Understanding NSF Research: Earth & Environment
Image Captions and Credits
Dust grains from Kalahari sands may be carried on the wind as far from Africa as the Southern Ocean.
Credit: Paolo D'Odorico
Palau's coral reefs are surprisingly resistant to the effects of ocean acidification.
Credit: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
A cloud-to-ground lightning strike during a nighttime thunderstorm in the Midwest. In summer 2015, researchers fanned out across the Midwest as part of the Plains Elevated Convection at Night (PECAN) project to study nighttime thunderstorms like this one.
Credit: Jacob DeFlitch, Meteorologist
A giant sea fan underwater in Sipadan, Malaysia. By studying sea fans, scientists are discovering the genetic underpinnings of sea fan and other coral diseases.
Credit: think4photop/Shutterstock.com
Spring has sprung: Mountain wildflowers are bellwethers of climate change. In the background is the last of winter's snow.
Credit: Bill Bowman
Kiowa and Navajo peaks (13,276 and 13,409 ft) dominate the skyline above a pool on Niwot Ridge.
Credit: Bill Bowman
Understanding how an increase in extreme events such as hurricanes affects coastal ecosystems is critical to preparing for a stormier future.
Credit: NASA
Amid dire reports about the health of the world's coral reefs, researchers have discovered "oases" where corals appear to be thriving. The oases offer hope that all is not lost for these increasingly imperiled ecosystems.
Credit: Brian Zgliczynski
In the late 1800s, researchers Wilson Bentley and Gustav Hellmann began photographing snowflakes. Each of their photos revealed different representations of snowflakes. How could nature present so many forms of snowflakes? Today, scientists are solving that mystery with the use of a camera system that photographs free-falling snowflakes.
Credit: National Science Foundation