Results for: 2006
Urban Rain
December 11, 2006Most city dwellers worry about what the weather will do to their city, but for meteorologist Marshall Shepherd, the real question is what are cities doing to the weather. Read more
Paleoclimatology: Understanding the Past to Predict the Future
November 14, 2006Scientists use complicated climate models to predict how Earth's climate might change in the future. One of the best ways to test the reliability of such models is to see how well they recreate climates of the past. Read more
Hurricanes: The Greatest Storms on Earth
November 1, 2006Few things in nature can compare to the destructive force of a hurricane. Called the greatest storm on Earth, a hurricane is capable of annihilating coastal areas with sustained winds of 155 mph or higher and intense areas of rainfall and a storm surge. In fact, during its life cycle a hurricane can expend as much energy as 10,000 nuclear bombs! Read more
Tracking Nature's Contribution to Pollution
October 17, 2006Scientists combined models and satellite data to track the spread of pollutants from forest fires in Alaska and Canada in 2004. They discovered that fires can have a significant impact on air pollution far from the fires location. Read more
Rise and Fall: Satellites Reveal Full Length of Tsunami-Generating Earthquake
September 28, 2006Ambiguous seismic data and a spotty GPS network initially frustrated geologists mapping the length of the tsunami-generating earthquake that struck Indonesia in 2004. Caltech grad student Aron Meltzner decided to improvise: he mapped the rupture using satellite images of coral reefs and coastlines that rose or sank during the quake. Read more
Beating the Heat in the World's Big Cities
August 2, 2006Green roofs can mitigate urban heat islands and heat waves. Read more
Ask-A-Scientist
July 25, 2006Questions from visitors to the Earth Observatory and answers from scientists. Read more
Defying Dry: Amazon Greener in Dry Season than Wet
July 5, 2006Satellites reveal that the Amazon rainforest is greener during the dry season than during the wet season. Read more
Paleoclimatology: Explaining the Evidence
May 9, 2006Scientists' efforts to explain the paleoclimate evidence-not just the when and where of climate change, but the how and why-have produced some of the most significant theories of how the Earth's climate system works. Read more
Earth's Big Heat Bucket
April 24, 2006The Earth now absorbs more energy than it emits back into space, and the excess heat is hiding in the ocean. Read more
Forest on the Threshold
April 18, 2006NASA data reveal that Arctic forests are getting browner as temperatures rise. The downward trend in the forests' health may be a sign that global warming is impacting the forests sooner than scientists predicted. Read more
Lake Victoria's Falling Waters
March 15, 2006By early 2006, the Jason-1 satellite showed that water levels on Africa's Lake Victoria had dropped to levels not seen in decades, leaving the millions who depend on the lake high and dry. Read more
Ancient Crystals Suggest Earlier Ocean
March 1, 2006Tiny, ancient mineral crystals from the arid shrublands of Western Australia suggest Earth's oceans developed far earlier than scientists used to think. Read more
Winds Connect Snow to Sea
February 21, 2006Explosive blooms of plant life in the Arabian Sea between 1997 and 2003 may be the result of a significant dip in snow cover thousands of miles away in Europe and Asia. Read more
Aiding Afghanistan
February 7, 2006NASA satellite data help optimize agricultural output in Afghanistan. Read more
Browse Topics
World of Change
Satellite images showing how our world— forests, oceans,
cities, even the Sun— has changed in recent decades.
Read more
Blue Marble
Composite satellite images of the entire Earth.
Read more
Earth at Night
The night side of Earth twinkles with light in these composite global and regional views.
Read more
Experiments
Hands-on educational activities.
Read more
Visible Earth
A catalog of NASA images and animations of our home planet.
Read more
NASA Earth Observations
View, download, and analyze imagery of Earth science data.
Read more
NASA Global Climate Change
Vital signs of the planet.
Read more
Earth Science Picture of the Day
Photos of Earth processes and phenomena.
Read more
