Satellite Imagery of the Henry Mountains in Utah.
Landsat 8 Image of the Henry Mountains in Utah.
occasionally subtle
Cosmic Funnies

JBB: An Artblog!
d e v o n
cherry valley forever
trying on a metaphor
$LAYYYTER

if i look back, i am lost

titsay
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
No title available

Kiana Khansmith

No title available
Not today Justin
NASA

izzy's playlists!
No title available
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me

blake kathryn
Sweet Seals For You, Always

seen from Netherlands
seen from Italy

seen from United States

seen from Türkiye

seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States

seen from Malaysia
seen from Germany
seen from Czechia

seen from United Kingdom

seen from United Kingdom
seen from Canada

seen from Germany

seen from Germany

seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from United States

seen from United States

seen from Germany

seen from Singapore
@internationalmountainday
Satellite Imagery of the Henry Mountains in Utah.
Landsat 8 Image of the Henry Mountains in Utah.
The mineral deposits of St. Francois Mountain in southeast Missouri.
Geochemical, petrophysical, and drill hole database for Mesoproterozoic igneous rocks and iron ore deposits of the St. Francois Mountains, southeast Missouri
Rocky Mountain National Park, research.
Field Notebooks from Loch Vale watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park, research from 1981 through 2023
What's normal for a volcano?
How CalVO scientists decide when to raise an alarm (or not)
Spectrogram of Mammoth Mountain earthquake swarm.
Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex partially located within the town of Mammoth Lakes, California, in the Inyo National Forest of Madera and Mono Counties. It is home to a large ski area primarily on the Mono County side. Mammoth Mountain was formed in a series of eruptions that ended 57,000 years ago.
Spectrogram of Mammoth Mountain earthquake swarm, November 28, 2024
Rare earth element mineralization at Mountain Pass, California.
Apatite and monazite geochemistry record magmatic and metasomatic processes in rare earth element mineralization at Mountain Pass, California.
Mountain Future Award 2024.
From food insecurity, climate change and biodiversity loss, to lack of access to services, gender inequalities, poverty and outmigration, the world’s mountain regions today face major global challenges.
Yet we are also in a moment of opportunities. A new generation of youth is gearing towards innovative solutions and new strategies to increase the resilience of mountain communities and conserve mountain environments.
In celebration of International Mountain Day 2024, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is inviting institutions and individuals over 18 to submit proposals for transformative projects that contribute to a sustainable tomorrow for mountains, for a chance to win the 2024 Mountain Future Award.
Project submissions should emphasize the following areas:
Innovation – Innovation should be a key aspect of the project proposal. This could encompass technological (including digital), social, policy, financial, and/or institutional innovations that address complex social, economic and environmental challenges in mountains.
Adaptation – Project proposals should promote climate adaptation. This could include adaptation strategies tailored to mountain ecosystems and communities, resilient agrifood systems, climate smart agriculture, ecosystem-based approaches to natural resource management, the integration of Indigenous knowledge systems or traditional techniques, and the promotion of circular economy.
Youth – The active, meaningful participation of youth in decision-making is essential for ensuring the long-term sustainability of mountain solutions. Project proposals should emphasize youth leadership, such as being youth-led and/or youth-focused, promoting universal and accessible training for young persons in mountains, and empowering young people to be agents of change through digital technology, research and entrepreneurship opportunities that contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of mountain resources.
Submissions will be judged by a panel of mountain experts from FAO and the Mountain Partnership. The Mountain Future Award will be presented to the three best project proposals during the official International Mountain Day event.
Burdell Mountain andesite lava flow.
Burdell Mountain andesite lava flow. Mount Burdell is Marin County's largest Open Space District and offers some of the best hiking in the Bay Area, with trails for all abilities.
Stinkingwater Mountains of Oregon.
Juniper tree in the Stinkingwater Mountains of Oregon.
Logging at Ouachita Mountains.
Forest Cutting in Ouachita Mountains.
