Current Events

  • Irish Chronicles Document Links Between Volcanoes and Weather
    A study of over 40,000 written entries in Irish Annals and ice core measurements shows a strong corr...Read more

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    Irish Chronicles Document Links Between Volcanoes and Weather

    A study of over 40,000 written entries in Irish Annals and ice core measurements shows a strong correlation between the occurrence of volcanic eruptions and extreme cold weather in Ireland over a 1200 year period. Data analyzed in this study cover the period from 431 to 1649, during which time up to 48 volcanic eruptions are identified in Greenland ice core records through deposition of volcanic sulfate in annual layers of ice. You can find the study (open access), published on 6 June 2013 in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters, at http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/8/2/024035/article. Find out more about how volcanoes can influence climate.
  • EF-5 Tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma Widest Ever Recorded in US
    The EF-5 tornado that hit El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31st was the widest ever recorded in the US, acco...Read more

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    EF-5 Tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma Widest Ever Recorded in US

    The EF-5 tornado that hit El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31st was the widest ever recorded in the US, according to the National Weather Service in Norman Oklahoma. The tornado, which remained on the ground for 40 minutes and reached 2.6 miles across (4.2 km), took the lives of 18 people including storm chasers Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young. For more information on the tornado, visit http://ow.ly/i/2hfDG.
  • Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm
    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm rep...Read more

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    Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm

    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm repeatedly. Daily levels of CO2 can vary due to weather, and there are seasonal trends as well. The level of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to increase, now over 120 ppm since the Industrial Revolution began. For more on the Keeling Curve, see http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. Find out more about greenhouse gases and warming.

Life

What is life? Why is there life on Earth, but not on any other planets in the solar system (as far as we know…). Life on Earth occurs in a bewildering array of forms – plants, animals, fungi, protists, and bacteria, which together compose Earth’s biosphere. The biosphere is connected to the Earth System through biogeochemical cycles. Explore the links in this section to learn more about the stuff life is made of, genetics, the diversity of living things, how they coexist in ecosystems and evolve over time, and how life survives in extreme environments.
The <a href="/earth/Life/shark.html">living things that survive in the open ocean</a> need to have a way to float or swim in ocean water. In the open ocean there are many types of swimmers including fish, <a href="/earth/Life/whale.html">whales</a>, and <a href="/earth/Life/shark.html">sharks</a>. Some fish, such as herring and tuna, swim in schools while others swim alone. Whales strain <a href="/earth/Life/plankton.html">plankton</a> from the sea or they eat fish.<p><small><em> Courtesy of NOAA</em></small></p><a href="/earth/Life/plankton.html">Plankton</a> are a diverse set of <a href="/earth/Life/ocean_life.html">marine organisms</a>. They can live in salt and fresh water. Although some forms are able to move independently, most plankton drift with the <a href="/earth/Water/ocean_currents.html">water currents</a>. This photo shows an amphipod, a type of plankton, at high magnification.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Uwe Kils. Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.</em></small></p><a href="/earth/Life/autotrophs.html">Autotrophs</a> are organisms that can "make their own food" from an inorganic source of carbon (carbon dioxide) given a source of energy. Most autotrophs use sunlight in the process of <a href="/earth/Life/photosynthesis.html">photosynthesis</a> to make their own food. Alga (singular of algae) is an an autotroph because it is capable of photosynthesis.<p><small><em> Image courtesy of Corel Photography</em></small></p>Hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean are located at tectonic <a href="/earth/interior/seafloor_spreading.html">spreading ridges</a>. While most of the water in the deep ocean is close to freezing, the water at hydrothermal vents is very hot and laden with chemicals.  In this <a href="/earth/extreme_environments.html">extreme environment</a>, certain species of <a href="/earth/Life/archaea.html">Archaea</a> and <a href="/earth/Life/classification_eubacteria.html">Eubacteria</a> thrive, enabling a unique <a href="/earth/Water/life_deep.html">food chain</a> including fish, shrimp, giant tubeworms, mussels, crabs, and clams.<p><small><em> Courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>Why did the dinosaurs go <a href="/earth/past/KTextinction.html">extinct</a>? No one knows for sure, and scientists have come up with a number of theories to explain why the dinosaurs suddenly died out about <a href="/earth/past/geologic_time.html">65 million years ago</a>. It wasn't just the dinosaurs that went extinct--roughly two thirds of all of the plant and animal species on Earth disappeared, too!<p><small><em>Image courtesy of the National Science Foundation.</em></small></p>This image is a montage of high resolutions photographs of the Earth taken in January 2012 by the Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite. The image shows many stunning details of <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/earth.html">our home planet</a> - <a href="http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/VIIRS_4Jan2012.jpg">particularly at high resolution</a>. The beauty of our planet is obvious from space - our blue <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Water/overview.html">waters</a>, our white <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/cloud.html">clouds</a>, and the green from <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Life/life.html">life</a> abundant at the surface.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>

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Explore Life

Earth's Biosphere

The biosphere is all life on our planet. This includes all the things that are living as well ...Read more

Cells: What Life Is Made Of

The Cell Theory states that all living things are made of cells, which are the basic units ...Read more

Genetics Makes Us Who We Are

Do you look a bit like your siblings? Do you and your siblings look a bit like your parents? ...Read more

Diversity and Classification of Living Things

Scientists have found and described approximately 1.75 million species on Earth according to ...Read more

Biomes and Ecosystems

Biomes are large regions of the world with similar plants, animals, and other living things ...Read more

Polar Life

All sorts of living things call Earth’s polar regions home – from tiny lichens encrusting the ...Read more

Postcards from the Field

Explore collections of Postcards from the Field, virtual postcards from scientists and educators ...Read more

The Evidence of Evolution Exploratour

This Windows to the Universe Exploratour examines the scientific evidence of biological evolution. ...Read more

Astrobiology

Take a guided tour to learn more about astrobiology, the search for life on other planets! ...Read more

News About Life

Read about current science, happenings and discoveries related to life on Earth! ...Read more

Life Image Archive

Access wonderful captioned photos and illustrations that will inspire and excite you. ...Read more

More about Life

Historical Events

6/25 Hermann Oberth,a Romanian and German physicist, was born on this date in 1894 Details
6/28 Maria Mitchell, an American astronomer, died on this date in 1889 Details
6/29 George Hale, an American astronomer, was born on this date in 1869 Details

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Did you know?

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

Did you know that individuals don’t evolve, but populations do?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Plate tectonics
xPlate tectonics : The theory supported by a wide range of evidence that considers the Earth's crust and upper mantle to be composed of several large, thin, relatively rigid plates that move relative to one another.

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

Unprecedented Warming in East Africa's Lake Tanganyika

Lake Tanganyika, the second-oldest and second-deepest lake in the world, could be in for some rough waters. Geologists have determined that the East African rift lake has experienced unprecedented warming...Read more

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