Evidence suggests that atmospheric aerosols from biomass burning may offset global warming caused by greenhouse gases.

International scientists with diverse backgrounds work together to better understand movement of carbon between the Earth's forests and atmosphere.

NASA satellite data help optimize agricultural output in Afghanistan.

Alfred Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift - the idea that the Earth's continents move over hundreds of millions of years of geologic time - long before the idea was commonly accepted.

In 2006, fires and smoke in the Amazon declined significantly for the first time in nearly a decade. Is Amazon burning under control?

Tiny, ancient mineral crystals from the arid shrublands of Western Australia suggest Earth's oceans developed far earlier than scientists used to think.

To understand how local weather shifted when the towering forests of the eastern United States gave way to fields and cities, scientists must reconstruct the region's historical landscapes.

Questions from visitors to the Earth Observatory and answers from scientists.

In early 1991, Mt. Pinatubo, a volcano north of Manila on the Philippine island of Luzon, had been dormant for more than 500 years. Few geologists would have guessed that it would produce one of the world's most explosive eruptions in the twentieth century.

Alpine glaciers are a good indicator of climate change. If the climate is getting warmer or drier, they will shrink. If it is getting colder or wetter, they tend to grow.