12 OF THE MOST AMAZING VIEWS OF EARTH YOU'LL EVER SEE

These Are Some of the Most Amazing Views of Earth You’ll Ever See
By Betsy Mason, Wired, 4 November 2013.

I have looked at a lot of different views of Earth from space - taken by astronauts, satellites and other spacecraft - so I was not expecting to be all that impressed by the images collected into a new book called Earth from Space. But I was very wrong.

There are a few of the familiar shots that even many people who aren’t obsessed with this kind of imagery may recognize, like deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon, the wild growth of urban Las Vegas and the creeping shrink of glaciers. But there are so many more of places I had never seen: mangroves in the Gulf of Bengal, pre-and-post disaster Chernobyl, shrimp farms in Vietnam, an extinct volcano in Algeria, and lots more. The book has 150 images, and it was really hard to choose just 12 to show you (the publisher Abrams was very generous and let me choose the images, but wisely drew the line when I told them I had 40 favourites).

The author, Yann Arthus-Bertrand (an environmental activist who also published the book Earth from Above), arranged the scenes into themes including pollution, desertification, urban sprawl, farming and natural disasters. Often, trying to support themes with imagery requires including images that may be relevant and descriptive but aren’t also beautiful. Not so here.

I’ll admit I didn’t read much of the text, which includes captions and interviews with activists, scientists and other experts. I was too busy admiring the Earth. If you have read this far, it’s time for you to stop and check out a few of the amazing images in this book.

1. Itaipu Dam, Brazil-Paraguay Border

The reservoir of the Itaipu Dam, some of which can be seen here, extends over more than 520 square miles (1,350 sq km) along the border of Paraguay and Brazil. Its immediate surroundings are protected, but the rest of the area is devoted to agriculture. Image: © CNES 2007 - Distribution Astrium Services/SPOT Image.

2. Sundurbans, West Bengal/Bangladesh, India

The mangroves of the Sundurbans in the Gulf of Bengal cover about 3,860 square miles (10,000 sq km) of land. The largest of this type in the world, they also shelter a rich biodiversity: smooth-coated otters, 260 bird species, sika deer, wild boars, sand fiddler crabs... Some endangered species live here, too, including the estuarine crocodile, the Indian python and the Bengal tiger. Image: © NASA/GSFC/USGS EROS Data Centre.

3. Mount Taranaki (Egmont), New Zealand North Island

The TerraSAR-X radar satellite reveals the outline of Egmont National park, which can be identified by the difference in colour between the slopes of Mount Taranaki (or Mount Egmont) volcano and the rest of the area. This circle with a radius of 5.9 miles (9.6 km) is not a natural occurrence: It separates the park's lush forest from surrounding pasture zones. Mount Taranaki stands 8,261 feet (2,518 m) tall and has been totally inactive since 1755. Its peak is covered in perennial snow, while nearby Fanthams Peak has none at all. Image: © CNES 2004-2011 - Distribution Astrium Services/SPOT Image.

4. Hoggar Mountains, Algeria

Located in the south of the country, in Tamanrasset province, the Hoggar mountains consist of volcanic rock punctuated by lava flows and extinct volcanoes, some of which are close to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) tall. Image: © CNES 2006 - Distribution Astrium Services/SPOT Image.

5. Ebro Delta, Spain

The Ebro is Spain's most powerful river. Stretching for more than 550 miles (900 km), it flows into the Mediterranean through a vast delta that juts far into the sea. Abundant alluvium and an ingenious system of irrigation channels favour rice plantations, notably the famous bomba rice. The Ebro Delta National Park, founded in 1983 and covering 19,279 acres (7,802 hectares), is the largest wet zone in Catalonia. Image: © CNES 2008 - Distribution Astrium Services/SPOT Image.

6. Ordos Desert, Inner Mongolia, China

The Ordos Desert is an area of steppes and desert covering more than 34,750 square miles (90,000 sq km) in southern Inner Mongolia. With the exception of the Huan He (the Yellow River) valley, the region is arid and poor, cut off by steep hills in the north and crisscrossed by dunes in the south. Image: © CNES 2002 - Distribution Astrium Services/SPOT Image.

7. Florida Keys

Consisting of about 1,000 islands and coral islets, the Keys archipelago is an extension of Florida's southern tip. Some islets remain uninhabited and are covered in mangroves. These are sometimes completely submerged by storm waves. This phenomenon is likely to happen more frequently, given that global warming is accompanied by an increase in intensity of hurricanes. The fragile ecosystem of the Keys, which are home to more than 250 bird species, is legally protected. Image: © CNES 2005 - Distribution Astrium Services/SPOT Image.

8. Mount Everest, Nepal

Mount Everest, the tallest point on the planet, stands 29,028 feet (8,848 m) tall. Its peak was first conquered in 1953. Since then, its perilous ascension remains limited to elite mountain climbers. Yet even those who set foot on the world's tallest peaks have noted that the volume of ice is shrinking. Image: © CNES 2010 - Distribution Astrium Services/SPOT Image.

9. Esperance, Australia

This image shows the expansion of agricultural land into the forest north of the city of Esperance. From 1990-2010, Australia annually lost close to 642,470 acres (260,000 hectares) of forest, or 0.17 percent of its forest cover, due to agricultural and urban growth. Image: © CNES 2001 - Distribution Astrium Services/SPOT Image.

10. Dasht-e Kavir, Iran

The Dasht-e Kavir is the larger of the two deserts occupying most of Iran's central plateau. This sparsely populated salt desert in the country's centre north is close to 500 miles (800 km) long and 200 miles (300 km) wide. Located at the site of a former inland sea, this arid region covered in salts is known for its kavir, "salt swamps," which sometimes form areas of quicksand. Image: © CNES 2000 - Distribution Astrium Services/SPOT Image.

11. Bac Lieu Province, Vietnam

There are many aquaculture facilities in the area of the Mekong delta - notably shrimp farms. But fish farming causes problems similar to those raised by factory farming, particularly in terms of pollution: high concentrations of of nitrogen, vulnerability to disease, and the use of antibiotics to fight infections, as well as other hormones and harmful additives. Image: © CNES 2013 - Distribution Astrium Services/SPOT Image.

12. Chuquicamata Mine, Chile

This open-pit mine - measuring 1.2 miles (2 km) wide, 1.8 miles (3 km) long and 2,600 feet (800 m) deep - is one of the largest ones in the world. Its highly coveted ore is the richest in copper. It also has a high sulphate content, toxic particles of which are found in clouds of dust released by explosions and the endless coming and going of trucks. workers are not permitted to work in the mine for more than three years and are at risk of contracting lung cancer. Image: © CNES 2012 - Distribution Astrium Services/SPOT Image.

All images and captions courtesy of Abrams/Earth from Space. Image credits are included in the individual captions.

Top image sources: Left: Amazon; Right: NHBS.

[Source: Wired. Edited. Top image added.]