An artist's rendering of the moment of impact of a massive <a href="/our_solar_system/meteors/meteors.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/bibliography.html">meteorite</a> at the end of the Cretaceous (at the end of the <a href="/earth/geology/hist_mesozoic.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/bibliography.html">Mesozoic Era</a>). Many scientists have concluded for decades that a meteorite four to six kilometers in diameter impacted the Earth at this time, resulting in a <a href="/earth/past/KTextinction.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/bibliography.html">mass extinction of dinosaurs</a> and many other life forms. Recent research suggests that perhaps <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/chicxulub.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/bibliography.html">massive volcanic eruptions</a> may be been responsible for the extinction.<p><small><em>Courtesy of Don Davis, NASA</em></small></p>The <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/tornado/fujita.html">EF-5</a> <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/tornado.html">tornado</a> that hit El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31st, 2013 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.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of National Weather Service, Norman Oklahoma</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>Scientists are concerned that melting Arctic sea ice will increase the amount of fresh water in the <a href="/earth/polar/arctic_currents.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/bibliography.html">Beaufort Gyre</a>, which could spill out into the Atlantic and cause major climate shifts in North America and Western Europe. Watch the <a href="/earth/changing_planet/freshwater_arctic.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/bibliography.html">Changing Planet: Fresh Water in the Arctic video</a>.<p><small><em> Courtesy of Jack Cook, WHOI (<a href="http://www.whoi.edu">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute</a>)</em></small></p>There are over 900 <a href="/the_universe/uts/megalith.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/bibliography.html">rings of stone</a> located in the British Isles. The most famous of these stone rings is of course, <a href="/the_universe/uts/stonehenge.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/bibliography.html">Stonehenge</a>. The stones of Stonehenge were put in place between 3,000 B.C and 2,000 B.C. by neolithic people.Some speculate that the site was built as a temple of worship of the ancient Earth deities. Some say it was used as an <a href="/the_universe/uts/stonehenge_astro.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/bibliography.html">astronomical observatory</a> of sorts. Still others say it was a burial ground.<p><small><em> Image courtesy of Corel Photography.</em></small></p>March 2012 marks the first anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude <a href="/earth/geology/quake_1.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/bibliography.html">earthquake</a>, <a href="/earth/tsunami1.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/bibliography.html">tsunami</a>, and resulting nuclear accident in Japan on <a href="/headline_universe/march112011earthquaketsunami.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/bibliography.html">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>


Attention Educator Member Teachers! Go to our special offers page for information about attractive upcoming professional development events next year. Not an Educator Member? Join Today!
Check out resources from our Affiliates!

Global locations of visitors using this page right now

Welcome to Windows to the Universe - your portal to discovery! Explore the wealth of information available here to learn about the Earth and Space sciences and related topics in the humanities including mythology, art, poetry, and more.

Our mobile website version is available now on your phone's web browser and give us feedback.

NEW Subscription Opportunities for Educators and their Students! - Classroom, School, and District Subscription Options.

Windows to the Universe Professional Development - On-site, in your school - find out more about this opportunity here. Information about our upcoming workshops and events is available on our Teacher Resources/Workshops page.

Scientists Study "Glaciovolcanoes," Mountains of Fire and Ice

Scientists can learn a lot about Earth's past climates from the deposits of glaciovolcanoes like Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland ...Read more
Brought to you by NSF

Clouds in Art

Landscape painters have been representing clouds in their art for centuries. Different artists with different styles have painted clouds differently. Check out the Clouds in Art Interactive ...Read more
Brought to you by CMMAP

The Sun Today

Live and recent images of the Sun from telescopes around the world and satellites in space. Spanning the spectrum from X-rays to infrared images, these views reveal sunspots, solar flares, and ...Read more
Brought to you by CISM

The Earth's Magnetic Field

The magnetic field of the Earth is surrounded in a region called the magnetosphere. The magnetosphere prevents most of the particles from the sun, carried in solar wind, from hitting the Earth ...Read more

Neptune

Neptune is an ice giant planet; smaller than the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn but much larger than Earth. Neptune has more than a dozen moons and a faint ring system. It is the 8th planet from the Sun ...Read more

Historical Events

Full Earth and Space Science    History Calendar (Members only)

Teacher Opportunities

Full Teacher Events Calendar (Educator Members only)

Buried Treasure!

Evidence of Evolution

Evolution is the process of change through time. Many things evolve. Language evolves so that English...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