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NOAA created this site to help educators find data resources ranging from student-friendly to raw real-time and historical data on topics ranging from hurricanes to Great Lakes science. The Visualization Laboratory has an image of the day that relates to a current meteorological event and it contains images and videos pertaining to current and historical severe weather events, disasters, hurricanes, climate, oceans, atmosphere, and remote sensing.

"Compare NOAA satellite imagery from before and after Hurricane Sandy and investigate damage caused by the superstorm in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Click and drag the white bar to compare historical and current imagery. You can also use the included bookmarks to explore some of the the most damaged areas. "

"First report of its kind assesses state of world's plants, including baseline information on all vascular plants currently known to science, new plant discoveries and threats. The report estimates that there are about 391,000 species of vascular plants in the world."

Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, wildfires... "IcEarth offers an innovative approach for the use of satellite and airborne remotely sensed data and current and historical aerial photography combined with an in-depth explanation of what the data represents. Images, technical application, and topical themes support environmental science, earth science, and geographic inquiry by complementing educators existing curriculum."

"Streamer is an online map service that lets anyone trace downstream along America's major rivers and streams simply by picking a point on a stream. Streamer will map the route the stream follows. You can also trace upstream using Streamer. Imagine that you're standing along the Mississippi River in New Orleans. You're wondering not only where the river began but also which other streams drained into the Mississippi River before it made its way to your location. With Streamer you can also: locate your area of interest by specifying stream or place names; by entering latitude and longitude coordinates, enter the identification number for a U.S. Geological Survey streamflow gaging station, find out the names of streams and waterbodies by clicking on them, print maps of your downstream and upstream traces, create concise or detailed reports for your upstream and downstream traces, learn about current or historic streamflow at thousands of locations along America's streams, and find out about the places your stream trace passes through with just a few mouse clicks. "

"Gulf Coast bird watchers continue to survey beaches and marshes for birds as oil gushes from the Deepwater Horizon oil well.This tool highlights 10 focal species of conservation concern that are being impacted by the current oil spill. For each species, we display hundreds of recent Gulf Coast sightings on a map along with count information.. This information can effectively steer beach protection and clean-up efforts to the sites with the greatest concentrations of birds and most important habitats. "

"The Gulf of Mexico oil spill site, hosted by the four Gulf Sea Grant programs, provides visitors with current information about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, as well as easy access to the archives of science-based and objective content gathered in the wake of the spill. Content will be continually updated, and visitors should check back often for new and revised information. "

"Last week we made imagery from NASA's MODIS available as an overlay for Google Earth, which currently shows the extent of the oil spill through April 29, and we'll continue to add more imagery as it becomes available. We've also made radar images from ESA's ENVISAT available through this KML file. Below, you can see the progression of the spill over time."

RestoretheGulf.gov is the official federal portal for the Deepwater BP oil spill response and recovery. This site provides the public with information on the response, current operations, news and updates, how to file a claim and obtain other assistance, and links to federal, state and local partners.

"We often think of rivers as following a given path for the course of its life, but really, the path changes over time as the flow cuts into the earth. The water flows through old and new and back again. In 1944, cartographer Harold Fisk mapped the current Mississippi River. It's the white trail. Then Fisk used old geological maps to display old paths. They're the old colored paths. And what you get is this long run of windy, snake-like things."

"This lesson, developed by the Carbon Mitigation Program, contains background information and an interactive, hands-on game that allows players to define strategies for reducing CO2 emissions and find solutions for the world's greenhouse gas problem. This game is based on peer-reviewed, current research and is a wonderful introduction to carbon policy and energy solutions. "

Compare two images in Google Earth side-by-side using both historical and current imagery.

"In this exercise, undergraduate students use Google Earth and information from several web sites to investigate some of the consequences of climate change in polar regions, including the shrinking of the ice cap at the North Pole, disintegration of ice shelves, opening of shipping routes, effects on polar bears, and possible secondary effects on climate in other regions due to changes in ocean currents. "

New York Nature Explorer is an online tool for finding out about the animals, plants and habitats in your neighborhood or area of interest. As a gateway to biodiversity information, it is intended for landowners, land managers, citizens, municipal officials, planners, consultants, project developers, researchers, students, and anyone else interested in the natural world. Nature Explorer currently contains information on birds, reptiles, amphibians, rare animals, rare plants, and significant natural communities.

Nature Explorer currently contains information on birds, reptiles, amphibians, rare animals, rare plants, and significant natural communities.

U.S. world population, current population estimates for the United States and the world, population clocks.

"Using data for 25,780 species categorized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, we present an assessment of the status of the world's vertebrates. One-fifth of species are classified as Threatened, and we show that this figure is increasing: On average, 52 species of mammals, birds, and amphibians move one category closer to extinction each year. However, this overall pattern conceals the impact of conservation successes, and we show that the rate of deterioration would have been at least one-fifth again as much in the absence of these. Nonetheless, current conservation efforts remain insufficient to offset the main drivers of biodiversity loss in these groups: agricultural expansion, logging, overexploitation, and invasive alien species. "

"Ocean Tracks provides access to authentic data collected by migrating marine animals, drifting buoys, and satellites, along with tools that allow you to display and analyze these data to investigate current and important scientific questions about animal interactions with the ocean environment. "

When the sun goes down, dung beetles rely on a galactic source--light from the Milky Way--to navigate, according to a recent report in Current Biology. Study co-author Eric Warrant, of Lund University in Sweden, explains how dung beetles see the starry night sky.

Includes a map showing that nearly half of all US shale gas and oil wells are being developed in regions with high to extremely high water stress.

Deciding where to install wind turbines and solar panels seems straightforward: Pick gusty and sunny spots. But researchers say the problem is a bit more complicated. To get the most emissions reductions and health benefits, the United States may need to focus its clean energy efforts on some unlikely regions.