Find your home town on the world map

As I said a while back, a growing economy requires growing energy input.  Well, at last I finally took a long, detailed look at the famous NASA image ("Earth at Night"), which they published seven years ago.  It should be safe to assume that the intensity of lights turned on at night is highly correlated with economic success—and if that's the case, then the image yields some interesting hints about how various regions are doing. 

For example, here are a few geographic regions that look to me like they were having more economic success than North Korea back in November 2000:
• Greenland
• the Sahara Desert
• the Gobi Desert
• the Himalayas
• the Amazon Jungle
• the Outback

Click on the image below to see it in full resolution (2400x1220 pix; scrolling will probably be required, but it's worth it). 

Here's another possible reason for the darkness in North Korea: maybe they were under some kind of government-mandated energy conservation measures(?). 

In any case, the map was fascinating, now that I finally got around to looking at it in detail, so I decided to post it.  (Here's a link to the image at NASA.)

Comments

[Tim Shell]

I want to know why the Nile glows in the dark.

[Fersboo]

Tim Shell wrote:
'I want to know why the Nile glows in the dark.'

Riverboats.

[Nathan Hale]

Fersboo,

That's the factual answer. How boring! How about this:

Tim Shell wrote:
'I want to know why the Nile glows in the dark.'

Radioactive crocodiles.

[Bob]

I think I found Al Gore's house. I just looked for the brightest pixel in Tennessee.

[Ariah]

"In order to save electricity, most roads are not lit up at night, and young men and women stand at major intersections, directing traffic with a glowing baton"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4353274.stm

Despite the energy rationing, there are frequent electric outages during the day as well.

[Pete Storm]

There's a lot of fascinating detail in that picture.

The Nile glows because that's where everyone in Egypt lives.

Can you see the Siberian Railroad?

Can you see the grid pattern in the Great Plains from the Township Act?

Lots of history on display in that picture.

PS

[Tom Clarke]

For an interesting graph relating energy use as reflected in CO2 emissions to economic output see:

http://www.ipcc.ch/present/graphics/2001syr/large/03.17.jpg

[Aaron]

Flying from Taiwan to the USA or vice versa, you get to fly right by the mass of lights on Japan - extremely beautiful on a clear night.

Alaska can also be interesting, you have to imagine what the solitary outpost of light is doing....