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Explore our planet through photography and imagery, including climate change and water all the way back to the 1800s when the USGS was surveying the country by horse and buggy.

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Map showing the amount of sea-level rise that will double the chances

Map showing the amount of sea-level rise that will double the chances of today’s “50-year floods,” which have a 2 percent chance of happening in any year. Warmer colors indicate areas at greater risk.

Map showing the amount of sea-level rise that will double the chances of today’s “50-year floods,” which have a 2 percent chance of happening in any year. Warmer colors indicate areas at greater risk.

Map showing the location of the Delmarva Peninsula with a hillslope shaded relief map of the study area.
Map showing the location of the Delmarva Peninsula
Map showing the location of the Delmarva Peninsula
Map showing the location of the Delmarva Peninsula

Map showing the location of the Delmarva Peninsula with a hillslope shaded relief map of the study area. 

Map of the NE US coast showing several types of data collected by NOAA and the USGS, with explanatory insets
Map shows hill-shaded bathymetric, backscatter, and photographic data
Map shows hill-shaded bathymetric, backscatter, and photographic data
Map shows hill-shaded bathymetric, backscatter, and photographic data

Hill-shaded bathymetric, backscatter, and photographic data collected by NOAA and the USGS. Backscatter data give indications of seafloor character. In general, low-backscatter intensity (blue) corresponds to finer-grained material, whereas high-backscatter intensity (orange) corresponds to coarser substrate.

Hill-shaded bathymetric, backscatter, and photographic data collected by NOAA and the USGS. Backscatter data give indications of seafloor character. In general, low-backscatter intensity (blue) corresponds to finer-grained material, whereas high-backscatter intensity (orange) corresponds to coarser substrate.

Two maps; the left hand one shows brown land, blue water, and red arrows. The right hand one shows colored survey tracklines
Maps with key features and shaded relief of the study area
Maps with key features and shaded relief of the study area
Maps with key features and shaded relief of the study area

Left: Key features in and around the Gulf of Alaska. A black rectangle outlines our 2016 study area along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault. Red arrows indicate relative tectonic plate motions. Right: A shaded relief map of the 2016 study area. Rainbow colors show seafloor depths acquired by the USGS in 2015 and 2016. Red indicates shallower depths.

Left: Key features in and around the Gulf of Alaska. A black rectangle outlines our 2016 study area along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault. Red arrows indicate relative tectonic plate motions. Right: A shaded relief map of the 2016 study area. Rainbow colors show seafloor depths acquired by the USGS in 2015 and 2016. Red indicates shallower depths.

man in yellow slicker standing in rushing river up to his thighs, holding a stick-like instrument in the water
Measuring streamflow in fast moving floodwater.
Measuring streamflow in fast moving floodwater.
Measuring streamflow in fast moving floodwater.

USGS hydrographer measuring streamflow using a handheld Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter in fast moving floodwater Cajon Creek near Keenbrook, California. 

USGS hydrographer measuring streamflow using a handheld Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter in fast moving floodwater Cajon Creek near Keenbrook, California. 

Woman standing in middle of stream next to instruments
Measuring streamflow in northern Nevada.
Measuring streamflow in northern Nevada.
Measuring streamflow in northern Nevada.

USGS technician measuring streamflow in northern Nevada.

man in yellow shirt and camo coveralls standing in thigh-high water with instrument.
Measuring streamflow in the Sisquoc River near Garey, California.
Measuring streamflow in the Sisquoc River near Garey, California.
Measuring streamflow in the Sisquoc River near Garey, California.

USGS technician measuring streamflow in the Sisquoc River near Garey, California, upstream of the Santa Maria Mesa Road Bridge.

USGS technician measuring streamflow in the Sisquoc River near Garey, California, upstream of the Santa Maria Mesa Road Bridge.

Medicine Lake, California simplified hazards map showing potential ...
Medicine Lake, CA simplified hazards map
Medicine Lake, CA simplified hazards map
Medicine Lake, CA simplified hazards map

Medicine Lake, California simplified hazards map showing potential impact area for ground-based hazards during a volcanic event.

Medicine Lake, California simplified hazards map showing potential impact area for ground-based hazards during a volcanic event.

