Earth’s North Magnetic Pole (1200×1200 pikseli)
In fact, the Earth’s magnetic field has flipped several times throughout the planet’s history causing the magnetic poles to trade places
In recent years, the North Magnetic Pole has been migrating on average about 40 km a year. Currently, it is located in the Canadian Arctic at approximately 82.7 north and 114.24 west (marked by a cross at the top right).
This Envisat radar image shows a vast area of approximately 410 km x 410 km completely covered by different types of sea ice. Unlike the South Polar Region, where the ice shield rests on a big land mass, there is no firm land in the North Polar Region. Instead, the area consists of more or less constantly frozen sea water, depending on the season.
Credit: redorbit.com
Low Clouds over Central China ( 3200×4200 pikseli)
Low clouds hug the ground, seeping into the valleys between the peaks surrounding central China’s Sichuan Basin in this photo-like image captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on December 9, 2008. The clouds highlight the varied topography of the region. The low-lying basin is draped in a thick layer of white that seems to creep out along river valleys in thin gray filaments. The surrounding mountain peaks, meanwhile, are unusually cloud-free. The highest peaks west of the Sichuan Basin are topped with snow.
Apart from being shaped by the land, the low clouds are also textured by the land. Ripples run across the tops of the clouds, likely caused by the rise and fall of the air moving over the uneven surface of the land below. The thin gray haze to the north of the cloud bank may be pollution released by burning coal for winter heating.
Credit: Earth Observatory
Denali, Alaska
The 6,194-meter-tall (20,320-foot) Mt. McKinley is a towering double-peaked mountain in the middle of the Alaska Range, made all the more impressive for rising thousands of feet above its neighbors. As the tallest mountain in North America, it is one of the world’s Seven Summits (the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents). The plains immediately to its north, at an elevation of 600 m (2,000 feet), give Mt. McKinley more vertical relief than any of the other Seven Summits. Named after the United States senator and president, William McKinley, the area around the mountain was designated the McKinley Wilderness Area in 1917. However, the peak is known as Denali, or “the high one,” in the local Athabascan language. When the area was expanded and converted to a national park in 1980, the area was renamed the Denali National Park and Preserve. There remains discussion of renaming the peak itself as most mountaineers refer to it as Denali.
This is a false-color image made using infrared, near-infrared, and green wavelengths (TM bands 5, 4, and 2). In this scheme, bare land without vegetation is pink, green areas show healthy vegetation, clouds are white, snow and ice is light blue while water is dark blue.
Credit: earthobservatory.nasa.gov
