Science
NASA Says 2022 Fifth Warmest Year on Record, Warming Trend Continues
Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Kathleen Gaeta
Earth’s average surface temperature in 2022 tied with 2015 as the fifth warmest on record, according to an analysis by NASA. Continuing the planet’s long-term warming trend, global temperatures in 2022 were 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit (0.89 degrees Celsius) above the average for NASA’s baseline period (1951-1980), scientists from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York reported.
“This warming trend is alarming,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Our warming climate is already making a mark: Forest fires are intensifying; hurricanes are getting stronger; droughts are wreaking havoc and sea levels are rising. NASA is deepening our commitment to do our part in addressing climate change. Our Earth System Observatory will provide state-of-the-art data to support our climate modeling, analysis and predictions to help humanity confront our planet’s changing climate.”
The past nine years have been the warmest years since modern recordkeeping began in 1880. This means Earth in 2022 was about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (or about 1.11 degrees Celsius) warmer than the late 19th century average.
“The reason for the warming trend is that human activities continue to pump enormous amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and the long-term planetary impacts will also continue,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of GISS, NASA’s leading center for climate modeling.
Human-driven greenhouse gas emissions have rebounded following a short-lived dip in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, NASA scientists, as well as international scientists, determined carbon dioxide emissions were the highest on record in 2022. NASA also identified some super-emitters of methane – another powerful greenhouse gas – using the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation instrument that launched to the International Space Station last year.
The Arctic region continues to experience the strongest warming trends – close to four times the global average – according to GISS research presented at the 2022 annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, as well as a separate study.
Communities around the world are experiencing impacts scientists see as connected to the warming atmosphere and ocean. Climate change has intensified rainfall and tropical storms, deepened the severity of droughts, and increased the impact of storm surges. Last year brought torrential monsoon rains that devastated Pakistan and a persistent megadrought in the U.S. Southwest. In September, Hurricane Ian became one of the strongest and costliest hurricanes to strike the continental U.S.
Tracking Our Changing Planet
NASA’s global temperature analysis is drawn from data collected by weather stations and Antarctic research stations, as well as instruments mounted on ships and ocean buoys. NASA scientists analyze these measurements to account for uncertainties in the data and to maintain consistent methods for calculating global average surface temperature differences for every year. These ground-based measurements of surface temperature are consistent with satellite data collected since 2002 by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on NASA’s Aqua satellite and with other estimates.
NASA uses the period from 1951-1980 as a baseline to understand how global temperatures change over time. That baseline includes climate patterns such as La Niña and El Niño, as well as unusually hot or cold years due to other factors, ensuring it encompasses natural variations in Earth’s temperature.
Many factors can affect the average temperature in any given year. For example, 2022 was one of the warmest on record despite a third consecutive year of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean. NASA scientists estimate that La Niña’s cooling influence may have lowered global temperatures slightly (about 0.11 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.06 degrees Celsius) from what the average would have been under more typical ocean conditions.
A separate, independent analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) concluded that the global surface temperature for 2022 was the sixth highest since 1880. NOAA scientists use much of the same raw temperature data in their analysis and have a different baseline period (1901-2000) and methodology. Although rankings for specific years can differ slightly between the records, they are in broad agreement and both reflect ongoing long-term warming.
NASA’s full dataset of global surface temperatures through 2022, as well as full details with code of how NASA scientists conducted the analysis, are publicly available from GISS.
GISS is a NASA laboratory managed by the Earth Sciences Division of the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The laboratory is affiliated with Columbia University’s Earth Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Science in New York.
For more information about NASA’s Earth science programs, visit:
Source: NASA
After years of anticipation and hard work by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Regolith Explorer) team, a capsule of rocks and dust collected from asteroid Bennu finally is on Earth. It landed at 8:52 a.m. MDT (10:52 a.m. EDT) on Sunday, in a targeted area of the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City.
Within an hour and a half, the capsule was transported by helicopter to a temporary clean room set up in a hangar on the training range, where it now is connected to a continuous flow of nitrogen.
