Spend six seconds watching six months of very fast weather

This timelapse video shows the swirling nature of the Earth’s weather systems moving over the eastern hemisphere.

It was created by Nasa using data and imagery from January 18 to July 25.

It is unbelievably fast – it only last six seconds – but once you’ve watched it, hit replay.

Subtle changes in the snow and vegetation cover of the land vie for attention with a dynamic, swirling layer of clouds that are constantly present and constantly moving.

(NASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon)

This picture was created on March 30 and captured by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometre Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite.

The video of the eastern hemisphere was compiled from images taken during eight orbits of the satellite with 10 imaging channels, then stitched together to blend the edges of each satellite pass.

Nasa says it remains as committed to Earth science as it was when it was founded in 1958. This year has been great for Earth observatory work with new kit now in orbit and three more Earth-focussed missions due to launch in the next six months.