Dec. 18, 2012 -- With a focus on science that serves society, NOAA scientists made new discoveries, collected valuable data, and provided information throughout 2012 to guide policymakers’ decisions. Read on to learn about some of NOAA Research’s top accomplishments of 2012.

Dec. 11, 2012 -- Like a bunch of fussy nurses, a fleet of five-foot-tall devices has been constantly taking the ocean’s temperature, measuring its saltiness, and gathering other information to monitor the health of the body of water that covers more than 70 percent of the planet. One of those autonomous devices recently collected the one millionth profile.

Dec. 6 -- Today, NOAA released a report that estimates global mean sea level rise over the next century based on a comprehensive synthesis of existing scientific literature.

Dec. 5, 2012 -- Scientists today unveiled unprecedented snapshots of Earth at night. Global composite images, constructed from cloud-free nighttime images from the new NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite, were showcased at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting in San Francisco.

Dec. 5, 2012 -- NOAA scientists participated in a panel discussion of the annual Arctic Report Card, which has, since 2006, summarized the quickly changing conditions in the Arctic.

Dec. 3, 2012 -- NOAA scientists and colleagues are installing the first of four long-term “atmospheric river observatories” in coastal California this month, to better monitor and predict the impacts of landfalling atmospheric rivers.

Dec. 3, 2012 -- A special collection of articles about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill provides the first comprehensive analysis and synthesis of the science used in the unprecedented response effort by the government, academia, and industry.

Dec. 3, 2012 -- The new NOAA Great Lakes Water Level Dashboard presented this week at the American Geophysical Union annual fall meeting this week offers interactive displays of water level date for the North American Great Lakes.

Nov. 15, 2012 -- In a new study, academic and NOAA scientists found that ozone pollution is declining at rural sites in the East, but is steady or even increasing at most sites in the rural West, with strongest increases in spring.

Nov. 15, 2012 -- NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research is accepting applications from and nominations for individuals with appropriate professional backgrounds who are interested in serving on NOAA's Ocean Exploration Advisory Board.

Nov. 15, 2012 -- A new NOAA study finds that La Niña-related sea-surface temperature conditions were the most important factor leading to the drying out in Texas and the U.S. Southern Plains last year.

Nov. 14, 2012 -- Two of the nation's largest producers of wind-generated electric power will share weather data with NOAA, providing additional observations from wind farms across the nation for research and operations.

Nov. 13, 2012 -- In many parts of the world, summers just aren’t what they were a generation or two ago. Summer climates in some places are changing—mostly, but not always, warming—according to a new analysis of 90 years of observational data.

Oct. 25, 2012 -- A new NOAA study explores the reasons behind these diverging views on future Great Plains drought. The good news is that it will probably not be as dire as some earlier studies suggest.

Oct. 24, 2012 -- Warmer air temperatures high above the Antarctic led to the second smallest seasonal ozone hole in 20 years, according to NOAA and NASA satellite measurements.

Oct. 24, 2012 -- Before satellites, weather data transmitters, or computer databases, there were the ship’s logs of Arctic sea voyages. A new crowdsourcing effort could make the weather data from these ship logs available to climate scientists worldwide.

Oct. 15, 2012 -- NOAA and university researchers believe they have found a climate signal related to a specific phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation that could be linked to, and possibly serve as a predictor of, massive tornado outbreaks.

Oct. 10, 2012 -- Changes in summer Arctic wind patterns contribute not only to an unprecedented loss of Arctic sea ice, but could also bring about shifts in North American and European weather, according to a new NOAA-led study published today in Geophysical Research Letters.

Oct. 5, 2012 -- A team of scientists from NOAA and the University of Colorado-CIRES will receive the governor’s Award for High-Impact Research, for discoveries made during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill crisis.

Sept. 17, 2012 -- With just a computer or mobile device, you can virtually join a NOAA-led team of 35 international scientists as they explore seafloor volcanoes.

Sept. 13, 2012 -- The University of Vermont and the State University of New York Plattsburgh are one step closer to creating a NOAA Sea Grant College Program based on the excellent performance of Lake Champlain Sea Grant.

Sept. 13, 2012 -- The University of Guam is now one step closer to creating a NOAA Sea Grant College Program based on its excellent performance since joining the Sea Grant network as a project in 2004.

Sept. 12, 2012 -- NOAA, NASA and the University of Connecticut are representing the United States in the Hydrological Cycle in the Mediterranean Experiment (HyMeX), the largest weather field research project in European history.

Sept. 11, 2012 -- As Hurricane Isaac’s floodwaters recede, NASA scientists and colleagues are launching a three-year mission to better understand what makes hurricanes intensify and what factors steer the destructive storms, sometimes onto U.S. coasts.

