World History as Shown Through Light

This is one of the most stunning images I have ever seen. In college I owned it as a poster. I found two copies of it at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History where I volunteer a couple of times a month (one is in the Ocean Hall and the other is at the end of the exhibit on human origins). It never fails to take my breath away.

(For a much larger Hi-Res version, just click on the image)

This is a composite image taken by NASA in 2003, taken from thousands of satellite images showing the world, with no clouds, at night.

I see so many stories in this image. One story I see is that of Ancient Egypt. The light along the Nile and the Nile Delta shows just how many people live along the Nile and use it every day. The Nile supports life and civilization. It also makes sense to me that Ancient Egyptians never really colonized. Nothing was as good as the Nile.

I notice the bright spot in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, which is more industrialized than any other island in the Antilles, and has more roads than any other island in the Caribbean. But it is not quite as bright at the United States. Puerto Rico, as always, is both a part and apart.

All around the world I see populations live around ports. In the U.S. I see the expansion of the west, with its meticulous grid layout expressed in the light pattern. In Russia, as we move east, the lights follow the Trans-Siberian Railroad, it is a single line in the darkness. Then there is Korea.

Since the Korean War, South Korea has molded itself into one of the most dynamic economies in the world. South Korea is filled with light, where 50 years ago was rubble. North Korea on the other hand… aside from a speck of light from Pyongyang… darkness, almost as if it were an ocean. That, to me, tells the Korea story better than any news story can.

Our past, present, and even our future can be glimpsed in this image.

How can we see the future? Well that would be the “Megalopolis.” It is already happening in a few places around the world, but let’s looks at the United States. A Megalopolis occurs when a number of growing cities merge into each other. This is already happening.

The cities of Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston are all growing, and growing into each other. If these growth rates continue, as they are projected to do, in the not too distant future they will form what amounts to one singular massive urban area. Look at the map, the lights of those east coast cities are already starting to merge.

What do you see when you look at the world at night?

UPDATE:  (6/5/2014)

I have just learned that there is a NEW updated “World at Night” image taken from satellite photos in 2012. Check it out HERE! Click here for more images of the world at night courtesy of NASA.