This isa picture of the world viewed at night, showing where all the light and hence population of the Earth is concentrated. It's interesting because the UK is so densely populated, as is Europe and America, but if you look at the rest of the world it is quite sparsely urbanised. Especially places like Australia.
I always knew that Australia had a relatively small population, but I never realised it was so sparsely populated! It seems for most of it there is pretty much no one there!
One of the more interesting aspects of the photo is that in the US, there can be seen a grid of lights in the exact center of the US. I don't know if it's towns, or simply streetlights strung out across the emptiness of the Midwest...
Cities and towns in the Eastern United States are laid out as in the UK--roads followed contours of land, and old game trails/cowpaths.
Cities and towns in the Western United States aren't quite like the UK--the settled places usually follow contour lines (especially in areas with elevation), but also follow a grid pattern (laid out in 'township' bounds).
Cities and town in the middle of the United States, the 'Midwest', are almost always laid out in a grid. Very boring...
Kingfisher
It's a beautiful picture, but just goes to show how much of the earths energy we are using up at any one time.
One of the more interesting aspects of the photo is that in the US, there can be seen a grid of lights in the exact center of the US. I don't know if it's towns, or simply streetlights strung out across the emptiness of the Midwest...
Cities and towns in the Eastern United States are laid out as in the UK--roads followed contours of land, and old game trails/cowpaths.
Cities and towns in the Western United States aren't quite like the UK--the settled places usually follow contour lines (especially in areas with elevation), but also follow a grid pattern (laid out in 'township' bounds).
Cities and town in the middle of the United States, the 'Midwest', are almost always laid out in a grid. Very boring...
Kingfisher
It's amazing how you can see the differences in the city design from this photo. I'm glad most UK cities don't follow the grid pattern, apart from Milton Keynes if I'm not mistaken.
When flying over the US, one can follow roads for hundreds of miles across a state as the roads literally run absolutely straight on a grid pattern. I've been to Milton Keynes, and yes, it is quite boring!
Sunshine is correct--it does show the tremendous use of energy around the world.
Kingfisher
Wow, dosen't look real! I envy the few people who have actually been able to see this view from space.