These days, most places in the world where people live, it’s easier to spot them at night. They light up. Most places. There are many significant exceptions. Most of these exceptions are enormous in area, in fact, the exceptions– the dark places– are the vast majority of the Earth’s land surface.
The water, of course, is the vast majority of the Earth. It’s completely dark, except for a handful of islands. Like England, Australia, etc.
Most of the earth is still dark at night.
I have to use heavy blinds to keep the light out of my windows at night, and I live in a city with less than half a million people in it. As far as cities go, that’s nothing. Chengdu lights up nicely as well, and although it’s not as bright as the island of Taiwan, the lush Sichuan Basin stands out, outlined in light.
I’ll be posting more excerpts from Earth At Night from NASA over the next day or so. If you can’t wait, click here (202kb jpg), or the image above.
Likely in 5 to 10 years maximum, China will light more than US or Europe, using more fuels, coal, and energy than others. Even with an economic crash.
Consequently, CO2, earth warming and ice melting will increase strongly, even if weather simulations are wrong !!
India, pakistan, are lightning, and not present in sprol.
Many place are interesting.
Is Bhopal worse than Tchernobyl althought less visible?