Other Features
Most articles in this section were originally written for websites belonging to organizations affiliated with NASA/GISS or NASA/GSFC. The articles describe research that to some extent involves GISS science activities.
2025
Could a Biosignature on an Exoplanet be Detected?
GISS scientists were part of a study exploring the feasibility of searching for signs of life on the surface of a Proxima Centauri b-like planet, the nearest known exoplanet to Earth.
(2025-05-29)
+ Read NCCS Feature
2024
Charting the Exceptional, Unexpected Heat of 2023 and 2024
Global temperatures have soared in recent years and climate scientists are trying to understand why.
(2024-11-20)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
El Niño Fades
The natural climate phenomenon contributed to upheavals in temperature and rainfall patterns across the globe.
(2024-07-15)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
In the Grip of Global Heat
Heat waves rolled through parts of Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia, leaving vulnerable populations at risk.
(2024-06-28)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
Five Factors to Explain the Record Heat in 2023
NASA announced that 2023 was the hottest year on record. What caused the year to be so hot? Here is a breakdown of the primary factors that scientists considered.
(2024-01-13)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
2023
How NASA Deepened Our Understanding of Earth in 2023
In 2023, the NASA Center for Climate Simulation and NASA Science Managed Cloud Environment provided computing resources to enable research and accelerate scientific discoveries that deepen our understanding of Earth and better prepare for its changing climates.
(2023-12-05)
+ Go to NCCS Feature
Indonesian Fires Return in 2023
After several years of comparatively quiet fire seasons, Indonesia saw the return of intense, smoky fires in 2023. The blazes have been exacerbated by dry conditions made worse by the return of El Niño.
(2023-10-07)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
The Ocean Has a Fever
Decades of gradual warming due to human-caused climate change and an El Niño in the Pacific Ocean nudged global sea surface temperatures to record levels in 2023.
(2023-08-25)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
July 2023 Was the Hottest Month on Record
July 2023 was hotter than any other month in the global temperature record, according to an analysis by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
(2023-08-15)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
Romanou Leads Group Studying Interactions Between Oceans, Climate
To honor World Ocean Month and discover how NASA scientists are helping us better understand the world's oceans in a changing climate, NCCS interviewed GISS's Anastasia Romanou, who has developed and used some of the most advanced models of the complex Earth system.
(2023-06-30)
+ Go to NCCS Feature
Simulations Probe the Impacts of Air Pollution on Premature Deaths
Models from GISS and Aarhus University were used to study the impact of air pollution on premature mortality under several emission and population scenarios.
(2023-04-26)
+ Go to NCCS Feature
2022
Celebrating Nat'l Hispanic American Heritage Month: Dr. Clara Orbe
NCCS highlights GISS scientist Dr. Clara Orbe of Argentine heritage, from her early schooling to college career and eventually becoming a leading scientist at GISS.
(2022-10-12)
+ Read NCCS Feature
Feeling the Heat in the Extremes
If trends continue, oppressively hot and humid summers like the record-breaking heat waves in California will continue.
(2022-09-16)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
2021
Exploring the Climates of Earth’s Future Supercontinent
Scientists leveraged a NASA supercomputer to explore possible scenarios for Earth supercontinents and climate 200 and 250 million years into the future.
(2021-11-30)
+ Read NCCS Feature
Podcast: Earth's Expanding Oceans
NASA's "Curious Universe" podcast discussed climate-induced sea level rise with GISS director Gavin Schmidt and also Columbia scientist Craig Rye.
(2021-07-26)
+ Go to Podcast Transcript
Podcast: Let’s Talk About Climate Change
NASA's "Gravity Assist" podcast discussed climate change with GISS director and NASA's acting senior climate advisor, Gavin Schmidt.
(2021-06-18)
+ Go to Podcast Transcript
GISS, NCCS Contribute to CMIP6 International Climate Model Project
NASA/GISS contributed results from hundreds of historical and future climate simulations run on the NCCS Discover supercomputer to the project.
(2021-04-30)
+ Read NCCS Feature
2020
The Drying U.S. West.
A serious drought has flared up across half of the United States — a familiar story for the past two decades.
(2020-12-14)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
A Devastating Abundance
The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was supercharged, and not just in raw numbers.
(2020-12-10)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
Making Sense of "Climate Sensitivity"
GISS scientists answer questions about a new study that narrows the range of uncertainty in future climate projections.
(2020-09-09)
+ Go to 'Ask NASA' Feature
NASA Scientists Explore Venus Habitable Climate Scenarios at NCCS
GISS scientists leveraged NASA supercomputing resources for several months to model a hypothetical climate history for Venus over the past 4.2 billion years.
(2020-08-28)
+ Read NCCS Feature
Another Intense Summer of Fires in Siberia
Following an active 2019 season, fires in 2020 have again been abundant, widespread, and have produced abnormally large carbon emissions.
(2020-08-07)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
Gearing Up for an Active 2020 Hurricane Season
Abnormally warm ocean temperatures and a potential La Niña set the stage for an above-average Atlantic hurricane season.
(2020-07-20)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
Heat and Fire Scorches Siberia
Fires are raging in eastern Siberia in the midst of an unusually long-lived heat wave.
(2020-06-24)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
Simulations Probe Sun's Effects on Climate
A series of model studies analyzed the effect of the solar cycle and varying solar conditions at all wavelengths.
(2020-06-16)
+ Read NCCS Feature
A Fiery Month in Zulia
After dry weather parched the soil and vegetation, large fires burned in the northwestern Venezuela state.
(2020-04-29)
+ GO to NASA EO Feature
NASA Simulations Explore Habitability of Nearest Exoplanet
Powered by the Discover supercomputer, climate simulations incorporated a dynamic ocean to explore the habitability of Proxima Centauri b.
(2020-02-21)
+ Read NCCS Feature
Growth of a Summer Storm
Afternoon thunderstorms are a typical phenomenon during summer in Western Australia.
(2020-01-17)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
Study Confirms Climate Models are Getting Future Warming Right
A new evaluation of global climate models used to project Earth's future global average surface temperature finds that most have been quite accurate.
(2020-01-09)
+ Go to NASA Climate Change Feature
2019
Smoke Blankets Borneo
Fires burning in peat deposits in Indonesia release gases and particles with consequences for public health and the climate.
(2019-09-17)
+ Go to NASA IOTD Feature
Scientists Simulate Ancient Lunar Atmosphere at NCCS
Using NASA Center for Climate Simulation computing resources, exoplanet modelers simulated a thin, relatively short-lived atmosphere.
(2019-09-13)
+ Read NCCS Feature
A Devastating Stall by Hurricane Dorian
A remarkable slowdown by the hurricane led to a prolonged lashing from winds, waves, and rain that devastated Grand Bahama Island.
(2019-09-09)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
Tropical Cyclones are Stalling More
Storms in the North Atlantic are lingering longer near the coast, leading to significantly more rainfall.
(2019-06-06)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
Choking on Saharan Dust
A new analysis suggests that exposure to mineral dust may be a bigger cause of premature death in Africa than previously thought.
(2019-05-01)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
ModelE Simulations Assess Impacts of Irrigation on Climate
Researchers used NCCS supercomputing resources to identify and understand the interactions between simple land-cover change and more complex land-management, including irrigation.
(2019-04-22)
+ Read NCCS Feature
Wallace Broecker and GISS
GISS scientists remember friend, mentor, research collaborator, and sometimes foil Wally Broecker of the Columbia Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
(2019-03-18)
+ Read Feature
2018
Drought Persists in the U.S. Southwest
Persistent drought conditions have spread across the U.S. Southwest, with the Four Corners area standing out as extremely dry.
(2018-11-08)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
The New UN Climate Report in One Sentence
The essence of the recent UN/IPCC report about the planetary disruption resulting from the carbon that human activity puts into the atmosphere can be summed up in a single sentence.
(2018-10-19)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
Forecasting Fire
The Global Fire Weather Database accounts for local winds, temperatures, and humidity, while also being the first fire prediction model to include satellite–based precipitation measurements.
(2018-07-03)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
Waves of Dust Over the Red Sea
Recent satellite imagery showed waves in the dust clouds blown from the Sahara Desert over the Red Sea.
(2018-06-15)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
2017
Curvy Contrails
Viewing satellite imagery of clouds sometimes reveals curiosities in the sky.
(2017-12-20)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
Increasing Resiliency to Extreme Weather
The 2017 hurricane season could be the turning point in planning for climate resilience. NASA scientists provide risk information for preparatory action.
(2017-11-06)
+ Read Feature
Another Hot July
July 2017 was statistically tied with July 2016 as the warmest July in the 137 years of modern record-keeping.
(2017-08-22)
+ Go to NASA EO Feature
Core Questions: An Introduction to Ice Cores
How drilling deeply can help to understand climates of the past and predict climates of the future.
(2017-08-15)
+ Go to NASA Feature
1997-2016
Other features about GISS research for the years before 2017 are available in the archive.
