Search the Earth Observatory

A landslide-triggered tsunami stripped vegetation from the shore of the glacial fjord in summer 2025.

Icy, isolated Peter I Island stirred up a show in the atmosphere off the West Antarctic coast.

Near-constant activity continues on the volcano in Russia.

From a geothermal hotspot to the one-time “Lighthouse of the Pacific,” the heat is on beneath the volcanic landscape of western El Salvador.

Scientists relied on satellite data to understand how the Antarctic glacier lost so much ice so rapidly.

Heavy rains from Tropical Cyclone Maila triggered a deadly landslide in the mountains of East New Britain.

As winter turned to spring, the skies over the Gulf of Alaska displayed textbook examples of numerous cloud formations.

Firefighters are battling two destructive blazes in the southern part of the state as drought grips the U.S. Southeast.

The beech forests of southern Patagonia put on vibrant autumn displays.

The mountains of Utah and Colorado are among the areas of the western U.S. that are low on snow and facing water worries in spring 2026.

Diversity reigns across the farmland of Yunlin County in southwestern Taiwan—a region that produces an array of crops on small farms.

Seasonal fires have darkened skies over Southeast Asia.

Along the northeast side of the Capital Beltway in Maryland, green spaces weave through the developed landscape.

The tadpole-shaped islands along the Absheron Peninsula were born by explosive mud volcano eruptions and reshaped by erosion.

The coastal province features striking tropical karst landscapes and sandy beaches alongside a mix of natural land cover and developed areas.

Above-normal precipitation has swollen rivers and damaged infrastructure statewide.

The circular geologic feature in northwestern Africa can be hard to recognize from the ground, but it is obvious when viewed from space.

After the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated from present-day Hudson Bay, rebounding land has revealed striking nearshore topography.

The violent storm aimed at the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands and Guam in mid-April 2026.

Antarctic Iceberg A-23A’s journey ends in fragmentation in the South Atlantic Ocean, after a 40-year lifespan documented by satellites.

An early autumn storm left higher elevations in southern Argentina with a fresh and fleeting coat of white.

A massive, old caldera and more recently formed craters shape the landscape in the eastern Sierra Nevada.

The state was unusually dry for much of 2025, but the intensity of the drought has ratcheted up since January 2026.

Scientists pioneered a new system that combines data from multiple Earth-observing satellites to identify forest clearing up to 100 days earlier than current methods.

Patches of open water in the region contributed to low sea ice extent across the Arctic in March 2026, which tied with the lowest maximum observed in the satellite record.

The February 2026 eruption at Piton de la Fournaise has lasted longer and produced a larger volume of lava than recent eruptions from this frequently active volcano.

Strong winds in March 2026 carried Saharan dust across northwestern Africa and toward the Canary Islands, reducing visibility and prompting alerts.

Dry, warm, and windy conditions across the U.S. Great Plains led to extreme fire activity in March 2026.

A network of meltwater lakes and drainage channels made an Antarctic ice shelf known for its blue ice areas even bluer.

The activity of herring around Vancouver Island in British Columbia brightened coastal waters enough to be detectable from space.

Temperatures in several states climbed over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in March 2026, which in some places was the highest March temperature on record.

Back-to-back subtropical cyclones in March fueled destructive flash flooding on several of the Hawaiian Islands.

The powerful storm lashed the northern edge of the continent with damaging winds and drenching rain as it made landfall multiple times.

Plains around the San Andreas Fault and across Carrizo Plain National Monument are awash with yellow as wildflowers bloom.

Episode 43 of the Hawaiian volcano’s current eruption was marked by high lava fountains and widespread ash dispersal.

Abundant rainfall in February and March 2026 transformed the desert landscape of Central Australia.

An advancing cold front kicked up a sharp line of sand and other small particles that swept over the high plains.

Ireland is best known for its many greens, but the striking grays of the island's Burren region also stand out in satellite images.

During the 2022 summer melt season, sediment plumes and fractured sea ice traced swirling eddies in a branch of the Nansen Sound fjord system in the Canadian Arctic.

Activity at the volcano in the Philippines sent lava and pyroclastic flows down the volcano’s flanks and prompted evacuations in nearby communities.

Clouds of dust lofted from the Sahara Desert brought hazy skies and muddy rain to Western Europe.

Lake Unter-See in Antarctica, sealed beneath thick ice, has unusual water chemistry and cone-shaped microbial structures resembling some of Earth’s oldest fossils.

A series of nighttime satellite images revealed how moonlight reaching Earth varied throughout a total lunar eclipse.

Set amid El Salvador’s modern, active volcanic landscape, tranquil blue waters fill a caldera formed by ancient eruptions.

As Iceberg A-23A disintegrated, it shed meltwater that helped fuel an extensive phytoplankton bloom in the South Atlantic Ocean.

A NASA luminary from the Apollo era grew up in Wales near Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

Oklahoma’s Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge attracts rare and diverse species—and enthusiasts looking for a distinct type of crystallized gypsum.

The National fire has burned tens of thousands of acres within the Florida preserve, fueled by vegetation dried by prolonged drought and killed by recent frost.

The hill-shaped features are a sign of explosive volcanic activity—a rarity on the Red Planet.