Russia’s Plosky Tolbachik Volcano Erupts
Russia’s Plosky Tolbachik volcano far eastern Kamchatka peninsula, erupts for the first time in 35 years, as seen from the Advanced Spacebourne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA’s Terra spacecraft, Jan. 13, 2013. Image © NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
Land of Lakes, Canada
During the last Ice Age, nearly all of Canada was covered by massive ice sheets. Thousands of years later, the landscape of Nunavut Territory (“our land” in the Inuktitut language) still shows the scars of that icy earth mover. NASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon
Waldo Canyon Fire burn scar
The Waldo Canyon Fire fueled by extremely dry conditions and strong winds, it had burned 18,247 acres (74 square kilometers) by July 5. Was first reported on June 23, 2012, burning in Pike National Forest, three miles (5 kilometers) west of Colorado Springs.
Crack across Pine Island Glacier
In mid-October 2011, NASA scientists working in Antarctica discovered a massive crack across the Pine Island Glacier, a major ice stream that drains the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Frozen Franz Josef Land
Located just 600 miles (970 kilometers) from the North Pole, Franz Josef Land is perpetually coated with ice. Glaciers cover roughly 85 percent of the archipelago’s land masses, and sea ice floats in the channels between islands even in the summertime.
