#HurricaneDelta was the 25th named Atlantic storm of the 2020 hurricane season. After exhausting a list of prepared names, @WMO turns to the Greek alphabet to name storms.
Hurricanes typically get a massive boost of energy when they pass over warm waters. #HurricaneDelta rapidly intensified to a Category 4 storm. #HurricaneLaura also underwent rapid intensification in the Gulf of Mexico. go.nasa.gov/2GTxb7V
As it made landfall, #HurricaneDelta was generating heavy rainfall. Combining data from @NASARain’s satellites with computer models helps track precipitation to help those living in the storm’s path. go.nasa.gov/3dlIXnr
As hurricanes continue to grow larger and more powerful, @NASA and @NOAA satellites track these storms from space to help improve forecasting and inform first responders on the ground.
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Arctic sea ice reached its second-lowest minimum extent on record on Sept. 15, 2020. This year’s extent was larger only than 2012’s extent. @NASA and @NSIDC track sea ice through the year. go.nasa.gov/33LwmFH
Sea ice plays an important role in keeping our planet cool. Light-colored ice reflects heat from the Sun back into the atmosphere, while darker ocean water absorbs it, so warming accelerates as sea ice extent declines.
Sea ice extent grows and shrinks with the seasons, with the colder northern winter temperatures freezing sea water and the warmer summer temperatures melting it. Over the last decades, sea ice extent has been trending smaller — a direct result of warmer global temperatures.
318 gigatons.
That’s how much ice is lost every year from Antarctica and Greenland’s ice sheets, according to new science from @NASA_Ice's #ICESat2. go.nasa.gov/3cb0bCC
But… how much ice is that, really? 🤔
Let's say 🧊= a gigaton of ice.
🧊 would be enough to cover NYC’s Central Park in ice past the top of the Chrysler Building. When melted, it would fill 400,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Each year from 2003 to 2019, Greenland lost 200 🧊s. Antarctica lost 118 🧊s.
From 2003-2019, Greenland lost: 🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊🧊
2019 was the second hottest 🌡 year and the last decade was the warmest decade on record. The global average temperature was more than 2°F warmer than during the late 19th century. go.nasa.gov/2RnffDZ
Scientists at @NASA and @NOAA separately analyze temperature measurements taken at thousands of weather stations, ships and ocean buoys around the globe. Although the records differ slightly due to data processing, they both show a long-term pattern 📈 of increasing temperature.
The global temperature 🌎 is an average, so not every place on Earth had its second-warmest year. For instance, the continental U.S. had a cold October, but Alaska set records for high temperatures. The U.S. was still warmer than average over the year.
Time-lapses 🎥 taken from space can help track how Earth’s polar ❄️ regions are changing, watching as glaciers retreat and accelerate and ice sheets melt over decades. #AGU19#AGUCryo go.nasa.gov/38kxAZW
Thanks to @USGS/@NASA_Landsat’s 🛰 long data record, we can watch Alaskan glaciers ❄️ shift and flow every year since 1972. Columbia Glacier, which was relatively stable in the 1970s, has since retreated rapidly as the climate continues to warm 🌡.
@USGS@NASA_Landsat The Malaspina Glacier has pulsed and spread and pulsed. The flashes 💥 and imperfect frames result from the need for cloud-free images 📷 from each year, and the technology limitations of the early generation satellites.