The Effects of Climate Change - Science@NASA
Global climate change is not a future problem. Changes to Earth’s climate driven by increased human emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are already having widespread effects on the environment: glaciers and ice sheets are shrinking, river and lake ice is breaking up earlier, plant and animal geographic ranges are shifting, and plants and trees are blooming sooner.
The Causes of Climate Change - Science@NASA
In its Sixth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, composed of scientific experts from countries all over the world, concluded that it is unequivocal that the increase of CO 2, methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere over the industrial era is the result of human activities and that human influence is the principal driver of many changes observed across the ...
Facts About Earth - NASA Science
8.350022 minutes. While Earth is only the fifth largest planet in the solar system, it is the only world in our solar system with liquid water on the surface. Just slightly larger than nearby Venus, Earth is the biggest of the four planets closest to the Sun, all of which are made of rock and metal. Earth is the only planet in the solar system ...
What Is Climate Change? - NASA Science
Climate change is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth’s local, regional and global climates. These changes have a broad range of observed effects that are synonymous with the term. Changes observed in Earth’s climate since the mid-20th century are driven by human activities, particularly fossil fuel burning, […]
Solar System Exploration - NASA Science
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Arrives from Afar. Skywatchers are being treated to a rare sight over the next few days. Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, which likely traveled from the outer reaches of our solar system, made its closest transit past the Sun on September 27 and came within approximately 44 million miles (70 million kilometers) of Earth on October 12.
Moon Phases - NASA Science
New Moon. This is the invisible phase of the Moon, with the illuminated side of the Moon facing the Sun and the night side facing Earth. In this phase, the Moon is in the same part of the sky as the Sun and rises and sets with the Sun. Not only is the illuminated side facing away from the Earth, it’s also up during the day!
Hubble Images - NASA Science
Flip through Hubble's numerous Flickr albums and see astronauts at work in space, behind the scenes of mission operations, and Hubble's iconic images from nebulae to gravitational lens. M57, or the Ring Nebula, is a planetary nebula, the glowing remains of a sun-like star. The tiny white dot in the center of the nebula is the star’s hot core ...
Tides - NASA Science
These bulges are Earth’s high tides. Most shorelines experience two high and low tides per day. One high tide to high tide cycle (or low tide to low tide cycle) takes a little over 12 hours. Rising and ebbing tides happen as Earth’s landmasses rotate through the tidal bulges created by the Moon’s gravitational pull.
Voyager 1 - NASA Science
Voyager 1 has been exploring our solar system since 1977. The probe is now in interstellar space, the region outside the heliopause, or the bubble of energetic particles and magnetic fields from the Sun. Voyager 1 was launched after Voyager 2, but because of a faster route it exited the asteroid belt earlier than its twin, and it overtook Voyager 2 on Dec. 15, 1977.
Venus Facts - Science@NASA
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, and Earth's closest planetary neighbor. Venus is the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon. Venus spins slowly in the opposite direction from most planets. Venus is similar in structure and size to Earth, and is sometimes called Earth's evil twin.