NASA Looks Back at 50 Years of Earth Day

Released Tuesday, April 21st, 2020
Updated Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 at 1:45PM

ID: 13586

- Visualizations by:
- Krystofer Kim,
- Alex Kekesi,
- Cindy Starr,
- Greg Shirah,
- Horace Mitchell,
- Kel Elkins, and
- Trent L. Schindler
- Written by:
- Maria-Jose Vinas Garcia
- Edited by:
- Ryan Fitzgibbons
- Produced by:
- Jefferson Beck,
- Kathryn Mersmann, and
- Ryan Fitzgibbons
View full credits

It’s been five decades since Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders photographed Earth peaking over the Moon’s horizon. The iconic image, dubbed Earthrise, inspired a new appreciation of the fragility of our place in the universe. Two years later, Earth Day was born to honor our home planet. As the world prepares to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day, NASA reflects on how the continued growth of its fleet of Earth-observing satellites has sharpened our view of the planet’s climate, atmosphere, land, polar regions and oceans.

Music: "Crest of a Wave," Lorenzo Castellarin, Universal Production Music

Complete transcript available.

Spanish version of the video.

Earth

Anniversary Earth Day

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Animator
- Krystofer Kim (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
Visualizers
- Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.) [Lead]
- Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.) [Lead]
- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
- Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
- Kel Elkins (USRA) [Lead]
- Trent L. Schindler (USRA) [Lead]
Writer
- Maria-Jose Vinas Garcia (Telophase) [Lead]
Editor
- Ryan Fitzgibbons (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
Producers
- Jefferson Beck (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
- Kathryn Mersmann (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
- Ryan Fitzgibbons (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
- Samson K. Reiny (Wyle Information Systems)
Technical support
- Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)

Series

This visualization can be found in the following series:

ID: 13833 Produced Video

Celebrate Earth Day with NASA’s World-Wide View of Our Changing Climate Live Shots

April 19th, 2021
(updated May 3rd, 2023)

Quick link to associated BROLL for the live shots.Quick link to canned interview with Dr. Gavin SchmidtQuick link to canned interview in Spanish with Erika Podest || Earth_Day_Banner_copy_1.png (6667x1698) [1.5 MB] || Earth_Day_Banner_copy_1_print.jpg (1024x260) [76.1 KB] || Earth_Day_Banner_copy_1_searchweb.png (320x180) [83.3 KB] || Earth_Day_Banner_copy_1_thm.png (80x40) [6.3 KB] ||

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ID: 13581 Produced Video

NASA Observes the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day Live Shots

April 16th, 2020
(updated May 3rd, 2023)

Click here for quick link to B-ROLLClick here for EARTH DAY TOOLKIT including how you can learn more about NASA at HomeQuick link to canned interview in Spanish with Sandra CauffmanQuick link to canned interview with Michelle Thaller || ED_50_Banner_2.png (1024x192) [372.6 KB] || ED_50_Banner_2_print.jpg (1024x192) [40.6 KB] || ED_50_Banner_2_searchweb.png (320x180) [99.6 KB] || ED_50_Banner_2_thm.png (80x40) [7.6 KB] ||

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ID: 4798 Visualization

Earth Day 2020: Global Atmospheric Methane

April 21st, 2020
(updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

This 3D volumetric visualization shows a global view of the methane emission and transport between December 1, 2017 and November 30, 2018. This visualizaion of the rotating global view is designed to be played in a continuous loop.This video is also available on our YouTube channel. || Earth_Day_Methane_loop.2919_print.jpg (1024x576) [102.0 KB] || Earth_Day_Methane_loop.2919_searchweb.png (320x180) [54.3 KB] || Earth_Day_Methane_loop.2919_thm.png (80x40) [5.0 KB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/loop_composite/ (1920x1080) [256.0 KB] || Earth_Day_Methane_loop_1080p30.mp4 (1920x1080) [355.8 MB] || Earth_Day_Methane_loop_1080p30.webm (1920x1080) [11.5 MB] || captions_silent.29410.en_US.srt [43 bytes] ||

