Explore Earth
![](/images/icons/earth_interior.jpg)
Earth, the largest and densest rocky planet, was formed about 4.5 billion years ago. The Earth's ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/earth_atmosphere.jpg)
The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), and other gases (1%) that surrounds ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/earth_magnetosphere.jpg)
The Earth has a magnetic field with north and south poles. The magnetic field of the Earth ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/earth_moon.gif)
The Earth's one natural satellite, the Moon, is more than one quarter the size of Earth itself ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/earth_polar.jpg)
Do you wonder what Earth's Polar Regions are like? Where do polar bears live? Where do penguins ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/earth_climate.jpg)
Warm near the equator and cold at the poles, our planet is able to support a variety of living ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/earth_water.jpg)
Water is found in many places on Earth including on the surface of the planet, within rocks ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/earth_life.jpg)
What is life? Why is there life on Earth, but not on any other planets in the solar system ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/wildfire_wns.jpg)
The United Nations estimated that between 1994-2015, there were 6,873 natural disasters worldwide, ...
Read more
Did you know?
Do you know what caused the "
Year Without a Summer"?
Did you know that early
whales gave birth on land?
Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day
Do you know what this word or phrase means?
ChinookxChinook : A dry down-slope wind which occurs on the downwind side of a mountain range. It is a rain shadow wind which results from the subsequent (adiabatic) warming of air which has dropped most of its moisture on windward slopes.
Click on the word to find out!
Research Highlights
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![](/olpa/images/cesm_small.jpg)