Glaciers and ice sheets are commonly thought to work like a belt sander. As they move over the land they scrape off everything — vegetation, soil and even the top layer of bedrock. So a team of university scientists and Read more…
Tag: NASA
Launched into space late last month, a new Earth-observing satellite from NASA and the Japan space agency has captured its first images, which show an extra-tropical cyclone off the coast of Japan at unprecedented resolution. The satellite, called the Global Read more…
A new online tool called Global Forest Watch employs a trove of high-resolution NASA satellite imagery and large amounts of computing power to help governments, conservation organizations, and concerned citizens monitor deforestation in “near-real
Cl…
A 15-second NASA animation shows the steady and rapid warming of the planet since the middle of the 20th century, with regions in the Arctic and Siberia warming as much as 2 to 4 degrees C (3.6 to 7. 2 degrees
View Animation
Temperatures show long-t…
For the first time, maps and summaries of historical and projected temperature and precipitation changes for the 21st century for the continental U.S. are accessible at a county-by-county level on a website developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in collaboration Read more…
Typhoon Haiyan made landfall last week, causing much destruction in Southeast Asia. With death counts estimated to be in the thousands, this storm is one of the most powerful recorded typhoons to ever hit land and likely the deadliest natural Read more…
What does the changing climate sound like? It’s an unusual question , but one that has now has at least one answer. University of Minnesota student Daniel Crawford, who turned climate change data from 1880 to 2012 into a musical Read more…
In recent test flights, NASA researchers have confirmed that commercial airliners can safely fly on an alternative jet fuel blend and that under some conditions the biofuel mix produced 30 percent fewer emissions than typical jet fuel. After flying DC-8 Read more…
I’m sad to see that climate scientist James E. Hansen, after a 46-year career at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, will retire to pursue his activism on climate change. I can only image that the federal government is happy Read more…
NASA is expected to launch this week its newest Earth-observing satellite, Landsat 8, at a time when previous Landsat satellites have either stopped working or have developed serious technical problems. NASA scientists say the launch of the $855 million satellite Read more…
New satellite data released by NASA provide dramatic visual evidence of the dangerous air quality reported from cities across Asia and the Middle East this month. Based on data collected from its satellite-based Ozone Monitoring Instrument, a map released by Read more…
In 2010 NASA launched its N+3 initiative which awarded four major airlines extensive funds to research, design and develop more environmentally friendly aircraft. Lockheed Martin, MIT, GE Aviation and Boeing have been charged with the challenge to create a commercial Read more…
This year has been an unusually severe one for wildfires in the U.S., with more than 9.1 million acres of land burned through the end of November, federal officials say. The total affected area, which is depicted in a new Read more…
A new NASA study calculates that nearly 64 million tons of dust, pollution, and other tiny particles enter the atmosphere above North America from other continents each year, nearly as much as the 69 million tons of aerosols produced domestically Read more…