Category Archives: Climate change

Hurricane Melissa is a warning – why violent storms are increasingly catching the world off guard

Posted on 14 November, 2025 by richardallan

Alexander Baker, University of Reading and Liz Stephens, University of Reading Hurricane Melissa is tearing through the Caribbean, bringing record-breaking wind and torrential rain to Jamaica – the island’s first ever category 5 landfall. What makes Melissa so alarming isn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Climate change, Environmental hazards, Tropical cyclones | Leave a comment

How does the UK summer so far compare to the extreme hot, dry summer of 1976?

Posted on 21 July, 2025 by richardallan

By Dr Laura Baker   Senior NCAS Scientist in the Department of Meteorology As we come to the end of the third heatwave of 2025, and a third English water board has announced a hosepipe ban, more and more comparisons … Continue reading →

Posted in Atmospheric circulation, Climate, Climate change, Climate Services, Europe, Hydrology, North Atlantic, Reanalyses, Temperature, University of Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Rapid developing, severe droughts will become more common over the 21st Century

Posted on 12 October, 2023 by sdriscoll

By: Emily Black At the height of the 2012 corn growing season, two thirds of the United States was hit by a sudden drought. The photographs below compare 2012 to a normal year:   Earlier this year, a similarly sudden drought … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change | Leave a comment

More severe wet and dry extremes as rapid warming of climate continues

Posted on 5 October, 2023 by sdriscoll

By: Professor Richard Allan The UK weather has recently been characterised by large swings between wet and dry periods and with record heat this June and September. Globally, this September was the warmest on record and 2023 is set to … Continue reading →

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Flying Through Storms To Understand Their Interaction with Sea Ice: The Arctic Summer-time Cyclones Project and Field Campaign

Posted on 1 May, 2023 by danaallen

By: Ambrogio Volonté Arctic cyclones are the leading type of severe weather system affecting the Arctic Ocean and surrounding land in the summer. They can have serious impacts on sea-ice movement, sometimes resulting in ‘Very Rapid Ice Loss Events’, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Arctic, Climate, Climate change, Data collection, extratropical cyclones | Leave a comment

Two Flavours of Ocean Temperature Change and the Implication for Reconstructing the History of Ocean Warming

Posted on 13 March, 2023 by danaallen

Introducing Excess and Redistributed Temperatures.  By: Quran Wu Monitoring and understanding ocean heat content change is an essential task of climate science because the ocean stores over 90% of extra heat that is trapped in the Earth system. Ocean warming … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Oceans | Leave a comment

Including Human Behaviour in Models to Understand the Impact of Climate Change on People

Posted on 20 February, 2023 by danaallen

By Megan McGrory In 2020 56% of the global population lived in cities and towns, and they accounted for two-thirds of global energy consumption and over 70% of CO2 emissions. The share of the global population living in urban areas … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Urban meteorology | Leave a comment

Tiny Particles, Big Impact?

Posted on 12 December, 2022 by danaallen

By Laura Wilcox Aerosols are tiny particles or liquid droplets suspended in the atmosphere. They can be created by human activities, such as burning fossil fuels or clearing land, or have natural sources, such as volcanoes. Depending on their composition, … Continue reading →

Posted in Aerosols, Air quality, Climate, Climate change | Leave a comment

Oceanic Influences On Arctic And Antarctic Sea Ice

Posted on 14 November, 2022 by danaallen

By: Jake Aylmer The futures of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice are difficult to pin down in part due to climate model uncertainty. Recent work reveals different ocean behaviours that have a critical impact on sea ice, highlighting a potential … Continue reading →

Posted in Antarctic, Arctic, Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Cryosphere, Oceans, Polar | Leave a comment

Monitoring Climate Change From Space

Posted on 5 September, 2022 by danaallen

Richard Allan It’s never been more crucial to undertake a full medical check-up for planet Earth, and satellite instruments provide an essential technological tool for monitoring the pace of climate change, the driving forces and the impacts on societies and … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Clouds, earth observation, Energy budget, Water cycle | Tagged | Leave a comment