Satellites provide a valuable means of observing what is happening to our environment. Below are some examples of what the satellites "see" as they probe the earth.
Here is a plot showing the sea surface temperature. The orange color represents the warmest temperatures, while the blues represent cold water. Where are the warmest regions located? The regions of warm water play an important role in controlling our weather. When the location of the warm water moves it causes the El Ninos. Have you heard of these?
Can you guess where this image is from? You can see the water moving from the sea into the ocean
How about this one? Here you can see the warm-polluted rivers flowing out into the ocean. You can also see the mixing between the various currents and rivers along the coast.
Here is an image which shows what type of vegetation exists on the Earth's surface. The green areas represent regions where there are green plants. Can you identify the croplands? The rainforests?? What are the brown regions?