Getting the sample under a “nitrogen purge,” as scientists call it, was one of the OSIRIS-REx team’s most critical tasks today. Nitrogen is a gas that doesn’t interact with most other chemicals, and a continuous flow of it into the sample container inside the capsule will keep out earthly contaminants to leave the sample pure for scientific analyses.
The returned samples collected from Bennu will help scientists worldwide make discoveries to better understand planet formation and the origin of organics and water that led to life on Earth, as well as benefit all of humanity by learning more about potentially hazardous asteroids.
“Congratulations to the OSIRIS-REx team on a picture-perfect mission – the first American asteroid sample return in history – which will deepen our understanding of the origin of our solar system and its formation. Not to mention, Bennu is a potentially hazardous asteroid, and what we learn from the sample will help us better understand the types of asteroids that could come our way,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “With OSIRIS-REx, Psyche launch in a couple of weeks, DART’s one year anniversary, and Lucy’s first asteroid approach in November, Asteroid Autumn is in full swing. These missions prove once again that NASA does big things. Things that inspire us and unite us. Things that show nothing is beyond our reach when we work together.”
The Bennu sample – an estimated 8.8 ounces, or 250 grams – will be transported in its unopened canister by aircraft to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday, Sept. 25. Curation scientists there will disassemble the canister, extract and weigh the sample, create an inventory of the rocks and dust, and, over time, distribute pieces of Bennu to scientists worldwide.
Today’s delivery of an asteroid sample – a first for the U.S. – went according to plan thanks to the massive effort of hundreds of people who remotely directed the spacecraft’s journey since it launched on Sept. 8, 2016. The team then guided it to arrival at Bennu on Dec. 3, 2018, through the search for a safe sample-collection site between 2019 and 2020, sample collection on Oct. 20, 2020, and during the return trip home starting on May 10, 2021.
“Today marks an extraordinary milestone not just for the OSIRIS-REx team but for science as a whole,” said Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx at the University of Arizona, Tucson. “Successfully delivering samples from Bennu to Earth is a triumph of collaborative ingenuity and a testament to what we can accomplish when we unite with a common purpose. But let’s not forget – while this may feel like the end of an incredible chapter, it’s truly just the beginning of another. We now have the unprecedented opportunity to analyze these samples and delve deeper into the secrets of our solar system.”
After traveling billions of miles to Bennu and back, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft released its sample capsule toward Earth’s atmosphere at 6:42 a.m. EDT (4:42 a.m. MDT). The spacecraft was 63,000 miles (102,000 kilometers) from Earth’s surface at the time – about one-third the distance from Earth to the Moon.
Traveling at 27,650 mph (44,500 kph), the capsule pierced the atmosphere at 10:42 a.m. EDT (8:42 a.m. MDT), off the coast of California at an altitude of about 83 miles (133 kilometers). Within 10 minutes, it landed on the military range. Along the way, two parachutes successfully deployed to stabilize and slow the capsule down to a gentle 11 mph (18 kph) at touchdown.
“The whole team had butterflies today, but that’s the focused anticipation of a critical event by a well-prepared team,” said Rich Burns, project manager for OSIRIS-REx at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “For us, this was the World Series, ninth inning, bases-loaded moment, and this team knocked it out of the park.”
Radar, infrared, and optical instruments in the air and on the ground tracked the capsule to its landing coordinates inside a 36-mile by 8.5-mile (58-kilometer by 14-kilometer) area on the range. Within several minutes, the recovery team was dispatched to the capsule’s location to inspect and retrieve it. The team found the capsule in good shape at 9:07 a.m. MDT (11:07 a.m. EDT) and then determined it was safe to approach. Within 70 minutes, they wrapped it up for safe transport to a temporary clean room on the range, where it remains under continuous supervision and a nitrogen purge.
NASA Goddard provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. The University of Arizona, Tucson leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft and provides flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Curation for OSIRIS-REx, including processing the sample when it arrives on Earth, will take place at NASA Johnson. International partnerships on this mission include the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter instrument from CSA (the Canadian Space Agency) and asteroid sample science collaboration with JAXA’s (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Hayabusa2 mission. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washingt on.
