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.

Space Weather and the Sun-Earth System

   Space weather begins at the Sun and its ever-expanding atmosphere. From the human perspective, things get interesting when the solar wind reaches Earth's magnetosphere and interacts with our planet's upper atmosphere. The difference between quiet and active times in the 11-year sunspot cycle profoundly influences the character of space weather at Earth and throughout our Solar System.

The <a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/overview.html&dev=1">magnetic field of the Earth</a> is surrounded in a region called the magnetosphere, which is much larger than the Earth itself. The magnetosphere prevents most of the particles from the sun, carried in <a href="/sun/solar_wind.html&dev=1">solar wind</a>, from hitting the Earth.<p><small><em> Image courtesy of Windows to the Universe.</em></small></p>

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Explore Space Weather and the Sun-Earth System

The Sun and the Solar Atmosphere

What are the "parts" of the Sun? The photosphere, the visible "surface" ...Read more

Earth and Near-Earth Space (Geospace)

Earth's global magnetic field generates a huge cavity or bubble in space, the magnetosphere, ...Read more

Space Weather throughout the Solar System

The Sun is surrounded by a "bubble" in space called the heliosphere. In a sense, ...Read more

Quiet vs. Active Times

We tend to think of the Sun as constant and unchanging. However, most aspects of our neighborhood ...Read more

Tours

Take off on an Exploratour! Click on one of the many tours listed below to follow a guided ...Read more

Historical Events

5/30 7.5 magnitude quake hits Quetta, Pakistan in 1935
5/31 7.9 magnitude earthquake hits Peru in 1970
6/8 Giovanni Cassini, an Italian-French astronomer, was born on this date in 1625 Details

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Did you know?

Did you know that you can now share your poems about our collection of cloud art photos. Have fun!

Do you know what famous horror novel was written during the "Year Without a Summer"?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Tsunami
xTsunami : A tsunami is a sea wave of local or distant origin that results from large-scale seafloor displacements associated with large earthquakes, major submarine slides, or exploding volcanic islands.

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

Extended Period of Lower Solar Activity Linked to Changes in Sun's Conveyor Belt

A new analysis of the unusually long solar cycle that ended in 2008 suggests that one reason for the long cycle could be a stretching of the sun's conveyor belt, a current of plasma that circulates between...Read more

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Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather by Mike Smith tells the story of our storm warning system. See our online store book collection.

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