Earth

NASA studies our own planet more than any other. We operate 26 missions in orbit and sponsor hundreds of research programs and studies each year. We observe our planet’s oceans, land, ice, and atmosphere, and measure how a change in one drives change in others. We develop new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected systems and we build long-term data records of how our planet evolves. The agency freely shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world.

Recent News and Articles

NASA, Bhutan Conclude Five Years of Teamwork on STEM, Sustainability

How NASA Studies Fires in a Changing World

From forest floor to space, NASA scientists and collaborators are advancing tools and methods to predict, remotely detect, and ultimately mitigate wildfires. That process starts with understanding fire behavior, tracking them with satellites, and getting that data in the hands of land managers and communities facing record-breaking fire seasons.

Greenhouse Gases

NASA has several instruments and tools for measuring and modeling greenhouse gases – where they come from, where they go, and how they are driving climate change. The agency works with federal, state, and international partners to make this information freely available.

Explore Climate Change Drivers

4 min read

New NASA Study Tallies Carbon Emissions From Massive Canadian Fires

This is a still of a data visualization of global carbon dioxide that orbits Earth from a distance.

5 min read

Watch Carbon Dioxide Move Through Earth’s Atmosphere

NASA-Designed Greenhouse Gas-Detection Instrument Launches

A satellite viewpoint of the United States in black with state outline overlays has a pixelated colorscale overlay indicating how much methane was released in a given area that ranges from black or dark brown into brassier colors until you reach white. While most of the map is a very dark shade, indicating little methane emissions, there are a few spots on the map that range into, or very nearly reach a white coloration. The two most significant of these white spots in size and lightness are in Texas Eastern and Western Borders. Other large population centers also show elevated levels such as the California Valley and Bay Area.

Satellite Data Suggest U.S. Methane Emissions Underestimated

A Globe that is primarily facing the Americas and Pacific Ocean with an atmospheric overlay showing CO2 concentrations, with dense swirls over the United States

NASA, Partners Launch US Greenhouse Gas Center to Share Climate Data

5 min read

As the Arctic Warms, Its Waters Are Emitting Carbon

Why Is NASA Tracking Seaweed From Space?

Something strange has been happening to the beaches across the Caribbean in recent years. Large amounts of a brown seaweed – called Sargassum – have been washing up on shorelines. In the open ocean, Sargassum is essential habitat, but can cause a whole host of issues when it washes up on Caribbean coastlines. So where is this seaweed coming from? And how is NASA tracking it?

Images of the Day

More Earth Observatory Images of the Day

The satellite image focuses on Colorado and surrounding states, the state lines are superimposed on the landscape along with state names. The landscape is bright white where snow covers the ground, and elsewhere is a deep brown color.

Blankets of White in the West

November snows piled up on the plains and peaks of Colorado and New Mexico.

The Satellite image of Dickson Fjord in Greenland shows the Landslide location and has an overlay of color dots corresponding to water elevation in the region. The overlay ranges from deep purple, being more shallow by as much as .5 meters to pink, neutral, and yellow, .5 meters higher. The colors indicate the highest water level change across from the landslide and the lowest on the same side of the fjord as the landslide.

Sizing Up a Greenland Tsunami

Satellite data show the shape of a wave as water sloshed around Dickson Fjord after a rockslide triggered a tsunami in September 2023.

The town of Compiégne and the river Oise running through it is bordered on the upper left by farmed fields, and to the right by the forest, labeled Forêt de Compiègne. The Aisne river runs through the forest and the Clairière de l’Armistice is labeled along the bands of the Aisne

The Glade of the Armistice

Veterans Day falls on November 11 because of a World War I armistice signed in the Forest of Compiègne in France in 1918.

Erg Chebbi and the many Star dunes that comprise it can be seen in this satellite image stretched across open light brown landscape. This is a significant contrast to the rich orange brown sands of the Erg along the edges of which are camps on the upper side of the image and the Palm groves that border the town of Merzouga

Sandy Sculptures in Morocco’s Erg Chebbi

Windswept sand formations known as star dunes, or pyramid dunes, are a distinctive feature of the Sahara Desert in northern Africa.

Coastal California and the Pacific Ocean, seen left, are partially obfuscated by a stream of dense gray smoke haze near the labeled Moorpark and Camarillo. The density of the smoke dwindles as it reaches an off shore island.

Windblown Smoke in Southern California

Strong Santa Ana winds carried the Mountain fire’s plume westward over the Pacific Ocean.

The temperature gradient image shows cool areas in shades of blue and warm in orange. The center of the image shows cool blue swirling clouds of a hurricane, with the outer bands appearing more purple, surrounded by warm bright orange colored ocean and land

Hurricane Rafael Crosses Cuba

The latest major storm in 2024’s active hurricane season brought heavy rain and storm surge to Cuba as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Image shows Mount Lewotobi, in the lower right part of the image, just South of the Savu Sea. Lewotobi consists of Laki-Laki and Perempuan with dark cover of ash covering much of the green landsape up to the center of Laki-Laki

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki Spews Ash

Eruptions in November 2024 sent volcanic material over the Indonesian island of Flores.

Explore Earth

The Ocean and Climate Change

With 70 percent of the planet covered in water, the seas are important drivers of the global climate. Yet increasing greenhouse gases from human activities are altering the ocean before our eyes.

What NASA is Seeing

Visualization of ocean currents in the North Atlantic. The colors show sea surface temperature (orange and yellow are warmer, green and blue are colder). Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Earth Information Center

For more than 50 years, NASA satellites have provided data on Earth's land, water, air, temperature, and climate. NASA's Earth Information Center allows visitors to see how our planet is changing in six key areas: sea level rise and coastal impacts, health and air quality, wildfires, greenhouse gases, sustainable energy, and agriculture.

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