Earth at Night

The influence humans have had on the Earth can also be seen from space. Viewing the Earth at night, we see the light from countless villages, towns, and cities pour into space. Major urban population centers, shown in white, are prominent sources of light. Fires from slash-and-burn farming and the burn-off of natural gas in oil fields are shown in red and yellow. From this perspective, the scale of human activity on the Earth can be appreciated. It spans the globe.