Earth

Earth, our home planet, is a beautiful blue and white ball when seen from space. The third planet from the Sun, it is the largest of the inner planets. Earth is the only planet known to support life and to have liquid water at the surface. Earth has a substantial atmosphere and magnetic field, both of which are critical for sustaining life on Earth. Earth is the innermost planet in the solar system with a natural satellite – our Moon. Explore our beautiful home planet – unique in our solar system - through the links in this section.

Scientists at the University of Michigan have found that <a href="/earth/polar/cryosphere_permafrost1.html&dev=">permafrost</a> in the <a href="/earth/polar/polar_north.html&dev=">Arctic</a> is extremely sensitive to sunlight. Exposure to sunlight releases carbon gases trapped in the permafrost, including <a href="/earth/climate/earth_greenhouse.html&dev=">climate-warming</a> <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/carbon_dioxide.html&dev=">carbon dioxide</a>, to the <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/overview.html&dev=">atmosphere</a> much faster than previously thought.<p><small><em>George Kling, The University of Michigan</em></small></p>This iconic image of Earth rising above the surface of the <a href="/earth/moons_and_rings.html&dev=">Moon</a>, was taken on December 24, 1968 by astronauts on the <a href="/space_missions/apollo8.html&dev=">Apollo 8 mission</a>. Apollo 8 was the first <a href="/space_missions/manned.html&dev=">manned mission</a> to the Moon, and entered into lunar orbit on Christmas Eve. That evening, the astronauts held a live broadcast from lunar orbit, in which they showed pictures of the Earth and moon as seen from their spacecraft.<p><small><em> Image courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>Coral animals build reefs in warm, tropical seawater. However, <a href="/earth/changing_planet/ocean_temperatures_intro.html&dev=">seawater can be too warm</a> for their liking. If waters get too warm, coral animals lose the algae that live within their little bodies, a process called coral bleaching. Without the algae, corals have less nutrition. Unless cooler temperatures return, allowing algae to return, the coral dies.<p><small><em>Credit: UNC</em></small></p><p>You don't normally see <a href="/space_weather/space_weather.html&dev=">space weather</a> forecasted on the evening news, but it does impact life on <a href="/earth/earth.html&dev=">Earth</a> in many ways. What are the threats posed from all of these natural disasters and how can we work to mitigate those threats beforehand? </p> <p>Check out the materials about natural disasters in <a href="/earth/natural_hazards/when_nature_strikes.html&dev=">NBC Learn Videos</a>, and their earth system science connections built up by the related secondary classroom activities.</p><p><small><em>NBC Learn</em></small></p>March 2012 marks the first anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude <a href="/earth/geology/quake_1.html&dev=">earthquake</a>, <a href="/earth/tsunami1.html&dev=">tsunami</a>, and resulting nuclear accident in Japan on <a href="/headline_universe/march112011earthquaketsunami.html&dev=">11 March 2011</a>. The tsunami did massive damage, wiping out entire villages and killing ~16,000 people, and leading to one of the most serious nuclear accidents in history. This image shows before and after photos of the area north of Sendai, where 10,000 people were lost.<p><small><em>Photos by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html?hp">GeoEye/EyeQ</a>.</em></small></p>An <a href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc000905e.php">8.6 magnitude earthquake</a> struck on 11 April 2012 off of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, followed by a strong aftershock. Earthquake motion was primarily horizontal. A tsunami warning was issued for the Indian Ocean, but was cancelled at 12:36 UTC. A tsunami was observed at 1 meter or less. Find out more about <a href="/earth/geology/quake_1.html&dev=">earthquake</a> and <a href="/earth/tsunami1.html&dev=">tsunami</a> processes. Check out the resources <a href="/teacher_resources/2011_AGU-NESTA_GIFT_Workshop.html&dev=">here</a>.<p><small><em>NOAA</em></small></p>

Explore Earth

Earth's Interior and Surface

Earth, the largest and densest rocky planet, was formed about 4.5 billion years ago. The Earth's ...Read more

Atmosphere

The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), and other gases (1%) that surrounds ...Read more

Magnetosphere

The Earth has a magnetic field with north and south poles. The magnetic field of the Earth ...Read more

Moon

The Earth's one natural satellite, the Moon, is more than one quarter the size of Earth itself ...Read more

Earth's Polar Regions

Do you wonder what Earth's Polar Regions are like? Where do polar bears live? Where do penguins ...Read more

Climate and Global Change

Warm near the equator and cold at the poles, our planet is able to support a variety of living ...Read more

Water (The Hydrosphere)

Water is found in many places on Earth including on the surface of the planet, within rocks ...Read more

Life and Ecology (The Biosphere)

What is life? Why is there life on Earth, but not on any other planets in the solar system ...Read more

Natural Hazards

The United Nations estimated that between 1994-2015, there were 6,873 natural disasters worldwide, ...Read more

More about Earth

Historical Events

Full Earth and Space Science    History Calendar (Members only)

Teacher Opportunities

Full Teacher Events Calendar (Educator Members only)

Did you know?

Did you know that the lights of the aurora come in different colors, depending on the energy of the particles that produce the aurora?

Did you know that scientists have found rock eating bacteria at the bottom of the sea?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

P-wave
xP-wave : A compressional wave (or pressure wave) in the Earth's surface that shakes the ground back and forth in the same direction and the opposite direction as the direction the wave is moving

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

Deadly Tonga Earthquake Revealed as Three Big Quakes

A magnitude-8.1 earthquake and tsunami that killed 192 people last year in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga was in fact a triple-whammy. The 8.1 "great earthquake" concealed and triggered two...Read more


Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA
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