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With autumn's arrival, chlorophyll begins to cede its dominance in the photosynthetic process, revealing yellow and orange tones on land, while in the ocean and lakes, phytoplankton pigments highlight different water masses and current systems.
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Changing colors across land...
Photosynthetic pigments by land and sea
Graphic: A simplified animation of the greenhouse effect.
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The Greenhouse Effect
Graphic: The Greenhouse Effect
As part of the Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), NASA scientists are flying over Alaska and Canada, measuring the elevation of rivers and lakes to study how thawing permafrost affects hydrology in the landscape.
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As part of the Arctic Borea...
Kuskokwim River
Quiz: The air we breathe
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Quiz: The air we breathe
Quiz: The air we breathe
Video: The ocean's important role in absorbing heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
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Ocean circulation plays an ...
Video: Ocean circulation plays an important role in absorbing carbon from the atmosphere
This visualization shows carbon emissions from fires from January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2018. The color bar reflects the quantity of carbon emitted.
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Carbon Emissions from Fires...
Carbon Emissions from Fires: 2003-2018
Video: 25 years of Antarctic land ice elevation change
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Video: 25 Years of Antarcti...
Video: 25 Years of Antarctic Land Ice Elevation Change Anomalies (West Coast Fly Over)
Color-coded map of changing global surface temperature anomalies from 1880 through 2019. 
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Graphic: Global warming fro...
Video: Global warming from 1880 to 2019
Video: NASA scientists release the first new global map of Earth at night since 2012.
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Video: Lights of human acti...
Video: Lights of human activity shine in NASA's image of Earth at night
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...
Video: NASA's vantage point to view Earth
Quiz: Carbon and the climate
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Quiz: Carbon and the climate
Quiz: Carbon and the climate
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
Video: Simulation of global clouds and aerosols from September 1, 2005, to December 31, 2005.
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Video: Simulated clouds and...
Video: Simulated clouds and aerosols
From NASA's Operation IceBridge campaign in Alaska: A high altitude view of Icy Bay, in the Wrangell-Saint Elias Wilderness. Just a century ago, this body of water was covered in ice.
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Icy Bay, Alaska
Icy Bay, Alaska
Video: A visualization of the annual Arctic sea ice "minimum" for each year from 1979 through 2019.
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Annual Arctic sea ice minim...
Video: Annual Arctic sea ice minimum 1979-2019 with area graph
Video: Winter temperatures are soaring in the Arctic for the fourth winter in a row.
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NASA studies an unusual Arc...
NASA studies an unusual Arctic warming event
Video: Explore how scientists determine glacial speed from space.
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At glacial speed
Video: At glacial speed
Climate time machine interactive
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Climate time machine intera...
Interactive: Climate time machine
A changing landscape in the heart of Madagascar, showing drainage into the sea in the Betsiboka Estuary due to decimation of rainforests and coastal mangroves. 
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The heart of Madagascar
The heart of Madagascar
NASA Earth Right Now promo
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NASA Earth Right Now promo
Video: NASA Earth Right Now promo
Test your knowledge of sea level rise and its effect on global populations.
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Test your knowledge of sea ...
Quiz: Sea level rise
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
Ice covers 10 percent of Earth's surface and helps moderate the planet's temperature. Glaciers and ice sheets around the world are melting at an alarming rate. By keeping an eye on Earth's ice from space, NASA satellites help us understand the global effects of climate change.
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Ice covers 10 percent of Ea...
Video: Frozen Earth
Video: Images created from GRACE data showing changes in Antarctic ice mass since 2002.
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Antarctic ice loss 2002-2016
Video: Antarctic ice loss 2002-2016
By comparing bee data to satellite imagery, NASA research scientist Wayne Esaias uses honey bees as tiny data collectors to understand how climate change is affecting pollination and plants.
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By comparing bee data to sa...
Video: Sting of Climate Change

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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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