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2022 was an extraordinary year.
We traveled to the Moon again

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for the first time in half a
century. We made history with

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the James Webb Space Telescope,
seeing deeper into the universe

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than ever before. And those same
folks exploring outward are also

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the same people looking inward
toward Earth. So what did we see

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this past year? A lot.
Scientists around the world

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determined that greenhouse gas
emissions that drive climate

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change once again set new
records. In July, we sent a new

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instrument called EMIT to the
International Space Station.

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EMIT can identify 'super
emitters' of methane, a powerful

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greenhouse gas coming from
pipelines, landfills and other

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sources. And it's already
recorded super plumes all over

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the world, including in
Turkmenistan, Iran, and New

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Mexico. Methane, carbon dioxide
and other greenhouse gases trap

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heat in the climate system and
cause rising global surface

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temperatures. 2022 effectively
tied for Earth's fifth warmest

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year since 1880. And the last
nine consecutive years have been

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the warmest nine on record. And
all that heat expressed itself

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differently across the globe
this year. Most of the extra

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heat in the climate system
builds up in the ocean and 2022

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set new records for ocean heat,
in independent NOAA and NASA

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analysis. This increased ocean
heat can fuel intense tropical

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storms like we saw in September
with Hurricane Ian. Ian rapidly

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intensified from a tropical
storm into a category four in

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under 24 hours and became one of
the costliest storms to ever hit

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the US. As the climate system
warms, the atmosphere holds more

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moisture, resulting in more
intense heavy downpours.

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From June through September,
Pakistan saw some of the worst

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flooding in a decade due to
prolonged and intense monsoon

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rains, leaving behind a
devastated community.

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Increasing heat not only leads
to more water in the atmosphere

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and heavier downpours, but it
also exacerbates soil moisture

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loss and drought. Which is what
we saw in the American west as

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it experienced ongoing droughts
in 2022, leading to vital water

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reservoirs like Lake Mead and
Lake Powell dropping to just 27%

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of capacity. Drier and warmer
conditions mean there's more

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fuel and opportunities for
fires. In January during a

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longstanding heatwave and
drought, the Corrientes province

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in Argentina saw over 1000
fires. It devastated important

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wetlands in Ibera National Park
and vital surrounding farmland.

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But there is hope looking ahead.
In addition to monitoring Earth,

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NASA is powering solutions with
free and open data like OpenET a

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tool for farmers and other
resource managers to plan and

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implement irrigation and water
use in a warming world. NASA

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know-how is also helping
firefighters and forest managers

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prevent future fire hazards by
better controlling airspace

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during prescribed burns and
emergency response. As we've

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seen a warming climate impacts
all of us and it's going to take

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all of us to combat it. As we
look back at 2022 and years

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past, we see that each year we
better understand the challenges

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we face and how important it is
to meet them.