Glaciers in the Alps have lost a striking 10% of their volume during the last two years.
The 2023 European State of the Climate (ESOTC) report highlights that in 2023, much of Europe saw fewer snow days than average, particularly in the Alps. Coupled with high summer temperatures in the region, this resulted in exceptional glacier ice loss in the Alps. In fact, glaciers in all parts of Europe saw a net loss of ice in 2023.
Glaciers in the Alps have lost a striking 10% of their volume during the last two years.
Much of Europe experienced fewer days with snow than average in 2023, particularly across central Europe and the Alps during winter and spring.
Southwestern Scandinavia saw close-to or above-average snow day anomalies in many locations during winter and spring.
Glaciers in all parts of Europe saw a net loss of ice in 2023.
The Alps saw exceptional glacier ice loss in 2023, linked to below-average winter snow accumulation and strong summer melt due to heatwaves.
In the last two years, glaciers in the Alps have lost around 10% of their volume.
The cryosphere encompasses all parts of the Earth system where water is in solid form, including ice sheets, glaciers, snow cover, permafrost and sea ice. In this section, we focus on snow cover and glaciers across Europe. More information about sea ice can be found in the ‘Arctic Ocean’ section, and long-term trends in sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers are also covered from a global and European perspective in the climate indicators.
Snow is an Essential Climate Variable, playing an important role in the climate system due to its high albedo, thermal insulation, and contribution to soil moisture and runoff. Changes in snow cover can impact many other aspects of the Earth system, from temperatures to glacier melt, to river flow, flooding and droughts.
Changes in glacier mass balance are directly linked to climate change and are important for climate system monitoring. For example, glacier melt contributes to runoff and to sea level rise. Over the last few decades, glaciers around the globe have been experiencing mass loss, and the European Alps is one of the regions where glaciers are shrinking the most.
Snow days
WINTER
SPRING
AUTUMN
Figure 1a. (Left) Number of snow days in winter 2023. (Right) Anomalies in the number of snow days during winter 2023, relative to the average for the 1991–2020 reference period. Shades of grey indicate more snow days than average; shades of green indicate fewer snow days than average. Locations with a close-to-average (within +/- five days) number of snow days are not shown. Winter covers the period December 2022 to February 2023. Data source: ECA&D[1]. Credit: C3S/ECMWF/KNMI.
Much of Europe saw above-average precipitation and warmer-than-average temperatures during 2023, with the exception of Scandinavia. Here, temperatures were generally below average in spring and autumn. Precipitation and temperatures both saw marked variations throughout the year. This is discussed further in the ‘Precipitation’ and ‘Temperature’ sections.
For Fennoscandia, a combination of several months of above-average precipitation and cooler-than-average temperatures led to many locations seeing a near-average or higher-than average number of snow days. During winter, spring and autumn, most parts of southwestern Scandinavia saw 10 to 20 more snow days than average. In winter, some parts of northern Scandinavia near the west coast saw up to 15 more snow days than average, while others further inland saw as many as 89 fewer snow days than average. A similar pattern was seen in spring, with locations near the western coast seeing positive anomalies of up to five days, while others further north and inland saw far fewer snow days than average.
With a few exceptions, the rest of Europe generally saw a well-below average number of snow days during winter, and a close-to (within five days) or below-average number during spring. In the Alps in winter, just three locations saw more snow days than average (11–19), while most saw far fewer than average. Several locations saw anomalies ranging from -10 to -30, but in a few locations there were 76 to 89 fewer snow days than average. This equates to almost the entire winter without snow. In central Europe, many locations saw between 5 and 20 fewer snow days than average in spring. This number reached up to 37 at one location in the Alps and up to 83 in northern Italy. Several stations recorded a well-below average number of snow days during both winter and spring.
During autumn, several locations across central Europe saw a below-average number of snow days, related to the warmer-than-average temperatures.
