On May 18, 1980 Mt. St. Helens erupted, leveling over 200 square miles of forest. The eruption left the surrounding landscape barren and the mountain 1300 feet shorter. Prior to its eruption, Mt. St. Helens had been a popular location for outdoor recreation. In the years since the eruption, life has slowly returned to the denuded areas; an ecosystem in its infancy.
The Landsat images above show Mt. St. Helens eight years before the 1980 eruption (left: Landsat 1 image acquired on July 29, 1972, MSS bands 4,7,2), a decade after the eruption (Landsat 5 image acquired Sept. 22, 1990, TM bands 3,2,1), and nearly two decades after the eruption (Landsat 7 image acquired Sept. 7, 1999, ETM+ bands 3,2,1).