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NASA has a unique vantage point for observing the beauty and wonder of Earth and for making sense of it. The images in this book tell a story of a 4.5-billion-year-old planet where there is always something new to see.
Wildfires near the city of Nelson burned amid a hot, dry summer.
The dry climate around the world's second tallest volcano provides a good habitat for preserving archeological discoveries.
Published Feb 14, 2019
Heart-shaped features show up across the planet, from the desert in Dubai to a glacier in Greenland.
Published Feb 14, 2019 in Earth Matters
This Valentine in the sky is the visible expression of fluid dynamics at work.
Published Feb 13, 2019
The dust reddened the skies over Sydney and turned air quality hazardous over parts of New South Wales.
Published Feb 13, 2019Image of the Day Atmosphere Heat Land Floods Human Presence Remote Sensing
After thinning at alarming rates in the 1980s and 90s, the ozone layer over Antarctica is starting to recover. Watch how ozone concentrations in the stratosphere have changed from 1979 through 2018.
Published Feb 13, 2019Atmosphere Human Presence Remote Sensing World of Change Videos
The Galapagos was just one part of a much longer journey for Charles Darwin and the Beagle.
Published Feb 12, 2019 in Earth Matters
Astronauts photographed the aftermath of a destructive dam collapse and flood in Brazil.
Published Feb 12, 2019 in Earth Matters
Ambitious tree-planting programs and intensified agriculture have led to more land area covered in vegetation.
Published Feb 11, 2019
Weeks of rainfall pounded Queensland in January and February 2019, causing destructive flooding in the region.
Published Feb 11, 2019Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Water Floods Human Presence Remote Sensing
In the arid interior of Yemen, ancient rocks stand astride dry river beds and mighty sand dunes.
Published Feb 8, 2019
These maps show the ‘metabolism” of Earth’s plants and trees. Net primary productivity is the difference between the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed during photosynthesis minus the amount released by respiration.
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 Oct 5, 2000
Erosion is one of the major changes to the state’s landscape in recent decades.
Published Feb 8, 2019
Chile’s Salar de Atacama has the world’s largest reserve of lithium, which is a key ingredient in rechargeable batteries.
Published Feb 8, 2019
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.
“Stable landslide” sounds like a contradiction in terms, but there are indeed places on Earth where land has been creeping downhill slowly and harmlessly for as long as a century.
Published Feb 7, 2019
In case you missed it, here is a quick look at some of the big stories we didn't cover during the impasse.
Published Feb 7, 2019 in Earth Matters
The bitter cold that gripped the eastern half of the United States has been replaced by record-warmth.
Published Feb 6, 2019
The past five years have been the warmest years in the modern record, and 18 of the 19 warmest years have occurred since 2000.
Published Feb 6, 2019Image of the Day Atmosphere Heat Human Presence Remote Sensing Temperature Extremes
Satellites detected a debris cloud and the flash from a meteor that exploded over Cuba.
Published Feb 5, 2019 in Earth Matters
Some areas received a year’s worth of rain in the first two weeks of January.
Published Feb 5, 2019
Fossil remains in Argentina's Talampaya and Ischigualasto Natural Parks document the origins of mammals and dinosaurs.
Published Feb 4, 2019
A torrent of waste sludge from an iron mine has devastated a small town in Minas Gerais.
Published Feb 1, 2019
A research team has found that 40 to 60 percent of the tall trees surveyed on the island either lost large branches, were snapped in half, or were uprooted by strong winds from Hurricane Maria.
Published Feb 1, 2019Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Severe Storms Remote Sensing
In this issue EO Kids explores water all over Earth, from glaciers to groundwater.
Published Jan 31, 2019 in EO Kids
A series of heatwaves has been breaking temperature records across the nation.
Published Jan 31, 2019
This photograph, taken near the northernmost extent of the space station’s orbit, shows ice growth in the midst of freezing season near James Bay in northern Ontario.
Published Jan 30, 2019
Lava and ash spewed from a new fissure on the southeastern side of the volcano.
Published Jan 29, 2019
Land surface temperatures rise and fall with the heat of the Sun, and they represent how hot or cold the surface would feel to touch. These maps show daytime land temperatures as measured from space.
The culprit is a familiar one: the polar vortex.
Published Jan 29, 2019
Smoke is visible as far away as New Zealand.
Published Jan 28, 2019
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
These maps depict how much hotter or cooler an ocean basin was compared to the long-term average. Temperature anomalies can indicate changes in ocean circulation or the arrival of patterns like El Niño and La Niña.
The satellite measures more than just polar ice; it also makes detailed elevation measurements over the planet’s tropical and temperate latitudes.
Published Jan 28, 2019
The milky green and blue phytoplankton developed where warmer, saltier coastal waters from the subtropics meet colder, fresher waters flowing from the south.
Published Dec 21, 2018
These maps depict anomalies in land surface temperatures (LSTs); that is, how much hotter or cooler a region was compared to the long-term average. LST anomalies can indicate heat waves or cold spells.
A colorful image of the Arabian Sea shows the various types of activities occurring in the waters.
Published Dec 21, 2018
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.
Shaped like an evergreen conifer, Lake Dukan is the largest lake in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Published Dec 21, 2018
Carbon flows between the atmosphere, land, and ocean in a cycle that encompasses nearly all life and sets the thermostat for Earth's climate. By burning fossil fuels, people are changing the carbon cycle with far-reaching consequences.
Published Jun 16, 2011
These iconic photos are not new, but their message never gets old.
Published Dec 21, 2018
Once the fourth-largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea has been slowly disappearing since the 1960s. View how the lake has shrunk over the past few decades.
Published Dec 5, 2018
NASA scientist Doug Rowland travels with his team to Svalbard, Norway, for the VISIONS-2 sounding rocket campaign. The team will launch two suborbital rockets in order to understand how the aurora heats the atmosphere and “boils” oxygen off into space.
Published Nov 21, 2018 in Notes From the Field
Here are eight places on Earth where the fall foliage wowed us.
Published Oct 23, 2018
In summer 2018, wildfires across western North America disrupted the lives of millions. Smoke from some of the blazes was so pronounced it was visible from space.
Published Sep 11, 2018
12 months of high-resolution global true color satellite imagery.
Published Oct 13, 2005
