NOAA-supported scientists have determined that this year’s Gulf of Mexico “dead zone”— an area of low oxygen that can kill fish and marine life — is approximately 2,720 square miles.

Hurricane Hector maintained its major hurricane status on Aug. 8 as NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead. Infrared data from NASA's Aqua satellite provided forecasters with cloud top temperatures in Hector so they could pinpoint the strongest part of the storm.

Injecting particles into the atmosphere to cool the planet and counter the warming effects of climate change would do nothing to offset the crop damage from rising global temperatures, according to a new analysis by University of California, Berkeley, researchers.

A futuristic experiment simulating warmer environmental conditions has shown that peatland vegetation responds to higher temperatures with an earlier and longer growth period. A study published in Nature revealed that turning up the heat accelerates spring greening in mature trees, shrubs and mosses and delays fall color change.

On June 15, 1991, Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines blew its top in an eruption of staggering proportions. It sent an ash cloud 28 miles high, filling surrounding valleys with deposits 660 feet thick and destroying almost every bridge within 18 miles. Over 800 people lost their lives.

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Central Atlantic Ocean and looked at cloud top temperatures in Debby, revealing the storm had transitioned from subtropical to tropical.

Trying to tackle climate change by replacing forests with crops for bioenergy power stations that capture carbon dioxide (CO2) could instead increase the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, scientists say.

Tropical Storm Ileana continued to move north along the coast of western Mexico on Aug. 7 but cloud tops warmed as a result of interaction with land and nearby Hurricane John. Infrared data from NASA's Aqua satellite provided forecasters with temperature data that showed cloud top temperatures in Ileana were strongest around its center.

The warming ocean may cause the larvae of bottom-dwelling snails to hatch earlier in the spring, when waves are larger, potentially impacting their ability to survive and serve as food for other sea creatures.

New research, led by former Carnegie postdoctoral fellow Summer Praetorius, shows that changes in the heat flow of the northern Pacific Ocean may have a larger effect on the Arctic climate than previously thought. The findings are published in the August 7, 2018, issue of Nature Communications.