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A V-shaped fjord cuts through barren brown land, with one patch of swirling water marked by white sea ice and another one colored turquoise by suspended sediment. Glacial ice flows into the fjord in several places.
The upper slopes of Mayon volcano appear brown, with several narrow channels radiating from the crater. A red infrared heat signature appears near the summit, with red streaks extending east and southeast. The lower slopes are green and forested. Farmland and towns are visible in the lower part of the image.
A thick layer of white snow blankets the Kamchatka Peninsula. Layers of clouds surround the peninsula, framing it but leaving its coastlines and a narrow portion of ocean visible around it. On land, several large, circular volcanoes dot the rugged landscape.

Earth Observatory

NASA's Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day – the images, stories, and discoveries about the environment, Earth systems, and climate that emerge from NASA research.

Image of the Day

Rising Waters Swamp Lake Naivasha
6 min read

Relentless rains are threatening a lake in Kenya's Great Rift Valley that has become a key hub in the global…

Jun 23, 2026
Signs of Thaw in the Bering Sea
3 min read

Drifting sea ice fragments near Alaska’s Saint Lawrence and Nunivak islands and colorful water around the Yukon Delta heralded the…

Jun 22, 2026
Tropical Storm Arthur
2 min read

The first named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season brought intense rainfall and the threat of flash flooding to…

Jun 19, 2026

What is an El Niño?

If you want to understand how interconnected our planet is—how patterns and events in one place can affect life half a world away—study El Niño.

Learn more about What is an El Niño?

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