The view from space is deepening our understanding of Earth's complexity. Earth is unlike any other planet orbiting our Sun. It is geologically active, has a complex atmosphere, holds an abundance of liquid water, and most important, it sustains life. Scientists can now observe the global effects of local phenomenon or find evidence of changes occurring in milliseconds or millennia.
Earth is a dynamic planet of constantly interacting systems of air, water, ice, rock, and life.
Some of the more obvious results of these interactions are floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, and famines. A volcano erupting in Indonesia can propel a fine dust miles into the atmosphere that then circles the globe for months. Shifting wind patterns over the Pacific and fluctuations in the ocean's temperatures bring about El Ni o, which causes monsoon-like rains in Peru and droughts in Australia. Overgrazing and deforestation in Africa may lead to diseases in Caribbean coral reefs. Changes in one region can potentially effect life in a distant part of the world because no part of Earth exists in isolation from the whole.