The massive 9.0 magnitude <a href="/earth/geology/quake_1.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">earthquake</a> off of Honshu, Japan on <a href="/headline_universe/march112011earthquaketsunami.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">11 March 2011</a> generated a <a href="/earth/tsunami1.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">tsunami</a> that exceeded 10 meters on the coast near the epicenter. This image shows model projections for the tsunami wave height in cm which are in good agreement with the observed waves. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were lost, and their families, as we remember this event.<p><small><em><a href="http://blogs.agu.org/wildwildscience/files/2011/03/680_20110311-TsunamiWaveHeight.jpg">NOAA Tsunami Wave Height Projections image</a></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>As temperatures rise and soil moisture decreases, plants are stressed, which can lead to <a href="/earth/climate/crops_withering.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">crop withering</a>. <a href="/teacher_resources/online_courses/health/events_health.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">Droughts</a> accompanied by increased temperatures can lead to famine, social and political disruptions. Scientists are helping with early identification of drought that might trigger food shortages. Watch the NBC Learn video - <a href="/earth/changing_planet/withering_crops_intro.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">Changing Planet: Withering Crops</a> to find out more.<p><small><em>Image taken by Tomas Castelazo, Creative Commons <a href=&quot;http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en&quot;>Attribution 3.0 Unported</a> license.</em></small></p>Greenland's <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/polar/cryosphere_glacier1.html">ice sheet</a> saw a record <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/headline_universe/olpa/greenland_10dec07.html">melt</a> in July 2012. Scientists studying this event have found that this melting event was triggered by an influx of unusually warm air and amplified by the presence of a blanket of thin low-level <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/cloud.html">clouds</a> which pushed temperatures up above freezing. For more information see the <a href="http://www.news.wisc.edu/21638">press release</a> from the University of Wisconsin Madison.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison</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/particulates.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/particulates.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>According to <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-277">NASA scientists</a>, the Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space in August 2012, becoming the first spacecraft to leave the <a href="/our_solar_system/solar_system.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">solar system</a>. The space probe is about 19 billion km from the <a href="/sun/sun.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">Sun</a>. <a href="/space_missions/voyager.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">Voyager 1 and 2</a> were launched in 1977 on a <a href="/space_missions/voyager.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">mission</a> that flew them both by <a href="/jupiter/jupiter.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">Jupiter</a> and <a href="/saturn/saturn.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">Saturn</a>, with Voyager 2 continuing to <a href="/uranus/uranus.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">Uranus</a> and <a href="/neptune/neptune.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">Neptune</a>. Voyager 2 is the longest continuously operated spacecraft. It is about 15 billion km away from the <a href="/sun/sun.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/particulates.html">Sun</a>.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>


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