Start Date: End Date: Published Date Data Date
Irrigation in the Heart of the Sahara
2400 x 1800 6 MB - GeoTIFF
Published March 2, 2002
Although it is now the largest desert on Earth, during the last ice age the Sahara was a savannah with a climate similar to that of present-day Kenya and Tanzania. The annual rainfall was much greater than it is now, creating many rivers and lakes that are now hidden under shifting sands or exposed as barren salt flats. Over several hundred thousand years, the rains also filled a series of vast underground aquifers. Modern African nations are now mining this fossil water to support irrigated farming projects.
Related images:
540 x 899 JPEG
2 MB - MOV
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Akpatok Island
540 x 540 JPEG
Published February 25, 2002
Akpatok Island lies in Ungava Bay in northern Quebec, Canada. Accessible only by air, Akpatok Island rises out of the water as sheer cliffs that soar 500 to 800 feet (150 to 243 m) above the sea surface. The island is an important sanctuary for cliff-nesting seabirds.
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Colima Volcano Erupts in Mexico
540 x 405 JPEG
Published February 7, 2002
540 x 405 44 KB - JPEG
McMurdo Dry Valleys
Published January 26, 2002
One of the few areas of Antarctica not covered by thousands of meters of ice, the McMurdo Dry Valleys stand out in this satellite image. For a few weeks each summer temperatures are warm enough to melt glacial ice, creating streams that feed freshwater lakes that lie at the bottom of the valleys.
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4000 x 3000 32 MB - GeoTIFF
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Nyiragongo Volcano before the Eruption
Published January 23, 2002
2748 x 2322 2 MB - JPEG
Tucson, Arizona, and its Surroundings
Published January 21, 2002
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Aftermath of World Trade Center Attack
540 x 405 90 KB - JPEG
Published September 13, 2001
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