GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science education program. Students can learn to take scientific measurements in the fields of atmospheric science, hydrology, soils, and land cover. They can report their data through the internet, create maps and graphs to analyze the data, and collaborate with scientists ... Full description.

This animation shows the retreat of the Muir Glacier between 1941 and 1982. A scale bar gives some idea of the distance involved. Full description.

This site allows users to browse Earth science-themed photographs including 3-D images, historic NASA photographs, and images from satellites and manned space missions. Full description.

This collection of computer-generated animations shows glaciers and glacial landforms in the vicinity of Glacier Bay, Alaska. An introductory animation shows how the "fly-bys" are created. Full description.

Deserts are classified by their location and dominant weather pattern into several types: trade wind, midlatitude, rain shadow, coastal, monsoon, or polar deserts. Former desert areas presently in nonarid environments are paleodeserts, and extraterrestrial deserts exist on other planets. This site, produced by the U.S. Geological Survey, describes each type of desert using text and photographs. Full description.

Visitors can access near-realtime measurements of ozone in the atmosphere. A full global image can be selected, or today's measurements, or ozone data over any chosen location. Archived measurements are available as far back as November 1978, and a link to an online textbook about stratospheric ozone is provided. Full description.

This site provides background information on the effects of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, the 1950s drought, and the 1987-1989 drought in the Great Plains of the American Midwest. It features discussions of the extent of each drought and the economic damage incurred, using text, photographs and graphic illustrations. A link to a discussion of the Palmer Drought Severity Index is included. Full description.

This webpage, one of NASA's fact sheets, describes the role of the oceans, clouds, and aerosols in moderating climate, which has resulted in less-than-expected temperature increases as carbon dioxide levels have increased. It also describes the efforts of scientists to construct computer models to understand interactions between the atmosphere and ocean, and to perform space-based oceanography using ... Full description.

This computer-generated animation depicts the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument in operation. CERES measures the energy at the top of the atmosphere and estimates energy levels in the atmosphere and at the Earth's surface. Using information from very high resolution cloud-imaging instruments on the same spacecraft, CERES also will determine cloud properties, including ... Full description.

This site describes the distribution and movement of water around, through, and above the Earth as water vapor, liquid water, and ice, with emphasis on the water cycle (hydrologic cycle). It is part of the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Science for Schools website. Tables and graphs are provided. The water cycle graphic is available in several languages. Full description.