Click on the following links to see images from that continent. All images courtesy of the SeaWiFS Project, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, unless otherwise noted.

Africa

Following weeks of heavy rains, massive flooding inundated much of Eastern and Southern Africa and more than 200,000 people were left homeless. The crisis began in early February, 2000 as days of torrential rain fell over wide areas. Vastly overflowing rivers sent much of that water rushing towards Mozambique. Mozambique was one of the hardest hit countries, with tens of thousands of people needing rescue. The direct hit from rain-saturated Cyclone Leon-Eline during the last week of February sent the already soaked country into crisis. This view of that cyclone was captured by SeaWiFS on 23 February 2000.

Asia

Tuesday, August 4, 1998. Image collected at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

This true-colour image shows bright, turquoise-coloured swirls across the surface of the Black Sea, signifying the presence of a large phytoplankton bloom. Scientists have observed similar blooms recurring annually, roughly this same time of year. The Sea of Azov, which is the smaller body of water located just north of the Black Sea in this image, also shows a high level of biological activity currently ongoing. The brownish pixels in the Azov are probably sediments carried in from high waters upstream. This scene was acquired by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), flying aboard the OrbView-2 satellite, on May 4, 2002. Provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE

Europe

Coccolithophorid blooms in the Celtic Sea
Monday, May 18, 1998

Image collected at NERC Satellite Receiving Station, Dundee, Scotland, UK

Mt. Etna on the island of Sicily erupting. The above image of the eruption plume was captured by SeaWiFS on 28 October 2002.

North America

Coccolithophorid blooms in the Bering Sea
Saturday, April 25, 1998

Image collected at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks

“Whiting event” in Lake Michigan, 1999. The colour change is due to either high concentrations of calcium carbonate, which lead to the formation of white “clouds” underwater; or, a Microcystis bloom.

This SeaWiFS image of Maritime Canada and New England taken on July 20, 2001, depicts a pretty summer day for most of the region. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, phytoplankton blooms are brightening the water considerably.

Oceania

SeaWiFS captures the South Island of New Zealand in this image from 26 June 2000.

South America

SeaWiFS captured this view of the Galapagos Islands on Sunday, 21 January 2001, several days after a tanker ran aground off the western coast of San Cristobol Island releasing thousands of gallons of oil into the ocean.

Lake Titicaca, South America
Tuesday, October 2, 1997

Image collected at the Centro de Estudios Espaciales, Santiago, Chile.

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