British Royal Naval officer William Bligh and 18 loyalists headed for this volcanic island in Tonga after a mutiny on the HMS Bounty.

Chlorophyll is used by algae and other phytoplankton--the grass of the sea--to convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into sugars. These maps show chlorophyll concentrations in the ocean, revealing where phytoplankton are thriving.

New research shows that the presence of warehouses in the Los Angeles area is associated with higher levels of airborne particulate pollution.

Sea ice in the Arctic continued a decades-long downward trend in its minimum summer extent, while sea ice around Antarctica saw meager winter growth in 2024.

Scientists are studying the rare filling of Sebkha el Melah for clues about past—and possibly future—greening of the Sahara Desert.

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.

Warmer-than-average temperatures are showing up locally and globally, with consequences for people, landscapes, and ecosystems.

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.

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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.

River channels old and new wind across a floodplain in Burma (Myanmar), mingling with areas of agriculture and aquaculture.

NASA satellites document how our world—forests, oceans, human landscapes, even the Sun—changes over months, seasons, and years.

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.

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.

What do you do when presented with a new satellite image? Here's what the Earth Observatory team does to understand the view.

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.

Researchers concluded their 2024 field season in the Canadian territory, where they collected measurements to aid studies of high-latitude wildland fires.

These maps show the average amount of water vapor in a column of atmosphere by month. Water vapor is the key precursor for rain and snow and one of the most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

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.

Milton persisted as a potent hurricane-strength storm as it crossed over the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, and into the western Atlantic.

Warmer-than-average temperatures are showing up locally and globally, with consequences for people, landscapes, and ecosystems.

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.

Whether started by humans (farming, logging, or accidents) or by nature (lightning), fires are always burning somewhere on Earth. These maps show the locations of fires burning around the world each month.

Insufficient rainfall in 2023-2024 has taken a toll on the region’s rivers and groundwater and upended daily life in several countries.