The energy budget diagram on the front shows our best understanding of energy flows into and away from the Earth.

The Earth is a system of interacting parts that work together to form our complex planet; it is made up of five major parts or subsystems: Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere, Cryosphere, and Geosphere which are connected to each other in a complex web of processes.

Explore the spatial patterns observed in meteorological data and learn how this information is used to predict weather and understand climate behavior. By observing patterns in data we can classify our observations and investigate underlying cause and effect relationships.

Identifying cause and effect relationships can help us make predictions about the function of natural systems and their impact on the world. These relationships, whether simple or complex, are vital for forecasting weather and predicting Earth events in new contexts.

Fire is a powerful force on our planet. From South America's rainforests to Africa's savannas and Australia's highlands, fires touch 30 percent of the land surface. Yet whether naturally occurring or set by humans, fires' effects reach far beyond ravaged lands.

Drought conditions have affected much of the U.S. Southwest and Central Plains in recent years. But scientists now believe future droughts in the last half of this century could be the worst in the past millennium.

An ultra-high-resolution NASA computer model has given scientists a stunning new look at how carbon dioxide in the Atmosphere travels around the globe. Plumes of carbon dioxide in the simulation swirl and shift as winds disperse the greenhouse gas away from its sources.