There is no better way to end 2008 than with a look back at Earth in all her glory. One of the most famous, and most downloaded images, is the Apollo 8 Earthrise image taken almost exactly 40 years ago on December 24th 1968.

The data from Jason-2/Ocean Surface Topography Mission is now available for scientists and to the public. Jason-2’s ocean measurements can be used by scientists studying the ocean, weather and climate change.

The Earth’s biomass is the mass of all living organisms, both animal, plant and bacterial. The biomass is spread throughout the oceans, land and to a much lesser extent in the atmosphere.

The world of synthetic oil has moved a long way forward in a short space of time. Maybe due to concerns over climate change but just as likely driven by the price of oil, at least until recently, and by the prospect of making a lot of money as well as a lot of oil.

Around one tenth of the oil found floating on the surface of the sea comes from natural seepage, the rest comes from human-made spills from oil exploration, accidents at sea, ships illegally washing their tanks out at sea, spills on land that get washed out to sea or simply people dumping used oil down the drain.

At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznań, 1-12 December 2008, more than 200 countries are about to commit to new levels of carbon dioxide reductions and emission targets, but how do we really know that they will abide by what they pledge. Maybe one of ESA’s (European Space Agency) next generation earth observation satellites will be able to help monitor those commitments.