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ID: 4801 Visualization

Earth Day 2020: Apollo-8 to Earth observing fleet

April 21st, 2020
(updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

Push in from the far side of the Moon to Apollo-8 take the "Earthrise" photo; then push in to NASA's Earth observing fleet in 1970 (the first Earth Day), then transition to the Earth observing fleet in 2020 (the 50th anniversary of Earth Day)This video is also available on our YouTube channel. || earth_day_setup_shot01.2300_print.jpg (1024x576) [38.8 KB] || earth_day_setup_shot01.2300_searchweb.png (320x180) [44.1 KB] || earth_day_setup_shot01.2300_thm.png (80x40) [3.0 KB] || earth_day_setup_final01.mp4 (1920x1080) [17.3 MB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/ (1920x1080) [128.0 KB] || earth_day_setup_final01.webm (1920x1080) [6.3 MB] || frames/5760x3240_16x9_30p/ (5760x3240) [128.0 KB] || captions_silent.29345.en_US.srt [43 bytes] ||

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ID: 4802 Visualization

Earth Day 2020: Gulf Stream ocean current pull out to Earth observing fleet

April 21st, 2020
(updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

Ocean currents from the ECCO-2 model: starting underwater, then pulling back to see the Gulf Stream, pulling back farther revealing the Earth observing fleetThis video is also available on our YouTube channel. || gulf_stream_to_fleet_final01.4300_print.jpg (1024x576) [274.9 KB] || gulf_stream_to_fleet_final01.4300_searchweb.png (320x180) [138.0 KB] || gulf_stream_to_fleet_final01.4300_thm.png (80x40) [8.1 KB] || gulf_stream_to_fleet_final01_1080p60.mp4 (1920x1080) [140.9 MB] || gulf_stream_to_fleet_final01.mp4 (1920x1080) [203.9 MB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_60p/ (1920x1080) [128.0 KB] || gulf_stream_to_fleet_final01_1080p60.webm (1920x1080) [13.8 MB] || frames/9600x3240_16x9_30p/ (9600x3240) [128.0 KB] || captions_silent.29348.en_US.srt [43 bytes] ||

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ID: 4809 Visualization

Earth Day 2020: Sea Surface Temperature (SST) from January 2016 through March 2020

April 21st, 2020
(updated Dec. 3rd, 2023)

Sea Surface Temperature - composited version with all layers includedThis video is also available on our YouTube channel. || sst_comp_layer.1300_print.jpg (1024x576) [73.2 KB] || sst_comp.1300_searchweb.png (320x180) [53.1 KB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/comp/ (1920x1080) [128.0 KB] || sst_comp_1080p30.mp4 (1920x1080) [43.8 MB] || sst_comp_1080p30.webm (1920x1080) [12.3 MB] || frames/5760x3240_16x9_30p/comp/ (5760x3240) [256.0 KB] || captions_silent.29492.en_US.srt [43 bytes] ||

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ID: 4813 Visualization

Earth Day 2020: Biosphere

April 21st, 2020
(updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

Global Biosphere data from 1997 through 2017 with corresponding colorbars and date stamp.This video is also available on our YouTube channel. || earthday_bio_comp.0000_print.jpg (1024x576) [95.0 KB] || earthday_bio_comp.0000_searchweb.png (320x180) [51.5 KB] || earthday_bio_comp.0000_thm.png (80x40) [5.0 KB] || earthday_bio_comp_1080p30.mp4 (1920x1080) [106.0 MB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/earthday_biosphere_composite/ (1920x1080) [512.0 KB] || earthday_bio_comp_1080p30.webm (1920x1080) [17.9 MB] || captions_silent.29351.en_US.srt [43 bytes] ||

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ID: 4815 Visualization

Earth Day 2020: IMERG Precipitation

April 20th, 2020
(updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

IMERG Visualization, With LabelsThis video is also available on our YouTube channel. || imerg_w_labels.00001_print.jpg (1024x576) [69.5 KB] || imerg_w_labels.00001_searchweb.png (320x180) [45.4 KB] || imerg_w_labels.00001_thm.png (80x40) [4.2 KB] || imerg_w_labels.mp4 (1920x1080) [110.8 MB] || imerg_w_labels.webm (1920x1080) [6.9 MB] || captions_silent.29561.en_US.srt [43 bytes] ||

