PBS Learning Media Visualization: Albedo Decrease Linked to Vanishing Arctic Sea IceThis page uses a NASA visualization to show the extent of decline in Arctic sea ice and resulting decrease in Earth's albedo over the past few decades. It is accompanied by a background essay on vanishing arctic sea ice, discussion questions, and tips for teaching. It provides a striking look at a process that has occurred across a short period of time, geologically speaking.
NASA: Earth System Digital Twin Technology ProjectDo you know what a digital twin is? It is a digital model of a phenomenon, structure, or process created by merging sets of very large data into a model that (theoretically) will be indistinguishable from the real-world phenomenon or structure. Digital twins fuse physics, data science, AI, information system technology, and computer engineering to produce more reliable predictive models. NASA has been building its digital twin capabilities since the 2010's. Recent funding will allow digital twin development of models in regional wildfires, water/vegetation/energy connections, air-sea interactions, atmospheric composition, and more. This page describes each modeling project with direct links to find them. How is this connected to exoplanet habitable zones? The connection is that our Earth's rapidly changing climate provides opportunities to better understand processes occurring on exoplanets, such as effects of albedo coverage, cloud cover, and how a planet's water and atmosphere can be affected by its energy balance.