An array of satellite sensors observed the long-duration, episodic spread of the state’s historic fire.
Drought has amplified fire activity across the continent, contributing to exceptionally high carbon emissions in Bolivia and Brazil.
The glacier’s Main Branch pulled away from a stabilizing rocky outcrop, while melting along the West Branch exposed “new gravelly real estate.”
Published Sep 10, 2024
China’s capital city boasts a diversity of structures, from its historic city center to the concentric roads and high-speed railway that surround it.
Published Sep 9, 2024
Algal communities flourish in Lake Erie’s western basin each summer. Scientists are looking to new NASA technology to better track them from space.
Published Sep 5, 2024
After hitting the Philippines, the powerful storm is churning toward landfall near China’s Hainan Island.
Published Sep 5, 2024
Flash flooding has inundated villages, swamped farmland, and damaged infrastructure.
Published Sep 4, 2024
Burning for weeks, the Wapiti and Middle Fork Complex fires have charred tens of thousands of acres.
Published Sep 3, 2024
The polar vortex elongated and weakened over Antarctica, causing rare warming events.
Published Sep 3, 2024
The setting for John Henry’s legendary contest with a steam-powered drill may have been this tunnel through Big Bend Mountain in West Virginia.
Published Sep 2, 2024
12 months of high-resolution global true color satellite imagery.
Published Oct 13, 2005
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.
Smooth beaches meet rugged alpine terrain along this section of coastline in southwestern Italy.
Published Sep 1, 2024
The powerful storm triggered landslides, power outages, and flooding in southern parts of the country.
Published Aug 29, 2024
Snow and ice influence climate by reflecting sunlight back into space. When it melts, snow is a source of water for drinking and vegetation; too much snowmelt can lead to floods. These maps show average snow cover by month.
The 56-foot wave in Pedersen Lagoon, on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, damaged trees and left a mark on the landscape.
Published Aug 28, 2024
Airborne aerosols can cause or prevent cloud formation and harm human health. These maps depict aerosol concentrations in the air based on how the tiny particles reflect or absorb visible and infrared light.
Excerpts from a scientist's emails home to family provide a glimpse of what life was like on one of the world’s most northern scientific outposts in the world.
Published Aug 23, 2024
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
Researchers trekked to Alaska’s Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes to better understand the icy volcanic landscapes on Earth, Mars, and beyond.
Published Aug 22, 2024
Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us where it is, what we are looking at, and why it is interesting.
Published Aug 13, 2024
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
NASA satellites document how our world—forests, oceans, human landscapes, even the Sun—changes over months, seasons, and years.
Published Apr 29, 2009
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
Warmer-than-average temperatures are showing up locally and globally, with consequences for people, landscapes, and ecosystems.
Published Mar 26, 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
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
Net radiation is the balance between incoming and outgoing energy at the top of the atmosphere. It is the total energy available to influence climate after light and heat are reflected, absorbed, or emitted by clouds and land.
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
Ocean temperatures can influence weather, such as hurricane formation, and climate patterns, such as El Niño. These maps show the temperature at the surface of the world’s seas and oceans.
Warmer-than-average temperatures are showing up locally and globally, with consequences for people, landscapes, and ecosystems.
Published Aug 15, 2023
