This article discusses the United States' increasing vulnerability to natural disasters because of population and infrastructure concentrations in disaster-prone areas. Topics include the high cost of earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes, a discussion of the frequency and severity of these events, changes in population and wealth as measured by revenue, and ways to decrease hazard vulnerability. Full description.

In this lab activity students will use cloud cover data from five cities (real data from NASA's TRMM instrument) to prepare a data table and graph using any available software. After downloading the data from the S'COOL homepage, they will prepare a spreadsheet and graph, and write sentences describing the dependent and independent variables and describing each cloud group. The site features text, ... Full description.

This site discusses the loss of ice from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which has been observed for the last thirty years. Topics include why, when, and how much ice was lost by the ice sheet since the last glacial maximum, and whether the ice sheet was ever smaller than it is today. Full description.

This educational brief presents a discussion of how the Landsat project has been able to provide data on environmental changes and potential problems. Topics include a short history of the project, an overview of the sorts of environmental issues Landsat satellites are able to "see" from space, and a brief description of ground truthing and how it supports remotely sensed data. Full description.

This document provides an extensive description of a strategy to deliver credible predictions of future atmospheric carbon dioxide levels based on improved understanding of dynamics in the Earth's carbon reservoirs (the land, air and oceans). Full description.

These documents describe the potential impacts of global climate change in each of the fifty states. Impacts discussed include temperature change, changes in precipitation, human health effects, rise in sea level, and changes to water supplies. Additional impacts are predicted for agriculture, forest cover, and sensitive ecosystems. Full description.

This site, produced by the U.S. Geological Survey, describes the circulation pattern of Earth's atmosphere, which is influenced by differential heating and the Coriolis Effect. This circulation causes the formation of warm, dry areas on the Earth's surface which are where deserts are likely to exist. The site features text, a photograph, and a scientific illustration showing the atmospheric circulation ... Full description.

As part of this activity, students examine the effects of light and temperature on the phytoplankton population. Using ocean color data from the Coastal Zonal Color Scanner, SeaWiFS, and temperature data from the Multi Channel Sea Surface Temperature dataset, they will learn to identify phytoplankton as a component of Earth's biota, discover the relationships between biotic and abiotic components ... Full description.

Desertification, the degradation of formerly productive land into desert, is a complex process. It involves multiple causes, and it proceeds at varying rates in different climates. This web page, produced by the U.S. Geological Survey, features text and photographs that explain what desertification is, how human activities may contribute to it, how satellite imagery is used for monitoring vulnerable ... Full description.

This description of a ground-water aquifer has a graphic representation to accompany it. It is part of the U.S. Geologic Survey's Water Science for Schools website. Links to other parts of the site, such as definitions and types of wells, are included. Full description.