NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM-Smithsonian Institution
Earth Today-Biosphere
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[Movie of Earth's vegetation]
The oceans, atmosphere, and land all play critical roles in sustaining life on Earth. The characteristics of ocean currents, wind patterns, and topography can make one area a desert and another a rain forest.

Seasonal changes greatly affect Earth's plant life or vegetation. The shades of green and yellow show how leaf bearing plants "green up" and decline through the seasons of a year. The vast deserts of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and central Asia are easily recongnized because of the lack of vegetation.

[SeaWiFS True Color Earth]
This image displays the composite of SeaWiFS land and ocean data. Land and cloud features are represented in "true color".
 
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