Since the early 2000s, the northeastern region of the United States (USNE) has received increased total annual precipitation along with more frequent extreme precipitation events. Although previous work has discussed the contribution to increased extreme precipitation from tropical cyclones, the large‐scale driver(s) of summer precipitation increases in the extratropics has received little attention. Here, we show that the sum...

Along the west‐central Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) ablation zone, the time of annual maximum occurrence of surface melt‐lakes, or peak lake period (PLP) averages June 18–July 3. This study combines atmospheric reanalysis and automatic weather station data from the Greenland Climate Network to assess the roles of synoptic circulation patterns and local climate variables, respectively, in the total melt‐lake area and count in the...

Multiple persistent jet aviation contrails – contrail ‘outbreaks’ – occur frequently over certain portions of the Continental United States ( CONUS ). The artificial cloudiness generated by contrail outbreaks alters the atmospheric radiation budget, potentially impacting the surface air temperature, particularly the diurnal temperature range ( DTR ), or difference between daytime maximum and nighttime minimum temperatures. Thi...

Land cover changes ( LCCs ) play an important role in the climate system. Research over recent decades highlights the impacts of these changes on atmospheric temperature, humidity, cloud cover, circulation, and precipitation. These impacts range from the local‐ and regional‐scale to sub‐continental and global‐scale. It has been found that the impacts of regional‐scale LCC in one area may also be manifested in other parts of th...

Although much of the theory on the success of invasive species has been geared at escape from specialist enemies, the impact of introduced generalist invertebrate herbivores on both native and introduced plant species has been underappreciated. The role of nocturnal invertebrate herbivores in structuring plant communities has been examined extensively in Europe, but less so in North America. Many nocturnal generalists (slugs,...

In the United States, the dramatic increase in jet fuel usage and kilometers flown has led to speculation of a similar increase in jet contrails. However, contrail occurrence depends heavily upon the meteorological conditions near cruising altitudes (i.e. the tropopause, 10–12 km altitude). This study reports a contrail mid‐season contemporary climatology for the coterminous United States (2000–2002), and compares the frequenc...