AIRS captured the progression of this slow-moving heat dome across the region from June 21 to 30, 2021.

While record-breaking heat enveloped the Pacific Northwest in June 2021, other parts of the Northern Hemisphere also saw early-summer temperatures climb.

Evaporation plays an important role in the global water and energy cycles and therefore in climate change. AIRS data were used in a study to help quantify evaporation over the Southern Ocean, where the Antarctic sea ice coverage has a large annual cycle.

Our planet is constantly trying to balance the flow of energy in and out of Earth’s system, but human activities are throwing that off balance, causing our planet to warm in response. AIRS data were used in this study to parse out how much of the total energy change is caused by humans.

Earth’s global average surface temperature in 2020 tied with 2016 as the warmest year on record, according to an analysis by NASA. Data from AIRS were included in the analysis.

AIRS' observations from Earth orbit show high-altitude concentrations of the gas that are more than 10 times typical amounts.