Humans
Pollution and Greenhouse Gases - Asia on Fire
Vehicles and power plants are not the only sources of air pollution and greenhouses gases: fires contribute, too. In the Northern Hemisphere spring, which is the end of dry season across much of Southeast Asia, thousands of fires burn each year as people clear cropland and pasture in anticipation of the upcoming wet (growing season). Intentional fires also escape people’s control and burn into adjacent forest. The smoke from these fires crosses the Pacific Ocean, affecting climate far away.
This dramatic photo-like image of fires and smoke in Southeast Asia was captured on April 2, 2007, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. MODIS detected hundreds, possibly thousands of fires (marked in red), burning in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and China. Thick smoke hides nearly all of Laos, where the highest concentration of fires is located.
Mother Nature
Shiveluch Volcano
On March 29, 2007, the Shiveluch Volcano on the Russian Federation's
Kamchatka Peninsula erupted, sending an ash cloud skyward roughly 9,750
meters (32,000 feet).
Smoke on the Water...
Not really - it's steam. During the recent Winter Storm in DFW the water temperature was higher than the air temperature.
These poor folks are about to get SOOOOOO WET!
ZAPPOW! This is one way to light your Christmas tree.
Creative Visions of Nature Winner: "Dewdrops"
Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, 2006
This image might look out-of-this-world, but it was taken from inside a darkened warehouse filled with rubble, says Juhani Kosonen of Finland.
Captured using a magnifying lens, the photo shows the effect of outside light on droplets of dew in a windowpane.
"When I look at this picture I think of the universe—of planets and stars," Kosonen said.
An engineer by trade, Kosonen treats photography as a hobby.
"If I get something, that's nice, but if not, I don't mind," he said. "There's no pressure."
More Water