Landsat's Role in Understanding Climate Change
Long-term weather patterns averaged over 30 years or more make up our climate. Human well-being—our infrastructure and agriculture—depend on a reliable climate. This reliability allows farmers to plant seeds in the spring with confidence that temperatures and rainfall will sustain crops in the coming months. It allows communities to build and maintain roads, buildings, and drainage systems best suited to local conditions. Earth’s climate is controlled by the amount of energy that flows through the atmosphere, oceans, and land. By adding heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere—primarily carbon dioxide—people are increasing the amount of energy in the Earth system that would otherwise escape to space. This increase in energy is changing Earth’s climate, and consequently, the weather patterns that people rely on are shifting. Changes in long-term weather patterns have wide-ranging impacts on ecosystems and peoples’ lives. Designed to observe land and coastal ecosystems, Landsat instruments provide an unparalleled space-based record of the impact of climate change on Earth’s landscapes, the growth and loss of carbon- storing.
![A night scene shows a bright orange patch near the coast burning the city of Lahaina. The rest of the land looks purple in this night image.](https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240530_maui-fire-th.jpg)
Landsat Observations Key Resource for Many Federal Agencies
In the FY23 Aeronautics and Space Report released on May 23, 2024, a multitude of Federal agencies report work informed by Landsat data.
![False-color Landsat 9 image of iceberg A-83 acquired by the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) on May 22, 2024.](https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/brunt_iceberg_oli2_20240522.jpg)
Antarctic Ice Shelf Spawns Iceberg A-83
The Brunt Ice Shelf lost a large wedge of floating ice, the third sizeable iceberg to calve from the shelf in recent years. The TIRS instrument on Landsat 9 captured false-color images of the calving.
![Members of Australia’s New South Wales Rural Fire Service monitor a fire in a remote region of the state that is also home to utility company transition lines. Credit: Indji Systems.](https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/firms_auscrew_art.jpg)
Spotted by Satellite: Situational Awareness in Fiery Times
The Australian company Indji Systems uses a variety of satellite data to provide real-time hazard monitoring and alerts to utility and renewable energy companies across Australia, North America and Europe.
![A black cow stands in a green pasture eating grass.](https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/cow_Amy_Spielmaker_2022utah.jpg)
Meat of the Matter: Colorado River Over-Consumed
More water is taken from the Colorado River than it has to give. Better water use accounting made possible by Landsat provides needed guidance for difficult water use decisions.
![An infrared-color image of sea ice in Antarctic Peninsula](https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/leapscenezm_oli_20230722_th-KG32Se.jpeg)
Scenes from the Polar Night
Landsat satellites have begun regularly acquiring images of ice at the poles during the winter, with enlightening results.
![Landsat 9 image showing Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier’s ice shelf in January 2024.](https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/pinningpoints_oli2_20240120_front-aZfp83.jpeg)
Antarctic History Revealed by Landsat
New research shows that while some Antarctic ice shelves have been thinning since at least the 1970s, widespread thinning accelerated in the 1990s.