Methane plume imaged by the Okeanos Explorer's 30 kHz multibeam system
Methane plume
Methane plume
Photograph of  methane plumes at the Norfolk Canyon seeps
Methane Plumes
Methane Plumes
Methane Plumes

(Top) Methane plumes at the Norfolk Canyon seeps (~1600 meters or 5250 feet) were detected using the EK60 sonar. The water column plumes are shown above the sub-seafloor structure as imaged by high-resolution multichannel seismic data acquired by the USGS and processed by J. Kluesner.

(Top) Methane plumes at the Norfolk Canyon seeps (~1600 meters or 5250 feet) were detected using the EK60 sonar. The water column plumes are shown above the sub-seafloor structure as imaged by high-resolution multichannel seismic data acquired by the USGS and processed by J. Kluesner.

Photograph of Methane-derived authigenic carbonate (MDAC) rocks on the seafloor on the U.S. Atlantic margin
Methane-derived authigenic carbonate (MDAC) rocks on the seafloor
Methane-derived authigenic carbonate (MDAC) rocks on the seafloor
Methane-derived authigenic carbonate (MDAC) rocks on the seafloor

Methane-derived authigenic carbonate (MDAC) rocks on the seafloor on the U.S. Atlantic margin

Monarch on hairy puccoon
Monarch on hairy puccoon
Monarch on hairy puccoon
Monarch on hairy puccoon

A monarch butterfly on a hairy puccoon plant.

Monarch on Joe Pyeweed plant
Monarch on Joe Pyeweed plant
Monarch on Joe Pyeweed plant
Monitoring at Little Stony Creek above Archer Trail near Pembroke, VA
Monitoring at Little Stony Creek above Archer Trail near Pembroke, VA
Monitoring at Little Stony Creek above Archer Trail near Pembroke, VA
Monitoring at Little Stony Creek above Archer Trail near Pembroke, VA

Water monitoring at Little Stony Creek above Archer Trail near Pembroke, VA

Photograph showing Monitoring equipment at Frio River at Concan, Tex.
Monitoring equipment at Frio River at Concan, Tex.
Monitoring equipment at Frio River at Concan, Tex.
Monitoring Ramseys Draft at Route 716 near West Augusta
Monitoring Ramseys Draft at Route 716 near West Augusta
Monitoring Ramseys Draft at Route 716 near West Augusta
Monitoring Ramseys Draft at Route 716 near West Augusta

Monitoring Ramseys Draft at Route 716 near West Augusta

Monitoring Roanoke River along Route 626 at Lafayette, VA
Monitoring Roanoke River along Route 626 at Lafayette, VA
Monitoring Roanoke River along Route 626 at Lafayette, VA
Monitoring Roanoke River along Route 626 at Lafayette, VA

Monitoring Roanoke River along Route 626 at Lafayette, VA

Monitoring Spruce Creek at Route 627 near Nellysford, VA
Monitoring Spruce Creek at Route 627 near Nellysford, VA
Monitoring Spruce Creek at Route 627 near Nellysford, VA
Monitoring Spruce Creek at Route 627 near Nellysford, VA

Monitoring Spruce Creek at Route 627 near Nellysford, VA

Mount Baker, Washington simplified hazards map
Mount Baker, WA simplified hazards map
Mount Baker, WA simplified hazards map
Mount Baker, WA simplified hazards map

Mount Baker, Washington simplified hazards map showing potential impact area for ground-based hazards during a volcanic event.

Mount Baker, Washington simplified hazards map showing potential impact area for ground-based hazards during a volcanic event.

Photo of a mountain against the low elevation Mojave desert
Mountain and Mojave Desert
Mountain and Mojave Desert
Mountain and Mojave Desert

Landscape shot of a mountain and the low elevation Mojave Desert.

Landscape shot of a mountain and the low elevation Mojave Desert.

deploying a multicorer to sample the seafloor near an Atlantic margin methane seep site.
Multicorer deployment to sample the seafloor
Multicorer deployment to sample the seafloor
Multicorer deployment to sample the seafloor

USGS ocean engineers Peter Dal Ferro and Gerry Hatcher, from the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California, deploying a multicorer to sample the seafloor near an Atlantic margin methane seep site.

USGS ocean engineers Peter Dal Ferro and Gerry Hatcher, from the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California, deploying a multicorer to sample the seafloor near an Atlantic margin methane seep site.