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Climate news and stories

Climate.gov news and features

Drought.gov news

Heat.gov news and events

Earth just had its 7th-warmest January on record

February 12, 2021

Polar sea ice coverage was below average for the month

Emissions of banned ozone-depleting gas are back on the decline

February 10, 2021

This image shows the ozone concentration over Antarctica for the week of September 14–20, 2020. Experts define the "ozone hole" as the area in which ozone levels are below 220 Dobson Units (dark blue, marked with black triangle on the color bar).

Northern forests are becoming more prone to extreme fires

February 8, 2021

A firefighter surveys part of the area burned by the Isom Creek Fire in Alaska on Saturday, June 13, 2020.

January 2021 was among the top-10 warmest for U.S.

February 8, 2021

Great Lakes ice coverage was the smallest in decades

March 2014: A expansive view of broken ice cover on the open water of Lake Superior under a clear blue sky captured from aboard the U.S. Coast Guard vessel Mackinaw. The front of the vessel seen on the bottom right side of the photo. NOAA’s Great Lakes seasonal ice forecasts can be found at: https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/ice/#forecast⁣.

Keeping score: The groundhog vs. the temperature record, 2021

February 2, 2021

Punxsutawney Phil sees 6 more weeks of winter. Will it happen?

This curious groundhog isn't Punxsutawney Phil, but they sure are cute.

Need better, faster drought information? Visit the new Drought.gov

January 27, 2021

Motorists being warned of severe drought conditions with electronic road signs along U.S. Highway 50 in Sacramento, California. Taken August 5, 2015.

Scientists project more ice cover for Great Lakes this year

January 21, 2021

An image from space of the Great Lakes from NOAA’s GOES-16 satellite on January 20, 2020. What's missing from the Great Lakes in this image? Ice. Looking through the cloud cover you can see that ice coverage of the Lakes was well below what is expected for this time of the year. (2020 image).

2020 was Earth’s 2nd-hottest year, just behind 2016

January 14, 2021

NOAA, NASA to announce 2020 global temperature, climate conditions

January 12, 2021

Record number of billion-dollar disasters struck U.S. in 2020

January 8, 2021

Nation saw its 5th-warmest year on record

Irvine, California: Two fires began early morning of October 26, 2020, which quickly spread over 30,000 acres in 48 hours. More than 90,000 people were mandated to evacuate. The wildfires in this photo are captured raging in the hills just behind the nighttime urban city landscape of two tall towers and many buildings. The U.S. West experienced its most active wildfire season in 2020, with California recording 5 of the 6 largest wildfires in its history.

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