Current Events

  • 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.
  • Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley
    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Io...Read more

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    Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley

    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. On May 20th, a massive tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities - destroying over 100 homes and hitting two elementary schools and a hospital - with many casualties and deaths. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues suffering from these storms. For more on the May 20th storms, see the NOAA Storm Prediction Center Storm Report.
  • Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education
    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of ...Read more

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    Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education

    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of sustainability. Here is a link to the one-page bill: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2366_00_0000.pdf. See report on Bloomberg News.

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&dev=1">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&dev=1">whales</a>, and <a href="/earth/Life/shark.html&dev=1">sharks</a>. Some fish, such as herring and tuna, swim in schools while others swim alone. Whales strain <a href="/earth/Life/plankton.html&dev=1">plankton</a> from the sea or they eat fish.<p><small><em> Courtesy of NOAA</em></small></p><a href="/earth/Life/photosynthesis.html&dev=1">Photosynthesis</a> is the name of the process by which <a href="/earth/Life/autotrophs.html&dev=1">autotrophs</a> (self-feeders) convert <a href="/earth/Water/overview.html&dev=1">water</a>, <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/carbon_dioxide.html&dev=1">carbon dioxide</a>, and <a href="/sun/effect_on_earth.html&dev=1">solar energy</a> into sugars and <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/oxygen_molecular.html&dev=1">oxygen</a>. It is a complex chemical process by which <a href="/earth/Life/plantae.html&dev=1">plants</a> and other autotrophs create the energy needed for life.<p><small><em>Image has been released into public domain (found on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org">wikipedia.org</a>).</em></small></p><a href="/earth/Life/autotrophs.html&dev=1">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&dev=1">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&dev=1">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&dev=1">extreme environment</a>, certain species of <a href="/earth/Life/archaea.html&dev=1">Archaea</a> and <a href="/earth/Life/classification_eubacteria.html&dev=1">Eubacteria</a> thrive, enabling a unique <a href="/earth/Water/life_deep.html&dev=1">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&dev=1">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&dev=1">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

5/22 ~7.9 magnitude earthquake hits near Xining, Tsinghai, China in 1927
5/24 Nicholas Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, died on this date in 1543 Details
5/30 7.5 magnitude quake hits Quetta, Pakistan in 1935

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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 early whales gave birth on land?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

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Sand boil
xSand boil : A sand boil is sand and water that come out onto the ground surface during an earthquake as a result of liquefaction at shallow depth.

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Research Highlights

New Computer Model Advances Climate Change Research

Scientists can now study climate change in far more detail with powerful new computer software released by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo. The Community Earth System...Read more

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Arches National Park Geology Tour provides an extensive, visually rich description of the geology of Arches, by Deborah Ragland, Ph.D. See our DVD collection.

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