Thursday, November 24, 2011

Port-au-Prince, Haiti


This post marks my final piece of a three-post-series special for Thanksgiving.  This post, as well as the previous posts, will remind us what we have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.


This post also happens to be my final post for 2011.  I'm taking the month of December off in order to enjoy my holidays, contact graduate programs, and find a ton of new blog material.  Keep sharing, and commenting though, I'll still be on and off!  See y'all on January 5th, 2012!

The 7.0 magnitude Haiti Earthquake of January 2010 was one of the biggest disasters of the 21st century.  The Haitian government estimated the death toll at 316,000 which would make it the third largest earthquake death toll in history.  Because of Haiti's poor building codes and a general lack of decent infrastructure, the damage was very widespread and severe.  Humanitarian aid came from many different countries though and worked hard to get medical supplies, food and drinking water, and clean up crews in.  The country is still rebuilding and still in need of many kinds of aid.  As many of my readers are in developed nations and countries that would recover from disaster much more quickly than Haiti, it is crucial to remember to be thankful.  Thankful that we live in countries that can get food, medicine, and drinking water to areas of need in a matter of hours. 

December 22, 2007


January 16, 2010
That's the partially collapsed National Palace after the earthquake.


You can find it yourself on Google Earth using these coords:       18°32'35.34"N     72°20'19.26"W

Check back January 5th, 2012 for ...???

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Soma, Japan

This post marks my second piece of a three-post-series special for Thanksgiving.  This post, as well as the previous and my next post, will remind us what we have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season.

I was actually in a hospital recovery room after having a bone tumor removed from my leg when I saw this on the news.  Of every major event so far in my 22-year lifetime that I was mature enough to observe and understand, this definitely had the biggest impact on me.  I had seen footage of the even deadlier Indian Ocean tsunami back in 2004, but the footage that came from the March 11, 2011 tsunami in Japan was incredible.  The 9.0 earthquake that occurred off the coast of Japan was the most powerful ever recorded in the country.  The resulting damage was incredibly widespread as entire towns and prefectures were leveled.
However, the people of Japan are a very hardy, very tight community and they began rescue operations and rebuilding immediately with the help of many foreign nations.  We should all remember that disasters can strike virtually anywhere, even in the most advanced nations.  During these times, we should all be thankful for the help and support that the citizens and governments around the world can give to each other during these times.

September 20, 2010


March 12, 2011



You can find it yourself on Google Earth using these coords:       37°49'49.00"N     140°57'22.02"E

Check back next week to see one of the worst earthquakes of the western hemisphere.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Dubai, UAE

This post marks my start of a three-post-series special for Thanksgiving.  This post, as well as my next two posts, will remind us what we have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season.

Dubai has grown immensely in the past few decades.  In 40 years from 1965-2005, the population increased 24 times from 50,000 to 1,200,000.  It has become a major business center and tourist area with many large malls, hotels, and currently the world's tallest skyscraper.  Dubai's oil wealth is largely responsible for its quick rise in infrastructure.  However, the city has struggled with much of the rest of the world after the ongoing financial crisis.  According to human rights groups, many workers stopped receiving pay but have been unable to leave the country.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I believe that the people of Dubai should be thankful for the great new living standards and infrastructure they have achieved and remember to support the workers that built this city.

December 4, 2004

August 14, 2009

February 10, 2010
Note that these images span 6 years.  If you look right above that man-made, blue lake in the top center, you'll notice the Burj Khalifa (world's tallest skyscraper) and the 12 million square foot Dubai Mall.


You can find it yourself on Google Earth using these coords:       25°11'28.49"N       55°16'24.81"E

Check back next week to see one of the most destructive forces of our lifetime.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Bastrop, Texas

So the other day I went to look and see if there were any updated satellite images from the Bastrop State Park wildfire in Texas.  Unfortunately, no images have been loaded on to Google Earth yet as far as I'm aware.  However, while searching I found something else that caught my eye, and rightly so considering...


October 21, 2005
...that's about a 3/4 mile font size! This massive forest-text that spells out the name "LUECKE" apparently belongs to a man of the same name.  I'm not even sure how he managed to do this but that's some serious landscaping.  The entire name is 2.5 miles long and holds the record of largest text in the world.


January 22, 1995
So here's the same area before he etched it.  



You can find it yourself on Google Earth using these coords:     30° 05'01.59"N     97° 08'28.16"W

Check back next week to see some of the fastest anthropogenic development in history.