20-Year Map of Global Rainfall

This visualization from NASA shows global rainfall patterns over a 22-year span. It incorporates data from a combination of remote-sensing and ground-based sources.

Antarctica: Sea Ice

This video segment adapted from NOVA uses microwave images to reveal how sea ice doubles the size of Antarctica each winter. Rare footage shows how sea ice crushed the famous ship Endurance in 1914.

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Antarctic Ice Movement: Part I

This video segment adapted from NOVA explains why ice sheets move. To find out how fast they move, scientists carve a tunnel through a glacier.

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Antarctic Ice Movement: Part II

Within Antarctic ice sheets are fast-moving streams of ice. This video segment adapted from NOVA hypothesizes about how ice streams are the result of warming at the end of the last ice age.

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Antarctic Ice: Sea Level Change

What would happen if a portion of the Antarctic Ice Sheet were to melt? This video segment adapted from NOVA uses animations to show the effect of a 6-meter sea-level rise on coastal cities across the world.

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Arctic Atlas

In this interactive atlas adapted from UNEP/GRID-Arendal, explore different environmental features of the Arctic. Select from a list of themes to customize your map, then zoom in to take a closer look at one of six featured regions.

Arctic Sea Ice Satellite Observations

In this interactive activity produced for Teachers' Domain, learn how Arctic sea ice has changed over the past 25 years in terms of maximum winter extent, concentration, and the timing of breakup each spring.

Caves and Karst

This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service presents the key concepts of cave and karst systems, including how and where they form, different types, and various cave environments.

Changing Arctic Landscape

In this video adapted from the Arctic Athabaskan Council, learn how warmer temperatures in the Arctic are transforming the landscape, triggering a host of effects such as permafrost thawing and insect infestations.

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Climate Change

This video segment adapted from NOVA explains the difference between weather and climate and features groundbreaking analysis revealing that Earth's climate has changed much faster than previously believed.

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Compare the Poles

Explore the defining features of the Arctic and the Antarctic in this interactive activity adapted from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Conserving Water at Home

This video segment adapted from Last Oasis highlights the impact of a variety of water conservation efforts including installing low-flow toilets and planting grass that does not require a lot of water.

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The Disappearing Aral Sea

This visualization adapted from NASA features satellite images showing how more than 60 percent of the Aral Sea has disappeared during the last 30 years.

Discovering Antarctica

Take a guided tour of Antarctica by watching brief video segments of its landscape and wildlife in this interactive activity adapted from the British Antarctic Survey.

Documenting Glacial Change

This collection of comparative glacier images adapted from the National Snow and Ice Data Center shows substantial changes in five Alaskan glacier positions over periods of 60 to 100 years.

Earth as a System

This visualization adapted from NASA maps progressive global changes onto a rotating globe. Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere are shown to be dynamic and interconnected.

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Earth’s Albedo and Global Warming

In this interactive activity adapted from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, learn about Earth's albedo (the ratio of reflected vs. incident solar radiation), how pollution alters albedo, and how ice-albedo feedback may accelerate global warming.

Earth's Cryosphere: Antarctica

Learn about the different features of snow and ice in Antarctica using satellite imagery in this video segment adapted from NASA.

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Earth's Cryosphere: The Arctic

In this video segment adapted from NASA, take a tour of the cryosphere in North America and the Arctic using satellite imagery.

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Earth System: Drought and Air Quality

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center discusses how a drought can have negative effects locally, for example by increasing the number of forest fires, and also globally, for example by impacting air quality thousands of miles away.

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