To learn more about the asteroid sample recovery mission visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex
Source: NASA
Daily News
September Equinox 2023: All You Need to Know
September Equinox: Celebrating the change of seasons and equal day and night. #SeptemberEquinox #ChangeOfSeasons
The September equinox is upon us, marking the first day of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of spring in the Southern Hemisphere. This celestial event holds significance as it represents a pivotal moment in Earth’s annual journey around the sun.
Scheduled to occur at 6:50 UTC on September 23, 2023, the September equinox occurs when the sun directly aligns with Earth’s equator, crossing from north to south. The term “equinox” derives from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night), symbolizing the equal length of day and night experienced by people worldwide during this time.
This celestial phenomenon is a result of Earth’s axial tilt of 23 1/2 degrees. As our planet orbits the sun, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres exchange their exposure to direct sunlight, leading to the solstices and equinoxes. The equinoxes, positioned between the solstices, mark the middle point of this exchange.
Notably, the September equinox grants an excellent opportunity to identify due east and due west in your surroundings. On this day, the sun rises exactly in the east and sets directly in the west, regardless of your location on Earth. By taking note of the sun’s position in relation to familiar landmarks, you can use this knowledge to determine cardinal directions in the future.
In nature, the signs of seasonal transition are unmistakable. In the Northern Hemisphere, the days become shorter, dawn arrives later, and sunsets occur earlier. The sun’s arc across the sky shifts southward, prompting migratory journeys for birds and butterflies. Cooler weather and the changing colors of leaves signal the imminent arrival of winter.
As the September equinox unfolds, take a moment to appreciate this celestial event and the profound changes it signifies in the natural world. The equinox serves as a reminder of Earth’s perpetual motion and the cyclical nature of life on our planet.
(Note: This blog post is based on an article by EarthSky.)
Credits: NASA/Bill Dunford
NASA will host a media teleconference at 4 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Sept. 26, to discuss the upcoming annular solar eclipse. The annular eclipse will cross the U.S. from Oregon to Texas on Saturday, Oct. 14, with a partial solar eclipse visible throughout the contiguous U.S.
Audio of the call will stream live on NASA’s website.
The following participants will discuss the science of eclipses, how to safely watch the Oct. 14 eclipse, and the next total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024:
- Peg Luce, acting Heliophysics division director, NASA Headquarters
- Madhulika Guhathakurta, heliophysics program scientist, NASA Headquarters
- Elizabeth MacDonald, heliophysics citizen science lead, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
- Alex Lockwood, strategic content and integration lead for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
To ask questions during the teleconference, media must RSVP no later than two hours before the event to Sarah Frazier at [email protected]. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.
Also known as a “ring of fire” eclipse, an annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is near the part of its orbit that is most distant from Earth. Because the Moon is farther from Earth than it is during a total solar eclipse, the Moon doesn’t block out the entire Sun, instead it leaves a bright ring of Sun visible at the peak of the eclipse.
This “ring of fire” is visible only in the narrow path of annularity that stretches from Oregon to Texas, as well as parts of Mexico, Central America, and South America. Outside the path of annularity, people across the contiguous U.S., Puerto Rico, and parts of Alaska and Hawaii will have the chance to see a partial solar eclipse, when the Moon covers part of the Sun without creating the “ring of fire” effect.
All eclipse-watchers on Oct. 14 will need to use special eye protection – such eclipse glasses or a specialized solar filter – or an indirect viewing method to safely watch the eclipse. Such safety measures must be used throughout the entire eclipse, no matter a viewer’s location, as even the small ring of Sun visible at the peak of the annular eclipse is dangerous if viewed directly.
Live coverage of the annular solar eclipse will air on NASA TV and the agency’s website on Oct. 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.. The public also can watch live on agency social media accounts on Facebook, X, and YouTube.
The April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse will cross the U.S. from Texas to Maine.
For more information about eclipses, visit:
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