Research Highlight
Anthropogenic forcing changes coastal tropical cyclone frequency
November 17, 2023 – Anthropogenic activities have been affecting our climate since the industrial revolution. The effect of anthropogenic climate change on tropical cyclones (TCs) is of particular concern because of their catastrophic damage at landfall and their relatively frequent occurrence compared to other natural hazards. However, attributing a regionally observed change in tropical cyclone frequency (TCF) to anthropogenic climate change is notoriously challenging for two main reasons.
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Tom Delworth Honored with the 2023 Presidential Rank Award
November 13, 2023 – Tom Delworth, a Senior Scientist and leader of the Seasonal to Decadal Variability and Predictability division at GFDL, has been honored with the 2023 Presidential Rank Award. One of the most prestigious awards in the civil service, it recognizes the important contributions of public servants across the federal government.
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From NOAA to USPTO for Climate Innovative Solutions
November 7, 2023 – Kristen Schepel, Science Policy and Project Manager at GFDL, is advancing cross-agency collaboration through an assignment at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As part of an employee exchange program, she has taken on the role of Climate Innovation Advisor at the USPTO, to connect the agency with the dynamic field of climate science and deepen their understanding of climate change and the pressing need for innovative solutions.
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Forecasting extreme temperatures months in advance
October 24, 2023 – Heat waves and cold spells aren’t always as dramatic as other weather events, such as hurricanes and tornadoes, but they can be just as dangerous. Exposure to extreme heat can cause heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and can lead to flare-ups of chronic conditions, including asthma and cardiovascular disease.
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Vaishali Naik Honored with Mid-Career Award from AGU
October 13, 2023 – Congratulations to Vaishali Naik (Research Physical Scientist), recipient of the 2023 Piers J. Sellers Global Environmental Change Mid-Career Award from the American Geophysical Union (AGU). With this award, AGU recognizes Dr. Naik for her “outstanding contributions in research, educational, or societal impacts in the area of global environmental change, especially through interdisciplinary approaches.”
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36 GFDL Scientists are Among Best in the World
October 2, 2023 – A remarkable three dozen GFDL researchers have been recognized among the top scientists around the globe, as assessed by Research.com in its ranking of the “Best Scientists in the World” for 2023. This ranking identifies and celebrates exceptional individual researchers at GFDL who are having a significant impact on the research community. This achievement also positioned GFDL as the top research program in NOAA for environmental sciences.
Research Highlight
Coherent Mechanistic Patterns of Tropical Land Hydroclimate Change
September 5, 2023 – Accurate predictions of future changes in hydroclimate over land, in particular the magnitude and frequency of extreme heat, extreme rainfall, and droughts are of paramount importance for society. Gaps in our process-level understanding of land-atmosphere interactions remain, in particular with respect to the connection between changes in different types of extremes, and the connection between changes in local land-atmosphere interactions with the global-scale response of the hydrological cycle to climate forcings.
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Rong Zhang Elected AGU Fellow for 2023
September 19, 2023 – Rong Zhang, a Senior Scientist and head of GFDL’s Ocean and Cryosphere Division, was elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) for 2023 for her “seminal contributions to the study of the Atlantic Ocean and its role in global climate.” Dr. Zhang is considered a leading expert on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and Atlantic Multidecadal Variability. Her work has advanced our understanding of the mechanisms of multidecadal climate variability and its importance in shaping the climate record of the Atlantic basin and northern hemisphere.
Research Highlight
Abrupt loss and uncertain recovery from fires of Amazon forests under low climate mitigation scenarios
August 23, 2023 – Tropical forests buffer climate change impacts by acting as a major sink for anthropogenic carbon emissions, which is essential to slowing down the buildup of atmospheric CO2. However, the response of tropical forests to more frequent weather extremes and long-recovery disturbances like fires remains uncertain.
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Ronald Stouffer Recognized with AMS Award
October 10, 2023 – Ronald Stouffer has been awarded the 2024 Syukuro Manabe Climate Research Award from the American Meteorological Society (AMS), “for groundbreaking development of coupled atmosphere-ocean climate models with innovative applications to characterize and quantify global climate variability and change.”
Research Highlight
Regulating finescale resolved convection in high-resolution models for better hurricane track prediction
August 4, 2023 – Hurricanes, also known as tropical cyclones (TC), are the costliest weather disasters in the U.S. and accurate hurricane track and intensity forecasts are crucial for early preparation. High-resolution models (approximately 3 km grid spacing or finer) covering a large domain are emerging as powerful tools for hurricane prediction.