PIX4659355: Great Lakes of Africa seen from space - Great lakes of Africa seen from space - Great Lakes of Africa in East Africa in the Great Rift Valley. Lake Victoria is visible in the top center of the picture. Above Lake Victoria, Kyoga Lake. Upper left is Lake Albert, 160 km long. Below, Lake Edward, then Lake Kivu, and at the bottom left, Lake Tanganyka, which stretches for about 670 km. Image obtained by ENVISAT satellite on 6 October 2008. This Envisat image highlights lakes in the Western Rift of the Great Rift Valley, a geological fault system of Southwest Asia and East Africa. The series of lakes in and around the Great Rift Valley are referred to as the Great Lakes of Africa. Lake Victoria (visible in the top centre) is the largest of all African lakes and is the second widest freshwater body in the world. The lake straddles three countries; the northern half sits in Uganda, the southern half in Tanzania and a portion of its north - eastern section is in Kenya. The oblong - shaped lake visible in the bottom left is Tanganyika. With a length of approximately 670 km, it is the world's longest freshwater lake. With a maximum depth of 1470 m and an area of 32,900 km, Tanganyika is the second deepest and the fifth largest lake on the planet. Its long surface belongs to four countries; the north - eastern tip to Burundi, the majority of the eastern side to Tanzania, the majority of the western portion to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the southern tip to Zambia. The lake above Victoria is Kyoga, which is a part of the Great Lakes system but is not considered a Great Lake. Lake Albert, the northernmost of the chain of lakes in the Great Rift Valley, is visible in the top left. With a length of about 160 km, a width of 30 km and a maximum depth of 51 m, it is Africa's seventh largest lake. Lake Albert, Lake Edward (visible beneath Albert) and Lake Kivu (beneath Edward) all run along the eastern border of the DRC (lush green / Bridgeman Images
PIX4659616: North pole by satellite - March 11, 2008 - Arctic sea ice - March 11, 2008 - Ice coverage in Arctic regions March 11, 2008. Image based on data obtained by the Aqua satellite. This image shows the sea ice that occurred on March 11, 2008. Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is semi-permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. The sea ice cover reaches its minimum extent at the end of each summer and the remaining ice is called the perennial ice cover. Image made from Aqua satellite instrument / Bridgeman Images
PIX4659657: Earth: Ice Albedo - With an albedo of more than 80%, ice and snow cover reflect most of the radiation emitted by the Sun, allowing the low atmosphere to maintain a cool temperature. As this cover melts, the albedo decreases and returns little radiation. The soil and the lower atmosphere absorb them and the temperatures rise. This illustration shows an ideal snow cover, with a high albedo / Bridgeman Images
PIX4659663: Earth: Ice Albedo - With an albedo of more than 80%, ice and snow cover reflect most of the radiation emitted by the Sun, allowing the low atmosphere to maintain a cool temperature. As this cover melts, the albedo decreases and returns little radiation. The soil and the lower atmosphere absorb them and the temperatures rise. This illustration shows too low snow cover, with a low albedo, a very alarming situation. / Bridgeman Images
PIX4658744: Lake Nasser - Egypt - seen from space - Lake Nasser (Egypt) seen from space - Lake Nasser seen from the International Space Station (ISS) on January 23, 2005. Egypt's Lake Nasser, centered roughly at 22.64 degrees north latitude and 32.45 degrees east longitude, was captured with an electronic still camera by the Expedition 10 crew onboard the International Space Station. Sunglint on the lake makes it more easily visible. 23 January 2005 / Bridgeman Images
PIX4659470: Congo River Basin seen by satellite - Congo River Basin's rainforests - The Congo River Basin photographed by Envisat satellite on January 14, 2009. Its forests extend through the Democratic Republic of Congo (east of the Congo River), the Republic of Congo (west of the river), Gabon (dark green on the left side), Equatorial Guinea (above Gabon), Cameroon and the Central African Republic. This Envisat image, acquired on 14 January 2009, features the Congo River Basin's rainforests, the second largest in the world after the Amazon, and the Congo River, Africa's second longest river after the Nile. The basin covers an area of more than 4 million km. Its expansive forests spread across the Democratic Republic of Congo (visible to the east of the Congo River), most of the Republic of the Congo (visible to the west of the Congo River), Gabon (visible in dark green along the left side), Equatorial Guinea (above Gabon), and southern parts of Cameroon and the Central African Republic / Bridgeman Images
PIX4659605: Earth: Arctic Ice Melting - 1979 - 2003 - Sea ice in Arctic 1979 - 2003 - Comparison of minimum ice cover for Arctic regions in 1979 (top) and 2003 (bottom). Image obtained from observations made by the DMSP satellite. The image above shows a comparison of composites over the Arctic Circle, acquired in 1979 (top) and 2003 (bottom) by the DMSP Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSMI). The first image shows the minimum sea ice concentration for the year 1979, and the second image shows the minimum sea ice concentration in 2003 / Bridgeman Images