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Earth, Climate Change
May 3, 2022
An SMD-sponsored team of researchers has demonstrated a novel software platform that will enable networks of dispersed sensors to share information with each other more efficiently; this capability has the potential to provide a far more comprehensive view of Earth than any single sensor ever could...
Two satellite images side by side to illustrate flood damage in the midwest.
Earth, Climate Change
Sep 8, 2021
Seasonal summer rains have done little to offset drought conditions gripping the western United States, with California and Nevada seeing record July heat and moderate-to-exceptional drought according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Now, new NASA research is showing... Read More
satellite image showing drought in western united states
Earth, Climate Change
Nov 19, 2020
Sea levels across the globe are rising as a result of a changing climate — and the rate at which they are rising is accelerating. Watch NASA Science Live Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 12:30 p.m. EST to meet NASA researchers studying these changes, and learn how the next mission launching to space will... Read More
Photo of flooding in a neighborhood
Earth, Climate Change
Oct 16, 2020
Launching soon from the California coast, the satellite will track sea levels worldwide. A new video series introduces some of the NASA JPL scientists and engineers involved in the mission. Meet the People Behind the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Spacecraft
Sentinel 6 Michael Freilich spacecraft in orbit above the earth
Earth, Climate Change
Sep 2, 2020
In August 2020, California is facing several major fires, including the LNU Lightning Complex Fire which grew into the second-largest wildfire in California history. The state's heat waves, droughts, and lightning all played a role in the devastating fire season. Learn more
Photo of wild fire smoke rising out of the forest.
Earth, Climate Change, Ice
May 7, 2020
Join NASA ice experts as we discuss important science about Earth's icy regions, and how it can impact us here in warmer environments. NASA’s ICESat-2 mission uses a laser instrument on a satellite to precisely measure ice and just released new findings about how Earth’s ice is changing. Scientists... Read More
Earth, Climate Change
Feb 27, 2020
Bolten also addressed work done at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on the Earth's changing climate and extreme events like the massive Australian fires of 2020 and how the Earth Applied Sciences program is, "moving from data to decision making."
Earth, Climate Change
Oct 25, 2019
Blizzards, narwhals and sneaky polar bears are all part of a day’s work for Kristin Laidre, a marine biologist funded by NASA’s Applied Sciences Ecological Forecasting Program to study glaciers in southeast Greenland and the polar bears that use them as a habitat. Laidre spends a lot of time in... Read More
Photo of woman with polar bears
Earth, Climate Change, Ice
Aug 5, 2019
IceCube—a tiny, bread loaf-sized satellite—has produced the world’s first map of the global distribution of atmospheric ice in the 883-Gigahertz (GHz) band. Information about cloud ice enables researchers to better understand Earth’s weather and changing climate.
Art concept of IceCube satellite in orbit
Earth, Climate Change
Jun 29, 2018
NASA's Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) is designed to study how plants respond to heat and water stress by measuring the temperature of Earth's vegetation at all times of day with an accuracy of a few tenths of a degree.
Fire on mountain
Earth, Climate Change
May 9, 2018
Imagine standing on the roof of a building in Los Angeles and trying to point a laser so accurately that you could hit a particular building in San Diego, more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) away. This accuracy is required for the feat that a novel technology demonstration aboard the soon-to-... Read More
GRACE-FO animation
Earth, Climate Change
Mar 6, 2018
Permafrost in the coldest northern Arctic -- formerly thought to be at least temporarily shielded from global warming by its extreme environment -- will thaw enough to become a permanent source of carbon to the atmosphere in this century, with the peak transition occurring in 40 to 60 years,... Read More
Tundra polygons on Alaska's North Slope
Earth, Climate Change, Ice
Feb 21, 2018
A NASA study based on an innovative technique for crunching torrents of satellite data provides the clearest picture yet of changes in Antarctic ice flow into the ocean. The findings confirm accelerating ice losses from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and reveal surprisingly steady rates of flow from... Read More
Map illustrating the flow of Antarctic ice
Earth, Climate Change, Ice
Feb 16, 2018
Last year was a record-breaking one for Operation IceBridge, NASA’s aerial survey of the state of polar ice. For the first time in its nine-year history, the mission, which aims to close the gap between two NASA satellite campaigns that study changes in the height of polar ice, carried out seven... Read More
An ice glacier.