Sept. 7, 2012 -- A new type of buoy powered by the waves is being used during a large scale field study sampling the salinity – or saltiness – of the mid-Atlantic Ocean.

Aug. 30, 2012 -- NOAA has selected the University of Colorado-Boulder to continue a federal/academic partnership that extends NOAA’s ability to study climate change, improve weather models, and better predict how solar storms can disrupt communication and navigation technologies.

Aug. 27, 2012 -- How do people sift important weather information out of the incessant buzz of 24/7 social media, text messages, smart phone alerts, and overflowing email inboxes? Four new research awards funded by NOAA seek to answer this question.

Aug. 27, 2012 -- A new study directly measures the heat-trapping effect of wildfires during an actual wildfire that burned near Boulder, Colo., in 2010.

Aug. 22, 2012 -- The March 11, 2011, Japan tsunami generated about 3 petajoules of energy, according to a new NOAA study. That’s enough to power New York City for seven days or the entire country of Canada for about two and a half hours, they estimate.

Aug. 22, 2012 -- Do urban areas have an influence on incoming storm systems? NOAA's National Severe Storms Lab is trying to find out.

Aug. 10, 2012 -- A team of federal and university scientists on a 10-day expedition in the Gulf of Mexico has discovered Lophelia coral growing deeper than previously seen anywhere in the Gulf. Newly available information on Lophelia’s growth rate and conditions will inform future environmental review and decision-making for the protection of deep-water coral habitats.

Aug. 8, 2012 -- In California’s Los Angeles Basin, levels of some vehicle-related air pollutants have decreased by about 98 percent since the 1960s, even as area residents now burn three times as much gasoline and diesel fuel.

Aug. 9, 2012 -- Ethanol, now used commonly in U.S. transportation fuels, is turning up in urban air at more than six times the levels measured a decade ago, according to a new study by a team of NOAA researchers and colleagues.

Aug. 1, 2012 -- Earth’s oceans, forests and other ecosystems continue to soak up about half the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by human activities, even as those emissions have increased, according to a study by University of Colorado and NOAA scientists published today in the journal Nature.

Aug. 1, 2012 -- Finding caffeine in waters just off a coastline heavy with coffee shops may not be surprising. A NOAA-funded study suggests that traces of caffeine in Pacific Northwest waters come from septic tanks and sewer overflows.

July 31, 2012 -- A 2011 NOAA research paper that tied weaker South Asian summer monsoons to human activities has won the World Meteorological Organization’s Norbert Gerbier-MUMM International Award for 2013.

July 23, 2012 -- The White House today named two NOAA scientists and a NOAA-funded scientist as recipients of the 2011 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

July 17, 2012 -- NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laborator and Willis Re have signed a cooperative research agreement to improve estimates of hail size and coverage.

July 9, 2012 -- Visitors to Lake Huron this summer may have a unique opportunity to glimpse science in action. During July and September, scientists on board a half dozen research vessels will crisscross Thunder Bay, Saginaw Bay, and the open waters of Lake Huron, collecting samples of sediment, water, mussels, microscopic organisms, and fish.

June 11, 2012 -- A team of scientists that last year created waves by correctly forecasting the 2011 eruption of Axial Seamount years in advance now says that the undersea volcano located some 250 miles off the Oregon coast gave off clear signals hours before its impending eruption.

June 1, 2012 -- The National Severe Storms Laboratory’s shop and vehicle bay on the ground floor of the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla., is where creativity takes shape and inventions are born.

May 31, 2012 -- The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Barrow, Alaska, has reached a new milestone this spring, according to NOAA measurements.

May 30, 2012 -- Bering Sea marine mammals, birds, and fish are shifting where they eat, bear their young, and make their homes in response to changes in sea ice extent and duration.

May 23, 2012 -- Arctic warming has thinned springtime sea ice across the Arctic Ocean. A new study shows that this alters the chemistry of the atmosphere near the Earth’s surface and may increase the amount of toxic mercury contaminating the region.

May 17, 2012 -- NOAA researchers will be using several innovative tools, techniques, and research results during the 2012 hurricane season to continue to improve hurricane forecasting. Read our 2012 hurricane research news briefs to learn more.

May 16, 2012 -- During a recent Gulf of Mexico expedition, NOAA and partners discovered an historic wooden-hulled vessel which is believed to have sunk as long as 200 years ago.

May 15, 2012 -- Today marks the beginning of a large-scale, comprehensive field project to measure how thunderstorms transport, produce and process chemicals that form ozone, a greenhouse gas that affects Earth's climate, air quality and weather patterns.

