This dramatic view of Jupiter's <a href="/jupiter/atmosphere/J_clouds_GRS.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/h/k=/teacher_resources/games_junk.html">Great Red Spot</a> and its surroundings was obtained by <a href="/space_missions/voyager.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/h/k=/teacher_resources/games_junk.html">Voyager 1</a> on Feb. 25, 1979, when the spacecraft was 5.7 million miles (9.2 million kilometers) from Jupiter. Cloud details as small as 100 miles (160 kilometers) across can be seen here. The colorful, wavy cloud pattern to the left of the Red Spot is a region of extraordinarily complex end variable wave motion.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>According to a Greek legend, the sea god Poseidon placed the figure of <a href="/the_universe/Constellations/circumpolar/cassiopeia.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/h/k=/teacher_resources/games_junk.html">Cassiopeia</a> among the stars. It is said that Cassiopeia has a ridiculous upside-down position to punish her for having been pretentious.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of 1995 Visual Language (c). All rights reserved.</em></small></p>An <a href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc000905e.php">8.6 magnitude earthquake</a> struck on 11 April 2012 off of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, followed by a strong aftershock.  Earthquake motion was primarily horizontal.  A tsunami warning was issued for the Indian Ocean, but was cancelled at 12:36 UTC.  A tsunami was observed at 1 meter or less. Find out more about <a href="/earth/geology/quake_1.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/h/k=/teacher_resources/games_junk.html">earthquake</a> and <a href="/earth/tsunami1.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/h/k=/teacher_resources/games_junk.html">tsunami</a> processes. Check out the resources <a href="/teacher_resources/2011_AGU-NESTA_GIFT_Workshop.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/h/k=/teacher_resources/games_junk.html">here</a>.<p><small><em>NOAA</em></small></p>As permafrost thaws, the land, atmosphere, water resources, ecosystems, and human communities are affected. Coastal areas and hillsides are vulnerable to erosion by thawing of permafrost.  Thawing permafrost also causes a positive feedback to global warming, as carbon trapped within the once-frozen soils is released as <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/methane.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/h/k=/teacher_resources/games_junk.html">methane</a>, a powerful <a href="/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/h/k=/teacher_resources/games_junk.html">greenhouse gas</a>.
Watch the NBC Learn video - <a href="/earth/changing_planet/permafrost_methane_intro.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/h/k=/teacher_resources/games_junk.html">Thawing Permafrost and Methane</a> to find out more.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of the    USGS</em></small></p>On May 20, 2013, a massive EF5 <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/tornado.html">tornado</a> hit Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities and lives.  The tornado, on the ground for 40 minutes, took a path through a subdivision of homes, destroying block after block of homes, and hitting two elementary schools just as school was ending as well as a hospital. Hundreds of people were injured, and 24 were killed.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Ks0stm, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license</em></small></p><p>You don't normally see <a href="/space_weather/space_weather.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/h/k=/teacher_resources/games_junk.html">space weather</a> forecasted on the evening news, but it does impact life on <a href="/earth/earth.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/h/k=/teacher_resources/games_junk.html">Earth</a> in many ways. What are the threats posed from all of these natural disasters and how can we work to mitigate those threats beforehand? </p>
<p>Check out the materials about natural disasters in <a href="/earth/natural_hazards/when_nature_strikes.html&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/h/k=/teacher_resources/games_junk.html">NBC Learn Videos</a>, and their earth system science connections built up by the related secondary classroom activities.</p><p><small><em>NBC Learn</em></small></p>

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