The Great Wall of China is a 13,000-mile dragon of earth and stone that winds its way through the countryside of China. As it turns out, the wall’s history is almost as long and serpentine as its structure. Megan Campisi and Pen-Pen Chen detail the building and subsequent decay of this massive, impressive wall.

NOAA’s environmental satellites provide data from space to monitor the earth, analyze coastal waters, relay life-saving emergency beacons, as well as predict and track tropical storms and hurricanes. Learn about the many aspects of earth’s environmental observers and the data they provide.

NOAA Fisheries manages more than 165 marine species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The goal is to help these species recover to the point where they can be taken off the endangered species list. That’s why, in 2015, we created the Species in the Spotlight initiative. It’s a way for us to focus our time, energy, and resources on these at-risk species and bring greater attention to their plight. Our goal is to focus our recovery actions and motivate partners and community members to work with us on these actions to turn this situation around. For each species, we have developed action plans that outline short-term efforts to stop their decline and prevent their extinction. Each of these species is an important part of the habitat, the ecosystem, and the world we all share. Bringing them back will make our world richer and more balanced. Through the continued dedication of NOAA and its partners, we can all help these species recover.

The job of a hurricane hunter is not for the faint of heart. This brave crew must fly straight into one of the most destructive forces in nature in order to collect important data that helps save lives.