NASA's best views of our planet, 2012

YouTube link.

A look back at the best views of our planet from space in the last year, including true color satellite images, Earth science data visualizations, time lapses from the International Space Station, and computer models. 

I was puzzled by some of the images, such as the location at 0:38 (the Kara Sea), and the nature of the red dots moving across the U.S. (active fires), and was relieved to find a full list of explanations, with links to further discussion of each one, in the "About" section at the YouTube link.