MS-ESS2-5
Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.
- Climate
Predicting a wildfire with data from space
When the West gets dry it can catch fire. A teen decided to find out if satellite data might show where a fire’s fuel might reside.
- Chemistry
Particles in air help fatten clouds’ water droplets
Making their own clouds has shown scientists how the fattest water droplets form. Understanding this could lead to better forecasts of climate change.
- Climate
Explainer: How scientists know Earth is warming
Scientists can calculate global temperatures, both present and past. Their findings show that the planet is rapidly heating up.
- Climate
Picture This: Biggest hurricane in the West
The hurricane that’s storming into western Mexico has had higher sustained winds than any seen in the Western Hemisphere. It’s also got the lowest atmospheric pressure, making it a monster storm.
- Physics
Scientists ‘see’ thunder for first time
Scientists have captured the first image of thunder. The map shows the relative strengths of the sound waves emanating from the loud clap.
- Climate
Cosmic rays offer clues about lightning
Space particles called cosmic rays pelt Earth. Scientists are using the rain of these particles to probe how lightning forms.
- Earth
Mornings become electric
Lightning packs a wallop in the morning. The most powerful lightning strikes in the continental United States usually peak before noon.
- Environment
Arctic warming bolsters summer heat
Rapid warming in the Arctic is sapping summer storms of their power to cool. That worsens heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere.
- Climate
Distant pollution may intensify U.S. twisters
A new study of one of the deadliest U.S. outbreaks of tornadoes sees a possible role for smoke. In this analysis, the smoke had come from fires burning in Central America.
- Climate
Lightning strikes will surge with climate change
Warming temperatures will lead to 50 percent more lightning strikes across the 48 U.S. states in the next century, researchers report. That increase could lead to more warming, more fires and even more deaths.
- Climate
Where will lightning strike?
When lightning strikes, the results can be deadly. But nature’s dazzling light show also can provide scientists with insights into when and where the next thunderbolt might strike.
- Climate
Explainer: Why a tornado forms
Tornadoes start with a thunderstorm. But they also require other ingredients, such as instability.
