Recent Earth News and Articles
Stay up-to-date with the latest news and articles from NASAEarth as we discover more about our home planet.
How ‘Glowing’ Plants Could Help Scientists Predict Flash Drought
An unusual boost in plant productivity can foreshadow severe soil water loss. NASA satellites are following the clues. Flaring up rapidly and with little warning, the drought that gripped much of the United States in the summer of 2012 was…
NASA Teammates Recall Favorite Memories Aboard Flying Laboratory
After flying more than three decades and 158 science campaigns, just one flight remains. NASA’s DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory will make its final flight May 15 to Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho, where it will be used to train…
Meet NASA Women Behind World’s Largest Flying Laboratory
NASA’s DC-8 aircraft – the world’s largest flying science laboratory – began its science missions in 1987 and since then, has flown in service of the science community over places like Antarctica, Greenland, and Thailand. Aircraft like the DC-8 have…
NASA to Discuss New Polar Climate Mission During Media Teleconference
NASA is hosting a media call at 3 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, May 15, to discuss the agency’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission, which aims to improve life on Earth by studying heat loss from Earth’s polar…
New Proposals to Help NASA Advance Knowledge of Our Changing Climate
NASA has selected four proposals for concept studies of missions to help us better understand Earth science key focus areas for the benefit of all including greenhouse gases, the ozone layer, ocean surface currents, and changes in ice and glaciers…
International SWOT Mission Can Improve Flood Prediction
A partnership between NASA and the French space agency, the satellite is poised to help improve forecasts of where and when flooding will occur in Earth’s rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Rivers, lakes, and reservoirs are like our planet’s arteries, carrying…
NASA Is Helping Protect Tigers, Jaguars, and Elephants. Here’s How.
As human populations grow, habitat loss threatens many creatures. Mapping wildlife habitat using satellites is a rapidly expanding area of ecology, and NASA satellites play a crucial role in these efforts. Tigers, jaguars, and elephants are a few of the…
Two Small NASA Satellites Will Measure Soil Moisture, Volcanic Gases
Two NASA pathfinding missions were recently deployed into low-Earth orbit, where they are demonstrating novel technologies for observing atmospheric gases, measuring freshwater, and even detecting signs of potential volcanic eruptions. The Signals of Opportunity P-Band Investigation (SNoOPI), a low-noise radio…
NASA-Led Study Provides New Global Accounting of Earth’s Rivers
The novel approach to estimating river water storage and discharge also identifies regions marked by ‘fingerprints’ of intense water use. A study led by NASA researchers provides new estimates of how much water courses through Earth’s rivers, the rates at…
NASA’s ORCA, AirHARP Projects Paved Way for PACE to Reach Space
It took the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission just 13 minutes to reach low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in February 2024. It took a network of scientists at NASA and research institutions around the world…
NASA’s CloudSat Ends Mission Peering Into the Heart of Clouds
Over the course of nearly two decades, its powerful radar provided never-before-seen details of clouds and helped advance global weather and climate predictions. CloudSat, a NASA mission that peered into hurricanes, tallied global snowfall rates, and achieved other weather and…
NASA Data Helps Beavers Build Back Streams
Humans aren’t the only mammals working to mitigate the effects of climate change in the Western United States. People there are also enlisting the aid of nature’s most prolific engineers – beavers. Using NASA-provided grants, two open-source programs from Boise…
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