Climatology & Meteorology

Though still debated by the scientific community, it is worth looking into what is known (and unknown) about ball lightning.

Every commercial aircraft is struck by lightning about once per year on average, but they have a number of features designed to keep passengers safe, including lightning diverters, metal bars, advanced composite films, and expanded metals.

Volcanoes can affect climate and climate can affect a volcano, though these two events do not necessarily occur in equal amounts. By far, the most common phenomenon revolves around a very large volcano emitting tons of debris and chemicals into the atmosphere.

Seeing the Hurricane Harvey path, one can understand how it became our nation's costliest natural disaster. Hurricane Harvey's damage affected more than a dozen states and cost nearly $200 billion.

The ionosphere is a layer of the earth that is electrified; this permits the refraction and reflection of radio waves throughout the planet. This article explores the ionosphere and its different regions.

Our appetites for meat and dairy are, indirectly, adding significantly to global warming.

Hurricanes are one of the most common natural disasters to happen near ocean waters. They can be very destructive, dependent on category and location.

Hurricanes bring high winds and flooding. They also display more unusual natural phenomena many of us rarely see. I share 4 unusual natural phenomena I've witnessed during hurricanes.

Hurricane season officially lasts until late November. Though the last six weeks are not overly abundant with these storms, deadly hurricanes can still occur in October, November, and even December.

NOAA is a scientific agency with almost 12,000 personnel globally. With this kind of scope, they have the manpower and the means to make some stunning discoveries.

While urbanization brings many social and economic benefits, it also causes environmental problems; cities comprise less than 3% of the Earth's surface, but their impact has dire implications for our planet.

Our television sets are covered with news stories about hurricanes right now, but today's storms can't compare to those of yesterday. This article explores a brief history of ten of the most devastating of these disasters.

Earth has its own share of "unworldly" happenings that even science cannot explain. Some are similar to biblical phenomena that people will not believe easily. But these are real and they exist!..

Buildings don't topple, and the ground doesn't split open during a heatwave. But, people die in droves in this "silent" natural disaster. Here is a brief glimpse of its history.

The five deadliest and most destructive US tornadoes of the 2000s and 2010s. The aftermath of the worst twisters in the United States. Includes tornado rankings, deaths, cost, and where the tornados happened.

This article suggests the biggest man-made environmental disasters in the history of the United States. These disasters may not have killed people, but they severely damaged the ecosystem and will cost millions, if not billions, of dollars to clean up.

A photographic odyssey explaining the progression and formation of the ice shelves forming on the Great Lakes before and after the 2014 historic polar vortex event. Includes hidden dangers!

Mark Lynas's "Six Degrees" is a modern classic, outlining potential effects of various levels of global warming. It's summarized, evaluated, and updated here, with links to seven supplementary articles.

A detailed guide explaining everything you need to know about the water cycle, processes and the different types of rainfall all explained with beautiful diagrams.

The practice of cloud seeding (weather manipulation) for rain has spread throughout the world during the 50 years since its methods were first discovered. What does it look like now as an industry?

By using a nifty acronym and a fun little song, you can easily remember the order of the rainbow colors.

For eons, agriculturalists have been fighting what they call "bacterial speck" on tomatoes and other crop plants, without anyone realizing that the same bacteria is at the heart of rain and snow.

The atmosphere is a thin layer of gases surrounding the surface of the Earth. The gases composing the atmosphere are distributed in a layer of approximately 150 km (93 miles).

A handy guide for identifying various types of clouds including information on what makes clouds look different, which are responsible for storms, and how some clouds can help in predicting weather.

A look at the difference between the Northern Lights and the Southern Lights. Plus what makes the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis so spectacular.

Natural disasters aren't always disastrous. There are benefits to having a flood, hurricane, and volcanic eruption. Most of these benefits will not take effect immediately. This article inspects three popular natural disasters, their disadvantages, and their benefits.

Learn about the different types of tornadoes and see 15 clear, amazing pictures of these violent storms. Find out out how tornadoes are ranked on the Fujita scale and see examples of F5 tornadoes.

What were the most destructive natural disasters in the history of our planet? Earth has weathered many hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Are humans responsible for some of these disasters?

Tsunamis cause whenever they hit death, destruction and carnage. Find out the exact effects on land and in the sea.

Learn about the science of remote sensing. Remote sensing is defined as the measurement of object properties on the earth’s surface using data acquired from aircraft and satellites.

Chemical weathering is one of the forces that shapes our landscapes. Man-made structures are affected, too. Find out how....

From June to November, hurricanes pose a potential risk to the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of the U.S., the Caribbean, and Central America. The worst hurricanes in history have caused devastating loss of life and property.

Tsunamis are natural disasters with devastating effects. Trying to explain to your students how Tsunamis are caused? Here you'll find a detailed breakdown of what causes a tsunami, perfect for school projects and essay answers.

Ranging from vehicle emissions to groundwater contamination, there are countless threats currently facing our planet's health. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has designated four major categories into which most of these issues can be classified.

Instead of irregularities in Earth's orbit, temperature changes are now caused by changes in atmospheric greenhouse gasses released by human activity. This primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels.