Earth Articles

Tsunami’s trek traced in the sky

The red and green glowing lights in this picture are “airglow” in the Earth’s ionosphere. (This photo was taken from a space shuttle, visible at left.) The March tsunami that wreaked havoc on Japan produced similar atmospheric, glowing ripples.

Scientists photograph atmospheric ripples that followed the March tsunami across the Pacific

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Ash blast

NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of the brown, ashy volcanic plume mixing with weather clouds on May 13, 2010. Credit: NASA/Goddard/MODIS Rapid Response Team.

Tiny particles ejected from a 2010 volcanic eruption pose big problems.

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Sea changes

Blue patches indicate parts of the ocean that are more acidic than the yellow and red areas. Stars show coral reefs, which can lose their skeletons in more acidic water.

Carbon dioxide is making the oceans more acidic

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Quake leaves destruction, fear

In Japan, an earthquake started a tsunami that caused a nuclear disaster

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Warm lava on a hot planet

Volcanoes on Venus might be active

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Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect

Earth’s atmosphere works something like a giant glass greenhouse. As the sun’s rays enter our atmosphere, most continue right down to the planet’s surface. As they hit the soil and surface waters, those rays release much of their energy as …

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Watering the Air

Crop irrigation and farming practices could mean a cooler, wetter Midwest

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Antarctica warms, which threatens penguins

Unexpected rates of warming threaten to change Antarctica and pose a threat to the survival of some of its penguins.

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Science loses out when ice caps melt

Tropical glaciers are vanishing at an especially rapid pace—and taking valuable climate records with them.

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Where rivers run uphill

Three scientists travel to Antarctica to explore a secret world hidden beneath the ice.

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