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ID: 4816 Visualization

Earth Day 2020: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) Seasonal Cycles

April 20th, 2020
(updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

NDVI Seasonal Cycles, With LabelsThis video is also available on our YouTube channel. || ndvi_w_labels.00001_print.jpg (1024x576) [66.3 KB] || ndvi_w_labels.00001_searchweb.png (320x180) [42.2 KB] || ndvi_w_labels.00001_thm.png (80x40) [3.9 KB] || ndvi_w_labels.mp4 (1920x1080) [111.8 MB] || ndvi_w_labels.webm (1920x1080) [6.8 MB] || captions_silent.29562.en_US.srt [43 bytes] ||

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ID: 4818 Visualization

Earth Day 2020: GRACE Groundwater Storage

April 20th, 2020
(updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

GRACE Groundwater Storage, With LabelsThis video is also available on our YouTube channel. || grace_w_labels.00001_print.jpg (1024x576) [84.3 KB] || grace_w_labels.00001_searchweb.png (320x180) [47.9 KB] || grace_w_labels.00001_thm.png (80x40) [4.5 KB] || grace_w_labels.mp4 (1920x1080) [111.2 MB] || grace_w_labels.webm (1920x1080) [6.9 MB] || captions_silent.29566.en_US.srt [43 bytes] ||

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ID: 4819 Visualization

Earth Day 2020: GEOS-5 Modeled Cloud Cover

April 20th, 2020
(updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

GEOS-5 Modeled Cloud Cover, With LabelsThis video is also available on our YouTube channel. || clouds_w_labels.00001_print.jpg (1024x576) [70.8 KB] || clouds_w_labels.00001_searchweb.png (320x180) [50.1 KB] || clouds_w_labels.00001_thm.png (80x40) [4.5 KB] || clouds_w_labels.mp4 (1920x1080) [112.5 MB] || clouds_w_labels.webm (1920x1080) [6.8 MB] || captions_silent.29568.en_US.srt [43 bytes] ||

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ID: 4817 Visualization

Earth Day 2020: CERES Net TOA Radiation

April 17th, 2020
(updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

CERES Net TOA Radiation, WIth LabelsThis video is also available on our YouTube channel. || ceres_w_labels.00001_print.jpg (1024x576) [98.8 KB] || ceres_w_labels.00001_searchweb.png (320x180) [51.5 KB] || ceres_w_labels.00001_thm.png (80x40) [4.4 KB] || ceres_w_labels.mp4 (1920x1080) [111.3 MB] || ceres_w_labels.webm (1920x1080) [6.9 MB] || captions_silent.29564.en_US.srt [43 bytes] ||

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ID: 4814 Visualization

Earth Day 2020: Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) from August 2011 through July 2014

April 15th, 2020
(updated Nov. 15th, 2023)

Sea Surface Salinity || aquarius.2001_print.jpg (1024x576) [54.2 KB] || aquarius.2001_searchweb.png (320x180) [39.5 KB] || aquarius.2001_thm.png (80x40) [4.3 KB] || frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/ (1920x1080) [128.0 KB] || aquarius_1080p30.mp4 (1920x1080) [29.1 MB] || aquarius_1080p30.webm (1920x1080) [11.9 MB] ||

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ID: 13814 Produced Video

SVS Demo Reel 2020

Feb. 18th, 2021
(updated May 3rd, 2023)

This is the SVS Demo Reel submitted to SIGGRAPH 2021.Coming soon to our YouTube channel. || SVS_2020.File.1080p.00250_print.jpg (1024x576) [129.8 KB] || SVS_2020.File.1080p.00250_thm.png (80x40) [3.1 KB] || SVS_2020.File.1080p.00250_searchweb.png (320x180) [60.0 KB] || SVS_2020.File.1080p.mp4 (1920x1080) [367.7 MB] || captions_silent.30842.en_US.srt [42 bytes] || SVS_2020.File.720p.mp4 (720x404) [62.6 MB] || SVS_2020.file.2160pp.mp4 (3840x2160) [1.4 GB] || SVS_2020.file.2160pp.webm (3840x2160) [78.3 MB] ||

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