May 10, 2012 -- NOAA and University of Alaska researchers recently tested a promising technology to survey Steller sea lions -- unmanned aircraft.

May 2, 2012 --Some innovative thinking by Louisiana Sea Grant is turning invasive Asian Carp into a high-quality protein source for the children living in a Haitian orphanage.

May 1, 2012 -- Starting today, NOAA is using a sophisticated new weather forecast computer model to improve predictions of quickly developing severe weather events including thunderstorms, winter storms and aviation hazards such as clear air turbulence.

April 30, 2012 -- A smoke-related chemical, isocyanic acid, may be a significant air pollutant in some parts of the world, especially where forest fires and other forms of biomass burning are common.

April 27, 2012 -- The potent greenhouse gas methane is seeping out of parts of the Arctic Ocean, and the discovery may represent another cycle contributing to climate warming in the region.

April 20, 2012 -- Creston, Iowa, did not lose any lives to the tornado that struck on Saturday, April 14, but it did lose a lifeline. A twister hit the town’s only hospital, tearing away its roof, breaking windows, and leaving it without power.

April 19, 2012 -- From today through April 28, watch live undersea video as explorers observe and map poorly known areas of the northern Gulf of Mexico.

April 18, 2012 -- Middle and high school students in six cities across America have won the chance to deploy a NOAA global ocean drifter for Earth Day, earning the opportunity to launch a small 44-pound floating buoy into an ocean current.

April 3, 2012 -- NOAA scientists are using a newly upgraded powerful high performance computer to improve our understanding of the Earth’s climate system.

March 26, 2012 -- A new NOAA Sea Grant project will examine the ongoing effects of the new catch-shares policy on West Coast fisheries.

March 22, 2012 -- The “locavore” movement helps America’s farmers. Could it also help our fishing industry? Two new NOAA Sea Grant studies will look at how new business models, based on the success of community supported agriculture, could benefit fishing communities in Washington, Oregon, and California.

March 20, 2012 -- Scientists have found a large reduction in the amount of the coldest deep ocean water, called Antarctic Bottom Water, all around the Southern Ocean using data collected from 1980 to 2011.

March 12, 2012 -- On Wednesday, March 14, two NOAA scientists will take questions over Twitter about ice cover on the Great Lakes over the past few months and on the long-term trends.

March 8, 2012 -- NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab has monitored ice cover on the lakes for decades. Its measurements have documented wide variations from winter to winter and made possible discoveries about climate links to variation in ice cover.

March 5, 2012 -- Springtime air pollution from Asia, swept across the Pacific Ocean on winds, can contribute to episodes of high surface ozone pollution in the western United States, according to a new study by NOAA scientists and academic colleagues.

Feb. 27, 2012 -- When NOAA scientists began routinely monitoring the atmosphere’s composition at a tower north of Denver a few years ago, their instruments immediately sniffed something strange: plumes of air rich with chemical pollutants including the potent greenhouse gas methane.

Feb. 23, 2012 -- Before the Internet, telephones and electrical wiring, scientists learned how solar flares can play havoc with technology. Today the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center issues warnings when solar storms threaten our technologies.

Feb. 22, 2012 -- Virginia Sea Grant lends at hand at fly fishing events for veterans with disabilities -- and tag fish for valuable data collection.

Feb. 7, 2012 -- NOAA scientists are working with Utah environmental health officials and other partners to explain unusual episodes of ozone pollution in the remote Uintah Basin.

Feb. 1, 2012 -- Twenty-one researchers have received Outstanding Scientific Paper Awards from NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

Feb. 1, 2012 -- Russell Schnell, a NOAA atmospheric scientist who has published 134 scientific papers and holds patents in chemistry and microbiology can now add award-winning science communicator to his honors.

Feb. 1, 2012 -- Each year, NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research honors employees for promoting excellence in support of the programs and operations of NOAA Research.

Jan. 23, 2012 -- Isaac Held, Ph.D., a senior research scientist with the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J., will receive the prestigious BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for his contributions to improved understanding of climate change and atmospheric circulation systems.

Jan. 18, 2012 -- Robert Detrick, Ph.D, a marine geophysicist, was named the new head of NOAA’s research office today. Detrick will start as the assistant administrator of the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research on Feb. 13.

Jan. 9, 2012 -- By combining detailed chemical measurements in the deep ocean, in the oil slick, and in the air, NOAA scientists and academic colleagues have independently estimated how fast gases and oil were leaking during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Jan. 8, 2012 -- Summertime hail could all but disappear from the eastern flank of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains by 2070, according to a new modeling study by scientists from NOAA and several other institutions.