Compelling Patterns in Bothnian Bay Before the Breakup
Before it is wiped away by spring melting, sea ice in the northern Baltic Sea displays some compelling patterns. Unlike the sea ice that caps…
Earth Observatory
Wildfires and Smoke Cause “Black Sky” in Siberia
Numerous fires have filled skies with smoke, causing air quality issues in Omsk. Russian emergency services have reported an abnormally high number of fires in…
Sounding the Seafloor With Light: Mapping the Shallows With Freely Available Satellite Data
Researchers work to map shallow waters with freely available data and cloud computing. The shallow waters around islands and continental coastlines are important for human…
Astronaut Shoots Stunning Photo From ISS: A Clear Day Over San Francisco Bay
The Bay Area has several famous landmarks that stand out from the Space Station. The winter months in the San Francisco Bay area offer a…
Sea Ice Highs and Lows 2020–21: Downward Trends in Polar Ice Continue
There were no records set in 2020-21, but the downward trends in polar ice continue. The amount of sea ice around Earth’s poles waxes and…
Fires in the Far East Captured From Space
Many farmers in northeastern China and eastern Russia use fire to clear fields and get them ready for planting. With millions of hectares of corn,…
Tracking the Epic Journey of One of the Planet’s Largest Icebergs [Video]
In July 2017, the Larsen C ice shelf along the eastern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula spawned A-68A—one of the planet’s largest icebergs on…
Super Typhoon Surigae Stirs Up the Pacific
The super typhoon reached extreme intensity earlier in the year than any storm in the satellite era. Surigae is not expected to make landfall, but…
The Rann of Kutch: India’s White Desert
The Rann of Kutch can appear drastically different depending on the time of year. Located in northwest India, the Kutch district can appear drastically different…
Satellite View: Fierce Fire Season Rages in Nepal
After an unusually dry winter, forest fires have raged throughout the mountainous country. Seasonal fires, lit to manage farmland and pastures, are common in Nepal…
Cyclone Seroja Slams Australia, Causing Significant Damage to Coastal Towns
The category three cyclone made a rare landfall in Western Australia, causing significant damage to coastal towns. On April 11, 2021, a category three storm…
A New Artificial Island: Preparing for Rising Seas in the Maldives
A new artificial island near Malé could be a destination for people trying to escape rising waters on lower-lying islands. With more than 80 percent…
A Striking Colorful Confluence in the Canadian Arctic
The Back and Hayes rivers in Nunavut, Canada, display a striking contrast in color. Where two rivers meet without mixing much, the colorful contrast can…
NASA’s Line From Spain to Deep Space
Radio antennas at the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex help scientists on Earth keep in touch with distant satellites. NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) is…
Western U.S. Drought Conditions Continue in Spring 2021 – And It’s Expected to Worsen
The western United States is currently experiencing moderate to severe drought, and it is expected to worsen in upcoming months. Almost half of the United…
NASA Satellites Capture Traffic Jam on the Suez Canal
Hundreds of ships have been left idling around the key shipping route. Nature played a role in solving the problem. One of the world’s most…
Red Sea Rainforests: Coral Reef Ecosystems Thrive off the Coast of Saudi Arabia
Looking down from the International Space Station (ISS), an astronaut captured this view of the northwest coastline of Saudi Arabia, where up to 260 coral reef…
NASA Satellite Captures a Nighttime Volcanic Eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula
Lava from the volcanic eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula lights up clouds from below. After the start of an eruption near Fagradalsfjall—a shield volcano on…