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Quiz: The air we breathe

Quiz: The air we breathe

Our atmosphere is vital to all living things on our planet. How much do you know about the air we breathe? Take our quiz.

Browse our collection of climate-related quizzes here.

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NASA Climate Change website

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Video: Southern Hemisphere ozone between July 1 and December 31 for selected years between 1979 and 2018.
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Video: Ozone Watch 2018
Video: Ozone Watch 2018
Graphic: Global surface temperature changes versus the Sun's energy that Earth receives in watts (units of energy) per square meter since 1880.
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Temperature vs Solar Activity
Graphic: Temperature vs Solar Activity
This animation shows how various temperature records and Arctic sea ice have changed between 1850 and 2018 from human and natural drivers of climate change.
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Human and Natural Drivers o...
Human and Natural Drivers of Climate Change (1850-2018)
NASA scientists are working to understand if our land and ocean can continue to absorb carbon dioxide at the current rate – and for how long.
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Infographic: Earth's carbon...
Infographic: Earth's carbon cycle is off balance
Los aerosoles son diminutas partículas sólidas y líquidas suspendidas en la atmósfera.
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Me llamo Aerosol
Me llamo Aerosol
Desde 1978, la NASA ha estado monitoreando los vientos oceánicos a través de la dispersometría, cuyos datos han mejorado los pronósticos meteorológicos y de huracanes y nos han ayudado a comprender mejor los patrones climáticos globales.
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Los vientos oceánicos
Los vientos oceánicos
Test your knowledge of how Earth is different from other planets, both within our solar system and beyond.
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Test your knowledge of how ...
Quiz: Our world, other worlds
How much do you know about glaciers and ice caps?
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Test your knowledge of the ...
Quiz: Ice and glaciers
An animation shows several high impact events across the globe between August 2019 and January 2020, including the Australian bushfires.
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Global Transport of Smoke f...
Global Transport of Australian Bushfire Smoke
NASA Earth Right Now promo
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NASA Earth Right Now promo
Video: NASA Earth Right Now promo
This animation shows the change in atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels as a result of COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions.
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COVID-19 Mitigation Leads t...
COVID-19 Mitigation Leads to Reduced Pollution Associated with Decreased Fossil Fuel Use
This video shows the accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) during a single calendar year.
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Global Carbon Dioxide: 2020...
Global Carbon Dioxide: 2020-2021
Quiz: Our home planet
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Quiz: Our home planet
Quiz: Our home planet
Video: The ocean's important role in absorbing heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
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Ocean circulation plays an ...
Video: Ocean circulation plays an important role in absorbing carbon from the atmosphere
Head into the field with first responders, fire scientists and forest managers to see what challenges they face and how NASA can help mitigate the effects of longer and more intense fire seasons.
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Operation Earth: Wildfires
Video: 'Operation Earth: Wildfires'
Video: NASA scientists release the first new global map of Earth at night since 2012.
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Video: Lights of human acti...
Video: Lights of human activity shine in NASA's image of Earth at night
Test your knowledge about global temperature change and its impact on Earth's climate.
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Test your knowledge about g...
Quiz: Global warming
Visualization of 30 named storms during the 2020 hurricane season
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Video: 2020 Hurricane Season
Video: 2020 Hurricane Season
A super high-definition view of how carbon dioxide in the air moves around the world with the winds.
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Super HD view of global car...
Video: Super HD view of global carbon dioxide
Perhaps the most impressive of cloud formations, cumulonimbus (from the Latin for “pile” and “rain cloud”) clouds form due to vigorous convection (rising and overturning) of warm, moist and unstable air. Surface air is warmed by the sun-heated ground surface and rises; if sufficient atmospheric moisture is present, water droplets will condense as the air mass encounters cooler air at higher altitudes. The air mass itself also expands and cools as it rises due to decreasing atmospheric pressure, a process known as adiabatic cooling. This type of convection is common in tropical latitudes year-round and during the summer season at higher latitudes. As water in the rising air mass condenses and changes from a gas to a liquid state, it releases energy to its surroundings, further heating the surrounding air and leading to more convection and rising of the cloud mass to higher altitudes. This leads to the characteristic vertical “towers” associated with cumulonimbus clouds, an excellent example of which is visible in this astronaut photograph. If enough moisture is present to condense and heat the cloud mass through several convective cycles, a tower can rise to altitudes of approximately 10 kilometers at high latitudes and to 20 kilometers in the tropics before encountering a region of the atmosphere known as the tropopause—the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere. The tropopause is characterized by a strong temperature inversion. Beyond the tropopause, the air no longer gets colder as altitude increases. The tropopause halts further upward motion of the cloud mass. The cloud tops flatten and spread into an anvil shape, as illustrated by this astronaut photograph. The photo was taken from a viewpoint that was at an angle from the vertical, rather than looking straight down towards the Earth’s surface. The image, taken while the International Space Station was located over western Africa near the Senegal-Mali border, shows a fully formed anvil cloud with numerous smaller cumulonimbus towers rising near it. The high energy levels of these storm systems typically make them hazardous due to associated heavy precipitation, lightning, high wind speeds and possible tornadoes.
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Cumulonimbus cloud over Africa
Cumulonimbus cloud over Africa
Track Earth's vital signs and fly along with NASA's Earth-observing satellites.
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Eyes on the Earth
Interactive: Eyes on the Earth
Karen St. Germain, NASA's director of Earth science, gave a presentation at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
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Video: What NASA Knows from...
Video: What NASA Knows from Decades of Earth System Observations
Test your knowledge of sea level rise and its effect on global populations.
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Test your knowledge of sea ...
Quiz: Sea level rise
Land. Water. Fire. Ice. These elements are basic ingredients that make up planet Earth. Take a moment to admire the magnificent spectacle of our stunning home planet from the perspective of space.
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Land. Water. Fire. Ice. The...
Video: Majestic Planet
A graphic briefly explains the relationship between volcanoes and climate change.
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Graphic: Volcanoes and Clim...
Graphic: Volcanoes and Climate Change

Explore

Interactives, galleries and apps

Images of Change

Images of Change

Explore a stunning gallery of before-and-after images of Earth from land and space that reveal our home planet in a state of flux.
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Climate Time Machine

Climate Time Machine

Travel through Earth's recent climate history and see how increasing carbon dioxide, global temperature and sea ice have changed over time.
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Eyes on the Earth

Eyes on the Earth

Track Earth's vital signs from space and fly along with NASA's Earth-observing satellites in an interactive 3D visualization.
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Global Ice Viewer

Global Ice Viewer

Earth's ice cover is shrinking. See how climate change has affected glaciers, sea ice, and continental ice sheets.
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