A “dirty snowball” from the distant icy cloud encircling our solar system passed by the Sun and Earth in autumn 2024.
Milton persisted as a potent hurricane-strength storm as it crossed over the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, and into the western Atlantic.
Sea ice in the Arctic continued a decades-long downward trend in its minimum summer extent, while sea ice around Antarctica saw meager winter growth in 2024.
Published Oct 17, 2024
A powerful geomagnetic storm caused a display of light that was visible unusually far from Earth’s poles.
Published Oct 16, 2024
Insufficient rainfall in 2023-2024 has taken a toll on the region’s rivers and groundwater and upended daily life in several countries.
Published Oct 15, 2024
British Royal Naval officer William Bligh and 18 loyalists headed for this volcanic island in Tonga after a mutiny on the HMS Bounty.
Published Oct 14, 2024
River channels old and new wind across a floodplain in Burma (Myanmar), mingling with areas of agriculture and aquaculture.
Published Oct 13, 2024
A lightning-ignited blaze billowed smoke into the towns and valleys near Jackson.
Published Oct 9, 2024
The storm rapidly intensified to Category 5 strength over warm gulf waters.
Published Oct 8, 2024
The active 2024 hurricane season comes to a head with several simultaneous hurricanes—an unusual sight for October.
Published Oct 7, 2024
In addition to making rain and snow, clouds can have a warming or cooling influence depending on their altitude, type, and when they form. These maps show what fraction of an area was cloudy each month.
Larch-filled forests turned from green to gold around Lake Hövsgöl in September 2024.
Published Oct 7, 2024
An astronaut photographed the atmospheric phenomenon, associated with lightning, during a stormy night over North America.
Published Oct 6, 2024
These maps depict monthly total rainfall around the world. Rainfall is the primary source of fresh water for humans, plants, and animals. Rain also moves heat between the atmosphere, oceans, and land.
Torrential rains from Hurricane Helene swamped communities in the mountainous western part of the state.
Published Oct 4, 2024
Chlorophyll is used by algae and other phytoplankton--the grass of the sea--to convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into sugars. These maps show chlorophyll concentrations in the ocean, revealing where phytoplankton are thriving.
Researchers concluded their 2024 field season in the Canadian territory, where they collected measurements to aid studies of high-latitude wildland fires.
Published Oct 2, 2024
Off the coast of southern California, a research team sails for science on the Research Vessel Blissfully.
Published Sep 24, 2024
Airborne observations will help scientists validate measurements from NASA's PACE satellite.
Published Sep 18, 2024
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a different part of the world? What would the weather be like? What kinds of animals would you see? Which plants live there? By investigating these questions, you are learning about biomes.
Published Aug 28, 2020
Hurricane season in the basin runs from June 1 to November 30.
Published Jul 1, 2024
People have developed systems to harvest and store energy from sources such as wind, sunlight, and tidal action. Many of these installations are visible from orbit.
Published May 10, 2024
From ground-level ozone to particulate matter to nitrogen dioxide, an array of gasses and particles can affect the air people breathe, with implications for human health.
Published Apr 8, 2024
12 months of high-resolution global true color satellite imagery.
Published Oct 13, 2005
Satellite images of Earth at night have been a curiosity for the public and a tool of fundamental research for at least 25 years. They have provided a broad, beautiful picture, showing how humans have shaped the planet and lit up the darkness.
Published Apr 12, 2017
When fuels such as coal, wood, and oil burn incompletely, they produce carbon monoxide. The gas is spread by winds and circulation. These maps show monthly averages of CO in the lower atmosphere.
Greenness is an important indicator of health for forests, grasslands, and farms. The greenness of a landscape, or vegetation index, depends on the number and type of plants, how leafy they are, and how healthy they are.
What do you do when presented with a new satellite image? Here's what the Earth Observatory team does to understand the view.
Published Nov 18, 2013
Warmer-than-average temperatures are showing up locally and globally, with consequences for people, landscapes, and ecosystems.
Published Mar 26, 2024
NASA satellites document how our world—forests, oceans, human landscapes, even the Sun—changes over months, seasons, and years.
Published Apr 29, 2009
Whether sparked by lightning, intentional land-clearing, or human-caused accidents, wildland fires are burning longer and more often in some areas as the world warms.
Published Feb 27, 2024
Warmer-than-average temperatures are showing up locally and globally, with consequences for people, landscapes, and ecosystems.
Published Aug 15, 2023
