Science - News by Subject: Atmospheric Science

Atmospheric Science

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 2-May-2025 16:09 ET (2-May-2025 20:09 GMT/UTC)

3D models help researchers understand the climate impact of eddies

Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research (OLAR)

Mesoscale eddies are ocean vortices less than 100 kilometers in diameter that are responsible for the localized “weather” of the oceans. Because of the large amount of mass and energy movement associated with these currents, mesoscale eddies play an integral role in determining Earth’s climate. A group of oceanographers wrote a review article outlining how to best model the 3D structure of mesoscale eddies over time to better predict future changes in climate.

Journal: Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research

Smartphones can alert us to wildfires and extreme weather conditions

Tel-Aviv University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study from Tel Aviv University has found that the smartphones we all carry in our pockets could help collect weather data from the public to provide early warnings for extreme weather, such as wildfires.

Journal: Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences

Lessons from Earth's hottest epoch in the last 65 million years: How global warming could shrink the tropics' rain belt

Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences used climate simulations and reconstructions of ancient climate conditions to uncover a striking pattern: extreme warming expanded subtropical dry zones and shrank tropical wet regions in the early Eocene.

Journal: Geophysical Research Letters

USC-led CLIMA Center awarded $4.1 million by NIH to study impact of wildfire smoke and extreme heat on human health

Keck School of Medicine of USC
Grant and Award Announcement

From devastating wildfires and landslides to droughts and extreme heat waves, climate-related events disrupt the lives of communities around the world. How these events impact the health of Los Angeles’s vulnerable communities is a question numerous USC researchers are working to solve. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $4.1 million to a USC-led initiative to build a community of transdisciplinary scientists and a robust infrastructure with the goal of advancing solution-oriented climate change adaptation and health research. The center is called CLIMA, short for the CLIMAte-related Exposures, Adaptation and Health Equity Center. CLIMA researchers have been collaborating with USC Dornsife Public Exchange and the City of Los Angeles Climate Emergency Mobilization Office (CEMO) to build a visual mapping tool called a StoryMap, which can add narrative context to the city and county’s extreme heat challenges. By combining Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping with accessible climate storytelling, the StoryMap can inform the public about the risks associated with extreme heat, as well as provide resources for and information regarding the City of Los Angeles’ #HeatRelief4LA campaign.

Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health

Physics-based modeling identifies cross-pollination vulnerabilities for hemp farms

The relatively new industry has been challenged by wind-blown cross-pollination between neighboring hemp fields.

Journal: Scientific Reports

The Amazon rainforest as a cloud machine: How thunderstorms and plant transpiration produce condensation nuclei

Goethe University Frankfurt
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The rainforest in the Amazon basin transpires vast amounts of gaseous isoprene. Until now, it was assumed that this molecule is not transported far up into the atmosphere, as it rapidly declines when exposed to light conditions. The CAFE-Brazil measurement campaign provided data for two studies – now published as the Nature cover story – which demonstrate, however, that nocturnal thunderstorms transport the isoprene to an altitude of up to 15 kilometers. There, it reacts to form chemical compounds capable of forming vast numbers of new aerosol particles. These grow further and contribute to cloud formation as condensation nuclei. This mechanism is likely to affect the climate, too.

Journal: Nature

Rainforest emissions linked with new particle formation at high altitudes

University of Helsinki
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Why are there so many newly formed aerosol particles in the upper troposphere over tropical regions such as the Amazon? Tropical forests play an important role in global climate regulation; however, the high concentrations of new particles above these areas have puzzled atmospheric scientists for the past 20 years. Recent research has identified that isoprene, a naturally occurring organic compound emitted by vegetation, significantly contributes to the formation of new particles in the upper troposphere. These findings enhance our understanding of atmospheric processes and potentially aid in climate modelling.

Journal: Nature

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