A lack of snow during winter and spring has implications for conditions later in the year. For example, together with heatwaves and higher-than-average temperatures, it can contribute to drought conditions. Snowmelt during spring and summer is an important source of water for many of Europe’s rivers. Positive anomalies in the number of snow days can be beneficial for hydropower and soil moisture, for example, but fast snowmelt due to increasing temperatures can lead to risks of flooding and avalanches.
Snow is also an important factor influencing glacier melt. In Europe, glaciers accumulate snow during winter and spring, and snow cover can delay melting of glacier ice in spring and summer by increasing the albedo of the glaciers. A lack of snow at the start of the year combined with warmer-than-average temperatures can result in increased mass loss from glaciers.
Glaciers
EUROPE
CENTRAL EUROPE
SCANDINAVIA
ICELAND
Figure 2a. Mass change of glaciers across Europe for the 2022–2023 hydrological year (1 October 2022–30 September 2023). Annual mass change values are given in the unit ‘metre water equivalent (m w.e.)’, representing a glacier-wide average of 1000 kg m-2 and, accounting for ice density, corresponding to 1.1 m of ice thickness. Positive balances (increase of ice) are indicated in blue and negative balances (loss of ice) are indicated in red. Data source: WGMS. Credit: WGMS.
Glacier changes are measured in hydrological years, accounting for the seasons of accumulation and melt. In Europe, the hydrological year starts on 1 October with the winter accumulation season and finishes on 30 September of the following year with the end of the summer melt season.
During the 2022–23 hydrological year, glaciers in all European regions saw a loss of ice[2]. In some regions, this is in contrast to 2022, which saw a slight increase in the mass of glaciers in southwestern Scandinavia and Iceland. Despite the cooler-than-average summer temperatures and above-average number of winter snow days during 2023 in southwestern Scandinavia, summer melt likely exceeded any slight gain in mass during the accumulation season.
The Alps is one of the regions of the world where glaciers are receding most rapidly, alongside Iceland, the southern Andes, Alaska, western Canada and western parts of the USA. 2023 was another exceptional year of ice loss in the Alps, following the record ice loss in 2022, due to below-average winter accumulation and strong summer melt. Above-average temperatures across the region during January to March likely resulted in precipitation falling as rain rather than snow. Many locations across the region saw far fewer snow days than average, with associated lower-than average glacier accumulation.
Figure 3. (Top) Surface solar radiation anomalies (W/m2) for June, July, August and September 2023, relative to the respective monthly average for the 1991–2020 reference period. Data source: CM SAF SARAH-3. Credit: DWD/EUMETSAT CM SAF. (Bottom) Average surface air temperature anomalies (°C) for June, July, August and September 2023, relative to the average for the 1991–2020 reference period.
Above-average temperatures during the summer, including an exceptionally warm period in August, and well-above-average temperatures during September, increased glacier melt in the Alps during the melt season. For Europe as a whole, September also had the most pronounced surface solar radiation anomaly for the year, of 12 W/m2 above average, and sunshine duration of 35 hours above average. In the Alps, June also saw strong positive anomalies of surface solar radiation, of up to 65 W/m2. More information on sunshine duration, surface solar radiation and cloud cover is given in the ‘Solar and clouds’ section. While the end of September marks the end of the typical melt season, and the hydrological year, when the data for 2023–24 are analysed, warm temperature anomalies in October are likely to be found to have impacted the start of the winter accumulation period.
In Switzerland, glaciers lost 4% of their ice volume during 2023, following a loss of 6% in 2022, which was a record year for ice loss in the Alps as a whole. This means that, in the last two years, glaciers in the Alps have lost around 10% of their volume[3].
More information on long-term changes in glaciers across the world can be found in the ‘Glaciers’ climate indicator.
Restoring mountain ecosystems is the theme chosen to observe this year's International Mountain Day on December 11th.
UNFCCC COP 28 / Food and Agriculture Pavilion event - Restoring mountain ecosystems - International Mountain Day 2023
Agenda Programme of the High level event to mark the International Mountain Day 2023 "Restoring Moutain Ecosystems."
Moderator | Rosalaura Romeo, Coordinator, Mountain Partnership Secretariat (MPS), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
14.00 – 14.30: Greetings and remarks. Video launch: “Restoration in mountains”
QU Dongyu, Director-General, FAO
H.E. Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, United Arab Emirates (TBC)
Nurlan Aitmurzaev, Special Envoy of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic on Mountain Issues, Ambassador, Kyrgyzstan
Carles Miquel, Director for Energy and Transportation, Secretary of State for Energy Transition, Transportation and Mobility, Andorra
Francesco Corvaro, Special Envoy for Climate Change, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italy
Bruno Pozzi, Deputy Director of the Ecosystems Division, United Nations Environment Programme
14.30 – 14.50 - Fireside chat on mountain knowledge and resilience.
Nikki Santos, Executive Director, Aspen Institute Center for Native American Youth, Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassador, United States of America
Tara Gujadhur, Co-Director, Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre, Lao People’s Democratic Republic
14.50 – 14.55 - Sustainable mountain development for future generations. 14.55 – 15.00 - Closing remarks - Manan Nailwal Girish Chander, Student, Jumeirah College, United Arab Emirates, participant of the Zero Water Day Partnership - Rosalaura Romeo, Coordinator, MPS, FAO
IMD2023 Agenda Programme.
SPAIN - Excursion to enjoy the natural environment within a Natural Park and Biosphere Reserve.
.We will walk up Tagamanent Hill to see the nativity scene, to celebrate International Mountain Day. Donations will be collected in favor of TV3's La Marató. Information and donations at lesguilles.cat
Les Guilles Anem al Turó Tagemanent a Portar el Pessebre (The Guills go to the Tagamanent Hill to Bring the Manger) 17/12/2023 Tagamanent, Spain
INDIA - Celebration of the International Mountain Day 2023 With School Students.
Giripremi & its training institute GGIM are celebrating International Mountain Day 2023 with school students of Pune to raise awareness about mountain restoration among the youth. The GGIM is the brainchild of India’s leading mountaineering club Giripremi and for the past many years, Giripremi in association with GGIM has been celebrating International Mountain Day on 11 December 2023. This year, the celebration will happen with a theme - ‘Restoring the Mountain Ecosystems’. Under this theme, we have developed a nice short video clip to create awareness among students about the importance of mountains and their ecosystem. Additionally, to make the programme more interesting, we are showing two thrilling documentaries of Giripremi's recent Himalayan expeditions. We are collaborating with at least 50 schools in our city and showing them films to create awareness for mountain restoration.
Celebrate International Mountain Day With School Students 11/12/2023 - 11/12/2023 Pune, India.
PORTUGAL - Formação, conhecimento e Experiência.
Dia Internacional da Montanha: Formação, conhecimento e Experiência 11/12/2023 - 11/12/2023 Covilhã, Portugal
Workshop (Serra da Estrela)
8h30 | Partida Covilhã (Rotunda do Rato)
9h00 | Caminhada Serra da Estrela *
* Os participantes devem trazer roupa e calçado adequado, água e reforço alimentar.
Caso as condições climatéricas sejam adversas, o programa será ajustado e os participantes devidamente informados.
13h00 | Regresso Covilhã
Comunicações & Debate (Auditório Municipal)
14h30 | A Montanha, uma forma de vida
-José Saraiva, Presidente da ASE -Associação Amigos da Serra da Estrela -Rúben Antunes, Guia de Trekking Nomad
15h30 | O papel das IES na formação e regulação das Atividades Desportivas e de lazer de Montanha
-Francisco do Adro; Coordenador do Gabinete UNITA | UBI Jorge Casanova; Esc. Superior de Educação, Comunicação e Desporto | IPG - Luís Carvalhinho; Esc. Superior de Desporto de Rio Maior | IPS António Brandão ; Esc. Superior de Desporto e Lazer | IPVC - Luís Quaresma; Dep. de Ciências do Desporto, exercício e saúde | UTAD Sérgio Figueiredo; Dep. de Ciências Desporto | UBI
16h30 | Intervalo
17h00 | Mesa redonda (Moderadora: Kelly 0’Hara | UBI )
18h00 | Encerramento
ITALY - Health in Healthy Mountains.
The new greater attention towards the environment and the desire and need to spend more time in nature are the reasons why many people go to the mountains and choose sustainable tourism.
Mountain tourism operators and mountain healthcare staff must know that everyone can have their own mountain. Moreover, mountains are a place to improve our health. The department of Sport Medicine of San Candido, a mountain hospital, offers this evaluation and the collaboration with the colleagues that work in urban areas to give the opportunity to all to enjoy mountains. On 11 December, International Mountain Day, the Tourism Office and the Department of Sport Medicine of San Candido Hospital, in collaboration with the Laboratory of Sport Physiology, invite the tourism operators and healthcare staff to attend the meeting “Mountains for All. Physical evaluation and Safety”.
Health in Healthy Mountains 11/12/2023 - 12/12/2023 San Candido, Italy