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Quiz: Our world, other worlds

Test your knowledge of how Earth is different from other planets, both within our solar system and beyond.

Test your knowledge of how Earth is different from other planets, both within our solar system and beyond.

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NASA Climate Change website

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A super high-definition view of how carbon dioxide in the air moves around the world with the winds.
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Super HD view of global carbon dioxide
Video: Super HD view of global carbon dioxide
Video: NASA scientists release the first new global map of Earth at night since 2012.
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Video: Lights of human activity shine in NASA's image of Earth at night
Video: Lights of human activity shine in NASA's image of Earth at night
Test your knowledge of ocean salinity and its relationship to climate change.
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Test your knowledge of ocean salinity and its relationship to climate change.
Quiz: Ocean salinity
The IPCC's four key findings
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The IPCC's four key findings
Graphic: The IPCC's four key findings
This image shows a spinning formation of ice, clouds and low-lying fog off the eastern coast of Greenland. This image was acquired by the Landsat 7 satellite on May 14, 2001. This is a false-color composite image made using infrared, red and green wavelengths.
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Whirlpool
Whirlpool
This chart shows monthly CO2 levels in recent years.
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Graphic: Carbon Dioxide Concentration
Graphic: Carbon Dioxide Concentration
Video: how different factors, both natural and industrial, contribute to global warming.
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How global warming stacks up
Video: How global warming stacks up
NASA Earth Right Now promo
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NASA Earth Right Now promo
Video: NASA Earth Right Now promo
NASA scientists are working to understand if our land and ocean can continue to absorb carbon dioxide at the current rate – and for how long.
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Infographic: Earth's carbon cycle is off balance
Infographic: Earth's carbon cycle is off balance
Temperature agreement - Climate 365 graphic
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Temperature agreement - Climate 365 graphic
Graphic: Earth's temperature record
Land. Water. Fire. Ice. These elements are basic ingredients that make up planet Earth. Take a moment to admire the magnificent spectacle of our stunning home planet from the perspective of space.
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Land. Water. Fire. Ice. These elements are basic ingredients that make up planet Earth. Take a moment to admire the magnificent spectacle of our stunning home planet from the perspective of space.
Video: Majestic Planet
Carbon dioxide is the main heat-trapping greenhouse gas that humans emit. How much do you know about it and its impact on global warming and climate change?
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Carbon dioxide quiz - how much do you know?
Quiz: Carbon dioxide
Test your knowledge of sea level rise and its effect on global populations.
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Test your knowledge of sea level rise and its effect on global populations.
Quiz: Sea level rise
Video: Simulation of global clouds and aerosols from September 1, 2005, to December 31, 2005.
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Video: Simulated clouds and aerosols
Video: Simulated clouds and aerosols
Earth discovered - Climate 365 graphic
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Earth discovered - Climate 365 graphic
Graphic: Earth, discovered
Quiz: Our home planet
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Quiz: Our home planet
Quiz: Our home planet
How much do you know about glaciers and ice caps?
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Test your knowledge of the many different varieties of frozen water and how these icy realms are connected to climate change.
Quiz: Ice and glaciers
Video: The NASA satellite fleet in 2017, from low Earth orbit to the DSCOVR satellite taking in the million-mile view.
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Video: NASA's vantage point to view Earth
Video: NASA's vantage point to view Earth
These cloud formations were seen over the western Aleutian Islands. Their color variations are probably due to differences in temperature and in the size of water droplets that make up the clouds. This image was acquired by the Landsat 7 satellite on June 16, 2000.
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Aleutian clouds
Aleutian clouds
Test your knowledge of energy and its role in our climate.
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Test your knowledge of energy and its role in our climate.
Quiz: Energy
A detailed look at Jupiter's and Earth's atmospheres and cores as we unlock mysteries of the solar system.
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Jupiter and Earth: Giant discoveries ahead
Infographic: Jupiter and Earth: Giant discoveries ahead
Video: The ocean's important role in absorbing heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
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Ocean circulation plays an important role in absorbing carbon from the atmosphere
Video: Ocean circulation plays an important role in absorbing carbon from the atmosphere
Quiz: The air we breathe
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Quiz: The air we breathe
Quiz: The air we breathe
Perhaps the most impressive of cloud formations, cumulonimbus (from the Latin for “pile” and “rain cloud”) clouds form due to vigorous convection (rising and overturning) of warm, moist and unstable air. Surface air is warmed by the sun-heated ground surface and rises; if sufficient atmospheric moisture is present, water droplets will condense as the air mass encounters cooler air at higher altitudes. The air mass itself also expands and cools as it rises due to decreasing atmospheric pressure, a process known as adiabatic cooling. This type of convection is common in tropical latitudes year-round and during the summer season at higher latitudes. As water in the rising air mass condenses and changes from a gas to a liquid state, it releases energy to its surroundings, further heating the surrounding air and leading to more convection and rising of the cloud mass to higher altitudes. This leads to the characteristic vertical “towers” associated with cumulonimbus clouds, an excellent example of which is visible in this astronaut photograph. If enough moisture is present to condense and heat the cloud mass through several convective cycles, a tower can rise to altitudes of approximately 10 kilometers at high latitudes and to 20 kilometers in the tropics before encountering a region of the atmosphere known as the tropopause—the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere. The tropopause is characterized by a strong temperature inversion. Beyond the tropopause, the air no longer gets colder as altitude increases. The tropopause halts further upward motion of the cloud mass. The cloud tops flatten and spread into an anvil shape, as illustrated by this astronaut photograph. The photo was taken from a viewpoint that was at an angle from the vertical, rather than looking straight down towards the Earth’s surface. The image, taken while the International Space Station was located over western Africa near the Senegal-Mali border, shows a fully formed anvil cloud with numerous smaller cumulonimbus towers rising near it. The high energy levels of these storm systems typically make them hazardous due to associated heavy precipitation, lightning, high wind speeds and possible tornadoes.
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Cumulonimbus cloud over Africa
Cumulonimbus cloud over Africa
Test your knowledge about global temperature change and its impact on Earth's climate.
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Test your knowledge about global temperature change and its impact on Earth's climate.
Quiz: Global warming

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Interactives, galleries and apps

Images of Change

Images of Change

Explore a stunning gallery of before-and-after images of Earth from land and space that reveal our home planet in a state of flux.
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Climate Mobile Apps

Climate Mobile Apps

Keep track of Earth's vital signs, see the planet in a state of flux and slow the pace of global warming with NASA's free mobile apps.
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Climate Time Machine

Climate Time Machine

Travel through Earth's recent climate history and see how increasing carbon dioxide, global temperature and sea ice have changed over time.
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Eyes on the Earth

Eyes on the Earth

Track Earth's vital signs from space and fly along with NASA's Earth-observing satellites in an interactive 3D visualization.
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Global Ice Viewer

Global Ice Viewer

Earth's ice cover is shrinking. See how climate change has affected glaciers, sea ice, and continental ice sheets.
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