New research suggests that sea-salt aerosols seed large raindrops that starve clouds of water needed to make lightning. But not all scientists are convinced it’s simply about salt spray.
Precipitation
Posted inEditors' Vox
Fantastic Ice-Nucleating Particles and How to Find Them
Recent advances in measurements and models are paving the way to transform fundamental understanding and simulation of ice-nucleating particles and their climate impacts.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
New Cloud and Precipitation Data Over the Southern Ocean
New measurements show the macro- and microphysical characteristics of the clouds and precipitation over the data-space regions of the Southern Ocean.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Amazon Basin Tree Rings Hold a Record of the Region’s Rainfall
New research provides a 200-year reconstruction of interannual rainfall in the Amazon basin using oxygen isotopes preserved in tree rings in Ecuador and Bolivia.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Vegetation Carries the Signature of Recent Precipitation
Vegetation response to precipitation is important for near-term weather predictability, and researchers show that such a response can occur within a few days and last up to two months.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Variability of ENSO Forecast Skill Over the 20th Century
El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) predictability is examined in a new global coupled retrospective forecast ensemble for the 20th Century.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Consistently Closing the Energy Budget in Earth System Models
Researchers review the challenges and prospects of Earth System Models that incorporate a consistent closed energy budget.
Posted inNews
The Amazon Rain Forest Can’t Keep Up with Droughts
Droughts in one region of the Amazon can lead to less moisture elsewhere, and trees may not adapt quickly enough to survive.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Why Does It Rain So Much Over Tropical Land?
Analyses of observations show that tropical land receives more rain than its fair share, owing to a proposed negative feedback that is not captured in current climate models.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Face Rapid Climate Change
Observational and modeling studies identify the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East as a prominent climate change hotspot associated with weather extremes that have major impacts on society.