Effects that scientists had predicted in the past are now occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise, shifting storm patterns and longer, more intense heat waves. Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up and melting earlier in the year, precipitation patterns have changed, plant and animal habitat ranges have shifted, and trees are flowering sooner, exposing fruit blossoms to damaging erratic spring hail and deadly late frost. Global climate change, or the overall warming of our planet, has had observable effects on the environment. Read on for a look at the various kinds of extreme weather, how climate change is impacting them, and ways students can use NASA data to explore science for themselves. NASA makes this data available to the public, and students can use it to understand extreme weather events happening in their regions, learn more about weather and climate in general, and design plans for resilience and mitigation. Together, the agencies are collecting more detailed data on weather and climate than ever before, improving society's ability to predict, monitor and respond to extreme events. NASA uses airborne and space-based platforms, in conjunction with those from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, to monitor these events and the ways in which our changing climate is contributing to them. Extreme weather events are, themselves, troublesome, but the effects of such extremes, including damaging winds, floods, drought and wildfires, can be devastating. It can range from superpowerful hurricanes to torrential downpours to extended hot dry weather and more. As NOAA has stated, "Warming of the surface ocean from human-induced climate change is likely fueling more powerful tropical cyclones.An extreme weather event is something that falls outside the realm of normal weather patterns. The frequency of intense and damaging tropical storms and hurricanes have been linked to climate change. The system has gained power passing over "record-warm waters of near east of the Lesser Antilles," the NHC said, adding that such warm waters are more likely to be found in the Gulf of Mexico, not the Atlantic Ocean. In 2017, Hurricane Irma was supposed to follow a similar path - but it wound up smacking Florida's Gulf coast. While models are generally accurate, they're not perfect. Several long-range models predict Lee will curve north - missing islands along the Caribbean and staying clear of the U.S. There is a chance Lee might not make landfall anywhere. East Coast, Atlantic Canada, or Bermuda late next week, particularly since the hurricane is expected to slow down considerably over the southwestern Atlantic," the NHC's John Cangialosi wrote in his discussion of the forecast. "It is way too soon to know what level of impacts, if any, Lee might have along the U.S. But experts advise keeping a close eye on the storm. So far, the storm isn't posing an immediate threat to anyone on land. A satellite image shows Hurricane Lee just before daybreak Friday, with the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico to the west.
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