Here are seven transformations that NASA has captured. 10, 2022, the Great Salt Lake’s water level dropped under 4,190 feet (1,277 meters). But these, too, are the result of weather patterns that have morphed over decades. Unrelenting drought and increased water usage in the Western U.S. Of course, there are also sudden, dramatic events like flash floods that overwhelm a region overnight. The first images from NASA's new space telescope unveiled this week include a new look at the universe, expanding our view of the galaxy as we know it. From one month to the next, an environmental change might seem slight, but when you zoom out to the level of years and decades, the combined shifts paint a devastating portrait. Gray areas show where clouds prevented the satellites from collecting data. In October 2002, the lake was near its highest water level in two decades. In these images, the darker the blue areas appear, the more snow cover they have. By the time ice shelves disappear, ocean waves creep onto main streets, and forests shrivel, the forces of climate change have been at work for decades.įortunately, NASA is tracking these environmental changes with satellites so that the public knows the full scale of transformations taking place. The November image shows Iceberg B-46 (center-right), comprising about 115 square miles (185 square kilometers), after it broke off of Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier in late October 2018. Over the past several years, water withdrawals and drier conditions have vastly reduced the amount of water in southern Oregon’s Lake Abert. By May 5, fire had consumed almost 210,000 acres. In the March image, part of the glaciers tongue (an extension of the landbound glacier that protrudes over the water) and much of the nearby old ice had broken apart and new ice began to form. The river meanders and straightens, braids and unbraids as the amount of water fluctuates and changing sediment deposits divert the flow. The February image displays a vast expanse of old sea ice fastened to Land Glacier and the surrounding Antarctic coastline. After: January 29, 2023.Climate change rarely transforms an environment overnight. A massive wildfire near Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, destroyed at least 1,600 structures and forced the largest evacuation on record in Canada, involving more than 88,000 people. The size and shape of Bangladesh’s Padma River (upper left to lower right) have been changing for decades. (NASA) Before: Shasta Dam on November 18, 2022. Oncoming atmospheric rivers are also raising flood concerns as they stream into the colossal snowpack later this month.įor now, enjoy these before-and-after images of the state’s transition to spring from late November and January at two reservoirs: Before: Oroville Dam on November 19, 2022. NASA and Boeing have teamed up to build an experimental passenger plane to help achieve the U.S. The black outline shows the approximate coastline of the lake in 1960. Meanwhile, first responders and emergency workers continue unearthing mountain residents trapped by up to 16 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada and at least 17 feet in the San Bernardino range. The Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake in the world until the 1960s, when the Soviet Union diverted water from the rivers that fed the lake so cotton and other crops could be grown in the arid plains of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. In just one year, the James Webb Space Telescope has transformed humanity’s view of the cosmos, peering into dust clouds and seeing light from faraway corners of the universe for the. The Golden State has never looked so green and white: Images captured by NASA’s Earth Observatory and WorldView satellites over the past three months reveal what happens when nine record atmospheric rivers soak California in 32 trillion-plus gallons of water.Ĭloser to ground level, some daredevils are kayaking off rooftops in South Lake Tahoe and down the mounds of snow cloaking their homes and leaping off second-floor balconies at Tahoe-area resorts into whiteout landscapes. To celebrate the completion of a successful first year, NASA has released Webb’s image of a small star-forming region in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex.
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